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Microsoft hack: Biden launches emergency taskforce to address cyber-attack

The ‘unusually aggressive’ attack allowed hackers to access email accounts of at least 30,000 organizations in the US The Biden administration is launching an emergency taskforce to address an aggressive cyber-attack that has affected hundreds of thousands of Microsoft customers around the world – the second major hacking campaign to hit the US since the …

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‘Typographic attack’: pen and paper fool AI into thinking apple is an iPod

OpenAI’s Clip system fails to correctly decipher images when words are pasted on picture As artificial intelligence systems go, it is pretty smart: show Clip a picture of an apple and it can recognise that it is looking at a fruit. It can even tell you which one, and sometimes go as far as differentiating …

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Shining through: Dutch artist paints farming in a new light to boost crops

With the help of botanists, Daan Roosegaarde has created a ‘light recipe’ for a field of leeks to help the plants grow better By day, the field of leeks looks like any other. But, as the sun sets, blue and red light, mixed with invisible ultraviolet (UV) radiation, transforms the scene into a multicoloured landscape. …

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From posh blankets to aural apps: the firms cashing in on the demand for sleep aids

Sales of slumber-related products have soared during lockdown There are breathing robots versed in “thousands of years of Buddhist breathing techniques” that claim to soothe you to sleep. Then there are weighted blankets that press around 10% of your body weight down as you snooze. And there are apps, such as supermodel Natalia Vodianova’s Loóna, …

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Maquette review – exhilarating worlds within worlds

(Graceful Decay; Annapurna Interactive; PC, PS4/5)This simple girl-meets-boy story plays out in a series of abstract dioramas, each one bigger than the next Maquette opens with a conversation between two strangers in a San Francisco coffee shop, a flirty interaction sparked over a sketchbook. Romance soon follows and the game – the latest from the …

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Apple and Google face new antitrust battle over Arizona app store bill

Measure would allow developers to use own payment systems as tide turns against industry that has been largely unregulated A controversial Arizona bill that addresses the fees technology companies like Apple and Google charge app developers is raising new antitrust challenges for embattled US tech giants. The bill – which passed the Arizona state house …

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Fear itself is the real threat to democracy, not tall tales of Chinese AI | John Naughton

Stoking panic about China’s dominance is just another way for western technology giants to avoid scrutiny and gain power This week the American National Security Commission on artificial intelligence released its final report. Cursory inspection of its 756 pages suggests that it’s just another standard product of the military-industrial complex that so worried President Eisenhower …

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The ‘soulless corporation’ look – yes, it’s Amazon on the high street | Barbara Ellen

Till-free convenience is all very well until the bill eventually arrives at home I may be a retail misanthrope, but are the till-free Amazon Fresh shops a depersonalised step too far? At first sight, the basic concept (wander in, wander out, get charged later) looks tailor-made for me. I already don’t need much shopping “face …

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Fit in my 40s: a virtual rave with sabers and songs – what’s not to like? | Zoe Williams

In Beat Saber, you slice away at big squares that come rushing at you – it’s like colouring in and partying at the same time When somebody suggested Beat Saber to me, I wasn’t interested. First, it looks rather intimidating from the demo videos: you’re inside a virtual reality headset, with a controller in each …

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Facebook faces US investigation for ‘systemic’ racial bias in hiring

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission indicates it suspects company policies may fuel broad discrimination A US agency investigating Facebook for racial bias in hiring and promotions has designated its inquiry as “systemic”, meaning it suspects company policies may be contributing to widespread discrimination. Attorneys for three job applicants and a manager who claim the company discriminated …

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