Month: November 2021

Will Elon Musk abide by Twitter poll and sell 10% of his Tesla shares?

World’s wealthiest person says proposed billionaires tax led to poll, the result of which sent price falling Tesla shares fall after Elon Musk’s Twitter poll Elon Musk, the chief executive of Tesla and world’s richest person, asked his 62.8 million Twitter followers over the weekend whether he should sell $21bn (£15.5bn) worth of shares in …

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Pen-banging crooners and songs about broccoli: TikTok’s outlandish take on pop

Huge stars like Justin Bieber have made singles designed to go viral on TikTok. Yet the platform’s pop scene is far weirder – from internet drama turned into 40-second tunes, to singers famous for making ‘adorable faces’ The means by which music is played invariably affects music itself: jazz changed with the introduction of the …

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Palestinian activists’ mobile phones hacked by NSO spyware, says report

Investigation finds rights activists working for groups accused by Israel of being terrorist were previously targeted by NSO spyware The mobile phones of six Palestinian human rights defenders who work for organisations that were recently – and controversially – accused by Israel of being terrorist groups were previously hacked by sophisticated spyware made by NSO …

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The big idea: Should we leave the classroom behind?

The pandemic has driven a great leap forward in digital learning. Is there any point in looking back? My 21-year-old goddaughter, a second-year undergraduate, mentioned in passing that she watches video lectures offline at twice the normal speed. Struck by this, I asked some other students I know. Many now routinely accelerate their lectures when …

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The Every by Dave Eggers review – scathing big-tech satire sequel

The writer’s follow-up to The Circle is longer and baggier, but still fuelled by rage at the power of Silicon Valley and its numbing effect on the human race Kudos to Dave Eggers. In this follow-up to the admirable, big-tech, dystopian thriller The Circle (which you needn’t have read to enjoy the current book), he …

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How to photograph the moon on your phone or camera with the right settings

Guardian Australia picture editor Carly Earl explains the dos and don’ts of taking pictures of the moon When a full moon rises, many people will pull out their mobile phones to try and taken an Instagram-worthy picture, but unfortunately the moon is really challenging to get a great photo of. Two reasons: it is very …

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Firms under fire for using UK influencers to push nicotine products

Companies accused of using social media influencers to entice young people to try nicotine products Posing expertly for Instagram snaps, a parade of young and beautiful DJs, models and socialites line up to endorse Velo, a brand of flavoured nicotine pouches made by British American Tobacco (BAT). Between them, the 26 social media influencers boast …

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Untapped, unsigned and frequently unhinged: a deep dive into TV TikTok

There’s Shakespeare the Roadman, life lessons from Grey’s Anatomy, and everything Gemma Collins has ever said or done. In the first of a series in which Guardian critics unearth the best of TikTok, our writer takes on its TV-related content TikTok and telly go together like Ant and Dec before the drink-driving ban. Most obviously, …

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The dawn of tappigraphy: does your smartphone know how you feel before you do?

Tech companies are seeking to analyse data on the way we tap, scroll, text and call to monitor our mental health – with potential consequences for privacy and healthcare We all fear our smartphones spy on us, and I’m subject to a new type of surveillance. An app called TapCounter records each time I touch …

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