Technology

How can we defend ourselves from the new plague of ‘human fracking’?

Big tech treats our attention like a resource to be mercilessly extracted. The fightback begins hereIn the last 15 years, a linked series of unprecedented technologies have changed the experience o...

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He called himself an ‘untouchable hacker god’. But who was behind the biggest crime Finland has ever known?

How would you feel if your therapist’s notes – your darkest thoughts and deepest feelings – were exposed to the world? For 33,000 Finnish people, that became a terrifying reality, with deadly conse...

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Commodore 64 Ultimate review – it’s like 1982 all over again!

Showing the value of great design over visual impact, this faithfully resurrected home computer seamlessly integrates modern tech with some wonderful additional touchesThe emotional hit was somethi...

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Elon Musk’s stubborn spin on Grok’s sexualized images controversy

Musk attempts to recast AI tool’s misuse. Plus, tech billionaires plot against a proposed California tax on their fortunesHello, and welcome to TechScape. I’m your host, Blake Montgomery, US tech e...

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What’s behind the phenomenon of ‘gamer brain’

If you’ve ever refused to knock down a game’s difficulty level, or chased a purposefully pointless achievement, you might have this pernicious but pleasurable affliction• Don’t get Pushing Buttons ...

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Home secretary says she will legislate to regain power to sack chief constables – UK politics live

Shabana Mahmood tells MPs she has lost confidence in West Midlands police chief Craig Guildford over the ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans Here are extracts from three interesting comment articles about...

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My work went from air-conditioned offices to delivering food on a bike. The culture shock is significant | David Rayfield

The plan was to get on a bicycle to earn some money. It wasn’t to get hit by cars, thumped by skinheads or to see my surroundings in a whole new lightGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailAt f...

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Social media is corrupting young minds – but a ban is not the answer | Zoe Williams

Kicking under-16s off the social platforms is tempting, but it ignores the root of the problem: the older generations who made them so toxic in the first placeKemi Badenoch is evolving into one of ...

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The Guardian view on regulating big tech: politicians must back Ofcom’s challenge to Musk | Editorial

A flood of non-consensual deepfake bikini shots on X is putting the UK’s Online Safety Act to the testThe unleashing on X (formerly Twitter) of a torrent of AI-generated images of women and childre...

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Four months and 40 hours later: my epic battle with 2025’s most difficult video game

When Hollow Knight: Silksong came out last summer I was in so much pain that I didn’t know if I’d be able to play it. Could a video game teach me anything new about suffering?Last year I became unc...

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Monday briefing: How Elon Musk’s Grok is being used as a tool for digital sexual abuse

In today’s newsletter: The chatbot is being used to digitally undress photos of women and children. What can politicians actually do to stop it, and what does it say about our control of the intern...

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How to dress for work without spending a fortune – or sacrificing personal style

Also: advice to reduce screen time, how to maximize your toaster oven, the best gloves and at-home fitness staples This piece was originally published in the Filter US newsletter on buying fewer, b...

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Lamar wants to have children with his girlfriend. The problem? She’s entirely AI

As synthetic personas become an increasingly normal part of life, meet the people falling for their chatbot loversLamar remembered the moment of betrayal like it was yesterday. He’d gone to the par...

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Grok is undressing women and children. Don’t expect the US to take action | Moira Donegan

Elon Musk’s reckless and degrading AI could be built differently. But Americans will have to speak upOver the past year, Elon Musk has made a series of protocol changes to Grok, the proprietary AI ...

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Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles review – remastered 1997 classic is even more politically resonant now

PlayStation 4/5, Nintendo Switch/Switch 2, Xbox, PC; Square-EnixThis landmark role-playing game remains a revolutionary tour de forceAt first glance, Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles, ...

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Former minister says government should quit X over child sexual abuse imagery – UK politics live

Louise Haigh says use of Elon Musk’s social media platform ‘unconscionable’ amid proliferation of abuse imageryHelena Horton is a Guardian environment reporter.Emma Reynolds, the environment secret...

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From final boss battles to the dangers of open-world bloat, TV and film can learn a lot from video games

In this week’s newsletter: Stranger Things’ climactic showdown is the latest pop culture spectacle to feel like its been ported straight from a console. The industries’ reciprocally influential rel...

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Now Musk’s Grok chatbot is creating sexualised images of children. If the law won’t stop it, perhaps his investors will | Sophia Smith Galer

The owner of X has grown used to acting with impunity – but this may be a red line for those with ‘conservative values’ who fund his adventures in free speechIt’s a sickening law of the internet th...

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I’m watching myself on YouTube saying things I would never say. This is the deepfake menace we must confront | Yanis Varoufakis

These inventions trigger rage, but also optimism. Maybe they will make people think more critically about debate and democracyIt was my blue shirt, a present from my sister-in-law, that gave it all...

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Sega co-founder David Rosen dies aged 95

Rosen, who led Sega from the 1960s into the 90s and who died on Christmas Day, was a hugely important figure in the history of arcade and home gamingIt is difficult to think of a more influential f...

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What happened after Tesla opened a diner in Los Angeles?

The novelty of eating at a diner owned by the richest person in the world seems to have worn off in just a few monthsLess than six months since it opened, Elon Musk’s Tesla Diner has the feel of a ...

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