Month: February 2023

Bioimpedance sensing technologies as used in smartwatches could affect implanted devices like pacemakers Wearable fitness and wellness trackers could interfere with some implanted cardiac devices such as pacemakers, according to a study. Devices such as smartwatches, smart rings and smart scales used to monitor fitness-related activities could interfere with the functioning of cardiac implantable electronic …

Wearable fitness trackers could interfere with cardiac devices, study finds Read More »

In this week’s newsletter: Though costly, the PSVR2 is the most usable virtual gaming device yet – even for sceptics like me Don’t get Pushing Buttons delivered to your inbox? Sign up here In 2016, when the first wave of virtual reality headsets hit the market after years of hype, I was sceptical. I was …

Pushing Buttons: The PlayStation VR 2 might be the next big thing, if you can handle the nausea – and the cost Read More »

Google’s video site banned the publication last year for its Ukraine falsehoods, but its content is still posted on various channels Hundreds of videos produced by the Russia-controlled publication RT have found their way on to YouTube in the past year, despite the platform’s ban of such media last year. YouTube, which is owned by …

RT videos still spreading Ukraine disinformation on YouTube, report finds Read More »

Clamshell phone with longer battery life aims squarely at challenging Samsung’s Z Flip 4 Oppo’s first folding flip phone to be sold outside its Chinese home market is the Find N2 Flip, an Android clamshell aimed squarely at challenging Samsung’s popular Z Flip 4. The next-gen flipper costs £849, undercutting Samsung by £50, and uses …

Oppo Find N2 Flip review: new hinge decreases the crease Read More »

How an undercover investigation revealed a team of Israeli contractors who claim to have manipulated more than 30 elections around the world using hacking, sabotage and automated disinformation on social media Last year, coordinated by the French media organisation Forbidden Stories, a group of journalists from around the world, including from the Guardian, embarked on …

The secret world of disinformation for hire – podcast Read More »

Founding editor says 500 pitches rejected this month and their ‘authors’ banned, as influencers promote ‘get rich quick’ schemes One of the most prestigious publishers of science fiction short stories has closed itself to submissions after a deluge of AI-generated pitches overwhelmed its editorial team. Clarkesworld, which has published writers including Jeff VanderMeer, Yoon Ha …

Sci fi publisher Clarkesworld halts pitches amid deluge of AI-generated stories Read More »

The game series formerly known as Yakuza has been an inroad to modern Japan for its legions of overseas fans. Now, it hopes to do the same for Japanese history Like a Dragon – the game series formerly known as Yakuza – has been going for almost 20 years. These are melodramatic games about the …

Found in translation: how Like a Dragon brings Japan to the rest of the world Read More »

In this week’s newsletter: The two tech behemoths are betting big that their ‘Bard’ and ‘Bing’ services will revolutionise the way we navigate the net Don’t get TechScape delivered to your inbox? Sign up here Search engines have been a major part of our online experience since the early 1990s, when the booming growth of …

TechScape: Google and Microsoft are in an AI arms race – who wins could change how we use the internet Read More »

Computer programmer Cassius John-Adams explains how he mashed up Crazy Taxi and The Fifth Element during an obsessive three-year period, single-handedly creating the game he’d always dreamed of Over lunch one day at work, Cassius John-Adams, a computer programmer for a Canadian TV network, was moaning to his co-workers that things aren’t as good as …

‘It took over my life!’ How one man made his dream 90s video game on his own Read More »

Receiving login codes via text message is much easier to compromise. Using authenticator apps or even a USB are preferred alternatives On the weekend, Twitter announced that from 20 March, people who haven’t subscribed to Twitter Blue will have two-factor authentication via SMS disabled. Twitter has recommended people use third-party apps or a security key …

Twitter is ending free SMS two-factor authentication. So what can you use instead? Read More »