Students in the UK are now paying annual fees of up to £9,000 – and they expect more for their money. This is a radical change from the situation a couple of decades ago when student grants provided the…
Its about to rain pennies from heaven in Iceland.
Jokull Masson
The Bitcoin craze has hit Iceland, where an entrepreneur has set up his own cryptocurrency and announced plans to give every citizen a handful for free. Baldur Odinsson says he is setting up a new cryptocurrency…
GIFs can help show the effects of climate change.
Patrick Kelley
The use of “GIFs” has exploded in recent years. They are used for news, views and entertainment but are most commonly seen as a light-hearted medium. Now scientists are beginning to see how GIFs can be…
Google has you in a filter bubble and you might not even know it.
melanie.phung
After a long investigation, Google has finally reached a settlement with the European Commission about how it presents search results. The Commission had started investigating Google in the first place…
Can you ever be anonymous in your doctor’s surgery if your doctor isn’t?
MTSOfan
The debate about uploading nearly all data from UK medical practices to a national database continues to cause concern. Responding to fears that the information held in the care.data database will put…
Mark your territory now. It’s about to kick off online.
the justified sinner
More than 1,000 new generic top-level domain names – the part of an internet address that comes after the “dot” – are being rolled out by the International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. It’s…
Recommended for me? Milk appreciation group? LIKE.
c r z
Although it might sometimes seem that your Facebook feed is overrun with chatter about babies, research from Microsoft has suggested that mums actually spend less time on the site after they have had children…
“Hey, where are u?” “Ummm, right next to you”.
TonZ
Emoticons, punctuation and creative spelling have been debated, condemned, and regulated since the very beginning of online text-based communication. We’ve all seen “netiquettes” on how not to use ALL…
Twitpic does all the hard work these days, so A&R men don’t even have to leave the office.
marfis75
Twitter has decided to woo the music industry with a promise to share data on up-and-coming artists in a deal that would whet the appetite of most music lovers. It makes sense for one of the largest social…
Instant access to health data is becoming the norm so we are wise to the implications.
IntelFreePress
In the run up to the introduction of the NHS care.data programme, there is an urgent need for a debate about what we, and our healthcare providers, mean by the term “consent”. So far, the plans for care.data…
After a long search, the right person was right under Microsoft’s nose.
Heisenberg Media
Faced with uncertain times, Microsoft has named Satya Nadella as its new CEO. His appointment follows months of speculation over who would replace longstanding leader Steve Ballmer, who retired last year…
Facebook, the world’s biggest social network with 1 billion users, celebrates its first decade this February, but challenges remain in the coming years.
EPA/How Hwee Young
Facebook turns ten this month, but so what? Google celebrated its 15th anniversary last year. Even though it has been through several redesigns and relaunches, MySpace is already 11, having been established…
All eyes are on GCHQ as it justifies its spying activities.
Campaign Against Arms Trade
A debate is brewing after a report submitted to MPs suggested that GCHQ has been breaking the law by conducting mass surveillance on UK citizens. In the red corner sits public law barrister Jemima Stratford…
More comfortable than they look, the lens will monitor wearers’ tears.
Google
Google has teamed up with researchers at the University of Washington to create a contact lens that can measure blood glucose levels in a person’s tears and display the reading on their mobile phone. If…
Happy decade, Facebook. You’ve come a long way.
Creative Cakes by KeeKee
When we think of tenth birthdays, we associate them with youth and the cusp of tweenhood, a life only just begun and about to get more exciting. But it’s different in the technology industry and, as it…
Computing is an important subject, but it is only one of many that schools have to teach, and few would argue that it is more important than English, maths, or science. But as a high-profile debate continues…
If only it were this easy.
Alessandra Tarantino/AP
I’ve just asked Siri about Her. Two screens of text appear in answer to my query. “Is that all you can find for Her?” I ask. “Let me check on that,” comes the response. More screens of text appear with…
Civil servants everywhere heave a sigh of relief.
psd
The UK government has revealed that it is considering ditching Microsoft software for open source alternatives. Cabinet minister Frances Maude has said he wants to see a range of software being adopted…
New York and California are considering ways of regulating Bitcoin and making it easier to access, but those already using the virtual currency say over regulation could drive people away.
Department for Communities and Local Government
It seems governments are finally coming around to the idea that virtual currencies are here to stay. Backed by a business community eager to utilise innovations like Bitcoin, California and New York are…
Once-mighty Motorola will be part of Lenovo.
Titanas
Google’s decision to sell Motorola to Lenovo could easily be misread as a sign of defeat. In fact, it is win-win. And it spells trouble for struggling competitors Blackberry and HTC. Google originally…