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Updated 2025-04-22 17:33
Apple unveils buy now, pay later feature and redesigned iPhone lock screen
Worldwide developer conference begins with changes to iPhone operating system and redesigned version of cheapest laptopApple is taking on Klarna and ClearPay with a new “buy now, pay later” feature for iPhones, the company has announced at its worldwide developer conference.The company is also redesigning the iPhone’s lock screen, in the most substantial visual redesign the operating system for iPhones has received since the introduction of the iPhone X, and introducing a new version of the MacBook Air built around its M2 chip.The Messages app will allow users to edit, or even recall, iMessages sent in error.Dictation has been redesigned to make it easier to switch between dictating text and editing it with a keyboard.Live text will now work with video, letting users cut and paste text from a paused video still.Apple Maps lets users add multiple stops to a route, and sync them between iOS and Macs.A new “shared photo library” allows families to seamlessly bundle all their pictures taken together in one shared online library.“Safety Check” lets people leaving abusive relationships sever all access given to other people with one click.The Fitness app, once limited to users with an Apple Watch, will now be on iPhones too, tracking steps and movement.“Continuity camera” lets you use your iPhone as a webcam for any Mac computer. Continue reading...
Elon Musk threatens to scrap $44bn Twitter deal over ‘material breach’
Company accused of refusing to provide sufficient information about number of false usersElon Musk has accused Twitter of committing a “material breach” of his $44bn (£35bn) agreement to buy the company and has threatened to terminate the deal, in the clearest indication yet that the world’s richest man is preparing to walk away from the takeover.Musk’s lawyers have written to Twitter accusing it of refusing to provide sufficient information about the number of false users on the service, as part of a simmering dispute over the number of spam and fake accounts that populate the platform. Continue reading...
Augmented eyes on Apple at developer conference
New computers, iPad overhaul and expanded Messages app on the cards, with AR glasses a possibilityApple is to reveal details of the software updates coming to its phones, tablets and computers, in the company’s annual worldwide developers’ conference (WWDC).But while new computers, an expanded Messages app, and an overhaul of the iPad’s software to make it more like a laptop are all on the cards, the biggest question mark on Monday is whether Apple will show any evidence of its forthcoming augmented reality – or AR – glasses. Continue reading...
‘People are stressed’: Apple workers set to begin first in-person union election
If successful, the store in Towson, Maryland, would be the first to unionize at the US tech companyWorkers at an Apple store in Towson, Maryland, are set to begin their in-person union election on 15 June and, if successful, the store would be the first to unionize at the US tech company.Workers at the Maryland store – calling themselves the Coalition of Organized Retail Employees (AppleCore) – went public on 3 May with their intent to hold a union election, with the assistance of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), shortly after an Apple store in Atlanta filed for a union election. Continue reading...
Influence, Inc review – a mesmerising dive into the world of public manipulation
Curious Bird; PC, Mac
Sheryl Sandberg’s influence reaches all of us. But it’s a troubling legacy | Stephanie Hare
From epic data mining to shocking failures of content moderation, Meta’s COO passes on a vast clean-up jobIf you are reading this, odds are that you are one of the 2.87 billion daily users of the products offered by Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. If you are not using any of these products, you are connected to people who do use them. And this connects you to Sheryl Sandberg, who resigned last week from her role as Meta’s chief operating officer.Even if you have never met her, interacted directly with her or read her books on corporate feminism or bereavement, Sandberg has had an impact on your life. She’s not the only reason that our data is tracked online, whether we use Meta’s products or not. Many others have helped to create and exploit an entire industry that profits from our data. What’s more, lawmakers and regulators worldwide have done little to stop this, in no small part because companies like the ones Sandberg helped run spend millions of dollars every year lobbying to prevent or water down any attempts at regulation. Continue reading...
Mercedes-Benz issues global recall of one million older cars
German carmaker says move due to a potential problem with the braking systemMercedes-Benz has announced it is immediately recalling nearly one million older vehicles worldwide due to a potential problem with the braking system.Germany’s federal transport authority (KBA) said that the recall affected cars built between 2004 and 2015 of the SUV series ML and GL, and the R-Class luxury minivan. Continue reading...
‘You only have one shot’: how film cameras won over a younger generation
A new wave of enthusiasts are eschewing the multi-megapixel convenience of digital photography in favour of an older, slower, ‘magical’ techIndi Shields first discovered film in the drawer of her childhood home. “The first film camera I picked up was my great grandfather’s,” she says. “It felt so special to hold it and use it in the same way that he used to. Even though I never got to meet him.”While Shields was already taking analogue photographs before the pandemic began, the way she used it shifted during lockdowns. Where once the camera would only come out at big events like birthday parties, she found herself snapping away at “mundane things like my friend watching TV on the couch or the tunnel I walk through to get to the train – just because these are sweet little moments I want to look back on or remember in five or 10 years.” Continue reading...
Cryptocurrency and tax: could you end up paying the ATO more than you earned?
A lot of investors don’t understand their liability, warn tax agents, while others call for the complicated Australian system to be overhauledAs tax time approaches in Australia, cryptocurrency investors have been warned to begin working out what they owe.Some lessons can be drawn from the recent US tax season, where some enthusiasts found themselves with a tax bill that exceeded their earnings after the recent crypto market crash. Continue reading...
‘It’s weird’: a day at the museum helping colour-blind guests see pink
Chau Chak Wing Museum is Australia’s first to offer visitors colour-vision-enhancing glasses. So what happens when one man tries them on?
Why your ability to repair a tractor could also be a matter of life and death | John Naughton
US farmers’ struggles for the right to fix their own, now highly computer-controlled equipment, have implications for us allIt was one of the few pieces of cheery news to emerge from the war in Ukraine. Russian looters, no doubt with the assistance of Russian troops, stole 27 pieces of John Deere farm equipment, worth about $5m, from a dealership in Melitopol. The kit was shipped to Chechnya, where a nasty surprise awaited the crooks. Their shiny new vehicles had, overnight, become the world’s heaviest paperweights: the dealership from which they had been stolen had “bricked” them remotely, using an inbuilt “kill-switch”.This news item no doubt warmed the cockles of many a western heart. But it would have raised only hollow laughs from farmers in US states who are customers of John Deere and are mightily pissed off, because although they have paid small fortunes (up to $800,000 apparently) for the firm’s machinery, they are unable to service or repair them when they go wrong. These gigantic vehicles are no longer purely mechanical devices, but depend on lots of electronic control units (ECUs) to operate everything from the air conditioning to the driver’s seat to the engine. The ICUs run software that is essential to the operation, maintenance and repair of the machine. But only John Deere has access to that computer code and without employing a company technician the tractor’s software won’t even recognise (let alone allow) replacement parts from another manufacturer. Continue reading...
Beyond our ‘ape-brained meat sacks’: can transhumanism save our species?
The 21st century will be make or break for humanity, says Oxford University transhumanist Elise Bohan. If we get it right, she thinks we might find something better
California allows driverless taxi service to operate in San Francisco
The robotic electric cabs will be restricted to less congested times and places until regulators can assess its safetyCalifornia regulators on Thursday gave a robotic taxi service the green light to begin charging passengers for driverless rides in San Francisco, a first in a state where dozens of companies have been trying to train vehicles to steer themselves on increasingly congested roads.The California Public Utilities Commission unanimously granted Cruise, a company controlled by automaker General Motors, approval to launch its driverless ride-hailing service. The regulators issued the permit despite safety concerns arising from Cruise’s inability to pick up and drop off passengers at the curb in its autonomous taxis, requiring the vehicles to double park in traffic lanes. Continue reading...
Tesla cars on autopilot have stopped on highways without cause, owners report
US regulators investigating hundreds of reports that self-driving models 3 and Y have braked on highwaysMore than 750 Tesla owners have complained to US safety regulators that cars operating on the automaker’s partially automated driving systems have suddenly stopped on roadways for no apparent reason.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration revealed the number in a detailed information request letter to Tesla that was posted on Friday on the agency’s website. Continue reading...
Elon Musk seeks 10% job cuts at Tesla over ‘super bad feeling’ about economy
Email to executives also calls for hiring freeze at electric car maker, which has 100,000 staff worldwideElon Musk is considering a hiring freeze and job cuts of up to 10% of staff at Tesla because he has a “super bad feeling” about the state of the economy, according to an internal email seen by Reuters.Tesla currently has about 5,000 job openings advertised worldwide, and 100,000 employees. The email was sent to Tesla executives late on Thursday with the subject line “pause all hiring worldwide”, and comes days after Musk ordered all employees to return to the office for at least 40 hours a week or face immediate termination. Continue reading...
Welcome to EVE Online: the spaceship game where high-flyers live out their imperial fantasies
This seductive sandbox attracts Washington lawyers and real-life rocket scientists to a safe space for virtual villainyAs the roar of revellers reverberates around a rowdy Reykjavik, you would be forgiven for thinking this was an average Friday night. Yet among the bearded Icelanders quietly sipping their Einstök is a different kind of drinker: multiplayer spaceship game EVE Online’s intergalactic elite. On one May weekend each year, this island becomes the playground of the world’s most devoted gaming community.For those who don’t know their Minmatar from their Caldari, EVE Online is a hugely complex player-led video game, a virtual spaceship sandbox where – in the right hands – spreadsheets are as powerful as space fleets. Its complex history has been written by its players, with numerous fascinating tales of wars, betrayals and heists. Because the developers of the game rarely interfere, EVE is an experience that often feels less like a video game and more like a libertarian social experiment. As such, it attracts an intellectual – and extremely driven – player base. Continue reading...
Resident Evil 4 Remake announced at PlayStation State of Play event
The return of the hit zombie sequel topped the bill during online showcase, which also featured a new Final Fantasy 16 trailerThe long-awaited remake of acclaimed zombie adventure Resident Evil 4 was the highlight of Sony’s State of Play online showcase on Thursday evening.The 2005 original marked a radical change in direction for the Resident Evil series, with a new focus on action and a refreshed “behind-the-shoulder” camera view to replace the creaking third-person visuals. A story posted on Sony’s blog following the half-hour long event, promised that the remake would preserve the essence of the game while “re-imagining” the story, modernising the visuals and updating the controls. The teaser for the game also promised virtual reality content for the PlayStation VR headset. A release date of 24 March 2023 was given. Continue reading...
FBI sets sights on crypto economy with arrest of former OpenSea staffer
Ex-employee of the NFT marketplace, Nathaniel Chastain, charged with wire fraud and money launderingAn ex-employee of the leading non-fungible tokens (NFT) marketplace has been charged with wire fraud and money-laundering offences in a sign that US law enforcement will no longer turn a blind eye to the crypto economy.Nathaniel Chastain left his job as a product manager at OpenSea, the largest marketplace for NFTs – the unique crypto assets used to denote ownership of items such as digital art – after being accused of insider trading. Continue reading...
Card Shark review – cheat the French aristocracy in this dashing period caper
PC, Nintendo Switch; Devolver/Nerial
Best podcasts of the week: A modern take on Pride and Prejudice from Modern Family’s Jesse Tyler Ferguson
In this week’s newsletter: Gay Pride & Prejudice follows a single gay man as his chosen family marry off. Plus: five of the best history podcasts
‘End of an era’: Sheryl Sandberg leaves behind powerful – if complicated – legacy
The chief operating officer saw Facebook through multiple controversies and turned into the profitable juggernaut it is todaySheryl Sandberg announced on Wednesday she will step down from her role as chief operating officer of Facebook, after 14 years as one of the most powerful figures at a company that transformed Silicon Valley.During her time at Facebook, now Meta, she saw the company through a meteoric rise and an ongoing storm of controversies. Sandberg herself transformed into a controversial figurehead for corporate feminism following the release of her book Lean In, which became a seminal manifesto for women in the workplace. Continue reading...
Sheryl Sandberg steps down as chief operating officer of Facebook parent company Meta
Sandberg joined the company in 2008 and will leave the company this fall, although she will continue to be on Meta’s boardSheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer of Facebook and its parent company Meta, has announced she will step down from her role, ending 14 years in the job that made her one of the most powerful figures in the tech world and saw the company weather a meteoric rise and multiple controversies.Sandberg announced the move in a post on her own Facebook page on Wednesday, adding that she was not sure of what the future holds for her but plans to focus on her foundation and philanthropic work going forward. Continue reading...
Lewis Hobba: the 10 funniest things I have ever seen (on the internet)
The comedian and Triple J host shares online bits and pieces that make him laugh, including very specific impressions, chaotic nightclub photos and a quiz about a dragon
Elon Musk tells employees to return to office or ‘pretend to work’ elsewhere
Neither Musk nor Tesla confirmed he sent memo with remark but the CEO tweeted: ‘They should pretend to work somewhere else’Elon Musk, the Tesla chief executive, has asked employees to return to the office or “pretend to work somewhere else”, according to a memo sent to staff.About 30% of US office workers are still working from home, according to Nick Bloom, a Stanford economics professor and co-founder of Working from Home Research Project. Many companies are moving to a hybrid work model where staff will come in two or three days a week. Continue reading...
TechScape: They used my identity to flog a doomed cryptocurrency – and then things got weird
In this week’s newsletter: When I was sent DMs asking for advice about Tsuka, a new coin I was supposedly involved in, I could never have expected what happened next
Dashcam review – Maga-loving social media monster leads pandemic horror
Annie Hardy plays a livestream host so toxic that even zombies struggle to deal with herNasty, brutish and mercifully short, but occasionally mildly amusing, Dashcam represents another dollop of pandemic-themed shock schlock from writer-director Rob Savage, recently renowned for his lockdown-set horror pic Host. This time around, Savage has exchanged Host’s Zoom-chat framing device for a Discord stream, with comments and emojis scrolling up from the bottom of the screen as a fictional audience reacts to the main content. This will probably need a lot of explaining to viewers in 20 years’ time, but for now it seems very à la mode and down with the kids, as is the blurry gore-soaked violence, smutty material (get ready for lots of jokes about anal insertions) and air of cynicism.The star of the show is Annie Hardy, a social media star apparently playing a version of her IRL self: she is an intentionally abrasive millennial Maga fan, whose usual gig is driving around Los Angeles livestreaming and improvising raps in response to suggestions from her fanbase. Unfortunately, lockdown has thinned the action on the streets, apart from the odd naked cyclist. So Annie flies over to the UK to visit her old friend and former bandmate Stretch (Amar Chadha-Patel), who in the years since he’s seen Annie last has got less amused by her racism and refusal to conform by, for instance, wearing a mask around others. Hardy is a personification of everything that is obnoxious about the American right, but seemingly about as unkillable as a cockroach or Donald Trump’s political career judging by the way she navigates through a zombie apocalypse that starts out of nowhere. Continue reading...
‘Complex and volatile’: cryptocurrencies should be regulated by financial watchdogs, say consumer advocates
Treasury inquiry told ‘crypto is high-risk and unsophisticated investors are at high risk of losing significant funds’
‘Pissing while walking is tricky’: inside an Amazon warehouse, a cartoonist tries to unionise
In this extract from his new book, Sam Wallman recalls working as an Amazon picker – walking 30km a day with a constantly pinging timerThis is an edited extract from Our Members Be Unlimited by Sam Wallman (Scribe, $39.99, out now). Continue reading...
Guardian launches Tor onion service
Readers of the Guardian can now access our journalism entirely within the Tor network – an internet communication system designed to promote online privacy and offer enhanced protection from digital surveillanceThe Guardian website is now available to Tor users as an “onion service”, at the address:https://www.guardian2zotagl6tmjucg3lrhxdk4dw3lhbqnkvvkywawy3oqfoprid.onion Continue reading...
The technical tunes getting elderly Nigerians up and digitally dancing
People living in a Lagos care home are enjoying a break in routine with a virtual mix of therapy and entertainment delivered via headsetIn the living room of the Regina Mundi care home in Lagos, 70-year-old Baba Raphael hauls himself up from his chair and puts on a virtual reality headset. For nine minutes, Raphael dances to the folksy tones of his favourite singer, the late Ayinla Omowura, while watching a music video.“Are you enjoying it?” one of the staff asks Raphael. He doesn’t answer, oblivious as he sings along. Continue reading...
Sony LinkBuds review: novel earbuds that let the outside world in
Compact earphones have a central hole so you can hear what is going on around you while you listen or talkPersonal audio has taken a bizarre turn with Sony’s latest attempt to reinvent the earbud. The weird doughnut-shaped speaker with a hole in the middle allows you to listen to music without blocking out the world.The LinkBuds are the first in a new line of earbuds from Sony that aim to let you listen to music but also have awareness of what is going on around you. They cost £149 ($179/A$319) and compete with earbuds such as Apple’s standard AirPods and Google’s Pixel Buds A.Water resistance: IPX4 (sweat)Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.2, SBC, AACBattery life: 5.5 hours/2.5 hours talk, up to 17.5 hours with caseEarbud weight: 4.1gDriver size: 12mm ringCharging case weight: 34gCase dimensions: 41.4 x 48.5 x 30.9mmCase charging: USB-C Continue reading...
‘Don’ of a new era: the rise of Peter Thiel as a US rightwing power player
The Paypal Mafia’s lynchpin is putting his vast tech fortune to work for candidates aligned to Trump’s agenda in the midtermsAs the Republican party primaries play out across the US, the most sought after endorsement is still that of former president Donald Trump. But when it comes to the most vital part of any American campaign – money – another figure is emerging on the right of US politics who is becoming equally significant.Peter Thiel, the PayPal founder and former CEO referred to as the “don” of the original PayPal Mafia, a group that included Elon Musk, is establishing himself as a serious power player in American rightwing politics by wielding the power of his vast fortune. Continue reading...
Inventor of brain injury app wins second Young Innovators prize
Ellis Parry created the Alfred app to help the rehabilitation process after his twin brother suffered a devastating accidentIdentical twins Luke and Ellis Parry were studying engineering at Oxford in 2012 when Luke suffered a devastating brain injury after falling from a balcony. Doctors told Ellis that his brother only had hours to live.A decade later, Luke is now in work and is training to be a Paralympic athlete. Much of this remarkable recovery is due to his own strength of character, although his recuperation has also been helped by his brother. Ellis has set up Neumind, a company developing a next-generation app to help individuals with neurological conditions live independent lives. Continue reading...
Deliberate ploy: whistleblowers reveal why Facebook’s Australia news ban included non-news sites
Employees within Meta say the move amid the standoff with the Morrison government was no accident
It’s about time facial recognition tech firms took a look in the mirror | John Naughton
Clearview AI was fined for using internet-sourced images of UK residents in its database – but not before police forces used its serviceLast week, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) slapped a £7.5m fine on a smallish tech company called Clearview AI for “using images of people in the UK, and elsewhere, that were collected from the web and social media to create a global online database that could be used for facial recognition”. The ICO also issued an enforcement notice, ordering the company to stop obtaining and using the personal data of UK residents that is publicly available on the internet and to delete the data of UK residents from its systems.Since Clearview AI is not exactly a household name some background might be helpful. It’s a US outfit that has “scraped” (ie digitally collected) more than 20bn images of people’s faces from publicly available information on the internet and social media platforms all over the world to create an online database. The company uses this database to provide a service that allows customers to upload an image of a person to its app, which is then checked for a match against all the images in the database. The app produces a list of images that have similar characteristics to those in the photo provided by the customer, together with a link to the websites whence those images came. Clearview describes its business as “building a secure world, one face at a time”. Continue reading...
Elon Musk welcomes global recession: ‘it’s been raining money on fools for too long’ | Andrew Lawrence
The billionaire has received loans and tax breaks to help keep Tesla afloat, now he says other companies should go bankrupt for the good of the economyWith the invasion of Ukraine and lockdowns in China putting added pressure on a supply chain that has yet to recover from the ongoing pandemic, many are predicting a global recession. Elon Musk says bring it on.“This is actually a good thing,” Musk said in response to a question from a Twitter user. “It has been raining money on fools for too long. Some bankruptcies need to happen. Continue reading...
Will this fruit-picking robot transform agriculture?
Creating a machine that can perform the delicate work of picking an apple is tricky – and farmworkers say it could be a benefitRobots can do a lot. They build cars in factories. They sort goods in Amazon warehouses. Robotic dogs can, allegedly and a little creepily, make us safer by patrolling our streets. But there are some things robots still cannot do – things that sound quite basic in comparison. Like picking an apple from a tree.“It’s a simple thing” for humans, says robotics researcher Joe Davidson. “You and I, we could close our eyes, reach into the tree. We could feel around, touch it, and say ‘hey, that’s an apple and the stem’s up here’. Pull, twist. We could do all that without even looking.” Continue reading...
‘Reflections make me think of mystery’: Almudena López Calafate’s best phone picture
A chance array of possessions gave the camera-shy Spanish stylist the inspiration for a revealing self-portraitAlmudena López Calafate is no hoarder, but she doesn’t like to throw things in the bin unnecessarily. The red roses on her bedroom dressing cabinet were from her then boyfriend – a gift given with love – and she had held on to them even once they had wilted. The stylist, who hails from Spain, was getting dressed one morning and was drawn by the contrast of her yellow skirt against the muted trinkets.“On the right is an old photo of my mum in the 70s,” she says, “and to the left are stones I found on the beach, amulets, perfume bottles. The only thing I repositioned is the rose reflected in the handheld mirror. I love reflections; they make me think of Alice in Wonderland, of mystery and distortion.” Continue reading...
Seen and Unseen review: George Floyd, Black Twitter and the fight for racial justice
Marc Lamont Hill and Todd Brewster’s brilliant book considers the history of communications technology in a racist societyNearly all the books I have read about the internet have deepened my fears about the net effect of social media on the health of our body politic. For example, I thought three facts from the congressman Ro Khanna’s recent book, Dignity in a Digital Age, were enough to scare anyone concerned about the future of democracy.Khanna reported that an internal discussion at Facebook revealed that “64% of all extremist group joins are due to our recommendations”; he revealed that before 2020, “QAnon groups developed millions of followers as Facebook’s algorithm encouraged people to join based on their profiles”; and he pointed to a United Nations report that Facebook played a “determining role” in events in Myanmar that led to the murder of at least 25,000 Rohingya Muslims and the displacement of 700,000 others. Continue reading...
Elon Musk sued by Twitter investors for delaying disclosure of stake
Investors say Musk saved himself $156m by failing to disclose that he had purchased more than 5% of Twitter by 14 MarchElon Musk was sued by Twitter investors for delaying the disclosure of his stake in the company, as the Tesla owner mounts a $44bn takeover bid for the social media platform.The investors said Musk saved himself $156m by failing to disclose that he had purchased more than 5% of Twitter by 14 March. Continue reading...
Collapsed ‘stablecoin’ terra to be rebooted in attempt to recover losses
Collapse this month prompted widespread crash of cryptocurrency sectorTerra, the “algorithmic stablecoin” project whose collapse this month prompted a widespread crash of the entire cryptocurrency sector, is being rebooted as “terra 2.0” in a last-ditch attempt to recover investor losses.However, the new cryptocurrency, which will be launched on Friday morning, will no longer involve any effort to peg its value to the US dollar, in an attempt to avoid the “death spiral” that destroyed the original iteration. The plans were approved by a vote of terra investors, with 65% voting in favour. Continue reading...
Amazon bags £425m in work from UK government as it is criticised over tax
Report claims public money from countries around the world is funding growth of tech companyAmazon has reaped a total of £425m in UK government contracts in the past two years, it has emerged in a report, prompting fresh criticism that the tech giant is failing to pay a fair share of tax in the country.The report, by the Centre for International Corporate Tax Accountability and Research (CICTAR) with assistance from investigative thinktank Taxwatch, finds Amazon’s highly profitable cloud computing business is increasingly being indirectly supported by taxpayers through hundreds of billions of dollars in government contracts around the world. Continue reading...
Airbnb to close in China amid repeated Covid lockdowns
With pandemic restrictions showing no sign of ending, home rental service says it will cease taking bookings for accommodation inside China from 30 JulyAirbnb is closing down its business inside China indefinitely, as the country’s zero-Covid policy, lockdowns and travel restrictions continue.On Tuesday Airbnb told its China-based users it would cease taking all bookings for accommodation and experiences in China from 30 July. The ability to book for dates beyond 29 July was suspended on Tuesday morning, according to screenshots of the Airbnb notice shared across Chinese social media. An attempt by the Guardian to make bookings from outside China after that date produced an error message. Continue reading...
Activision Blizzard’s Raven Software workers vote to form industry’s first union
The vote marks a victory for labor advocates in an industry mired with allegations of abuse and poor working conditionsWorkers in a division of video game company Activision Blizzard have voted to unionize, creating the first labor union at a major US gaming firm.A small group of Wisconsin-based quality assurance testers at Activision Blizzard’s Raven Software, which develops the popular Call of Duty game franchise, voted 19-3 in favor of unionizing on Monday. Continue reading...
Dutch police create deepfake video of murdered boy, 13, in hope of new leads
Video shows simulation of Sedar Soares, who was shot dead in 2003, asking public to help solve caseDutch police have received dozens of leads after using deepfake technology to virtually bring to life a teenager almost two decades after his murder.Sedar Soares was shot dead in 2003 while throwing snowballs with friends in the parking lot of a Rotterdam metro station. Continue reading...
UK watchdog fines facial recognition firm £7.5m over image collection
Clearview AI hit with penalty for collecting images of people from social media and web to add to global databaseThe UK’s data watchdog has fined a facial recognition company £7.5m for collecting images of people from social media platforms and the web to add to a global database.The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) also ordered US-based Clearview AI to delete the data of UK residents from its systems. Clearview AI has collected more than 20bn images of people’s faces from Facebook, other social media companies and from scouring the web. Continue reading...
America’s billionaire class is funding anti-democratic forces | Robert Reich
Billionaire donors are pushing an unsettling agenda for America – backing Trump’s lie that the 2020 election was stolen, calling for restrictions on voting and even questioning the value of democracy itselfDecades ago, America’s monied interests bankrolled a Republican establishment that believed in fiscal conservatism, anti-communism and constitutional democracy.Today’s billionaire class is pushing a radically anti-democratic agenda for America – backing Trump’s lie that the 2020 election was stolen, calling for restrictions on voting and even questioning the value of democracy.The 1920s were the last decade in American history during which one could be genuinely optimistic about politics. Since 1920, the vast increase in welfare beneficiaries and the extension of the franchise to women – two constituencies that are notoriously tough for libertarians – have rendered the notion of “capitalist democracy” into an oxymoron.Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley and the author of Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few and The Common Good. His new book, The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It, is out now. He is a Guardian US columnist. His newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com Continue reading...
Ukrainian man loses life savings in ‘stablecoin’ crypto slump
Yuri Popovich invested in the supposedly safe cryptocurrency to protect against risks of the invasionA Ukrainian man who converted almost all his family’s money into the crypto “stablecoin” terra in April in an effort to protect against the risks of invasion or currency collapse has lost almost $10,000 (£8,000) after its sudden demise.“It was impossible and unsafe to store funds in the form of banknotes,” said Yuri Popovich, who lives in Kyiv. Cryptocurrencies advertised as safe and “backed with fiat currency” suggested another option. Continue reading...
‘Phones are like a scab we know we shouldn’t pick’: the truth about social media and anxiety
Although connecting with friends online has positive benefits for mental health, overdoing screen time can lead to a catastrophic emotional crashMost people think that phones are a bad thing for anxiety. Parents, in particular, believe phones are terrible for the mental health of children, teenagers and young adults. So, what is the truth? While I was writing my book You Don’t Understand Me, which addresses the mental health of teenage girls and young women, I felt I had to get to the bottom of the relationship between phones and anxiety. And to be honest, it doesn’t look great. Since smartphones came out in around 2000, there has been a steady decline in the mental health of young people. But as we know, correlation does not necessarily equal causation.What I have observed clinically is that rather than being the cause of the problem per se, phones seem to act as a catalyst to our emotions. This can be a positive thing, when it allows us to connect with friends and family; share happy news; photos or jokes. It also allows marginalised communities to find each other. Continue reading...
YouTube removes more than 9,000 channels relating to Ukraine war
Exclusive: Platform takes ‘unprecedented action’ to address content guideline violations since invasion
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