Mini drones are not yet appearing in our skies on a daily basis but they certainly are a rapidly growing trend. People can and do get hurt so we really need to help amateur pilots learn how to fly their…
I thought they’d look a bit more like Scarlett Johansson.
Nate McBean
The risks posed to human beings by artificial intelligence in no way resemble the popular image of the Terminator. That fictional mechanical monster is distinguished by many features – strength, armour…
Useful uses for a smartphone #5: take picture of Pope.
EPA/Giuseppe Lami
Pope Francis has taken aim at today’s youth by urging them not to waste their time on “futile things” such as “chatting on the internet or with smartphones, watching TV soap operas”. He argued that the…
“I honestly can’t stand you guys in real life.”
Janus Sandsgaard
Anyone who subscribes to an online hi-tech gizmo newsfeed can’t have failed to notice a certain preoccupation in the past couple of years on the part of developers to bring viewers close to the action…
Possibly not one for Tumblr.
UK Ministry of Defence
Rikke Bjerg Jensen, Royal Holloway University of London; Alasdair Pinkerton, Royal Holloway University of London; David Denney, Royal Holloway University of London et Peter Adey, Royal Holloway University of London
By now, millions of people around the world recognise the face of Alexander Sotkin. This young Russian soldier posted selfies on Instagram that appear to place him in Ukrainian territory over the past…
I’m sure I use mine more that you do.
Boys and smartphone via Twin Design/Shutterstock
Leslie Haddon, London School of Economics and Political Science
The bond between a child and their smartphone is like an umbilical cord. Now, a new survey has uncovered just how dependent the “smartphone generation” of British children are on the devices compared to…
A star player can’t afford to short circuit under pressure.
campuspartymexico
The whistle has just been blown on one of the most thrilling events on the international sporting calendar. It took place in Brazil and pitted teams from all over the world against each other, each hoping…
An early version of the internet of things in the Somme.
In the depths of night on August 5th 1914 the British Cable Ship Alert took the first significant action of World War I, severing the five German submarine cables that ran through the English Channel…
Google knows if you’re pulling a sickie.
Sergio Alvarez
You donate gigabytes of valuable data to Google every day. Your browsing history, search results, and gmail behaviour as well as the countless smartphone apps which monitor your movements and personal…
Never ever, ever, ever, ever gonna give you up. Ever.
ping.fm
Rick Astley, 80s pop singer and unlikely king of internet memes, is dead. Or at least the most persistent song in his catalogue is. Or at least its most popular unofficial YouTube upload is. Or at least…
The UK is one of the most CCTV-saturated countries in the world. Being watched and monitored is an everyday reality on British streets, allegedly increasing from one camera for every 14 people in 2008…
The digital generation are a mystery to some.
Besties
Children’s entertainment is in a mess. This is in no small part due to recent revelations about just what was happening when the stars of earlier generations were producing content. The high-profile cases…
As a non-profit organisation, the NHS should follow the same principles behind open-source: sharing knowledge and standardising procedures to help all the patients. And in the same way that the software…
We’re in danger of getting revenge porn rules very wrong.
observador oculto
Earlier this week, the House of Lords debated what the prime minister, David Cameron, has described as the “appalling” and “dreadful” practice of so-called revenge pornography. This is where explicit images…
As important as gas, electricity and water.
Andrew Matthews/PA
Crumbling, outdated infrastructure means many British readers are likely to access this article through a decades-old copper wire. Given how much modern life – or economic activity, if you will – happens…
When an author who insists he is “not really a social media animal” writes a Twitter story, we should at least raise an eyebrow. When that same author goes on to say he wrote the story at his publisher’s…
A Japanese messaging app called Line has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) valued at nearly US$10 billion. For an app almost unknown outside Japan it’s an audacious move. However, messaging is…
Adults and youngsters are willing to queue overnight to get their hands on the latest product release from Apple and children appear to be drawn to iPads because of the immediate feedback they get when…
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it - but sometimes it’s just time to move on.
Otherthings
Like many large modern organisations, the NHS has grown up with constant change – not only in medical practice, but also in the systems that support the daily routine of one of the world’s largest health…
David Mitchell has moved from pen to tweet.
Ian West/PA Archive
Booker-shortlisted novelist David Mitchell is currently launching his new short story The Right Sort – on Twitter. The award-winning author of Cloud Atlas and number9dream is tweeting his story twice daily…