Funds would be used to create holding company for 26-year-old's growing empire of video and food businessesThe world's biggest YouTube star, MrBeast, is planning to raise hundreds of millions of dollars in a move that would reportedly value his company at roughly $5bn (3.9bn).The YouTuber, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, is said to have spoken with several wealthy individuals and financial firms about taking part in the investment round. Continue reading...
From the cutest postapocalyptic world to multiplayer mayhem and a modern family classic, here are the Switch's must-play gamesWhen we think of Nintendo we picture serene and cosy cartoon adventures filled with cute creatures and lovable Italian stereotypes. But while there is plenty of Mario on the Switch, the console offers a diverse range of delights for newcomers and longtime gaming veterans. Here are the 15 essentials. Continue reading...
In 1935, Derek Harris was born - and so was the K6 red phone box. Now, Harris is spending his 90th year ensuring this beloved local facility isn't lostThe battleground at the heart of a struggle between an 89-year-old man and a multi-billion pound multinational is a small junction in a Norfolk village, where a red phone box stands. And at the red phone box, sheltering from the wind, is Derek Harris. Last month, he learned that BT (formerly British Telecom) was threatening to close the phone box in the village of Sharrington, where he has lived for 50 years, when he saw it on the agenda of the parish council meeting. I thought: I'd better do something about this,'" says Harris.He has described it as a David and Goliath" campaign. It is that, and - as becomes clear on this sunlit but biting February day - so much more. We will talk mortality and reprieves, heritage and value. I'll leave with a renewed sense of how it's possible to feel real affection for an inanimate object, and why having a mission matters. Continue reading...
The US agency said it refers to this specific North Korean malicious cyber activity as TraderTraitor'North Korea was behind the theft of approximately $1.5bn in virtual assets from a cryptocurrency exchange, the FBI has said, in what is being described as the biggest heist in history.The haul, which reportedly has since lost some of its value, exceeded the previous record sum of $1bn stolen by the dictator Saddam Hussein from Iraq's central bank before the 2003 war, and underlines the North's growing expertise in cybercrime. Continue reading...
Investors were eyeing the firm for signs of slowing demand after revelation high-end chips not necessary, but found fewNvidia surpassed investor expectations for the fourth quarter of 2024 with a 78% jump in revenue year over year.The company reported $39.3bn in revenue, beating analyst projections of $38.25bn. It also reported $0.89 in earnings a share on Wednesday, beating expectations of $0.84. Continue reading...
Special adviser showed instinctive feel for authoritarianism as he addressed the president's first full cabinet meetingOn Tuesday, just over a mile from the White House, the classicist Mary Beard spoke to an audience about Roman emperors. An autocrat is somebody who kills you when he's being his most generous," she remarked. You go to dinner, you think, wow, this is wonderful! But the generosity of the autocrat is always potentially lethal."On Wednesday, Donald Trump held his first full cabinet meeting. The mood was warm and convivial and, some might say, generous. Housing secretary Scott Turner offered a prayer that included: Thank you, God, for President Trump." Continue reading...
Cross-party committees urge ministers to drop plans to force creators to opt out of works being used to train AITwo cross-party committees of MPs have urged the government to prioritise ensuring that creators are fairly remunerated for their creative work over making it easy to train artificial intelligence models.The MPs argued there needed to be more transparency around the vast amounts of data used to train generative AI models, and urged the government not to press ahead with plans to require creators to opt out of having their data used. Continue reading...
This attempt to discover the identity of the cryptocurrency's originator is clearly a labour of love. But all the information is old and it's so padded out it's the TV equivalent of a Zoom call that could have been an emailWho is Satoshi Nakamoto? It's a mystery that has vexed the internet since long before crypto went mainstream, via Silicon Valley bros and that weird period where celebrities got really into NFTs. Finding out the identity of the person who designed bitcoin - the decentralised, multitrillion-dollar currency - would be a big (and potentially dangerous) deal. Think WikiLeaks, if Julian Assange was also a potential kidnapping target with a handsome digital ransom fee. It is also - you may be unsurprised to hear - a mystery that this digital two-parter from Channel 4 does not get to the bottom of. At the outset, its journalist host, Gabriel Gatehouse (known for the BBC's Trump podcast, The Coming Storm), warns viewers that: The film you're about to watch - in fact, this whole series - consists almost entirely of middle-aged white guys talking about tech", as their middle-aged, white-guy faces flash up on screen. That wouldn't be so much of an issue if any of these cypherpunk" pioneers - or Gatehouse himself - had anything to say that hadn't already been debunked on Reddit.It's not the interviewees' fault. Gatehouse blames a possible omerta code for their silence, but with Satoshi potentially a target for all manner of cartels, criminals and governments, why would any of these computer scientists - namely fellow Briton Adam Back, who ducks and dives away from Gatehouse at a conference in Miami - give anything away? In lieu of revelations, we get an Adam Curtis-inspired visual treatment to distract us - all film noir clips juxtaposed with old cartoons and animations of faceless automatons marching in lockstep. Continue reading...
Its investment in indie darlings and big-name talent suggested the streamer wanted big stakes in the gaming industry, but layoffs, lousy ties-in and leadership changes suggest that is changingWhen Netflix first started adding video games to its huge catalogue of streaming TV shows and films, it did so quietly. In 2021, after releasing an impressive experiment with the idea of interactive film in Black Mirror: Bandersnatch in 2018 and a free Stranger Things game in 2019, Netflix began expanding more fully into interactive entertainment.The streamer's gaming offering, for a long time, was its best-kept secret. Whoever was running it really had an eye for quality: award-winningly brilliant and relatively little-known indie games comprised the majority of its catalogue, alongside decent licensed games based on everything from The Queen's Gambit to the reality dating show Too Hot to Handle. Subscribers could play games such as Before Your Eyes, a brief and touching story about a life cut short; Spiritfarer, about guiding lost souls to rest and Into the Breach, a superb sci-fi strategy game with robots v aliens. The company bought or invested in several game studios known for making critically acclaimed work, including London-based Ustwo games (which was behind Monument Valley). It also established a studio in California to work on blockbuster games, staffed by veteran developers. Continue reading...
Government employees fight the Trump administration's chaos by organizing and publishing information on BlueskyAfter seeing Elon Musk's X post on Saturday afternoon about an email that would soon land in the inboxes of 2.3 million federal employees asking them to list five things they did the week before, a clandestine network of employees and contractors at dozens of federal agencies began talking on an encrypted app about how to respond.Employees on a four-day, 10-hours-a-day schedule wouldn't even see the email until Tuesday - past the deadline for responding - some noted. There was also a bit of snark: bonus points to anyone who responds that they spent their government subsidy on hookers and blow," one worker said. Continue reading...
Tech company blames phonetic overlap' for problem where US president's name appearsApple has promised to fix a bug in its iPhone automatic dictation tool after some users reported it had suggested to them Trump" when they said the word racist".The glitch was first highlighted in a viral post on TikTok, when the speech-to-text tool sometimes briefly flashed up the word Trump" when they said racist", and was later repeated by others on social media. Continue reading...
by Sally Weale Education correspondent on (#6VHEX)
Survey of 1,000 students shows explosive increase' in use of generative AI in particular over past 12 monthsBritish universities have been warned to stress-test" all assessments after new research revealed almost all" undergraduates are using generative artificial intelligence (genAI) in their studies.A survey of 1,000 students - both domestic and international - found there had been an explosive increase" in the use of genAI in the past 12 months. Almost nine out of 10 (88%) in the 2025 poll said they used tools such as ChatGPT for their assessments, up from 53% last year. Continue reading...
Decision to shutter development studios comes as gamers cut back on new purchases and instead opt for proven titlesWarner Bros Discovery is shutting down three of its video game development studios in a move aimed at boosting profitability for its gaming division amid a sluggish recovery in the market, a spokesperson for the company's games unit said on Tuesday.The studios to be closed are Player First Games, WB Games San Diego and Monolith Productions. Development on Monolith's Wonder Woman game will also halt, following the shuttering. Continue reading...
The White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said more than 1 million US federal employees responded to an email sent by Elon Musk's Department of government efficiency asking them to list five things they had accomplished in the last week. 'It took me about a minute and a half to think of five things I did last week. I do five things in about 10 minutes, and all federal workers should be working at the same pace that President Trump is working,' said Leavitt. She added that a new email was being sent threatening employees that they will be fired if they don't respond
Vote vindicates tech company's decision to uphold diversity initiatives as other firms give into pressure from presidentApple shareholders voted down an attempt to pressure the technology company into yielding to Donald Trump's push to scrub corporate programs designed to diversify its workforce.A proposal drafted by the National Center for Public Policy Research - a self-described conservative thinktank - urged Apple to follow a litany of high-profile companies that have retreated from diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives currently in the Trump administration's crosshairs. Continue reading...
Barney Ronay on Arne Slot | Church of England | Tech revolution | Too many questions | Last word on school reports?Last month, Barney Ronay said Liverpool's manager, Arne Slot, had the look of a prosperous provincial butcher here to pick up a civic award". This month (23 February), he said Slot had the air of a friendly neighbourhood greengrocer who juggles apples on his forearm". Nextmonth, the jolly baker?
Tech billionaire, a close adviser to the US president, is a vocal supporter of Germany's far-right AfD partySales of new Tesla cars almost halved in Europe last month, indicating waning demand for the US carmaker's vehicles as its chief executive Elon Musk intervened repeatedly in the politics on both sides of the Atlantic.The Texas-based carmaker sold 9,945 vehicles in Europe in January, down 45% from last year's 18,161, according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA). Tesla's share of the market dropped to 1% from 1.8%. Continue reading...
Fickle financial dealings leave a man and his friends in debt, prompting them to go in search of the slippery crypto king responsible and hold him to accountThe opening crawl for this timely, acute thriller proclaims it's a Steven Soderbergh presentation, although that's the only place that the veteran film-maker's name crops up in the credits. No doubt kudos here should mostly be due to director Cutter Hodierne and screenwriter John Hibey, as well as their crew and cast, but it's tempting to sense a light Soderberghian touch in Cold Wallet's blackly comic look at how cryptocurrency eats the soul of all who meddle in its black arts.Charismatic Raul Castillo stars as protagonist Billy, a bit of a screw-up who is neck deep in a crypto called - tellingly for those aware of the history of bubble stocks - Tulip. Hoping to cash out enough to buy a house so he can gain better access to his daughter who lives with his bitter ex-wife (Zoe Winters from Succession), Billy is the proverbial this close to his goal when the currency suddenly tanks after reports of the sudden death of its founder. Now, Billy finds he actually owes money. The same goes for his good friend, hippy-jock Dom (Tony Cavalero), who Billy talked into investing in Tulip and is now at risk of losing his gym business. Continue reading...
Recordings of empty studios represent impact on musicians of UK's plans to let AI train on their work without permissionMore than 1,000 musicians, including Kate Bush, Damon Albarn and Annie Lennox, have released a silent album in protest against UK government plans to let artificial intelligence companies use copyright-protected work without permission, as a celebrity backlash builds against the proposals.The recordings of dormant music studios and performance spaces, called Is This What We Want?, are being released as leading cultural figures warn livelihoods are under threat from proposed changes to copyright law. Continue reading...
Parliamentary petition launched due to billionaire's link to Trump, who has repeatedly threatened to conquer CanadaMore than 200,000 people from Canada have signed a parliamentary petition calling for their country to strip Elon Musk's Canadian citizenship because of the tech billionaire's alliance with Donald Trump, who has spent his second US presidency repeatedly threatening to conquer its independent neighbor to the north and turn it into its 51st state.The British Columbia author Qualia Reed launched the petition in Canada's House of Commons, where it was sponsored by the New Democrat parliamentary member and avowed Musk critic Charlie Angus, as the Canadian Press first reported over the weekend. Continue reading...
Holmes, who is serving nine years, attempted to overturn conviction over multimillion-dollar investor fraud scandalA US court upheld the conviction of the Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes for defrauding investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars while operating her failed blood-testing startup, once valued at $9bn, rejecting her multi-year appeal. The court also upheld the conviction of Ramesh Sunny" Balwani, once Holmes's romantic partner and president of Theranos.A three-judge panel for the 9th US circuit court of appeals in San Francisco rejected claims of legal errors at their separate trials held in 2022. Continue reading...
Spending ranges from new AI server factory in Texas to film and TV content and may add 20,000 jobsApple announced Monday it would invest $500bn in the US in the next four years that would include a giant factory in Texas for artificial intelligence servers and add about 20,000 research and development jobs across the country.The move comes on the heels of reports that the Apple CEO, Tim Cook, met Donald Trump last week. Many of Apple's products that are assembled in China and imported to the US could face 10% tariffs introduced by the White House earlier this month, though the iPhone maker secured some waivers from China tariffs during the first Trump administration. Continue reading...
The Last Week Tonight host looked at content moderation and how Mark Zuckerberg has bent to Trump's willJohn Oliver took aim at Mark Zuckerberg and the world of content moderation in this week's episode of Last Week Tonight.The host of the HBO series looked at just how much the tech industry seemed to swing toward Trump" since the election last year. Continue reading...
Many start their studies hoping to find friends, themselves and intellectual stimulation. More and more are finding they've been sold something elseWhen Mai* started studying psychology in mid-2019, she looked forward to making the trip to the university for her tutorials, where she'd have lively conversations with classmates as they grappled with new ideas.But her excitement turned to dread when her face-to-face tutorials were swapped for Zoom meetings in 2020.Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads Continue reading...
Despite its early detractors at Sega, the legendary driving game was released to great success and millions of salesKenji Kanno, director of Sega's legendary driving game Crazy Taxi, remembers the exact moment he knew the game had made a seismic impression. I was going to Las Vegas for promotional work," he says. I got into the taxi and the driver drove me very fast, arriving at my destination quickly. At the end, he laughed and said: I am the real Crazy Taxi!' It was a strange experience."Initially released in arcades, the zany, pop-punk drive-em'-up celebrates its 25th anniversary this month. Crazy Taxi was an addictive coin-swallowing thrill ride, the game's eccentric cabbies continually yelling Ready to have some fun?" and Time to make some crazy money!" in the faces of perturbed-looking normies who simply wish to be chauffeured over to Pizza Hut. Driving green-haired Axel's yellow 1960 Cadillac Eldorado so fast that its front bumper smashed into sunny San Francisco's concrete hills was a memorable experience for all who played. (The Ford Mustang-driving Gena was my mum's character of choice.) Continue reading...
Bybit platform appeals to brightest minds' in cybersecurity for help after attacker transfers Ethereum currencyThe cryptocurrency exchange Bybit has called on the brightest minds" in cybersecurity to help it recover $1.5bn (1.2bn) stolen by hackers in what is thought to be the biggest single digital theft in history.The Dubai-based crypto platform said an attacker gained control of a wallet of Ethereum, one of the most popular digital currencies after bitcoin, and transferred the contents to an unknown address. Continue reading...
From bullets to rabbits to wand vibrators, our sexual wellbeing expert demystifies what's available, and rates her top 16 models (she tested 53)I could write here about how almost a fifth of women surveyed by Durex said using a sex toy was the most dependable way for them to climax. Or I could point out how Kinsey Institute research suggests regular masturbation can help relieve and prevent symptoms of menopause, such as vaginal atrophy. I could even tell you that studies demonstrate a significant correlation between intimate toy ownership and greater satisfaction - not only with sex but also with life itself.But the potted version is that orgasms and erotic pleasure are glorious, and top-class toys can help you savour more of both. So here are the best vibrators available. Scroll to the bottom to find out how I selected these vibrators from the 53 I tested for this piece.Best bullet vibrator overall:
by Vanessa Thorpe Arts and media correspondent on (#6VFBP)
More than 2,000 cultural figures challenge Whitehall's eagerness to wrap our lives' work in attractive paper for automated competitors'Original British art and creative skill is in peril thanks to the rise of AI and the government's plans to loosen copyright rules, some of the UK's leading cultural figures have said.More than 2,000 people, including leading creative names such as Mark Haddon, Axel Scheffler, Benji Davies and Michael Rosen, have signed a letter published in the Observer today calling on the government to keep thelegal safeguards that offer artists and writers the prospect of a sustainable income. Continue reading...
As much as we need to stay informed, that relentless ping of potential horrors can't be good for usHow are you not going mad?" is a thing I've heard recently. How are you not talking about this all the time, how are you merrily, some say stupidly, going about your business as if the world did not feel like a coin in an arcade 2p machine, being pushed slowly but definitely off the edge and tasting of blood?" My answer: I've turned off breaking news alerts. More than that, I've dramatically limited the news I read. How am I not going mad? This is how I'm not going mad.Perhaps turning away from the news is a silly and job-endangering thing to admit to as somebody employed by a news organisation. Perhaps it's unattractive or exposing, as somebody living in a time when news is currency and ignorance is fatal. But I have seen the red-eyed horror of people immersed, I have felt the heat of anxiety, that burning shiver of the spine, and I've lain awake beside scrolling thumbs that dig deeper and deeper into algorithms that know us better than our own mothers, and are just as likely to shape who we become. Continue reading...
by Vanessa Thorpe Arts and media correspondent on (#6VF65)
Jony Ive, the man behind the look of Apple's iconic brands says the firm's co-founder specifically asked him not to consider what Steve would do'Sir Jony Ive, the innovative designer of Apple's iMac, iPhone and Apple Watch, and a close friend and collaborator ofthe late Steve Jobs, says he still often asks himself: I wonder what Steve would do?"Ive told BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs on Sunday that he does so despite the fact that Jobs had specifically toldhim not to before his death in 2011, aged 56. Continue reading...
The tech firms' efforts to change copyright laws and gain free access to intellectual property is patently wrongThere are decades when nothing happens (as Lenin is - wrongly - supposed to have said) and weeks when decades happen. We've just lived through a few weeks like that. We've known for decades that some American tech companies were problematic for democracy because they were fragmenting the public sphere and fostering polarisation. They were a worrying nuisance, to be sure, but not central to the polity.And then, suddenly, those corporations were inextricably bound into government, and their narrow sectional interests became the national interest of the US. Which means that any foreign government with ideas about regulating, say, hate speech on X, may have to deal with the intemperate wrath of Donald Trump or the more coherent abuse of JD Vance. Continue reading...
Gathering data used to be a fringe pursuit of Silicon Valley nerds. Now we're all at it, recording everything from menstrual cycles and mobility to toothbrushing and time spent in daylight. Is this just narcissism redesigned for the big tech age?I first heard about my friend Adam's curious new habit in a busy pub. He said he'd been doing it for over a year, but had never spoken to anyone about it before. He had a furtive look around, then took out his phone and showed me the product of his burning obsession: a spreadsheet.This was not a record of his annual tax return or numbers he was crunching for work (Adam is a data scientist). Instead, it was a spreadsheet recording the minutiae of his life, with dozens of columns tracking every element of his daily routine. It all started, he told me, because of a recurring argument with his boyfriend. His partner didn't think they spent enough time together, but Adam thought that they did. There was only one way to settle this, he decided: cold, hard data. So he began keeping a note of the days they saw each other and the days they didn't. Continue reading...
An explosive succession trial and an astonishing interview with one of Rupert's sons have exposed the paranoia and hatred at the heart of global media's most powerful family. This could get messy...When some of the mind games and manoeuvres that turned a Murdoch family retreat" into an ordeal appeared in Succession, the TV drama about squabbling family members of a right-wing media company, members of the real-life family started to suspect each other of leaking details to the writers. The truth was more straightforward. Succession's creator, Jesse Armstrong, said that his team hadn't needed inside sources - they had simply read press reports.Future screenwriters have been gifted a whole load of new Murdoch material in the past few days, after two astonishing stories in the New York Times and the Atlantic lifted the lid on the dysfunction, paranoia and despair at the heart of the most powerful family in global media. Continue reading...
Flurry of directives relaxes regulations and drop lawsuit - and billionaires who donated to Trump are ready to benefitThe millions that US tech companies invested in currying favor with Donald Trump seemed to pay off this week as the new administration issued a flurry of directives that relaxed regulations and dropped lawsuits previously aimed at holding the industry to account. Crypto, AI and social media companies, many of which made donations to Trump, are all expecting to benefit.At the center of the administration's moves is Elon Musk, the world's richest man. Over the past week, federal agencies under the president's authority dropped legal fights against his rocket company and the US's biggest cryptocurrency exchange. The White House also issued a deregulatory initiative" aimed at loosening tech-sector regulation by empowering Musk's Doge. Continue reading...
A block for under-16s would soothe many parents' concerns, but experts are divided over the evidence in support of it, and how it might work in practiceSocial media has transformed our relationships with our friends and family, brought unfiltered news from around the world to our handsets and introduced us to an unending supply of cat memes. Some of this has been positive, some negative and, for much of it, the jury is still out. But as the first generation of social media natives start to have children of their own, there is increasing unease about tech's impact on children. These concerns prompted Australia to pass legislation last November banning access to social media for under-16s.So many things are happening at once," says Sonia Livingstone, professor of social psychology at the London School of Economics and a specialist in children and social media. We clearly have a silent problem of parents at home struggling with social media and feeling unsupported. We have a small number of parents whose children have come to serious harm, or died, who have become mobilised. We have politicians worried about complaints in their constituencies and also looking for a good news story in gloomy times. And we have big tech outrunning regulation in all directions." It is a perfect storm, she says, into which discussion of an outright ban on social media for under-16s has come as a supposed saviour. Continue reading...
Platform cites legal requirements around when we remove data' after lawsuit filed over deaths of children attempting blackout challenge'Four British parents who are suing TikTok for the alleged wrongful deaths of their children say they are suspicious" about the social media platform's claim to have deleted their children's data.The parents have filed a lawsuit in the US that claims that their four children died in 2022 as a result of attempting the blackout challenge", a viral trend that circulated on social media in 2021. Continue reading...
by Miranda Bryant Nordic correspondent and Agence Fra on (#6VE1E)
Musk claimed without evidence Nasa's Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were left stranded on orbital outpost for political reasons'Elon Musk has become embroiled in a heated row with a Danish astronaut who criticised the tech billionaire's claim that the former US president Joe Biden abandoned two American astronauts at the International Space Station on purpose.Andreas Andy" Mogensen accused Musk of lying when he claimed in a Fox News interview alongside Donald Trump that Nasa's Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were left stranded for political reasons" by Biden. Continue reading...
by Samuel Gibbs Consumer technology editor on (#6VE4B)
Compact phone has flagship chip and buckets of AI, but hasn't changed much from predecessorsThe smallest and cheapest of Samsung's new Galaxy S25 line might be the one to buy, offering top performance and the very latest AI features for less and proving that smaller-sized Androids can still be great.Unlike previous generations of Samsung's smaller models sold in the UK and Europe, the regular S25 has the same top-flight chip as the enormous and pricey Ultra model, offering a lot of performance while costing 799 (919/$800/A$1,399). Continue reading...
We asked top DJs to share their favourite headphones for seamless setsAsk any DJ what their most important bit of kit is and they'll tell you it's what goes around their head. Whether playing off a laptop, CDJs or decks, a pair of decent headphones is your portal to the mix and an essential element to get right.Luckily, we've assembled some of the world's best selectors to evangelise about the pairs they're faithful to: from reliable specialist brands to old-school one-ear models, these are the best DJ headphones for crystal-clear sound and to hear that all-important bass. Continue reading...
The team behind Capcom's hit series was known for its extensive grounding in real-world adventures. The latest chapter, developed during Covid, required a different kind of daringMy favourite thing about Monster Hunter is that despite the name, you often feel more like the prey than the predator. Even armed with a sword several times your own size and weight, you are often outmatched by the incredible creatures in this action game. In Monster Hunter Wilds, out next week, you are also frequently outmatched by the weather. A routine hunt for some relatively unthreatening creature can go awry as storm clouds gather, bringing with them some terrifying lightning-dragon that will eat you for breakfast. Monsters entangle with each other, tearing with teeth and claws as you turn tail and head for the hills.Over the past couple of weekends, players have been able to get hands-on with Wilds in beta tests, trying out the exquisite character creator and a couple of hunts against a horrid lion (Doshaguma) and an overgrown poisonous chicken (Gypceros). As someone old enough to have played these games on the PlayStation 2, and then later with my fingers contorted uncomfortably around a PlayStation Portable during a student year abroad in Japan, I am amazed and delighted by what Monster Hunter has become. What was once a stiff and densely complex game that hid all its thrills behind a barricade of mushroom-gathering quests is now a fluid, inviting and globally popular spectacle of a thing. Monster Hunter World, 2018's entry, broke Capcom records and reached 23m sales. Continue reading...
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative ends internal inclusion efforts and social advocacy' grants and scrubs site of commitmentThe for-profit charity organization founded by Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, has done an about-face on its commitment to corporate diversity.Executives at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) informed employees on Tuesday evening that the organization would in effect do away with both internal and external diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts, according to an internal email and other correspondence viewed by the Guardian. On 10 January, leaders at CZI reassured staff that its longstanding support for DEI was not changing. Zuckerberg's company Meta had announced earlier that day it would terminate its DEI programs, in the days before Donald Trump's second inauguration. Continue reading...
A friend sent me the image by surprise and I felt a lot of things very strongly: love, upset, amusement, pleasure and angerAn old friend sent me a photo that caused me to stop whatever I was doing. I stared at it for a long time, possibly without drawing breath. Martin and I grew up living next door to each other. He now lives in Australia. It was from there that he sent me a screenshot of Google Maps' Street View, showing what had been our homes. Side by side, just bricks and mortar obviously, but teeming with meaning for both of us. That wasn't the thing though. The thing was that in a corner of the photo stood a familiar figure in a red jumper. My dad.He died this time last year. And yet here he was, standing under the tree next to his car. I felt a lot of things very strongly all at the same time: love, surprise, upset, amusement, anger, pleasure and other things. This was a month ago, but it's on my mind again this week as it would have been his 87th birthday. And I'm still no nearer computing what I feel about the image being there, available to all, on what my dad always referred to as the net". Continue reading...
by Samuel Gibbs Consumer technology editor on (#6VCRJ)
Revamped entry-level iPhone is last to exchange touch ID home button for face ID, modern design - and a price hikeApple has put the final nail in the coffin of the home button after 18 years with the release of the new iPhone 16e.The lowest-cost new iPhone replaces the 2022 iPhone SE, which was the last Apple product standing with the touch ID button, finishing off its drawn-out demise, which started with the iPhone X back in 2017. Continue reading...
Authorities blame crypto exchange, already facing four counts of tax evasion in the country, for currency woesNigeria has filed a lawsuit seeking to compel Binance to pay $79.5bn for economic losses the country's government says were caused by the cryptocurrency exchange's operations there and $2bn in back taxes, court documents showed on Wednesday.Authorities blame Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, for Nigeria's currency woes and detained two of its executives in 2024 after crypto websites emerged as platforms of choice for trading the local naira currency. Continue reading...
Chip is powered by world's first topoconductor, which can create new state of matter that is not solid, liquid or gasQuantum computers could be built within years rather than decades, according to Microsoft, which has unveiled a breakthrough that it said could pave the way for faster development.The tech firm has developed a chip which, it says, echoes the invention of the semiconductors that made today's smartphones, computers and electronics possible by miniaturisation and increased processing power. Continue reading...
Technology | The Guardian