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Updated 2024-05-04 19:04
Best podcasts of the week: Guantánamo gets the Serial treatment
In this week's newsletter: The all-time great podcast returns for a fourth season, investigating the infamous detention camp. Plus: five of the best hip-hop podcasts Don't get Hear Here delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereSerial
‘This current phase sucks’: readers on fight to preserve DVDs and Blu-rays
Readers share their thoughts on maintaining the world physical media after a feature exploring the phenomenonAt home we have been getting into the habit, when we identify (a knack in itself!) a show or movie we are confident we will want to re-watch, of ordering an inexpensive DVD copy. Continue reading...
Airbnb host increased price by 39% after booking
We were forced to cancel when the host wanted thousands extra, but were still charged a feeMy daughter used my credit card to book a five-month stay using Airbnb after taking up an internship in Toronto. After the host accepted the booking, she got an email saying the price for the overall stay had increased by 4,000 - a further 39%.Panicked, and unable to afford the extra sum, she cancelled. Airbnb has taken a 1,962 fee, plus a further 682 for cleaning and taxes. As my daughter cancelled immediately, it is extremely unlikely that a booking was lost. Continue reading...
Victorian government department quits Elon Musk’s X, saying it’s no longer safe or productive
Department of Families, Fairness and Housing says break up is overdue' as more agencies expected to close accounts
Why didn’t New Zealand impose sanctions on China?
New Zealand did not follow the US and UK in imposing financial restrictions after accusing Beijing of links to cyber-attacksPoliticians, journalists and critics of Beijing were among those targeted by cyber-attacks run by groups backed by China, western intelligence services said this week.The separate cyber-attacks hit the US, UK and New Zealand - all members of the Five Eyes alliance. The network of five countries, which also includes Canada and Australia, share security related intelligence. Continue reading...
Amazon pours additional $2.75bn into AI startup Anthropic
Extra financing will bring technology giant's total investment in OpenAI rival to $4bnAmazon said on Wednesday it will pour an additional $2.75bn into Anthropic, bringing its total investment in the artificial intelligence startup to $4bn.The technology giant will maintain a minority stake in San Francisco-based Anthropic, a rival of ChatGPT maker OpenAI. Continue reading...
How can Donald Trump’s loss-making Truth Social be worth $9bn?
The rightwing social network's flotation, supported by fans of the ex-president, makes it look like part of the meme stock' phenomenon Business live - latest updatesDonald Trump's social network went public on Tuesday and quickly achieved a valuation of almost $8bn (6.3bn), a gain of more than 15% on its initial public offering (IPO) value. Shares rose again in volatile trading on Wednesday, rising 14% and valuing it at $9.6bn. That enormous success has raised questions, and not all of them are easy to answer. Continue reading...
Derek Shaw obituary
My husband, Derek Shaw, who has died aged 83, worked throughout his professional life in the field of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, a technology which has since become central to the use of MRI scanners.Derek worked initially for the hi-tech US company Varian Associates as an NMR specialist and product manager in the UK. Fascinated with the possibilities of this technology and its potential medical applications, in 1976 he wrote a book, Fourier Transform NMR Spectroscopy, as a guide to the theory and practice of NMR spectroscopy. Continue reading...
Hackers obtain patient data from NHS Dumfries and Galloway
Cyber-attack by Inc Ransom yielded data on at least a small number' of patients, health board saysA hacker group is in possession of at least a small number" of patients' data after a cyber-attack, NHS Dumfries and Galloway has said.Reports emerged on Wednesday of a post by the group Inc Ransom on its darknet blog, alleging it had three terabytes of data from NHS Scotland, although the Scottish government said the incident had been contained to the one health board. Continue reading...
Pushing Buttons: What makes Dragon’s Dogma 2 a fiery breath of fresh air
In this week's newsletter: Casting away all the tropes of today's open world games, Capcom's unforgiving, unpredictable RPG is a sequel unlike anything else Don't get Pushing Buttons delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereI love when a game properly captures me, to the extent that I'm thinking about it throughout the day while going about my real life. It doesn't happen very often these days, because I have played too many games in the past 30 years and am becoming immune to their most common spells. When it does happen, it's usually because a game does something I haven't seen before - like Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom last year, with its madcap contraptions. Or sometimes - as with Dragon's Dogma 2, which I am very much still playing after reviewing it last week - it's because it does something I have seen before but not for a very long time.In the 12 years between the original Dragon's Dogma and this sequel, the only game that has come close to recapturing its chaotic and stubbornly idiosyncratic brand of fantasy action role-playing was Elden Ring. This is a game in which you can screw up quests by faffing about for too long before pursuing your next objective, where a griffin can show up in the middle of an otherwise unexceptional journey through the countryside and claw you near-instantly to death, where the interdimensional being who serves as your travelling companion can contract a mysterious illness and unleash the apocalypse on your game save. There's only one save slot, so every decision you make matters. Makethe wrong one, and you have to live with it. Continue reading...
Meta and Google accused of restricting reproductive health information
Report claims posts on abortion and contraception have been deleted while misinformation on the feeds of social media users in Africa, Latin America and Asia has not been tackledMeta and Google are accused in a new report of obstructing information on abortion and reproductive healthcare across Africa, Latin America and Asia.MSI Reproductive Choices (formerly Marie Stopes International) and the Center for Countering Digital Hate claim the platforms are restricting local abortion providers from advertising, but failing to tackle misinformation that undermines public access to reproductive healthcare. Continue reading...
Atari 400 Mini review – a fascinating adventure in the land of 8-bit
Yes, it's a museum piece - but this mini Atari home console, reconfigured for modern gaming systems, offers a compelling retro experienceTo a kid growing up in the UK in the 1980s, the Atari 400 and 800 machines seemed impossibly glamorous. While most of my friends had Commodore 64s or ZX Spectrums (along with the occasional Amstrad or Acorn Electron), I only ever saw Atari computers on cool TV shows and movies, such as Videodrome and Police Story. Launched in 1979, these two models boasted an Antic video processor providing superior graphics for the era, as well as a sound chip named Pokey for improved audio. They were, like the Apple II, seminal machines for young game coders looking to create new types of experience beyond simple arcade conversions.Opening up the new Atari 400 Mini was, then, an oddly emotional experience. The latest nostalgic release from Retro Games is a nicely detailed facsimile of the original computer, featuring a non-functional version of its famed membrane keyboard in luscious 1970s beige, orange and brown, as well as four joystick ports along the base (now USB rather than the original Atari joystick port standard). The console comes with a new version of the classic Atari CX40 joystick, which subtly adds eight extra buttons, thereby allowing for the fact that Atari 400/800 games could call on the keyboard to provide extra input options. Continue reading...
Europe’s longest hyperloop test track revives futuristic tube transport hype
Operators hope newly opened Dutch track will help prove feasibility of high-speed shuttle systemThe longest hyperloop test track in Europe has opened, raising faint hopes once more that the maglev meets vacuum tube transport technology could be the future.Operators said the facility would help prove the hyperloop's feasibility, saying it could allow a 6,200-mile (10,000km) network of high-speed tubes to be in place around the continent by 2050. Continue reading...
AI ‘apocalypse’ could take away almost 8m jobs in UK, says report
Women, younger workers and lower paid are at most risk from artificial intelligence, says IPPR thinktankAlmost 8 million UK jobs could be lost to artificial intelligence in a jobs apocalypse", according to a report warning that women, younger workers and those on lower wages are at most risk from automation.The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) said that entry level, part-time and administrative jobs were most exposed to being replaced by AI under a worst-case scenario" for the rollout of new technologies in the next three to five years. Continue reading...
Foreign Office summons senior Chinese diplomat over ‘malicious cyber activity’
Beijing's charge d'affaires told that UK government will not tolerate threatening' cyber-attacksMinisters summoned a senior Chinese diplomat to the Foreign Office on Tuesday after accusing Beijing-backed hackers of a cyber-attack on the British elections watchdog and a surveillance operation on politicians.The department called in China's charge d'affaires and told him the UK would not tolerate threatening" cyber-attacks. Continue reading...
Twitter usage in US ‘fallen by a fifth’ since Elon Musk’s takeover
App users for social media site, rebranded as X, down by 23% since November 2022 according to Sensor TowerUse of Twitter in the US has slumped by more than a fifth since Elon Musk bought the site and rebranded it to X, according to data from app-monitoring company Sensor Tower.As of February 2024, the social network's daily app users in America had fallen by 23% since November 2022, just after Musk completed his takeover. Every other major social network experienced a reduction in the same period, but none by anywhere near X's drop in user numbers. Continue reading...
TechScape: Is the US calling time on Apple’s smartphone domination?
The tech giant fights regulators on both sides of the Atlantic, as the US government launches a grab-bag of accusations. Plus, Elon Musk's bad day in court Don't get TechScape delivered to your inbox? Sign up for the full article hereApple's problems have gone transatlantic. Even as it squabbles with the EU over the Digital Markets Act and nervously eyes the UK's passage of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers bill, the company's biggest fight is now back at home, after the US government launched what will likely be the antitrust case of the decade.From our story:The lawsuit, filed in federal court in New Jersey, alleges that Apple has monopoly power in the smartphone market and uses its control over the iPhone to engage in a broad, sustained, and illegal course of conduct". The complaint states that the case is about freeing smartphone markets" from Apple's anti-competitive practices, arguing that the company has thwarted innovation to maintain market dominance.Apple has maintained its power not because of its superiority, but because of its unlawful exclusionary behavior," the US attorney general, Merrick Garland, stated in a press conference on Thursday. Monopolies like Apple's threaten the free and fair markets upon which our economy is based." Continue reading...
Cyber-attacks linked to Chinese spy agencies are increasing, say analysts
Warning comes after UK and US announce sanctions against Chinese companies following mass hacking of UK dataCyber-attacks linked to Chinese intelligence agencies are increasing in capability and frequency as they seek to test foreign government responses, analysts have warned in the wake of revelations about a mass hacking of UK data.On Tuesday, the UK and US governments accused hacking group Advanced Persistent Threat 31 (APT 31), backed by China's government spy agency, of conducting a years-long cyber-attack campaign, targeting politicians, national security officials, journalists and businesses. The UK said the hackers had potentially gained access to information on tens of millions of UK voters held by the Electoral Commission, as well as for cyber-espionage targeting lawmakers who have been outspoken about threats from China.This article was amended on 27 March 2024 to correct the spelling of Che Chang's name Continue reading...
Instagram users to see less of what Meta deems ‘political’ content unless they opt in
The change to Instagram and Threads comes as the parent company also prepares to retire the news tab from Facebook in Australia and the USInstagram users will see less of what Meta deems to be political" content in their recommendations and feed suggestions unless they opt into it, in a change the company implemented in the past week.The change requires users to delve into their settings to specifically opt in to political content through their preferences and was first picked up by users on the platform in recent days, implementing a change first announced on 9 February.Sign up for Guardian Australia's free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Continue reading...
Tuesday briefing: Why the US and UK are going public with warnings about Chinese hacking
In today's newsletter: Information about 40 million UK voters was stolen by Chinese spies in a hack that also targeted elected officials. A cybersecurity experts walks us through whether these are isolated incidents, or the tip of a digital iceberg Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First EditionGood morning. You're probably not an MP or peer on the Inter-parliamentary Alliance on China (Ipac), so that part of yesterday's cyber-attack revelations needn't concern you excessively. If you are among the 40 million UK voters included on a register held by the Electoral Commission, though, I have bad news: the Chinese government has your personal details.Yesterday afternoon, deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden laid out sanctions in response to the attacks - in the case of the Electoral Commission hack, more than three years after it happened. In co-ordinated announcements, the US announced sanctions over a years-long campaign involving 10,000 malicious emails sent to politicians, journalists and businesses, and New Zealand said it had raised concerns with Beijing over an attack on its parliament in 2021.Israel-Gaza war | The UN security council has voted to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza for the first time after the US dropped a threat to veto, bringing Israel to near total isolation on the world stage. Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled a planned White House visit by two ministers, while the Palestinian envoy to the UN, Riyad Mansour, called the result a belated vote for humanity to prevail".US news | A New York court has handed Donald Trump a lifeline, reducing his $454m bond to $175m over the judgment against him in a huge fraud case. Separately, the judge overseeing the hush-money case against Trump involving the adult film star Stormy Daniels refused to delay the trial, setting a date for jury selection of 15 April.Garrick club | At least four senior judges, Sir Keith Lindblom, Sir Nicholas Cusworth, Sir Nicholas Lavender and Sir Ian Dove, have resigned from the men-only Garrick Club, the Judicial Office has said, as men in the legal profession come under increasing pressure over their close association with an organisation that has repeatedly blocked attempts to allow women to join.US news | Federal agents have raided properties in Los Angeles, Miami and New York that local news outlets have reported are tied to rapper and mogul Sean Diddy" Combs. US media reported that the searches were part of a sex trafficking investigation, though the exact reason for the raids remained unclear.Conservatives | Rishi Sunak is to face another tricky byelection after former Conservative backbencher Scott Benton resigned before the conclusion of a recall petition among his constituents. The Blackpool South MP was facing likely ejection from the Commons after being suspended for 35 days over his role in a lobbying scandal. Continue reading...
Does China spy on Britain? Of course. But we have more important things to discuss with them | Simon Jenkins
While diplomatic rows are inevitable, the priority is to keep channels open, and engage with Beijing about the climate crisisOnce upon a time Britain would have sent a gunboat up the Yangtze River. That would teach those Chinese a lesson. To hear some MPs talk about Beijing's espionage activities, you would think gunboats were already on their way.Of course, it is malicious and hurtful for a foreign state patently to hack into Britain's Electoral Commission and target senior parliamentarians - as the government on Monday claimed China did in 2021. It is equally malicious to fabricate MPs' emails and use a Commons researcher as an informant. No less evil is the culture of fear sown among Britain's 150,000 Chinese students by agents of Beijing, albeit tolerated by British universities greedy for money.Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
US and UK unveil sanctions against Chinese state-backed hackers over alleged ‘malicious’ attacks
The US alleges the individuals were working as a front for Beijing in an indictment and sanctions announcement
China cyber-attacks explained: who is behind the hacking operation against the US and UK?
Chinese hacking group APT 31 has been accused by UK and US officials of targeting critics of Beijing, while New Zealand's systems have also been attackedThe US and UK have imposed sanctions on individuals and groups that they say targeted politicians, journalists and critics of Beijing in an extensive cyber espionage campaign - allegedly operated by an arm of China's ministry of state security.The scale of the operation was revealed on Monday, although some of the attacks have been previously reported on. On Tuesday, New Zealand blamed state-sponsored" Chinese hackers for a 2021 cyber-attack that infiltrated sensitive government computer systems. Continue reading...
New Zealand parliament targeted in China-backed hack in 2021, spy agency says
China's NZ embassy denies involvement with the cyber-attack as fresh details provided in the wake of similar breaches in UK and USA group backed by the Chinese state targeted New Zealand government services in a cyber-attack in 2021, New Zealand's intelligence agency has said.The government and intelligence agency - the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) - confirmed the breach on Tuesday after the UK and the US accused China of similar attacks. Continue reading...
Tory MPs urge tougher action on China after cyber-attacks
Senior Tories say ministers not holding China to account after Beijing targeted elections watchdog and politiciansTory MPs have urged ministers to take a tougher approach towards China after the security services confirmed Beijing-backed hackers were responsible for a cyber-attack targeting the UK elections watchdog and a surveillance operation on British politicians.The Chinese ambassador will be summoned to explain his country's actions, which resulted in Beijing allegedly accessing the personal details of about 40 million voters, held by the Electoral Commission. Continue reading...
Chinese ‘state-affiliated’ organisations behind cyber-attacks on MPs and Electoral Commission, Dowden says – as it happened
Deputy PM says international partners, including the US, will also be making statements today about similar Chinese cyber-attacks. This live blog is closed
Labour tells China it will act on interference in UK democracy
Exclusive: Warning came at party's first public meeting with Chinese government since Keir Starmer became Labour leaderLabour has warned China that it will respond to any interference in UK democracy after the government announced fresh sanctions against hackers linked to Beijing.The warning came at the party's first public meeting with the Chinese government since Keir Starmer became Labour leader. Continue reading...
Chinese 'state-affiliated' organisations behind cyber-attacks, says Oliver Dowden – video
Oliver Dowden, the deputy prime minister, has said Chinese state-affiliated actors have been involved in two cyber-attacks on the UK, including the hacking of the Electoral Commission, and attacks aimed at parliamentarians. Dowden said the Foreign Office would summon China's ambassador to account for its actions
Judge dismisses ‘vapid’ Elon Musk lawsuit against group that cataloged racist content on X
Center for Countering Digital Hate has chronicled rise of racist, antisemitic and extremist content on X since Musk's acquisitionA judge in California on Monday dismissed the tech billionaire Elon Musk's lawsuit against the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a non-profit that has published reports chronicling the rise of racist, antisemitic and extremist content on X, formerly Twitter, since Musk's acquisition.The case was dismissed in accordance with the state's anti-Slapp law, which forbids nuisance lawsuits intended to punish the exercise of free speech. Continue reading...
A Chinese ‘wolf warrior’ impersonated me, says Iain Duncan Smith
Former Tory leader says China should be labelled a threat to UK security after alleged cyber-attackIain Duncan Smith has said he was impersonated by a pro-China wolf warrior" and has called for the country to be labelled a threat to UK security.The former Tory leader said on Monday that the wolf warrior", a term used for combative proponents of the Chinese government, had impersonated him and sent emails to politicians around the world suggesting he had changed his views about Beijing. Continue reading...
UK has 'very strong capabilities' to resist cyber-attacks, says Rishi Sunak – video
Rishi Sunak has restated the government's view that China represents an 'epoch-defining challenge', and said the UK has 'very strong' abilities to resist cyber-attacks. On a visit to Barrow-in-Furness, the prime minister said: 'When it comes to cyber, we have the National Cyber Security Centre, which is world leading. Indeed, when I'm out and about across the world, other leaders want to learn and talk to us because they believe that our capabilities in this country are very strong'
Revealed: a California city is training AI to spot homeless encampments
San Jose invited tech companies to mount cameras on a vehicle in what appears to be first-of-its-kind experimentFor the last several months, a city at the heart of Silicon Valley has been training artificial intelligence to recognize tents and cars with people living inside in what experts believe is the first experiment of its kind in the United States.Last July, San Jose issued an open invitation to technology companies to mount cameras on a municipal vehicle that began periodically driving through the city's district 10 in December, collecting footage of the streets and public spaces. The images are fed into computer vision software and used to train the companies' algorithms to detect the unwanted objects, according to interviews and documents the Guardian obtained through public records requests. Continue reading...
UK ‘slow to hold China to account’ for cyber-attacks against MPs and voters
As deputy PM expected to impose sanctions, head of international alliance says ministers have taken years to respondThe UK government has been too slow to respond to cyber-attacks by China, the head of an international group of parliamentarians focusing on the issue has said, ahead of expected new British sanctions against Beijing.Oliver Dowden, the deputy prime minister, is expected to announce the sanctions in the Commons on Monday, after what the UK says have been cyber-attacks against MPs and peers, as well as one targeting the Electoral Commission in which Beijing allegedly accessed the personal details of about 40 million voters. Continue reading...
Are electric cars too heavy for British roads, bridges and car parks?
In part eight of our series exploring myths surrounding EVs, we examine whether they will break our infrastructure
Details of millions of UK voters accessed by Chinese state, ministers will say
Deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden to update MPs on cyber-attacks by Beijing, some of whom may also have been targetsThe personal details of millions of voters are believed to have been accessed in an attack by China on Britain's democratic process, ministers will say.MPs and peers are thought to be among 43 people who the government looks set to confirm have been targeted by cyber-attacks backed by the Chinese state. The UK could impose sanctions on individuals believed to be involved in these acts of state-backed interference, one of which was a separate attack on the Electoral Commission in which Beijing accessed the personal details of about 40 million voters. Continue reading...
‘There’s a gay bar in my pocket!’: how 15 years of Grindr has affected gay communities and dating culture
Claiming to have created the concept of online dating, Grindr has been described as a lifeline for users in some countries but also a crash course' in objectification
Cash, cards, Venmo … don’t turn away customers who actually want to pay
Many businesses restrict the forms of payment they will accept - that's shortsighted and foolishSplitting the bill with Venmo, paying with your Starbucks app, tap-and-go with your phones - how we pay for things has changed forever. But while our options have changed, and are still changing, some small business owners seem determined to either keep us counting bills or jump feet first into their idea of the future.Case in point from my home town: the owner of the restaurant in South Philadelphia who doesn't accept credit cards" and instead forces their customers to use an ATM machine which - conveniently - charges a $4.50 fee to withdraw cash. Everyone has to do this because no one carries cash these days. Continue reading...
Generation Anxiety: smartphones have created a gen Z mental health crisis – but there are ways to fix it
Those born after 1995, argues Jonathan Haidt in his new book, were the first people in history to go through puberty with a portal to an alternative universe in their pockets - and the toll this has taken on their wellbeing has been devastatingSuppose that when your first child turned nine, a visionary billionaire whom you'd never met chose her to join the first permanent human settlement on Mars. Unbeknown to you, she had signed herself up for the mission because she loves outer space, and, besides, all of her friends have signed up. She begs you to let her go.You hear her desire, so before saying no, you agree at least to learn more. You learn that the reason they're recruiting children is because they will better adapt to the unusual conditions of Mars than adults. If children go through puberty and its associated growth spurt on Mars, their bodies will be permanently tailored to it, unlike settlers who come over as adults. Continue reading...
China targets group of MPs and peers with string of cyber-attacks
Deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden is expected to inform parliament on Monday of the attacksChina has targeted a group of MPs and peers at Westminster in a string of cyber-attacks, it has been reported.On Monday, the deputy prime minister, Oliver Dowden, is expected to inform parliament of the attacks. Continue reading...
Social media is making kids sad – and it’s bad news for democracy | Van Badham
Young people have been made to fear an outside world that is actually safer than the one they're exposed to onlineNo, the kids are NOT alright. And as our future depends on them, we have to do something about it.This week the US surgeon general, Dr Vivek Murthy, did democracy a great favour by stating what surely must have been obvious to literally everyone for some time: social media is negatively affecting the mental health of teens. Continue reading...
Ireland opens its arms to tech titans, yet shuts its eyes to failing public services | John Naughton
Tax revenues from Silicon Valley giants have made the republic wealthy on paper, but housing and healthcare crises persistIn 1956, a chap named TK Ken" Whitaker, an Irish civil servant who had trained as an economist, was appointed permanent secretary of the finance department in Dublin at the relatively young age of 39. From his vantage point at the top of his country's treasury, the view was bleak. The Irish republic was, economically and socially, in deep trouble. It had no natural resources, very little industry and was mired in a deep depression. Inflation and unemployment were high. Ireland's main export was its young people, who were fleeing in thousands every year, seeking work and better lives elsewhere. The proud dream of Irish independence had produced a poor, priest-ridden statelet on the brink of failure.Whitaker immediately put together a team of younger officials who did a critical analysis of the country's economic failings and came up with a set of policies for rescuing it. The resulting report, entitled First Programme for Economic Expansion, was published in November 1958, and after Sean Lemass was elected taoiseach (prime minister) in 1959, it became Ireland's strategy for survival. Continue reading...
Layoffs and AI sour annual Game Developers Conference: ‘The vibe is rancid’
GDC 2024 catered to the frustrated and those out of work, with cheaper tickets and a group screaming sessionDespite the sunny spring skies in San Francisco this week, the mood among nearly 30,000 video game industry professionals was gloomy as they descended upon the city for the yearly Game Developers Conference (GDC). Some were so frustrated with the state of affairs in their business that they organized a group screaming session in a park.Those of us who have a job and can afford to be here are going through the motions and trying to have a good time," said Maxi Molina, a game developer attending the event from Spain. But the vibe is rancid in the industry right now." Continue reading...
The rise and fall of Sam Bankman-Fried: an unrepentant ex-mogul faces down decades in prison
The former CEO of FTX, once a king of cryptocurrency, saw a swift reversal of his fortunes starting in November 2022In a downtown Manhattan courtroom on the morning of 28 March, tech wunderkind turned fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried, unrepentant even after trial and conviction, will finally learn his fate.Bankman-Fried, who founded the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, was found guilty on 2 November 2023 of seven counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to launder money. Continue reading...
‘I don’t try to take epic shots. I am interested in the day, the story, the event’: Craig Atkinson’s best phone picture
The pride and innocence' of the photographer's young son and niece are captured in this wedding day imageIt's surprising to Craig Atkinson that a decade has passed since he took this photograph. His eldest son Oscar stands to the left of the frame, his niece Emily to the right. Back then, they were five and four, excited young children preparing for the day'sfestivities.We were at a Chinese wedding at Tatton Hall in Cheshire; it was early autumn and Oscar and my other son, Hugo, two, who is in the centre, looking at his iPad, were pageboys. Hugo isstanding with my sister-in-law, Jade. It makes me feel nostalgic and sentimental." Continue reading...
What have we learned from week one of Mike Lynch’s US fraud trial?
The criminal trial over the $11bn sale of Autonomy to HP saw prosecutors calling him Dr Lynch' - and defense using Mike'At the height of his career, Mike Lynch - once the UK's leading tech entrepreneur, hailed as Britain's Bill Gates" - sold his software firm to a Silicon Valley giant in an $11bn (8.6bn) deal. Last Monday, more than a dozen years later, that deal became the centrepiece of a trial in San Francisco.Lynch has been charged with 16 counts of wire fraud, securities fraud and conspiracy by the US authorities, who claim that Hewlett-Packard's troubled acquisition of Lynch's Autonomy was built on lies. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in jail. He has pleaded not guilty. Continue reading...
How Facebook Messenger and Meta Pay are used to buy child sexual abuse material
Court documents and interviews detail the products' role in alleged exploitation - and how some payments go undetectedWhen police in Pennsylvania arrested 29-year-old Jennifer Louise Whelan in November 2022, they charged her with dozens of counts of serious crimes, including sex trafficking and indecent assault of three young children.One month earlier, police said they had discovered Whelan was using three children as young as six, all in her care, to produce child sex abuse material. She was allegedly selling and sending videos and photos to a customer over Facebook Messenger. She pleaded not guilty. Continue reading...
RollerCoaster Tycoon at 25: ‘It’s mind-blowing how it inspired me’
Real-world rollercoaster designers and the game's creator, Chris Sawyer, reflect on the impact of the primitive-looking theme park sim that became a late 90s iconI remember I would rush home from school just to play RollerCoaster Tycoon," recalls John Burton, a senior creative lead at Merlin Entertainments (the owner of UK-based theme parks including Alton Towers, Chessington World of Adventures, and Legoland Windsor) and the man designing the forthcoming 236ft (72-metre) drop Hyperia rollercoaster at Thorpe Park. I would then go to sleep dreaming I could become the next Walt Disney."When he reflects on the game, the adult Burton speaks with the excitement of a teenager on a sugar high. I learned so much about how rollercoaster systems work with their block zones, or even the little tricks of the trade at theme parks like adding side queues and strategically placed toilets," he continues, confirming my suspicion that the Jumanji-themed jungle world he helped to design for Chessington has what he calls subconscious similarities" to the classic PC game's Jolly Jungle scenario. If I have to travel to a theme park abroad for work, I still load up the original game on the plane and sketch out ideas. I never really stopped playing." Continue reading...
‘Huge breakthrough’ in Starbucks union talks – which other US firms will follow?
Coffee chain appears willing to come to the table, which could mean good news for Trader Joe's, Amazon and REI workersFor more than two years Starbucks has fought fiercely against unionization. Now the company appears willing to come to the bargaining table.Starbucks and its union made a surprise joint announcement in late February: they had agreed to seek a constructive path forward" on the future of organizing and collective bargaining". Continue reading...
Reddit shares soar on first day of public trading
Company stock price climbed nearly 70% from its IPO, with Conde Nast's parent company standing to make nearly $1.4bnSocial media platform Reddit's (RDDT.N) shares ended their first day of trading in New York up 48%, signaling that investor appetite for initial public offerings of promising yet loss-making companies could be returning.Reddit shares closed 48% above initial offer prices in the company's trading debut on Thursday, valuing the social media platform at more than $9bn in a closely watched opening. The stock peaked at $57.80 a share, up 70%, before dropping to $50.44 to close the day. Continue reading...
US government sues Apple in landmark iPhone monopoly lawsuit – video
The US government filed a sprawling antitrust case against Apple, alleging that the tech giant has illegally prevented competition by restricting access to its software and hardware. 'Apple has maintained its power not because of its superiority, but because of its unlawful exclusionary behavior,' said US attorney general Merrick Garland
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