Month: February 2024

Advances in fields such as spectrometry and gene sequencing are unleashing torrents of new data about the ancient world – and could offer answers to questions we never even knew to ask Scythians did terrible things. Two-thousand five-hundred years ago, these warrior nomads, who lived in the grasslands of what is now southern Ukraine, enjoyed …

Solar storms, ice cores and nuns’ teeth: inside the new science of history Read More »

LockBit’s website under control of security agencies from both sides of Atlantic, according to post LockBit, a notorious cybercrime gang that holds its victims’ data to ransom, has been disrupted in a rare international law enforcement operation by Britain’s National Crime Agency, the FBI, Europol and a coalition of international police agencies, according to a …

Prolific cybercrime gang disrupted by joint UK, US and EU operation Read More »

Video platform under scrutiny over potential breach of Digital Services Act, in areas including age verification Business live – latest updates The EU has launched a formal investigation into whether TikTok has broken online content rules, including the safeguarding of children. The EU’s executive arm, the European Commission, said it had opened official proceedings against …

EU opens investigation into TikTok over online content and child safeguarding Read More »

With a subject as complex as monitoring the effects of smartphone use, Alex Lykos’s film could have paid more attention to sourcing and methodology It’s digital detox time for film-maker Alex Lykos, as he attempts to go cold turkey on his phone and other devices for 30 days for this documentary belonging to the lower-budget …

Disconnect Me review – man attempts digital cold turkey in personal-challenge journey Read More »

In Oklahoma City, a five-piece band has been putting an authentic musical accent on local Mario Kart tournaments Video game soundtracks don’t come more iconic than Mario Kart. As the characters, circuits and power-ups have evolved from the Super Nintendo Entertainment System(SNES) to the N64, Wii and Switch, so has the music. Each new interpretation …

Ever wanted to play Mario Kart accompanied by a live jazz band? In Oklahoma, you can Read More »

European Commission investigates Spotify complaint that tech giant blocked users from cheaper subscriptions outside app store Apple is reportedly facing a €500m fine from the EU over restrictions on access to music streaming services, in what would be a landmark blow to the US tech company. The European Commission is investigating whether the US company …

Apple faces possible €500m fine from EU over music streaming access Read More »

Teaching unions say guidance includes practices already adopted and most schools already have policies in place Ministers have confirmed plans to ban the use of mobile phones in English schools, releasing guidance for headteachers that some unions said included practices that had already been widely adopted. However, one headteacher welcomed the Department for Education (DfE) …

Ministers confirm plan to ban use of mobile phones in schools in England Read More »

From Instagram to health apps, the modern world no longer allows for rich and complex storytelling argues the philosopher in an entertaining polemic that’s short on humility In Charlie Kaufman’s puppet animation Anomalisa, everyone looks and speaks the same. It’s as though a scene in an earlier Kaufman-penned film, Being John Malkovich, in which Malkovich …

The Crisis of Narration by Byung-Chul Han review – how big tech altered the narrative Read More »

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 spam email actually work? I don’t mean dodgy phishing emails, but the annoying ads and sales pitches. Presumably the answer is yes, otherwise the spammers wouldn’t bother, but I find …

Does spam email actually work? Read More »

As demand for responsive sexbots grows, some developers are trying to thread the needle between fully neutered and fully uncensored AI When Ashley Neale started college in Texas in 2013, she needed money to pay for school. So, at the age of 18, she worked first as a cam girl and then as a stripper. …

Can AI porn be ethical? Read More »