The Guardian

Social media network also announces ‘Spaces’, a Clubhouse competitor that lets users participate in audio chats Twitter has announced it will launch a “super follow” feature, which lets users charge followers for access to exclusive content, later this year. The move comes as Twitter is branching out from advertising to find more ways to make money — both for itself and for its most prolific users. Related: I found peace in an unexpected corner of the internet: nun Twitter Related: 'I get bet...

In a year, bitcoin uses around the same about of electricity as the entire country of Norway. The digital currency is one that allows people to bypass banks and traditional payment methods. It is the most prominent among thousands of so-called cryptocurrencies and has been repeatedly reaching new records - but is it sustainable? The Guardian’s UK technology editor Alex Hern examines how exactly bitcoin uses electricity and if the environmental cost is too high What is bitcoin and why are so m...

Incident prompts fears for latest Silicon Valley craze’s ability to guarantee users’ security and privacy Clubhouse, the audio-chatroom app that has emerged as the latest craze to consume Silicon Valley, has shut down a site that was rebroadcasting the platform’s content, renewing concerns over the service’s ability to provide security and privacy for its users. The app, currently available only on iPhones, allows users to quickly and easily set up and discover panel-style discussions, with a...

We should be living in a Tron-like mega-world by now, but all we do is send each other screenshots of memes I have nothing left to say to my friends any more. I think this is a longstanding symptom of the third lockdown, the boredom of which is blending into the horizon like a blur. Unlike the inescapable boredoms of lockdowns one (a kind of novelty boredom: everyone discovered how good they could feel without two hours of commuting every day; a weird kind of community feeling came out of bak...

Workers fighting to form the first union at an Amazon workplace in the US are pioneers in the battle to civilise big-tech capitalism “We are not robots” was chosen as the slogan of a GMB-led campaign against dehumanising work practices at Amazon warehouses. But these days many of Amazon’s employees are, in effect, managed by them. Self-driving autonomous robots bring containers to workstations, dictating the rhythm at which items are stacked and sorted. Eliminating walking time for employees ...

Free app allowing access to 30,000 stations proves hit for audiences stuck at home Ever fancied listening to some pop music from Prague? Rock from Russia, or talk from Taiwan? With the pandemic limiting travel abroad, an online app has ignited the imagination of millions, allowing them to experience new sounds and travel the globe by radio. The free app, Radio Garden, which carries tens of thousands of radio stations broadcasting live 24 hours a day, has seen a huge spike in popularity during...

Companies understand they may need to clear out old posts that could be construed as news or appeal directly to social media giant for exception Australian arts and cultural organisations and venues are scrambling to plead their case with Facebook to have their sites restored after they were caught up in the social media giant’s blanket ban on publishing news. More than 250 cultural organisations woke on Thursday to find their Facebook pages had been wiped of content. Related: Facebook's Aust...

Two of the three creators of Why Are You Like This chose these funny items for this column (they told Mark Samual Bonanno he had to sit out) The last time two women did this list , they split it into two halves and said while they are both girls, they are not the same. Well, Naomi Higgins and Humyara Mahbub are both girls and we’re exactly the same. We refuse to be separated from the comforting monolith of girlhood. If you like these videos, you’re a girl too. Welcome. Mark Samual Bonanno, pi...

Labor says the payments are ‘offensive’ given the cost of the NBN has blown out by $6bn and there’s been a nationwide recession The government-owned company responsible for building and operating the National Broadband Network paid its staff and executives $77m in bonuses between July and December last year, new documents reveal. New data released to the Senate in response to questions on notice from a Senate estimates committee reveal NBN Co paid $4.3m in bonuses to executives including the ...

Exclusive: officials say the employees tested negatively but were sent notifications telling them to self-isolate Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Thousands of Amazon workers were given the wrong Coronavirus test results after a mistake meant they were given inaccurate information by test and trace . The Guardian understands that 3,853 staff members at the online retailer received an erroneous result. Officials said they had tested negatively but received notifica...

Company follows Deliveroo and Moonpig in stock market debut after Covid crisis drives spending online Virgin Wines is to float on the London Stock Exchange next month with a valuation of about £100m as the Covid-19 pandemic increases demand for its home delivery business model. The company, bought out of Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin group in 2005, mostly sells wine through its WineBank and Wine Plan subscription schemes, but also on a pay-as-you-go basis. It has 169,000 active customers, of w...