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Tech
Industry, products, and the wires that hold it all together.
745 stories archived
‘DO NOT MENTION ALPR USAGE’: How Cops Are Trying to Hide Their Use of Flock
“DO NOT MENTION ALPR USAGE TO THE OCCUPANTS OF THE VEHICLE. DO NOT MENTION ALPR USAGE IN YOUR REPORT OR COMPLAINT."
The best microwaves in the UK for every kitchen and budget – tested
They’re perfect for time-poor cooks, but which deserves your counter space? From combi models to smart designs, here’s what our expert recommends • The best air fryers If you’re at a restaurant and hear a ping a couple of minutes before your meal arrives at your table, it’s unlikely to be a good sign. But microwave ovens are a brilliant tool in the home kitchen. They’re fearsomely fast at heating up – or even cooking – food when you’re time-poor and lacking the energy to make something wholesome after a hard day at work. And in hot weather, cooking by microwave isn’t just quick: it also won’t warm your home. Microwaves work best for heating food with a high water content (they make the water molecules in food vibrate to create heat). However, before testing, I asked around to find out what people use theirs for most, with a view to using this information to shape my tests. I learned a few things – like lots of people eat mug cakes . Who knew? And that wheat bags are a popular alternative to hot-water bottles. But the majority of folk use their microwave for reheating cold cuppas, defrosting frozen batch-cooked meals, warming food, popping microwave popcorn – and, of course, cooking jacket potatoes more quickly. I used these insights to shape my testing. Continue reading...
The SEC Bought Airline Data to Monitor Flights Worldwide
The SEC bought access to worldwide airline ticketing records. Airlines including Delta, United, and American sold the data.
OpenAI says Apple's trade secrets lawsuit is "aggressive and oddly personal"
“We do not have, nor want, any of their trade secrets,” the ChatGPT maker says.
US water facilities targeted by ‘malicious cyber actors’ – who’s to blame?
Despite Trump’s efforts to blame Tim Walz and Minnesota, officials suspect Iran behind attacks on US infrastructure Late last week, federal authorities issued a stern warning saying “malicious cyber actors” were targeting water and wastewater facilities in at least seven states across the US. Minnesota appeared to be the hardest hit with 30 of its water systems hit by cyber-attacks, leading to disruptions in the state’s water supply. The problems ranged from low-pressure water flow in people’s homes to some utilities announcing boil-water notices. But there have been no reports of drinking water contamination. Continue reading...
Big Walk review – larking around with mates elevated to an artform
Switch 2, PlayStation 5, PC; House House The creators of Untitled Goose Game return with an online, open-world adventure that delivers slapstick silliness and bucolic majesty in nearly equal measure Radiant sunsets glinting on lapping waves; bushland valleys that beckon with secrets; modernist buildings sat atop craggy ridges: Big Walk’s setting is as arresting as it is beguiling – a kind of architectural fever dream transplanted to a handsome Australian wilderness – but it is the images created by players that lodge deepest in the mind. Here’s one that has stuck with me: in the black of night, cicadas kicking up an almighty din, I had lost my partner. Panic. Despair. Fear. Then, there in the far distance, I saw him signalling in my direction. He was relentlessly spamming a gigantic, ball-shaped lamp on and off, the ground around him flicking from inky dark to warm pastel pink and back again, like a single Christmas light blinking from afar. This kind of encounter is common in Big Walk, the brilliant and whimsical new online co-op puzzler from House House, the Melbourne-based studio behind the 2019 viral hit, Untitled Goose Game . Rather than playing as a honking, mischief-making goose as you do in that game, you are a bug-eyed, gangly limbed kind of bird person (think Pingu as drawn by Mondrian) for whom getting separated from your mates is all part of the fun. That’s somewhat because this rugged terrain is dense with vegetation and cliffs to fall down, and also because the game makes ingenious use of proximity and direction-based voice audio. Step out of earshot of your party and you will find it difficult to call for one another (unless, of course, you’ve picked up a Fisher-Price-like walkie-talkie). Continue reading...
‘Fortnite on steroids’: the virtual gaming worlds transformed to train British soldiers
Inside Skyral, part of a consortium that won a £2bn MoD contract to help forces game out complex decisions On a sunny July day in Riga, Latvia, a Nato convoy drives down a street lined with kebab shops and a pharmacy. At a downtown intersection, there is the sound of an explosion and the lead tank bursts into flame. These are real streets in Riga – Lāčplēša iela and the downtown corridor of Tērbatas iela. The kebab shops and the pharmacy are on them. The pedestrians who flee after the tank explodes and huddle at a distance are modelled after the population of Riga: some old, some young, some friendly to Nato, others less so. Continue reading...
Can you tell if someone is filming you with Meta glasses? – video
Meta glasses - they're everywhere, and people have a lot of opinions. Mostly about their ability to take photos and videos. Rafqa Touma speaks to Guardian Australia's technology reporter, Josh Taylor, lifestyle editor, Alyx Gorman, and the Human Technology Institute's responsible technology policy specialist, Lauren Perry. Continue reading...
Beast of Reincarnation review – a taxing reflection of human-made damage
PC, Xbox, PlayStation 5; Game Freak/Fictions Game Freak channels a post-apocalyptic reality that reflects our own repetitive erosion cycles, with a fair bit of hand-holding Most of your time in Beast of Reincarnation is spent collecting last words. You cross paths with robots lying on the ground, who muster whatever energy they have left to provide guidance. These interactions are fleeting. Attempt to talk to them a second time, and protagonist Emma makes their fates painfully clear: “They’ve already passed on.” The latest detour by Game Freak, the studio best known as the primary developer of Pokémon games, is an action RPG set in a post-apocalyptic Japan. Taking cues from Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Final Fantasy VII Remake, and NieR: Automata, you wield the sword of an outcast accompanied by an ever-loyal canine. The pair embark on a taxing and often monotonous journey to defeat the titular beast, which nonetheless serves a thematic purpose to bolster a decaying reality, while reflecting a possible future for ours. Continue reading...
US company’s AI lets Ukraine’s cheap kamikaze drones track targets on their own
$100 million deal gives 50,000 Ukrainian drones US-developed AI capabilities.
Research roundup: 6 cool science stories we almost missed
Also: Cyborg diving suits for cockroaches, why sleepy sperm whales blow bubbles, Betelgeuse's companion star.
Lego deploys Hubble Space Telescope as detailed desktop model
The orbiting observatory in minifigure scale.
An AI-supervised remote exam went so badly that 58,000 students must retake it
Top scores increased by 5x.
‘Own the Narrative’: Leaked Flock Guide Shows How It Teaches Cops to Promote Its Tech
"This document shows a coordinated effort from Flock Safety to compel law enforcement agencies to convince our elected leaders to represent their interests as a company rather than the interests of concerned citizens."
2026 Volkswagen Jetta Sport: The cheap car isn't completely extinct yet
At $25,305, you won't find many new cars for less. But you get what you pay for.
SpaceX is set to acquire 130,000 acres of marshland in southern Louisiana
A Louisiana launch site would offer several significant advantages.
Why a Flock Worker Quit: ‘They Lied’
Jonathan Paz’s job was to convince cities to buy Flock cameras. After initially being enthusiastic about the company, he started to get disillusioned.
Trump wants the power to stop the public from suing polluters
Trump's DOJ says citizens should no longer be able to enforce environmental laws.
How headlights got brighter, whiter, and more blinding after dark
Automotive lights are better than they've ever been, but there's a trade-off.
The end of the world: how players mourn the death of their favourite online games
Online multiplayer changed the trajectory of games, but the cost of keeping servers running means every virtual world is doomed to die – sooner or later Nevan Hagarty had an idea. If he and other Halo 3 players stayed online the night of 13 January 2022, they could delay the impending server shutdown. Players knew this was coming: it had happened to Halo 2 when its Xbox Live servers were turned off in 2010, and a group managed to stay logged into the multiplayer servers for weeks . And so, players gathered online before the server shutdown to pay homage and to mourn the game they loved so dearly. And, maybe, to keep it online for a little longer. “I must have played ’til about 4am the night of the shutdown, trading stories with so many players about their love of the game and their experiences over the last 15 years,” says Hagarty, 22. “It was a really wholesome experience I won’t forget.” Continue reading...
What do you wish you could buy in vending machines?
The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions commits the cash and presses the buttons on a vital consumer dilemma Read this week’s replies: What is the true Breakfast of Champions? I’ve heard that in Germany you can buy sausages in vending machines. What should be sold in machines that isn’t offered at the moment? Sybil Freestone, Oregon Post your answers (and new questions) below or send them to nq@theguardian.com . A selection will be published next Sunday. Continue reading...
‘The language of Pokémon is universal’: why fans are still catching ‘em all after 30 years
As Pokémon Go celebrates its 10th anniversary, its devoted players explain how the game has created a vibrant intergenerational community spanning the globe Most Pokémon obsessives count rare, absurdly expensive playing cards or pristine, fully boxed game cartridges that have survived decades in the attic among their most prized possessions. But for Mairead Ralph, her Pokémon-related crown jewel is a bit different. “Technically, it’s my husband!” she says. The pair first locked eyes amid decks of Pokémon playing cards and Pokéballs at a fan event 16 years ago and the rest is history. Ralph was among hundreds of Pokémon fans who flocked to Shoreditch, east London, on Saturday afternoon for a pop-up celebrating the 10th anniversary of Pokémon Go, the massively successful augmented reality smartphone game that has seen millions of players physically venture to all corners of the earth to catch ’em all in person. In that spirit, the surrounding area was full of Pokéheads wandering the streets, their heads in their phones, seeking to catch exclusive Pokémon that had been released. Continue reading...
‘More than just objects’: Australian booksellers raise alarm over ‘horrific’ destruction of rare titles to feed AI
Secondhand booksellers believe they may have been caught up in the AI supply chain that sees old books scanned then destroyed Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast “Sometimes books tell you more than the content,” says Tim White, as he lines up carefully dust-jacketed books and pamphlets in plastic sleeves on temporary shelves in Melbourne University’s Wilson Hall. He’s preparing his stall for this weekend’s Melbourne Rare Book Fair . For people like White, who runs independent bookshop Books for Cooks, the book as a physical object is just as important as what’s inside it. Continue reading...
Here's how engineers plan to save the satellite sent to save NASA's Swift mission
"We believe that a capture of Swift, an attempted capture of Swift, is very much in the cards."