Month: February 2023

Interest groups have poured an estimated £250,000 into all-party parliamentary groups over the past five years • Crypto firm with links to parliamentary groups appears to have vanished For more than a decade, those worried about the reputation of parliament have warned that all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) can be a problem. Their supporters say they …

Phoenix Community Capital case shines light on UK’s lobbying problem Read More »

Nintendo Switch; Hal Laboratories/ NintendoThis colourful multiplayer platformer was largely ignored when it first came out in 2011 – is it worth a second look? Kirby was designed to be easily drawn. Part balloon, part sentient piece of bubblegum, creator Masahiro Sakurai envisioned a character so simple that kids would scribble it on their notebooks …

Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe review – overfamiliar fun for friends and families Read More »

Mark Read says artificial intelligence is helping firm win clients keen to tap into technology’s potential From Serena Williams playing against incarnations of her younger self to millions of personalised messages from a Bollywood superstar to support small businesses in India, artificial intelligence and machine learning is driving a revolution in the global advertising industry. …

‘It’s fundamental’: WPP chief on how AI has revolutionised advertising Read More »

With its frequent dismemberments, repulsive creatures and total immersion, Dead Space spliced horror and sci-fi to make a truly classic video game – even though it initially tanked It’s one of the more memorable intros in video game history: as part of a five-person team sent to investigate a communications blackout aboard the mining ship …

Dead Space at 15: ‘We wanted to make one of the scariest games ever’ Read More »

Employees given until 15 March to comply amid concerns over app’s Chinese ownership The EU’s executive body has banned its thousands of staff from using TikTok, as governments and officials become increasingly concerned over the company’s data practices and Chinese ownership. The European Commission sent an email to employees ordering them to delete the app …

European Commission bans staff from using TikTok on work devices Read More »

Leading tech firms reportedly ordered to remove workarounds allowing access to US-based service Chinese regulators have reportedly clamped down on access to ChatGPT, as Chinese tech firms and universities push forward with developing domestic artificial intelligence bots. ChatGPT, the popular discussion bot created by US-based OpenAI, is not officially available in China, where the government …

‘Political propaganda’: China clamps down on access to ChatGPT Read More »

Chores such as shopping likely to have most automation, while caring for young or old least likely to be affected, says report A revolution in artificial intelligence could slash the amount of time people spend on household chores and caring, with robots able to perform about 39% of domestic tasks within a decade, according to …

Almost 40% of domestic tasks could be done by robots ‘within decade’ Read More »

The tech giant has taken billions from game developers but failed to reinvest it, leaving the App Store a confusing mess for mobile gamers In the 15 years since it launched the App Store, Apple has proved again and again that it cares very little about games – though it is happy to make billions …

I was an App Store games editor – that’s how I know Apple doesn’t care about games Read More »

In this week’s newsletter: Reporter Kim Barker explores an unsolved murder in her ‘mean’ hometown, in The Coldest Case in Laramie. Plus: five of the best podcasts about friendship Don’t get Hear Here delivered to your inbox? Sign up here The Moomin PhenomenonWidely available, all episodes out on Wed The Moomin philosophy – love, equality …

Best podcasts of the week: The makers of Serial are back with a cold case killing in deepest Wyoming Read More »

Algorithm-based sources lead to more polarised and conflicting views in society, as people are exposed to a less diverse diet of current affairs, writes Ollie Davies Your editorial on disinformation (17 February) highlights a great challenge, but of arguably greater importance are the sources of news young people use. In a 2022 study, the Reuters …

What happens if teens get their news from TikTok? | Letter Read More »