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David Cameron to be one of those facing questioning by public on 10 June

Billionaire entrepreneur behind Tesla, SpaceX, PayPal and Hyperloop discusses Mars, driverless cars and going into orbitElon Musk wears many hats. He’s the co-founder of online payments behemoth PayPal, the founder of private space flight pioneers SpaceX, the chief executive of electronic car manufacturers Tesla, and the original doodler of utopian transport concept Hyperloop. He’s also outspoken about the dangers of AI research, the need for blue-sky thinking in technology, and his desire to colonise another planet.So it’s no surprise that over the course of an interview at California’s Code conference, Musk revealed a number of things we didn’t know before. Here’s some of them. Continue reading...

Actor will also produce big-screen version of record-breaking third-person shooter, his second gaming tie-in after 2010 flop Prince of PersiaJake Gyllenhaal is set to star in a big-screen adaptation of record-breaking video game Tom Clancy’s The Division.Gyllenhaal will also act as producer on the project, according to Variety. The video game, a third-person shooter, is gaming giant Ubisoft’s fastest-selling product, making $330m (£229m) within five days of its release in March. Continue reading...

Broadcaster invests in production business that has made programming including Bear Grylls: Man vs Everest

Anti-UAV Defence System to be one of three systems trialled by Federal Aviation Authority in attempt to combat incursionsAn anti-drone system developed by a trio of UK companies is to receive its first public test by America’s Federal Aviation Authority (FAA), in an effort to protect airports from the risks of hobbyist unmanned aerial vehicles.The system, called the Anti-UAV Defence System (Auds), looks like a mounted turret but instead of shooting drones out of the sky with bullets, it fires nothing more menacing than radio waves. Continue reading...

From soups and stews to roasts, vegetarian and vegan meals – here are some of the most helpful apps to get you cookingThe recent rumpus about the BBC’s plans for its recipes websites showed how many of us are turning to digital sources rather than traditional books when cooking. Inevitably, there are apps for that. Lots of them.Here are 10 of the best cookery apps for Android and iOS, covering various cuisines, themes and age groups/abilities. Prices are correct at the time of writing, and “IAP” refers to in-app purchases – usually for extra bundles of recipes in this case. Continue reading...

The place to talk about games and other things that matterIt’s Thursday. Continue reading...

Yasir Al Rumayya, managing director of the Saudi public investment fund, will join Uber’s board, giving the government a voice in one of the hottest tech firmsThe Saudi Arabian royal government’s investment arm announced Wednesday that it is investing $3.5bn in Uber, one of the largest investments in a private technology company ever.It’s an ironic investment for Uber, given that the country is the only one in the world to ban women from driving. Continue reading...

Whether you want help with cooking, cleaning or even dating, there’s a droid for the job. Here are a handful of home assistants who would love to serve youMeet Zenbo, the Asus robot that costs no more than a smartphoneIn-home robots to help with everything from cooking and cleaning to childcare and companionship have been the stuff of sci-fi for decades. But, with the unveiling this week of the Wall-E-like Asus Zenbo, this is the year that science-fiction could turn into science-fact, introducing home assistants that can talk to you, control your electronics and help out with the chores. Here are five that could be knocking at your door in the near future. Continue reading...

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Let us know what constructive stories, innovations or people you would like to read about in our new Half full seriesWhy is the news overwhelmingly bad? It’s a question that those reporting current affairs have been asked since the first town crier cleared his throat hundreds of years ago. The answer is banal: ordinary people leading quiet lives do not often make for thrilling stories.War, politics, crime, terrorism, destitution: all bring out extremes in human nature that make for compelling reading, stir up our compassion, anger or horror – all emotions that make us feel alive and engaged. Continue reading...

Listen to the first episode of our new technology and digital culture show – and let us know your thoughtsWelcome to the newest member of the Guardian’s podcast family: Chips with Everything, a new incarnation of our long-running technology show, hosted by the brilliant Leigh Alexander and Olly Mann.In putting this new show together, we’ve used the huge amount of responses we received to our call-to-action, when we asked Guardian podcast listeners for their ideas. Thank you for all the feedback – we listened carefully to what you had to say, and Chips with Everything is the result. Continue reading...

We venture below the line and ask the question – why are commenters so mean?We’ve all been there: you stumble on to a YouTube video of skateboarding cats, scroll down to the comment section, and find people arguing about Ukraine’s foreign policy. We don’t even act surprised when we see random, disruptive, often cruel comments anymore. In 2016, comment section trolls are truly an embedded component of the internet, and on this first episode of Chips With Everything, we’re asking why – what’s the point of being cruel below the line?We chat with Becky Gardiner, former comment editor at the Guardian, and Lucy Moon, a vlogger on YouTube. Continue reading...

From period trackers to a vaginal sound system, new devices imply that there is something wrong down there that needs to be monitored with constant vigilanceWomen have been tracking their menstrual cycles since at least the time of Saint Augustine, and yet when Apple introduced its much ballyhooed smartwatch and Health app in 2014, there was one glaring omission: a period tracker.

Video campaign in Germany, France, Italy, South Korea, Turkey and Japan is altered by company whose boss is openly gayApple has removed an image of a same-sex couple with their two babies from its Mother’s Day advertising in France, Germany, Italy, South Korea, Turkey and Japan.

Make unlocking your smartphone even smarter by preparing for those times when you have sticky or wet digitsMost top-end smartphones, and even some low-end models, come with a fingerprint scanner these days.

Publisher of La Presse, which is digital-only on weekdays, says readers are spending up to an hour a day reading its content - and ad sales are ‘strong’The Canadian daily newspaper that replaced its weekday newsprint issues with digital tablet editions in January is reporting an increased readership and “strong” ad sales.Guy Crevier, publisher of the Montreal-based La Presse, says there has been a 30% growth in readers across the week, including many new young readers.

The place to talk about games and other things that matterIt’s Wednesday – and it’s June! Continue reading...

Had Oracle won instead, a cascade of liability could have meant every Android phone owner in the world was breaching copyright lawThe Oracle v Google case matters to all of us, not just to the two software titans who have been battling over software copyright issues in the courtroom for the past six years. To understand why, it’s worth considering the cascade of liability that might have followed if Oracle had won the jury trial instead of Google.

Eliane Houlette said her team, which was responding to fraud allegations, worked offline and never mentioned company by nameThe French investigators who raided Google’s Paris offices last week have revealed the extreme security measures taken to keep their investigation hidden from the technology group, with teams working offline and never referring to the company by name.Codenamed operation Tulip, the investigation was named after the shell company in the Netherlands through which Google routes billions in revenues each year to avoid taxes on most of its overseas income. Continue reading...

All too often banks and cards companies do little to pursue fraudsters, and in many cases seem happy to blame those scammedThere was a grand bargain struck between individuals and banks when we began moving away from cash and towards electronic payments. Transactions would become faster, more efficient and more profitable for the banks, and in return individuals would be protected from fraud. That bargain is perilously close to falling apart.Financial Fraud Action UK (FFA UK) has issued its “definitive overview” of payment fraud in the UK, and the figures make for miserable reading. Total fraud jumped by more than a quarter in 2015, with 1.5m card accounts in Britain raided by scam merchants who stole more than £750m. Continue reading...

Video reportedly taken during concert in Verona, Italy, shows singer telling audience member ‘this isn’t a DVD, this is a real show’Singer Adele wants concertgoers to look at her with their own eyes instead of through a camera lens.A video posted by a fan on Twitter shows the 28-year-old British singer singling out a woman at a concert, asking her: “Could you stop filming me with that video camera? Because I’m really here in real life, you can enjoy it in real life rather than through your camera.” Continue reading...

A ‘flash jury’ of randomly selected users will be asked to decide whether flagged comments are abusive, spammy or OKPeriscope, Twitter’s live video streaming service, is experimenting with using a “flash jury” of users to decide whether abusive commenters deserve to be blocked from the site.The feature is one of the more inventive ways to tackle abusive comments, a problem which is particularly hard to manage on a platform where all comments are overlaid on a live broadcast and sometimes even over the face of the broadcaster. Continue reading...

Jess Phillips says leaving is a very real possibility after receiving more than 600 tweets about raping her in one nightA Labour MP has said she may leave Twitter after trolls sent her more than 600 messages in one night about raping her.Jess Phillips spoke out after a wave of abuse was launched against her, apparently after she replied to one person who said: “I wouldn’t even rape you.” Continue reading...

To tackle racism and xenophobia, big internet companies say they will try to review most notifications within 24 hoursAn online “code of conduct” aimed at fighting hate speech has been launched by the European Union in conjunction with four of the world’s biggest internet companies.Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Microsoft have all been involved in the creation of the code, which is particularly aimed at fighting racism and xenophobia across Europe. Such efforts are hampered by varying enforcement in different countries, something the code is tackling. Continue reading...

Voice-controlled companion, whose touchscreen face shows its emotions, can entertain kids and control the lightsThe Taiwanese electronics manufacture Asus has unveiled a home robot called Zenbo that can talk, control your home and provide assistance when needed – all for the cost of a top-end smartphone.The $599 (£410) robot rolls around on two wheels in the shape of a vacuum cleaner ball with cameras an oblong head extruding from the top with a colour touchscreen displaying a face with emotions. It is capable of independent movement, can respond to voice commands and has both entertainment protocols for keeping kids amused and home care systems to help look after older people. Continue reading...

The move illustrates how technology companies are doubling down on secure messaging while not wanting to get in the way of their other business objectives

Homophobic abuse is tweeted to singer’s 89 million followers and love messages sent to her arch rival Taylor SwiftTwitter’s top user and pop superstar Katy Perry was hacked on Monday, with her account sending abusive tweets to her 89 million followers and reportedly leaking an unreleased song.The tweets removed from Perry’s account page, the most followed on Twitter, beating Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift, sent homophobic messages to users and a “miss u baby” message to the singer’s arch rival Taylor Swift among others. Continue reading...

Company only now discloses scale of hack three years ago – shortly before purchase by Yahoo – as database of passwords is leakedPersonal information from more than 65m Tumblr accounts has been discovered for sale on the darknet.Tumblr disclosed the leak, which it says took place in early 2013, this month, but had not previously acknowledged the scale of the database that was compromised. Continue reading...

New iOS apps of May 2016 include Relay, Opera VPN and Spaces, and games include Bushido Bear, Hungry Shark World and GodFinger 2From custom-made maps to football stories for kids, via classical music, ninja bears, GIF keyboards and avian dating games, it’s been an interesting month for iPhone and iPad owners, with a range of new App Store releases to try.As ever, prices are correct at the time of writing, and if you see “IAP” it means the app uses in-app purchases. Looking for Android apps instead? Don’t post an angry comment – click through to the separate Best Android Apps roundups instead. Continue reading...

The place to talk about games and other things that matterTuesday! Continue reading...

Victorian police confiscated the bitcoins as proceeds of crime, although only registered bidders will find out who fromAbout $13m in bitcoins will be auctioned in Sydney in June after Victorian police confiscated the digital currency as proceeds of crime.Ernst & Young is running the process, which is only the second such bitcoin auction in the world after the US Marshals Service sold 144,000 bitcoins over a two-year period that had been confiscated from Ross Ulbricht, who founded the online drug bazaar Silk Road, the accountancy firm’s transaction partner, Adam Nikitins, said. Continue reading...

Facebook certainly does have a lot to answer for in the way it responds to sexist abuse (MPs lead national campaign against sexist abuse online, 26 May). I often get abusive, misogynistic messages on my Facebook page from complete strangers and these are frequently accompanied by penis pictures. When I complain, the response I get is that these messages do not contravene their “community standards”. Yet a tasteful photo of me breastfeeding my baby was removed, because Facebook doesn’t allow female nipples (male nipples are fine).

From the scenic grandeur of The Witcher and Rise of the Tomb Raider, to the handcrafted beauty of Ori and the Blind Forest, here are some of the most evocative visual experiences on Microsoft’s latest console Continue reading...

Many believe that porn is addictive, and that the endless stream of on-demand internet erotica makes real-life sexual experiences not stimulating enoughGregor Schmidinger was eight when he viewed his first porn magazine, found in a rubbish bin in his hometown in Austria. Aged 11, he had access to the internet at home, which he used to explore his burgeoning attraction to men. As the years progressed, he spent more time masturbating to increasingly hardcore – and in some cases violent – pornography online.“Once I’d climaxed I would look at the screen from a new perspective, and it was always weird or alienating,” says Schmidinger, now 31 and a film-maker. Continue reading...

Microsoft needs to fix battery life, screen and app issues if Windows 10 tablets are to compete with Android or the iPadIf you’re after a tablet in 2016, broadly speaking you have three choices: Android, Apple’s iPad or Microsoft’s Windows 10 tablets.While the first two are mobile born and bred, spawned from smartphone operating systems, Windows 10 comes from the other side of computing - the traditional desktop. Continue reading...

Top new Android apps of May 2016 include Dark Sky, Spaces and Sleepcast, while games include Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons and Bushido BearApril was another strong month for new Android apps and games: from hyper-local weather forecasts and clever alarm-clock apps to fraternal adventures and ninja bears. Here’s our latest monthly roundup of what’s worth a slot on your home screen.As ever, prices are correct at the time of writing, and if you see “IAP” that means the app uses in-app purchases. Looking for iPhone and iPad apps instead? There’s a separate monthly roundup for them. Continue reading...

Move to tax people who rent out properties through website as officials and residents express concerns over visitor impactIceland is poised to curb an Airbnb explosion as it tries to balance record tourist numbers with the protection of its spectacular unspoilt landscape and traditional lifestyle.Proposed legislation, which could become law this week, seeks to restrict the number of days residents can offer Airbnb rentals in their properties to 90 days a year before they must pay business tax. Continue reading...

Warhammer and Total War are rejuvenated in a joint endeavour, while Valkyria and Doom updates delight Continue reading...

The place to talk about games and other things that matterIt’s Bank Holiday Monday! Continue reading...

One of the most widely translated works in history has been given a 21st-century update with millennials in mindIn the beginning God created the heaven and the earth, and then some time later created emoji .One of the most widely translated works in history has been given a 21st-century update with the publication of the Emoji Bible. Continue reading...

While some applaud new tech to monitor a baby’s breathing, heart rate and temperature, others think it goes too far

Pontiff tells social media stars they create virtual circles to which followers belong, laying ‘paths of optimism and hope’Pope Francis demonstrated his digital credentials on Sunday by holding an intimate meeting with YouTube stars, throwing his support behind popular beauty videos and encouraging his celebrity guests to help young people create virtual identities.Immediately after the meeting Pope Francis addressed participants of an educational conference at the Vatican, attended by actors including Salma Hayek, Richard Gere and George Clooney, who was accompanied by his wife, human rights lawyer Amal Clooney. Continue reading...

When he’s not playing guitar for Queen, Brian May PhD is an astronomer and inventor. He talks about his latest gadget – an update on the Victorian stereoscopeBrian May is examining his hands. His fingernails are painted with a futuristic, silvery polish, but it’s his fingertips he’s focused on. They are, he informs me, covered with soft calluses. It’s hardly surprising – he’s just flown in from Barcelona, where he’s been on tour, thrashing out hits with Queen (with American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert on Freddie duties). But here in London, his guitar is nowhere in sight. Because it’s not a gig he’s eager to talk about: it’s the launch of his latest invention.Dubbed the “Owl VR Smartphone Kit”, his low-tech, adjustable plastic gadget looks like a cross between a kiddie’s shoe gauge and Google Cardboard. By attaching a smartphone to the back of its frame, using some tape, a metal plate and a magnet, the device can be used to view 360-degree videos – handy, since Queen are currently filming one of their own. But as May reveals, it can do far more than that. Slot in a card bearing two, almost identical, photographs and when you look through the lenses the image suddenly bounces forth in glorious 3D – a technique known as stereoscopy. With an app, he demonstrates, you can even make 3D versions of your smartphone shots. “This is a proper scientific instrument,” he says, with the confidence of a man who has a patent pending. Continue reading...

Fans will have to wait a few more weeks to finally explore the hugely anticipated PlayStation 4 space gameThe much anticipated Playstation 4 game No Man’s Sky has been delayed. One of Sony’s key releases for the year, the ambitious space exploration adventure will now be released on 10 August in the UK, several weeks later than planned.Rumours of a possible delay were first reported by gaming new site Kotaku on Wednesday, but Sony made no confirmation at the time. On Saturday morning the game’s creative director Sean Murray, posted on the official PlayStation blog, providing a new release date. Continue reading...

Unisex invariably means a saddle designed to accommodate testiclesThere are a great many reasons why I struggled to keep up with one of the world’s top women’s cycling teams when I chased them around Mallorca. Most were my own fault: my lack of athleticism and undisciplined diet, plus a swollen elbow after I fell off outside the hotel after not fixing on my pedals properly.But I also blame the Fizik Aliante saddle, an instrument of torture that comes with Eastway’s Emitter R4. It isn’t normal to struggle to pee after a 55-mile ride because your bits have been compacted tighter than a rush hour tube train. That’s my excuse for getting dropped by Dani King, anyway, when I joined the Olympic gold medallist and her Wiggle High5 team on a winter training camp. Continue reading...

New technology is helping alcoholics and casual drinkers alike monitor and manage their consumptionHow many units of alcohol do you drink each week? It’s a question most people stumble over.It’s not easy to monitor alcohol intake. So often a doctor asks and the patient tries to quickly calculate the recommended weekly units, before settling on a slightly lower figure. It’s an issue too for those who want to figure out whether they have reached drink-driving limits. But tech companies claim to have a solution to this problem. Continue reading...

Some in Silicon Valley have been threatening the ‘uppity’ press with rhetoric about journalists needing ‘to be taught lessons’. That’s not how it worksNo major American cultural force is more opposed to examination and more active in suppressing it today than Silicon Valley. So when it was revealed this week that Facebook board member Peter Thiel had been secretly bankrolling a lawsuit to inflict financial ruin on the news and gossip site Gawker, Silicon Valley cheered.The investor Vinod Khosla wrote on Twitter that the “press gets very uppity when challenged”. And that these bad journalists need “to be taught lessons”. Continue reading...

Apple wants to diversify beyond its signature product, and has considered buying the owner of HBO and Warner Bros movie studio – but that’s not all, folksWhen you’re the biggest company in the world, with a lead product that is arguably the most successful consumer electronic product of all time, what do you do for an encore?

Unique code signatures shared between malware used in multiple bank attacks suggest involvement of hacking group named ‘Lazarus’, Symantec saysSecurity researchers Symantec have found clues in the malware used to hack into international financial messaging network Swift, which suggest a link to the Sony Pictures hack in 2014.At least three banks have reported financial attacks based on the Swift hack. In February, Bangladesh’s central bank lost $81m (£55m) after fraudulent messages were sent through the network instructing a transfer to an account in the Philippines. In May, a Vietnamese bank came forward to say that it had been targeted by the hackers as well, and had managed to stop a $1m transfer. And later that month, Reuters revealed that a third bank, Ecuador’s Banco del Austro, had also fallen prey. Continue reading...