Technology | The Guardian

Paulomi Debnath has shared a kiss with her husband every morning for 18 years. Ron Hill ran every day for more than 52 years. When does an enjoyable habit become a compulsion?Anyone who spotted the run Tom Vickery uploaded to exercise tracking app Strava on 18 February last year might have been a little confused. The 30-minute sprint appeared to have taken place right in the middle of the Channel, not far from Guernsey and heading towards the west coast of France. The run was also, curiously, a ruler-straight line, appearing on Vickery's public profile as an unbending, inch-long streak of orange in the blue swathe of the app's virtual sea. Oh, and it was at a world record-breaking pace.Of course, anyone who knows Vickery wouldn't have been surprised at all. The 38-year-old triathlon coach from Cambridge was on a two-day ferry trip to Bilbao for a holiday and this rather speedy jog was simply another run on his then nearly four-year daily running streak on Strava. Determined not to break his streak on board the ship, Vickery had risen at 5am to run up and down the deck for his allotted 30 minutes, and the boat's progress through the water meant he appeared to be running faster than any long-distance runner in the world. Continue reading...

Satellite internet service's antennas are everywhere, from illegal mining sites to isolated Indigenous villagesThe helicopter swooped into one of the most inaccessible corners of the Amazon rainforest. Brazilian special forces commandos leaped from its metal skids into the caiman-inhabited waters below.Their target, lurking in the woodland along Brazil's Boia River, was a hulking steel mining dredge, caught red-handed as it drilled into the riverbed, pulverising it in search of gold. Continue reading...

Millions are rejecting the culture-war hotspots of the major social media sites in favour of apps dedicated to activities they enjoy, while bonding with their fellow usersSingletons looking to shack up with their soulmates online have relied on two key routes in the past decade or so: take your chance on dating apps, or befriend as many mutuals as possible on social media, in the hope that you find the one.But some have found a third way, using services such as Goodreads and Strava to meet partners with whom they hope to spend the rest of their lives. Those couples proved to be trendsetters. So-called hobby apps - built around activites such as running, reading or movie-going - are having a moment, and not just for love. Continue reading...

Users say harmful content from accounts they do not follow appears even after requests to block itDebbie was scrolling through X in April when some unwelcome posts appeared on her feed. One showed a photo of someone who was visibly underweight asking whether they were thin enough. In another, a user wanted to compare how few calories they were eating each day.Debbie, who did not want to give her last name, is 37 years old and was first diagnosed with bulimia when she was 16. She did not follow either of the accounts behind the posts, which belonged to a group with more than 150,000 members on the social media site. Continue reading...

The detainment of the murky messaging service's founder in France shows online moguls can no longer act with impunityOn 24 August, a Russian tech billionaire's private jet landed at Le Bourget airport, north-east of Paris, to find that officers of the French judicial police were waiting for him. He was duly arrested and whisked away for interrogation. Four days later he was indicted on 12 charges, including alleged complicity in the distribution of child exploitation material and drug trafficking, barred from leaving France and placed under judicial supervision", which requires him to check in with the gendarmes twice a week until further notice.The mogul in question, Pavel Durov, is a tech entrepreneur who collects nationalities the way others collect air miles. In fact it turns out that one of his citizenships is French, generously provided in 2021 by France's president, Emmanuel Macron. Durov is also, it seems, a fitness fanatic with a punishing daily regime. After eight hours of tracked sleep," the Financial Times reports, he starts the day without exception' with 200 push-ups, 100 sit-ups and an ice bath. He does not drink, smoke, eat sugar or meat, and saves time for meditation." When not engaged in these demanding activities, he has also found time to father more than 100 kids as a sperm donor and to rival Elon Musk as a free-speech extremist.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a letter of up to 250 words to be considered for publication, email it to us at observer.letters@observer.co.uk Continue reading...

Pavel Durov says feature - which has had issues with bots and scammers - will be replacedThe chief executive of Telegram, Pavel Durov, has announced the messaging app will improve moderation on the platform and has removed some features that have been used for illegal activity.The app's founder unveiled the changes on Friday hours after calling his arrest by the French authorities last month misguided". Durov has since been charged with allegedly allowing criminal activity on the app. Continue reading...

CMA says tech company has abused its dominant position' to the detriment of publishers and advertisers

Experts are issuing stern warnings about business support for Trump - it could backfire badly and endanger democracyFrom Wall Street to Silicon Valley, a growing number of billionaires, tech titans and venture capitalists are backing Donald Trump's campaign for president, among them Stephen Schwarzman, chairman of Blackstone, the world's largest private-equity fund, Steve Wynn, the casino tycoon, Bill Ackman, the hedge fund manager, and Marc Andreessen, a leading venture capitalist.But many business school professors and historians are issuing stern warnings about this business support for Trump, saying that backing him could backfire badly for business and endanger America's democracy. These professors caution that corporate America - along with everyone else - should be hugely concerned about a candidate who has talked of being a dictator on day one, terminating the constitution, and weaponizing the justice department to exact revenge against his critics. Continue reading...

Comprehensive sleep, recovery and health tracking without a smartwatch appeals, but cost and fit won't suit everyoneSmart rings are having a bit of a moment with the Oura seen adorning the fingers of celebrities and elite sportspeople alike. It promises the health-tracking features of a smartwatch squeezed into a much smaller, less techie device focused on sleep, recovery and resilience. But can it deliver for regular people, too?Now several years into its third iteration, the Oura Gen 3 is the most popular smart ring on the market, available in a range of attractive colours, metals and sizes. It looks and feels like an attractive piece of jewellery, and is priced accordingly, costing from 299 (329/$299) and requiring a 6-a-month subscription on top. Keeping up with celebrity crazes has never been cheap. Continue reading...

Russian-born billionaire detained last month in France denies app is anarchic paradise'The founder of the Telegram messaging app, Pavel Durov, under investigation in France, has said that French authorities should have approached his company with their complaints rather than detaining him, calling the arrest misguided".Durov, writing on his Telegram channel early on Friday in his first public comments since his detention last month, denied any suggestion the app was an anarchic paradise". Continue reading...

Also signed by the EU, US and Israel, the declaration aims to mitigate the threats that AI may pose to human rights, democracy and the rule of lawThe UK government has signed the first international treaty on artificial intelligence in a move that aims to prevent misuses of the technology, such as spreading misinformation or using biased data to make decisions.Under the legally binding agreement, states must implement safeguards against any threats posed by AI to human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The treaty, called the framework convention on artificial intelligence, was drawn up by the Council of Europe, an international human rights organisation, and was signed on Thursday by the EU, UK, US and Israel. Continue reading...

PlayStation 5; Team Asobi/Sony

Platform will ensure algorithms do not keep pushing similar content to young viewers, even though it does not breach guidelinesYouTube is to stop recommending videos to teenagers that idealise specific fitness levels, body weights or physical features, after experts warned such content could be harmful if viewed repeatedly.The platform will still allow 13- to 17-year-olds to view the videos, but its algorithms will not push young users down related content rabbit holes" afterwards. Continue reading...

In this week's newsletter: Transmissions, which plots the story of Joy Division and New Order, returns for a second run. Plus: five of the best sci-fi podcasts Don't get Hear Here delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereOrigins With Cush Jumbo

Shoppers can use technology to advise them on outfit choices based on their body shape and style preferencesMarks & Spencer is using artificial intelligence to advise shoppers on their outfit choices based on their body shape and style preferences, as part of efforts to increase online sales.The 130-year-old retailer is using the technology to personalise consumers' online experience, and suggest items to buy. Continue reading...

Ever since Elon Musk took over Twitter, I and many others have been looking for alternatives. Who wants to share a platform with the likes of Andrew Tate and Tommy Robinson?I considered leaving Twitter as soon as Elon Musk acquired it in 2022, just not wanting to be part of a community that could be bought, least of all by a man like him - the obnoxious long hours at a high intensity" bullying of his staff began immediately. But I've had some of the most interesting conversations of my life on there, both randomly, ambling about, and solicited, for stories: Anyone got catastrophically lonely during Covid?"; Anyone hooked up with their secondary school boy/girlfriend?" We used to call it the place where you told the truth to strangers (Facebook was where you lied to your friends), and that wide-openness was reciprocal and gorgeous.It got more unpleasant after the blue-tick fiasco: identity verification became something you could buy, which destroyed the trust quotient. So I joined the rival platform Mastodon, but fast realised that I would never get 70,000 followers on there like I had on Twitter. It wasn't that I wanted the attention per se, just that my gang wasn't varied or noisy enough. There's something eerie and a bit depressing about a social media feed that doesn't refresh often enough, like walking into a shopping mall where half the shops have closed down and the rest are all selling the same thing. Continue reading...

US treasury department says Russian state-backed media spent millions to recruit unwitting American influencers'

After judge freezes assets of billionaire's internet service provider, company flip-flops to block social media platformElon Musk's satellite-based internet service provider Starlink backtracked late on Tuesday and said it would accept and enforce a Brazilian supreme court justice's order to block the billionaire's social media platform, X, formerly Twitter.Previously, Starlink informally told the telecommunications regulator Anatel that it would not comply until Justice Alexandre de Moraes reversed course. Now, Starlink has said in a statement posted on X that it will heed de Moraes's order despite him having frozen the company's assets. Continue reading...

The board rules that blanket ban on pro-Palestine slogan would hinder free speechMeta's content moderation board has backed the company's decision to allow Facebook posts containing the phrase From the River to the Sea" after ruling that a blanket ban on the pro-Palestine slogan would hinder free speech.The Oversight Board reviewed three cases involving Facebook posts that featured From the River to the Sea" and found they did not break Meta's rules involving restrictions on hate speech and incitement, while an outright ban on the phrase would interfere with political speech in unacceptable ways". Continue reading...

In this week's newsletter: Fuelled by a backdrop of sexist culture, alarming censorship guidelines and anti-woke' ire, the summer's biggest hit has become a lightning rod in the video game culture wars Don't get Pushing Buttons delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereA Chinese game called Black Myth: Wukong has been the biggest hit of the summer, selling 10m copies in just three days, according to its developer Game Science, with over 1 million people playing it every day on games marketplace Steam. China's homegrown games industry is absolutely massive, but concentrated almost entirely on mobile phones: this is the country's first successful blockbuster console and PC game, which makes it very interesting in itself. It's also a massively successful single-player game arriving on the back of a few high-profile multiplayer flops, which suggests there is still more of a market for this kind of adventure than video game execs like to believe.But Wukong has been grabbing headlines for other reasons, too. Back in November, IGN put together a report compiling crude, vulgar public comments from a number of Game Science staff, some of whom are very well-known in China's games industry. IGN also spoke to several women who expressed their disappointment and despair over omnipresent sexism in games and in China more broadly. It is a very interesting and well-researched article that doesn't so much point the finger at Game Science specifically as set it within the context of a bigger Chinese feminist struggle. But of course, it attracted the ire of an increasingly vocal swathe of anti-woke" gamers that has found a gathering-place on YouTube and social media, some of whom accused IGN of trying to sabotage Black Myth: Wukong by making things up. Continue reading...

Increase will lift minimum rates by 9.8% and comes after online retailer defeated GMB union bid for bargaining rights on payAmazon has announced a pay rise worth nearly 10% for tens of thousands of UK employees, after defeating an attempt by the GMB trade union for bargaining rights over pay and conditions.The online retailer said the increase would lift minimum pay rates by 9.8% to between 13.50 and 14.50 an hour, depending on location. Staff with at least three years' service will receive a minimum of between 13.75 and 14.75 an hour. Continue reading...

Big brands already know far too much about us. But Cox Media Group's Active Listening' software adds a whole new layer of creepinessConspiracy theorists of the world, rip off that tinfoil hat and take a bow: you were (kinda) right. Despite the fact pretty much everyone has a story involving chatting about something only to see an ad for that something pop up on a device, the idea that your phone actively listens to you has long been dismissed as silly. After all, brands don't need to eavesdrop like that - they already have access to millions of data points that build up a detailed picture of your habits and predicted purchases.But just because brands don't need to listen to your conversations, it doesn't mean that there aren't companies figuring out creepy new ways to mine your data. 404 Media, a tech-focused news site, recently got hold of a pitch deck from Cox Media Group (CMG), touting its Active Listening" software, which targets adverts based on what people say near their device microphones. The presentation doesn't specify whether this voice data comes from smart TVs, smart speakers, or smartphones but the slide where it extols the power of voice (and our devices' microphones)" has a picture of people looking at their phones. Continue reading...

This seemingly minor addition allows players to sprint and dive in every direction so crunch moments can feel like a ridiculously fun John Woo shootoutHere is a statement of fact that I am not entirely proud of: I have played every Call of Duty game since the series launched in 2003. I've been there through the extremely good times (Call of Duty 4) and the extremely not good (Call of Duty: Roads to Victory). And while I may have cringed at some of the narrative decisions, the casual bigotry rife on the online multiplayer servers, and the general America, fuck yeah!" mentality of the entire series, I have always come back.In that time, I've seen all the many attempts to tweak the core feel of the games - from perks to jetpacks (thanks Advanced Warfare!) - but having spent a weekend in the multiplayer beta test for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, I think developer Treyarch may have stumbled on the best so far. It is called omni-movement. Continue reading...

Fall overnight comes after it shrinks by $279bn on Tuesday in biggest one-day drop in value by US company

For my final email, I open the TechScape mailbag for throwbacks, highlights and predictions on the issues that are preoccupying you now Don't get TechScape delivered to your inbox? Sign up for the full article hereAfter three years and more than 100 issues, as well as two bouts of paternity leave, two AI summits and an entire cryptocurrency boom-bust cycle, this is my last newsletter. It's also the end of my 11 years at the Guardian, almost to the week: my first day was the release of the iPhone 5S, and on 9 September we'll see the launch of the iPhone 16. It's been a ride.For the last two weeks I've been asking readers for questions and have been bombarded. I apologise if I didn't get round to yours, but thank you so much to everyone who wrote in. Continue reading...

Autumn and winter are the best time for gamers, and if your set-up is looking a little stale, here are the key ingredients for a serious seasonal upgradeWith summer gone and the skies already greying over in preparation for six months of uncontested rain, you may well be thinking more seriously about video games. September and October tend to see the biggest releases of the year, so you can expect many evenings spent hiding from the world while playing Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 or Mario Party Jamboree. If your gaming set-up is looking a little tired and you want to treat yourself to a serious seasonal upgrade, here are some suggestions. Continue reading...

Guidelines also stipulate teenagers should have no more than three hours of screen time a dayChildren under the age of two should not be exposed to any screens whatsoever and teenagers should have no more than three hours of screen time a day, according to guidelines announced by health authorities in Sweden.Parents and guardians should think about how they use screens with their children and tell them what they are doing on their phones when they use them in their presence, the advice says. Continue reading...

Marking the anniversary, the creators of the rap beef beat-em-up sequel share memories of transforming Flavor Flav and Snoop Dogg into legendary video game charactersI remember we visited Ghostface Killah [of the Wu-Tang Clan] and he was mad at us!" recalls Daryl Anselmo, former EA employee and art director for 2004's landmark hip-hop-fused beat-em-up, Def Jam: Fight for NY. Ghostface had a four-pound solid gold eagle bracelet and he insisted his character's finishing move should be this bird coming to life and pecking out all the other rappers' eyeballs. The limitations of the PlayStation 2 technology and our violence restrictions meant we couldn't pull it off. It was impossible."The game's producer Josh Holmes interjects: When Ghostface first asked me about the eagle, Lauren [Wirtzer Seawood, another one of the game's producers] told me just to nod along and smile. When we saw him again in the studio for the sequel, I apologised [for misleading him] and we quickly moved on to recording his character's expanded insults for the new game. I remember one was: Go home and cry to your momma. And, while you're at it, tell her I'm hungry!'" Continue reading...

All the camera, AI and performance of Google's top Android squeezed into a tighter bodyThe Pixel 9 Pro is a rare beast: a smaller phone that keeps the same bold design, specs and camera as Google's biggest and most expensive model. It makes it an instant contender for the best small phone going.At 999 (1,099/$999/A$1,699), it is cheaper than its larger Pixel 9 Pro XL sibling but still firmly in the high-end bracket. What sets it apart is the 6.3in screen is significantly tighter than the monster 6.7in-plus sizes you usually need to get the very best hardware.Screen: 6.3in 120Hz QHD+ OLED (495ppi)Processor: Google Tensor G4RAM: 16GB of RAMStorage: 128, 256, 512GB or 1TBOperating system: Android 14Camera: 50MP + 48MP ultrawide + 48MP 5x telephoto, 42MP selfieConnectivity: 5G, eSIM, wifi 7, UWB, NFC, Bluetooth 5.3 and GNSSWater resistance: IP68 (1.5m for 30 minutes)Dimensions: 152.8 x 72.0 x 8.5mmWeight: 199g Continue reading...

In recent months, followers of influential liberal bloggers have been interviewed by police as China widens its net of online surveillanceLate last year, Duan*, a university student in China, used a virtual private network to jump over China's great firewall of internet censorship and download social media platform Discord.Overnight he entered a community in which thousands of members with diverse views debated political ideas and staged mock elections. People could join the chat to discuss ideas such as democracy, anarchism and communism. After all, it's hard for us to do politics in reality, so we have to do it in a group chat," Yang Minghao, a popular vlogger, said in a video on YouTube. Continue reading...

Campaign group says firms such as Uber should reveal data on driver miles to help boost wagesUber and other ride-hailing apps should be forced to publish data on drivers' workloads so that regulators can tackle exploitation and cut carbon emissions, campaigners argue.Analysis by the pressure group Worker Info Exchange suggests drivers for Uber and its smaller rivals may have missed out on more than 1.2bn in wages and costs last year because of the way they are compensated. Continue reading...

Two men flew between New York and London at three times the speed of sound. No other aircraft has since been as fast as the Blackbird SR-71, explains crew member Noel WiddifieldOn 1 September 1974 two men made the fastest ever journey between New York and London. The astonishing trip - at three times the speed of sound - took less than two hours and set a record that still stands 50 years later.Even the mighty Concorde, which set the record for the fastest commercial transatlantic flight in 1996, straggled in almost an hour behind. Continue reading...

Ahead of the publication of his book about leadership - definitely not aimed at Keir Starmer - the former prime minister talks about relinquishing power, why he's not fazed about a second Trump term and being an AI evangelist

A writer with no technical background recounts his incredible journey into the realm of coding and the invaluable lesson it taught him about the modern worldOne day in 2017 I had a realisation that seems obvious now but had the power to shock back then: almost everything I did was being mediated by computer code. And as the trickle of code into my world became a flood, that world seemed to be getting not better but worse in approximate proportion. I began to wonder why.Two possibilities sprang immediately to mind. One was the people who wrote the code - coders - long depicted in pop culture as a clan of vaguely comic, Tolkien-worshipping misfits. Another was the uber-capitalist system within which many worked, exemplified by the profoundly weird Silicon Valley. Were one or both using code to recast the human environment as something more amenable to them? Continue reading...

A list of book choices by the Silicon Valley titans offers little more than a blank page with respect to real insights into their mindsetIn August, a thoughtful blogger, Tanner Greer, posed an interesting question to the Silicon Valley crowd: What are the contents of the vague tech canon'? If we say it is 40 books, what are they?" He was using the term canon" in the sense of the collection of works considered representative of a period or genre", but astutely qualifying it to stop Harold Bloom - the great literary critic who spent his life campaigning for a canon consisting of the great works of the past (Shakespeare, Proust, Dante, Montaigne et al) - spinning in his grave.Greer's challenge was immediately taken up by Patrick Collison, co-founder with his brother, John, of the fintech giant Stripe (market value $65bn) and thus among the richest Irishmen in history. Unusually among tech titans, Collison is a passionate advocate of reading, and so it was perhaps predictable that he would produce a list of 43 books - adding a caveat that it wasn't the list of books that I think one ought to read - it's just the list that I think roughly covers the major ideas that are influential here". (Here" being Silicon Valley.) Continue reading...

Millions of users shut out and 500,000 switch to rival platform Bluesky as providers enact supreme court ban

(KeelWorks; Konami; PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox)

In isolation, Alexander Grothendieck seemed to have lost touch with reality, but some say his metaphysical theories could contain wondersOne day in September 2014, in a hamlet in the French Pyrenean foothills, Jean-Claude, a landscape gardener in his late 50s, was surprised to see his neighbour at the gate. He hadn't spoken to the 86-year-old in nearly 15 years after a dispute over a climbing rose that Jean-Claude had wanted to prune. The old man lived in total seclusion, tending to his garden in the djellaba he always wore, writing by night, heeding no one. Now, the long-bearded seeker looked troubled.Would you do me a favour?" he asked Jean-Claude. Continue reading...

The photographer was drawn to the colours and the geometry at his hotel in a national park in southern SpainAntonio Heredia arrived at Hotel de la Naturaleza in south-east Spain while it was shrouded in darkness. It was past midnight, and Heredia and a colleague had spent the day filming a story about one of the last remaining lighthouse keepers in the country.Mario Sanz is based in Mesa Roldan lighthouse, in the national park Cabo de Gata-Nijar, but he's one of just 15 still on duty in Spain. The other lighthouses are operated remotely with computers now. We finished the assignment and drove to this hotel. The roads were narrow and without lights, and we almost got lost." Continue reading...

The immersive theatrical experience, which sees your seat move, shake and often spray water, has seen a record summerDuring this long, hot, languishing summer, I have come to believe in one thing and one thing only: seeing Twisters in 4DX. The Oklahoma-set film, directed by Lee Isaac Chung, is about a 7/10 movie in 2D - a blockbuster sequel of sorts to the 1996 disaster flick, starring Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones as tornado chasers with modest chemistry. But in the immersive theatrical format known as 4DX, in which viewers are buffeted with literal wind and rain, Twisters becomes an unmissable 10/10 experience.In 4DX, you feel every bump and jolt of a truck in an F5 gale, thanks to moving seats that, among other things, punch you in the back and tickle your ankles. When the characters clung to bolted theater seats during a final climactic storm, I too clung to my armrest, lest I get rattled off my wind-ripped chair. Each of the film's tornado encounters drew loud cheers at my screening, as did the shot of Powell in a tight white T-shirt during a palpable drizzle. I emerged from Twisters with tangled hair and horizontal tear streaks; my friend lost her shoe. In 4DX, you do not just, in the words of Powell's Tyler Owens, ride" the storm. You are the storm. Continue reading...

This queer emancipation story is set in a cosy pixellated art world but all is not what it seems. You'll tend your flock, pick some flowers - and also have to dethrone GodThe realm of Hus is a rural idyll, where happy villagers wander the marketplace and young shepherdess Ren tends to her flock while her partner, Tyra, fixes up their cottage. It's almost as though they are all living in a cosy farming simulator, created by a benevolent game developer. But are they? Or is it just an illusion cast by an evil deity, trapping them in a horrifying pixellated facade?This is the delightfully meta" setup to Quantum Witch, a pixel art platformer by lone developer Nikki Jay. Heavily inspired by old LucasArts adventures and the legendary Dizzy series on the ZX Spectrum, it's a comedy game with a serious autobiographical heart. Jay grew up in a right wing religious sect based in the north-east of England with an incredibly enclosed perspective. They were obsessed with the end of the world," she says. They believed it could happen at anytime and that all the wicked people would be destroyed: so I had to be good. It was extremely oppressive." Continue reading...

Pavel Durov will probably use French legal disputes to position himself as a champion of free speech, say observersWhen Pavel Durov came under criticism from Russian regulators over the spread of pornography on the VKontakte social media platform he founded, the tech entrepreneur responded mockingly by changing his Twitter handle from VK CEO" to Porn King".More than a decade later, Durov's anti-authoritarian stance and hands-off approach to moderation have landed him in more serious trouble. Continue reading...

Social media platform to be blocked by ISPs because it did not appoint legal representative in allotted timeThe Brazilian supreme court has ordered that X be suspended in the country after the social media platform failed to meet a deadline to appoint a legal representative in the country.Late on Friday afternoon, Justice Alexandre de Moraes - who has been engaged in a dispute with X's owner, Elon Musk, since April - ordered the immediate, complete and total suspension of X's operations" in the country, until all court orders ... are complied with, fines are duly paid, and a new legal representative for the company is appointed in the country". Continue reading...

A sinister Alexa upgrade exerts control on family in an increasingly nonsensical attempt to capture the momentGiven how technology has become the increasingly unstoppable architect of our everyday lives - the world edging closer and closer to a Terminator prequel - it's not hard to immediately invest in a horror film about the all-consuming threat of artificial intelligence. The film industry itself has been losing ground as AI continues to provide a cheaper and easier alternative to those pesky humans and in a year of bleak headline after bleak headline, it should theoretically be perfect timing for Blumhouse's late August M3gan-adjacent chiller AfrAId. Yet, as one might be able to predict without the help of a digital forecast, easy targets are easily missed in a hokey and rushed jumble of half-ideas that's as gimmicky and eye-rollingly stupid as its title. Be afraid.In the dog days of summer, on a particularly rubbishy Labor Day weekend at the movies (other new releases include long-delayed sci-fi thriller Slingshot and a reverential biopic of Reagan), it's at least reassuring to know that very few people will find themselves stuck with this one (it's tracking to make between $5m and $7m). Sony, clearly scared of scaring off those precious few, decided not to provide a single press screening, aware of the critical drubbing this would receive. It's not quite as unreleasably awful as that strategy might suggest - it's competently, at times handsomely, shot, refreshingly dour and crucially not as awful as The Crow - but it's too sloppily written and edited for even the least discerning of horror fans to really enjoy, a patchwork of nonsense confusingly stitched together by someone, who at one point, knew better. Continue reading...

The collection comes from a mysterious (and fictional) 80s video game company and includes puzzles and platformers, RPGs and category-defying hybrids, all in 8-bit splendourWhen it comes to video games, one thing is universal: releasing one is tough. But releasing 50? At once? That's another boss level entirely. This is the challenge for the team behind UFO 50. This much anticipated 8-bit anthology of retro-styled games is finally due to release this September, seven years after its announcement. With 50 games included, the wait is justified.UFO 50 is a jumbo variety pack of complete video games, each with its own title, genre and story. They're not minigames," asserts developer Derek Yu and creator of 2008 platformer Spelunky, named one of the greatest games ever made. Every game could exist as a full release on some 80s console or computer." Continue reading...

Years ago, I could confidently beat my kids at Earth's ultimate multiplayer game, but those days are gone. Or are they?I am dying. Either aged 84 or 54, according to the two extremes of life expectancy calculator I found online, which is worrying because I am 55 in December. I'm running out of time to do the things I dream of: see Machu Picchu; find a good vegan sausage; beat my kids at Mario Kart again.It was our number one family game until they started massacring me so gleefully I was forced into acts of petty revenge: namely, taking things of theirs they loved and secretly giving them to charity shops. They still miss that cat. Continue reading...

Taking the plunge and giving your child a handset? Here's all you need to know - from the best models to the tariffs and networks (and how to use parental controls)As the schools go back, pressure mounts on parents to give their children their first phone. If you've decided the time has come, there are many options to choose from, whether it's a smartphone, a basic handset, or an upgrade to something newer.From the handset to the mobile service that goes with it, and from key parental controls to how well the phone fits with the devices you already use, here are some of the things you should know before taking the plunge - including which models are the best. Continue reading...

Doubling of quarterly revenues to 23bn fails to allay worry about delays to next generation of AI chipsShares in the chip designer Nvidia have fallen after investors were spooked by signs of slowing growth and production issues, despite the artificial intelligence company posting a 122% rise in second-quarter revenues compared with the same period last year.The Silicon Valley company's revenues for the period more than doubled to $30bn (23bn), beating average analyst estimates of $28.7bn. However, investors were concerned about signs of a slowdown in growth, in particular around its next-generation AI chips, codenamed Blackwell. Continue reading...

Weapons facilities targeted as security companies report more sabotage attempts, espionage and cyber-attacksSwedish authorities have warned of a heightened risk of Russian sabotage, in particular of weapons facilities, as the defence industry said it was being increasingly targeted.Security companies in Sweden reported a rise in sabotage attempts, including using drones over defence company facilities to document and map them, more aggressive" espionage, cyber-attacks and misinformation. Continue reading...

Groundbreaking bill aims to reduce potential AI risks - requiring model testing and disclosure of safety protocolA California bill that would establish first-in-the-nation safety measures for the largest artificial intelligence systems cleared an important vote Wednesday. The proposal, aiming to reduce potential risks created by AI, would require companies to test their models and publicly disclose their safety protocols to prevent the models from being manipulated to, for example, wipe out the state's electric grid or help build chemical weapons - scenarios experts say could be possible in the future with such rapid advancements in the industry.The measure squeaked by in the state assembly Wednesday and won procedural approval in the state senate. It now heads to the governor's desk for his signature, though he has not indicated his position on it. Governor Gavin Newsom has until the end of September to decide whether to sign it into law, veto it or allow it to become law without his signature. He declined to weigh in on the measure earlier this summer but had warned against AI overregulation. Continue reading...