Month: February 2021

The exclusive invitation-only social networking app is a hybrid of conference calls, talkback radio and Houseparty Part talkback radio, part conference call, part Houseparty, Clubhouse is a social networking app based on audio-chat. Users can listen in to conversations, interviews and discussions between interesting people on various topics – it is just like tuning in …

Clubhouse app: what is it and how do you get an invite to the audio app Elon Musk uses? Read More »

My brother-in-law Don Hunter, who has died aged 93, was a physicist who worked on some of the first electronic computers in the Rutherford Laboratory at Cambridge University and later helped set up one of the first major computer software companies in the UK. Don worked as a research assistant in the maths department of …

Don Hunter obituary Read More »

Booking sites urged to step in after Observer research reveals many doors are open for half-term breaks Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Accommodation booking sites are being urged to clamp down on holiday-home owners after an Observer investigation found that half of Airbnb owners were willing to host guests for trips …

Airbnb owners caught ignoring travel ban to let out holiday homes Read More »

Facebook says collecting user data across the internet makes for ‘better experiences’. Apple – and privacy groups – are pushing back Facebook is taking lessons from its debacle over WhatsApp privacy changes in a bid to prevent millions of its users opting out of allowing the company to track their interests across the internet. WhatsApp, …

Facebook v Apple: the looming showdown over data tracking and privacy Read More »

The pandemic has shown that other ways of teaching and learning are possible The thing about pandemics, observed the historian Yuval Noah Harari, is that they tend to accelerate history. A couple of years ago, appalled by the environmental, financial and working-time costs of running research conferences, I wondered aloud how long it would take …

Universities need to wise up – or risk being consigned to history | John Naughton Read More »

Bo Harris says he was not only looking for an organ donation, he wanted to put a face to his largely invisible kidney disease Bo Harris was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease in 2015. In the five years since, he has gone to countless doctor appointments, spent weeks in bed with symptoms of the illness …

The people using Instagram to find a life-saving kidney donor Read More »

My father-in-law, Wolfgang Marc Schatzberger, who has died aged 94, was evacuated as a child from Austria to the UK through the Kindertransport programme, which rescued thousands of children from across Europe as the second world war approached. He was born in Vienna into an assimilated middle-class Polish/Jewish family. Following the Anschluss in March 1938 …

Wolfgang Marc Schatzberger obituary Read More »

Younger generation mock the style popular since 2000s, saying it has had its day and is not flattering A generation war has been playing out on TikTok for some time, though anyone older than 24 might be oblivious to the millions of “millennial v Gen Z” videos that have appeared on the social media site …

‘No skinny jeans’: Gen Z launch TikTok attack on millennial fashion Read More »

US congressman Tom Emmer appeared to be floating upside down on screen during a virtual congressional committee hearing, shifting the mood of the meeting. Emmer’s peculiar on-screen appearance prompted chairwoman Maxine Waters to ask if he was ok while other lawmakers commented ‘at least he’s not a cat’ referring to the viral video of a …

‘Mr Emmer, are you OK?’: Congressman appears upside down in virtual hearing – video Read More »

Jim Moir and Jools Holland talk memorable trips with celebrity guests on their Joyride podcast. Plus: seeing the world differently, and racial inequalities in healthcare Jools and Jim’s Joyride Jim Moir and Jools Holland are the latest celebrities bringing escapist joy with their transport-themed podcast. It’s a laid-back affair, with the pair reluctant to hog …

Jools and Jim get in the driving seat – podcasts of the week Read More »