Technology | The Guardian

Online retailer fined £65,000 and ordered to pay £60,000 costs for despatching batteries and aerosols for airmailAmazon UK has been found guilty and fined £65,000 for breaking aviation safety laws after repeatedly trying to send dangerous goods by airmail.A judge at Southwark crown court in London said on Friday that Amazon knew the rules, had been warned repeatedly, but had failed to take reasonable care. Although the risks from the goods sent for shipment by air were low, Judge Michael Grieve QC blamed the breaches on “systemic failure” at the online retailer. Continue reading...

Transport for London admits exempting English speakers from the test would disproportionately affect BAME applicantsAnyone hoping to drive a private-hire taxi in London could be forced to take a written English test after Transport for London admitted that exemptions for English speakers would hit black and minority ethnic people hardest.TfL is introducing new rules from 1 October requiring taxi drivers to pass English exams costing £200 to obtain or renew a private hire licence. Continue reading...

Shares in Twitter rose by 21% in early trading after CNBC reported the firm had ‘received expressions of interest from several technology or media companies’Twitter shares surged more than 20% on the New York stock exchange on Friday morning, following reports that the social media company has received takeover approaches from Google, Salesforce and other technology companies.

The ISPs, which outsourced their webmail to Yahoo, have yet to directly notify users whether their accounts are affectedMillions of BT and Sky customers are affected by the hack of half a billion Yahoo accounts, thanks to the internet service providers’ decisions to outsource their webmail hosting to the Californian technology firm, which revealed on Thursday that it was hacked in 2014.Related: Yahoo hack: what to do to protect your account Continue reading...

Users should log in to their account, change their password, as well as check for any signs of misuseIf you have a Yahoo account, it’s imperative you act quickly to ensure it, and your other internet services, are secured.Information including names, addresses, secret answers and passwords was stolen from Yahoo at some point in late 2014 and showed up for sale on the dark web in August this year. Yahoo says the “vast majority” of passwords were secured using an algorithm called bcrypt, which renders it impractically expensive for an attacker to try to break, but the company has not given any way of checking which passwords were in the minority not protected that way. Until they do, you should assume your password is unprotected, and act accordingly. Continue reading...

With fashion week coverage dominated by Gigi Hadid, the most powerful brands are now to be found walking on the catwalksThe most powerful women of the catwalk circuit are no longer to be found on the front row or in the industry boardrooms – but on the catwalks themselves. A tiny elite of models who have become social media superstars wield influence and commercial clout the like of which the supermodels of the 1990s could only have dreamed of.Milan fashion week has long been ruled by luxury brands, but this week a new brand leapfrogged Prada and Gucci to dominate coverage: that of 21-year-old Gigi Hadid, whose stratospheric rise in modelling is inseparable from the 23 million followers she has on Instagram. (To put this figure into perspective, consider that Donatella Versace has 858,000 followers.) This week Hadid, the star of MaxMara’s advertising campaign, walked in their catwalk show along with her 19-year-old sister Bella. The pair also starred on the catwalk for Fendi, designed by Karl Lagerfeld.

‘It doesn’t fit the normal intent’ of state-sponsored attacks, some experts say, pointing to the lack of detailed information from Yahoo about the hackIf Yahoo is to be believed in its assertion that a nation-state hacked into its network and made off with user data from 500m accounts, then there are a few obvious suspects, including China and Russia.However, Yahoo has not provided any detailed information about the attack, leading some security experts to raise questions over its origin. Why would nation-states be interested in or motivated to hack Yahoo? Continue reading...

Ad agencies voice concern as average viewing time is a key metric in deciding where to spend money onlineFacebook has admitted inflating the average time people spend watching videos for two years by failing to count people who watched for less than 3 seconds.According to the Wall Street Journal, ad agencies were first alerted to the problem when Facebook wrote a post in its Advertiser Help Centre saying it was introducing a new metric measuring time watched after realising that its previous measure only counting views lasting more than 3 seconds, the time a video must be seen to count as a view. Continue reading...

This week Mark Zuckerberg announced plans to ‘advance human potential’ and ‘promote’ equality. But he’s not the only tech billionaire in a Che Guevara shirtCapitalism is catechism in Silicon Valley. The civic religion is entrepreneurism and evangelism is a marketing tool. But for an industry that worships at the altars of the marketplace, the rhetoric of billionaires has gotten a bit confusing.Just this week, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced his latest plans to invest $3bn from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, an organization whose mission statement – “Our hopes for the future center on two ideas: advancing human potential and promoting equality” – would not sound out of place coming out of the mouth of a die-hard communist. Continue reading...

The company has confirmed that the breach took place in 2014 but its statement left pressing questions unansweredYahoo’s admission that the personal data of half a billion users has been stolen by “state-sponsored” hackers leaves pressing questions unanswered, according to security researchers.Details, including names, email addresses, phone numbers and security questions were taken from the company’s network in late 2014. Passwords were also taken, but in a “hashed” form, which prevents them from being immediately re-used, and the company believes that financial information held with it remains safe. Continue reading...

Facebook’s virtual reality headset creator is secret backer of a group dedicated to Donald Trump support through ‘meme magic’Palmer Luckey, the creator of Facebook’s Oculus Rift virtual reality headset, is the secret backer of a pro-Donald Trump organisation aiming to turn the tide of the US election through “meme magic” and “shitposting”.The group, Nimble America, was publicly unveiled last week on r/The_Donald, the portion of social news site Reddit dedicated to supporting the Republican candidate. In its introduction to the world, now deleted, a moderator wrote “What we’ve been able to accomplish here has been amazing and much bigger than any of us and certainly much bigger than Reddit. Continue reading...

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

Two years after the iPhone 6, should buyers upgrade to the waterproof, headphone socket-free – and most expensive - iPhone yet?The most eagerly awaited iPhone since the last one, the Apple’s iPhone 7 has arrived. Much has been said about its design, the absent headphone socket, and the fact that it’s now waterproof, but is it actually any good?Following on from the iPhone 6 was a tall order, which the iPhone 6S struggled to live up to, with fewer sales and less consumer enthusiasm. Two years on, the question is whether those iPhone 6 buyers will bite and upgrade to the most expensive iPhone yet, its price in the UK inflated thanks to the Brexit referendum result. Continue reading...

Details including names, passwords, email addresses, phone numbers and security questions were taken from the company’s network in late 2014Hackers stole the personal data associated with at least 500m Yahoo accounts, the Sunnyvale, California-based company confirmed on Thursday.

Secret Service voices concern after details emerge from alleged hack of White House contractor’s Gmail accountThe White House is looking into a cyber breach after what appeared to be a scan of first lady Michelle Obama’s passport was posted online.The fresh disclosures, which included emails to and from White House staff, raised further concerns about the security of sensitive systems following a string of breaches affecting government agencies, private companies and the Democratic National Committee. Though officials declined to say whether the disclosures were authentic, there were no immediate reasons to suspect they were not. Continue reading...

As explanations swirl in Washington for how tools were stolen, sources say an agent, an unsecured computer and Russian hackers are the focusA careless agent. A cache of hacking tools left on a remote and unsecured computer. A shadowy group of Russian hackers. A fire-sale on the deep web.This is the current focus of a inquiry into a cache of NSA exploits that were dumped on to public websites last month by a group calling itself the Shadow Brokers, four people with direct knowledge of the probe investigation told Reuters. Continue reading...

Airbnb is worth more than Hilton Hotels, but its controversial business model depends on local authorities allowing it to operate outside of hotel lawsSleeping in other people’s beds has turned out to be a goldmine for rental startup Airbnb. The controversial Silicon Valley company has raised another half a billion dollars from investors at a price that values the company at $30bn.The company is expected to file a notice with the securities and exchange commission (SEC) on Thursday, according to Fortune, which first reported the news. Continue reading...

Despite some clumsy partnerships with brands and scrappy tools, Snapchat’s most evangelistic users say this is the new platform for emerging talentA meeting of Snapchat evangelists held in the heart of London’s hipster Silicon Roundabout district could have been ripe for mockery. And there was a lot of social media buzzwordery, with popular Snapchatters, brands and ad agencies talking about how the social app is evolving.Most of the Snapchat users at SnapHappen – an independent event not organised by Snapchat itself – describe themselves as “storytellers” and “great artists”, even those whose stories are bro-tastic vlogs or top-five listicle videos, and whose art is often promotional content for brands. The first mention of “thinking out of the box” came after 10am, but it wasn’t the last unfortunate quote. Continue reading...

State law has prevented the electric vehicle manufacturer from selling cars without franchised dealers, arguing that it is ‘entitled to a vehicle dealer license’Tesla is to sue Michigan governor Rick Snyder and other state officials in federal court over the state’s refusal to allow the company to sell its luxury electric cars directly to customers.The suit at the US district court in Michigan comes days after the state rejected the electric vehicle manufacturer’s application to directly sell vehicles to consumers. Unlike other automakers, Tesla does not sell vehicles through franchised dealers. Tesla’s suit says it is seeking on an expedited basis an order that it is “entitled to a vehicle dealer license”. Continue reading...

Newspaper companies urge ministers to ‘ensure that online platforms operate within a framework that is fair, non-abusive and respectful of media plurality’Newspaper publishers have called on the government to curb the activities of search engines and social media websites.Through their trade body, the News Media Association (NMA), they delivered a briefing to ministers on Thursday about their concerns. Continue reading...

This new NPR podcast tells the story of how modest entrepreneurs Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger came up with one of the fastest-growing apps of all timeInstagram is one of those modern day inventions that nobody knew they wanted until it was there. In NPR’s brilliant new podcast, How I Built This, Guy Raz talks to Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, the two men responsible for bringing the ability to put a filter on your smashed avocado to the masses.“I think the best thing for any entrepreneur is failure,” says Systrom, whose road to success sounds like something out of a Douglas Coupland-esque fairytale. Working as a travel agent by day and learning to code by night, he came up with the idea for a check-in app, Burbn. After mingling with investors in a bar, he secured half a million dollars and found someone with a “shared interest in tinkering”: Krieger. “My future flashed before my eyes talking to Kevin,” he says. Continue reading...

Couple plans to invest $3bn over next decade to help scientists develop and utilise tools such as artificial intelligence and blood monitors to treat illnessesMark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, have laid out plans to invest $3bn over the next 10 years with the not insignificant goal of tackling all diseases.“Can we cure, prevent or manage all disease by the end of this century?” asked Zuckerberg, speaking in front of a packed lecture theater at the University of California, San Francisco’s (UCSF) William J Rutter Center. Continue reading...

Variable State’s title offers a different way of storytelling, but relies heavily on unrelatable and abstract imageryLike all art, gaming is full of copycats. First-person shooters used to be known as “Doom clones”. There are probably as many match-3 games as there are planets in No Man’s Sky. But some games are less copied than others, even when they impress critics and inspire a cult following. So it’s good to see a new game that’s unabashedly inspired by Blendo Games’ Thirty Flights of Loving.Virginia may be longer than Thirty Flights, clocking in at about the length of a film, but it’s similar in form. It’s played in first-person, though the first scene begins with the player character in front of a mirror so you can see that she’s a woman of colour: Anne Tarver, newly appointed to the FBI. You play through a week in her life in the early 90s, as she and her partner Maria Halperin investigate the case of a missing child, in a series of short scenes. Continue reading...

Project focusing on tackling social issues and encouraging tolerance to feature an initial six YouTubers from around the world

Chinese drivers use zombie-like profile pictures in scam to trick users into paying a cancellation feeChina has a so-called “ghost driver” problem, with Uber passengers being scammed out of rides and money, fearful of being picked up by what looks like a zombie.

As smart toys gain popularity, many are hoping that when technology becomes less visible play will come to the fore

Mobile telecoms firm will halt 140 years of manufacturing in home country as part of cost cuts, according to Swedish mediaMobile telecoms company Ericsson is reportedly planning to close the last of its Swedish manufacturing sites as part of planned savings, cutting about 3,000 jobs and ending 140 years of production in its home country.

Ruth is upset because she’s receiving unwanted emails at Yahoo Mail and the firm isn’t helping. Is there anything she can do?For some time now, I have been receiving from five to 20 unwanted “adult” emails per day. I followed Yahoo’s advice on how to block these emails, but I still am receiving them. I contacted Yahoo again, but within the blink of an eye, I received a standard response email stating that my case was closed. I have also emailed the CEO of Yahoo UK, and I am angry with the complete indifference that Yahoo has shown.How can I stop these emails? I was thinking of sending them back to the sender, but I’m wondering if it will have any impact. Ruth Continue reading...

The ex-politician asked her to undress and masturbate over video chat, as well as engage in rape fantasies among plethora of erotic exchanges, Daily Mail reportsDisgraced former US congressman Anthony Weiner, whose career nosedived after he was caught sending sexually explicit texts and images to young women while he was still married, has allegedly spent several months this year in an online, highly explicit relationship with a 15-year-old girl, according to a new report.

Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan unveil plan to spend more than $3bn over 10 years to ‘cure, prevent or manage all disease within our children’s lifetime’. Investments will include a bioscience research centre, plans for a microchip to diagnose diseases, continuous bloodstream monitoring and a map of cell types in the body. Continue reading...

Jobs advertised on sites such as as Freelancer.com and PeoplePerHour leapt by 14% since May, says Online Labour indexThe number of jobs in the online gig economy advertised by UK employers has leapt by 14% since May, according to a new index.There has been a rapid increase in the use of online platforms by companies and individuals who want to engage remote workers for piecemeal, short-term or project-based work delivered over the internet. Continue reading...

Rumoured takeover of F1 team owner would be Apple’s biggest deal since it bought Beats headphones in 2014Apple has been linked with a shock £1.5bn deal to buy McLaren Technology Group, the Formula One team owner and supercar maker.

Margrethe Vestager is on a US charm offensive, making the case about recovering alleged unpaid taxes – but she has been met with more offense than charmIn the wake of last month’s controversial decision by the European Commission to seek “recovery of illegal state aid” for alleged unpaid taxes in Ireland from Apple of up to €13bn – plus interest – the European competition commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, went to the United States this week on a “charm offensive” to make her case to government officials, lawmakers and trade officials.Vestager met with US treasury secretary Jacob Lew, had a closed-door session with members of the US Senate finance committee, and spoke at the Global Antitrust Enforcement Symposium at Georgetown University, where she gave a vigorous defense of the EC’s decision. Continue reading...

Recruitment revamp will mix gaming with video interviews in attempt to limit unconscious bias in selection processUnilever has begun using mobile gaming to recruit staff, with the aim of speeding up recruitment, lowering costs and promoting diversity.The consumer goods giant, whose products range from Dove soap to Flora margarine and Marmite, plans to launch the process in the UK after introducing it in parts of Asia and the US. The British-Dutch company received 250,000 applications from graduates globally last year. Continue reading...

The Formula 1 and supercar manufacturer has expertise to turn prototype into product, just what Apple needs to get its self-driving car project back on the roadApple’s possible acquisition of McLaren Technology Group, first reported in the Financial Times, could be just what the company’s troubled self-driving car effort, code-named Project Titan, needs to get back on track.The loss-making British automotive group is far more than just a Formula 1 team and supercar manufacturer. It has a tradition for innovation stretching back decades, including the first carbon fibre car in Formula 1 and the first carbon fibre-bodied road car, the McLaren F1. Continue reading...

NHS waiting lists | Jeremy Corbyn’s nuclear stance | Drivers using mobiles | Cryptic crosswordAs I read your article about waiting lists of up to 467 days for cataract removal on the NHS (21 September), a circular arrived through my door offering cataract operations within two weeks from private healthcare provider Nuffield Health. Could the two be related, I wonder?

Your leader (20 September) is wrong to suggest that drivers who use the Uber app in London are not regulated. All UK drivers are licensed by the local authority and must have commercial insurance in place. In the capital, this process includes going through the same enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check as teachers and black cab drivers, a medical assessment and a map reading test.What we object to is Transport for London piling unnecessary extra costs on to private hire drivers that won’t apply to black cab drivers, such as written English exams costing £200. These new rules threaten the livelihoods of thousands of drivers. Continue reading...

Brussels plans to scrap 90-day limit on free roaming after outcry from members of European parliamentConsumers across Europe should be able to pay the same for using their mobile phones abroad as they do in their home country for an unlimited number of days, under plans being debated by the European commission as it tries to abolish roaming charges.

We all know the feeling that comes the morning after an ill-advised message. When I Think About You I Text Myself provides an artful solutionIt’s late. You’re a little worse for wear. And feeling nostalgic.You know that what you really shouldn’t do now is send a text, yet the more you try to talk yourself out of it, the worse the urge gets. Continue reading...

A Silicon Valley apartment complex wants to attract high-income tenants who work at top tech firms – but critics ask, what is the human cost?The recent eviction notice that Laura Hernandez and her husband received at their one-bedroom apartment in Silicon Valley did not say why they were being kicked out.But executives at Trion Properties, a private equity firm that recently purchased their building, have made it unusually clear that they want a different kind of tenant – high-paid technology workers at the nearby headquarters of Facebook, which is planning a large campus expansion. Continue reading...

Coalition of officials and advocacy groups wants to return authority over domestic spying to townships and cities that legally oversee police departmentsLocal officials in 11 cities around the US launched a campaign on Wednesday to crack down on the unsanctioned police use of surveillance equipment, especially devices that imitate cellphone towers.

Google said Allo would only store user data ‘transiently’ – but reports suggest it has rolled back on the promise in return for better performanceGoogle’s new messaging app, Allo, is just a bit snoopier than the company promised it would be back in May.The app is already viewed with suspicion by many privacy advocates, because its integration with Google’s new AI assistant (called, imaginatively, Assistant) requires messages to be sent without end-to-end encryption on by default. That means Google’s Assistant can read your messages, and provide contextual aid – but it also means Google can read them, and so too can law enforcement, national security and anyone else with a valid warrant. Continue reading...

With the release of the virtual reality system in the UK we’d like to hear your reviews

AJ Odudu told to mark future similar Twitter posts with #ad to make it clear they are marketing

The business of selling spring and foam was once a staid affair. Now firms such as Simba, Casper and Eve are taking cues from – and sharing investors with – Twitter and SnapchatIf you’ve glanced at the ads for Simba, Eve or Casper, you’d be forgiven for thinking they were flogging some kind of new gadget. They have the aesthetic of tech startups everywhere, tout the research and development that went into their sparkly new products, and offer eye-catching, venture capital-funded deals. If you look more closely, however, you’ll see they’re actually selling mattresses.But why would companies selling foam, springs and fabric be posturing as Silicon Valley brands? The answer is mattress-selling has changed. Continue reading...

The cyber hackers are trying to conflate athletes’ therapeutic use drug exemptions with Russian state-sponsored doping. They do not amount to a ‘licence to dope’We live in an age when many Olympic and elite sporting feats are greeted with suspicion. Consciously or not, when something spectacular is achieved, there lingers scepticism. The seed of doubt has already been sown in the minds of many observers thanks to the misdemeanours of those that have gone before.Incidents of doping become conflated. Some perceive that everyone must be cheating. Arguments are made in favour of doping deregulation: scrap rules regarding banned substances and permit a free-for-all, to ensure a level playing field across sport. Continue reading...

Research shows a simple diet and exercise plan is more effective weight loss strategy than using Fitbit and Jawbone devicesThey have become the must-have for fitness fans but wearable gadgets that track users’ physical activity may not help people lose weight, a new study has found.Instead of motivating users to do more exercise over the day, the two-year survey found the devices were actually less effective at encouraging people to lose weight than simply following a diet and exercise plan. Continue reading...

Apparent error by a regime tech worker gave the world a rare glimpse into the few online sources of information availableThe internet is awash with news and comment about North Korea, from its nuclear tests to speculation about the health of its leader, Kim Jong-un. But its own contribution to the world wide web is tiny, according to a leak that revealed the country has just 28 registered domains.

Made of elastic spangles, this lightweight, ambidextrous glove can repel the sharpest of kitchen implements. But don’t we want a bit of skin in the game?The Microplane cut-resistant glove (£14.95, John Lewis) is a synthetic-knit hand cover. Flexible fibres withstand cutting action, protecting tactile members within. Continue reading...

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