Month: July 2021

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD review – still a cut above

Nintendo Switch; NintendoThis remastered game from the Wii-era remains a wildly imaginative and magical experience created by Nintendo’s brainiest puzzle architects In 2011, when Nintendo reforged The Legend of Zelda around the waggling of a Wii remote in Skyward Sword, there was a sense that the developer had lost sight of the wood for the …

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No cults, no politics, no ghouls: how China censors the video game world

China’s video game market is the world’s biggest. International developers want in on it – but its rules on what is acceptable are growing increasingly harsh. Is it worth the compromise? In the years after it was founded in 1999, the Swedish video game company Paradox Interactive quietly built a reputation for developing some of …

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Sony WF-1000XM4 review: the best-sounding noise-cancelling earbuds

Comfortable and long lasting with good case and brilliant audio but ultimately disposable Sony’s latest top-of-the-range noise-cancelling earbuds are a cut above the previous generation and the competition. Costing £250 ($279.99/A$449.99), the WF-1000XM4 are premium true wireless earbuds that go toe to toe with the likes of the Apple AirPods Pro, Jabra Elite 85t and …

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Welcome to TechScape: will AI make centaurs of us all?

Up for discussion in the first Guardian tech newsletter: can artificial intelligence enhance rather than replace us … internet age verification … plus Google’s €500m French fine Hello and welcome to the debut issue of TechScape, the Guardian’s newsletter on all things tech, and sometimes things not-tech if they’re interesting enough. I can’t tell you …

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New Zealand Uber drivers launch class action against ride share company

Legal fight hopes to override previous ruling that drivers are not employees New Zealand Uber drivers are taking the global ride-share company to court, in the hopes of being legally determined as employees instead of contractors. It is the latest in a string of cases taken against the company and other ride-share apps, and the …

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Silicon Valley before the silicon: a boy’s own story – in pictures

For his eighth birthday in 1959 David Pace was given a Brownie Hawkeye camera. The young boy photographed family, church, work, and school in the region of California that would become the tech giants’ home Continue reading… For his eighth birthday in 1959 David Pace was given a Brownie Hawkeye camera. The young boy photographed …

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Reddit defends how it tackles misinformation as it opens Australian office

Social news aggregator has had to grapple with growing calls to deal with misinformation and conspiracy theories on platform The head of social news aggregator Reddit has argued its own community and administrators are the best moderator against misinformation, as the company plans to open an office in Australia for the first time. In the …

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Ransomware gang REvil’s websites become unreachable

Outage means victims of Russia-linked cybercrime ring cannot pay ransom and can remain unnamed Websites run by the ransomware gang REvil suddenly became unreachable on Tuesday. Ransomware gang websites can be unreliable, and it was unclear whether the site’s disappearance was a momentary fluke or whether the hackers had been taken offline. Continue reading… Outage …

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Tech chiefs called in to No 10 over racist posts to England players

Boris Johnson to demand that tech firms do more to tackle online abuse Boris Johnson has summoned tech companies to Downing Street to order them to do more to tackle online abuse, amid mounting criticism of the government after black England players were deluged with racist posts in the aftermath of their Euro 2020 defeat. …

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Why are companies always experiencing higher-than-normal call volumes?

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts Does anyone still believe that any of the companies they call or email are labouring under higher-than-normal call volumes – especially given that that they all seem to have it “higher …

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