UK moving towards banning chat in games for under 16s
The UK Online Safety Act expands next year to ban social media for under 16s, but the government plan to expand it even further to target video game chat too.
Read the full article on GamingOnLinux. ⌘ Read more
UK Social Media Ban May Lock Out More Than 100,000 Teens Without ID
Under the UK’s planned social media ban, more than 100,000 British teenagers aged 16 and 17 could initially be locked out of social media because they lack a passport or driving license that may be needed as a fallback for age verification. The Guardian reports: Ofcom, the UK’s online watchdog, said about 150,000 16- to 17-year-olds do not ow … ⌘ Read more
Polymarket Halted International Trading After Hackers Drained Accounts
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Wired: Trading has resumed on Polymarket’s flagship international platform after a hack that drained money from the wallets of some traders. A third-party vendor based in the United Kingdom was breached, not the prediction market’s website itself. Law enforcement in the UK have been notified of t … ⌘ Read more
CIOs Admit They Are Being Forced To Upgrade Enterprise IT
Computer Weekly reports:
A Censuswide survey of 2,018 CIOs and senior IT decision-makers at large organisations in the US and UK for independent software maintenance provider Origina has found that organisations spend almost $13m on upgrades pushed by IT providers. On average, 28% of enterprise software budgets go on upgrades, migrations and licensing changes d … ⌘ Read more
Microsoft Abandons UK AI Supercomputer As Grid Struggles to Keep Up
Microsoft has reportedly abandoned plans to serve as the anchor customer for Britain’s largest proposed AI supercomputer after learning that the project’s Essex data center might not receive sufficient grid power until the early to mid-2030s. “Its departure leaves Nscale without a publicly announced customer for the site, although the n … ⌘ Read more
Helldivers 2 switches over from GameGuard to Easy Anti-Cheat
While it’s still unavailable in the UK along with some other Sony published games, Arrowhead have moved Helldivers 2 over to Easy Anti-Cheat.
Read the full article on GamingOnLinux. ⌘ Read more
Planned UK Data Center Delayed Until 2030s Over Power Grid Delays. Microsoft Pulls Out
July: Nvidia-backed Nscale is building a £2bn data centre at Loughton in Essex, with Microsoft signed up as its anchor tenant. But it can’t get the electricity to switch on, reported The Next Web:
Nscale’s problem is not really Nscale’s. It is Britain’s. Grid-connection times have become the single bigges … ⌘ Read more
Uber Begins Self-Driving Robotaxi Trial In Manchester
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: Uber has begun a trial of autonomous vehicles on the streets of Manchester as it looks to bring robotaxis to cities around the UK. The first self-driving cars are operating, using the technology of its partner firms Pony and Verne, with whom Uber recently launched Europe’s first autonomous taxi service in the Croat … ⌘ Read more
UK Vegetables 20-50% Less Nutritious Than In the 1960s
The Telegraph reports that the nutritional value of fruit and vegetables has fallen by up to 50% since the Sixties, according a new study from researchers at startup studio Deep Science Ventures.
The study “found that humans needed to consume twice the number of vegetables to get the same level of minerals such as potassium, magnesium or copper as would have been … ⌘ Read more
Star Labs StarFighter Ultra: A Modern High-End Linux Laptop With Coreboot
When it comes to Linux pre-loaded laptops, I have looked at hardware from most of these vendors over the past 22+ years of Phoronix. One vendor I haven’t had the chance to personally test until now is the UK-based Star Labs. That changed recently and over the past few weeks I have been testing out their new StarFighter laptop that offers great Linux support and comes pre-loaded with Coreboot and streamlined firmware updates via LVFS. For tho … ⌘ Read more
Victorian era point and click comedy Heir of the Dog launches October 29
UK indie developer and publisher Tall Story Games’ pixel art point-and-click adventure Heir of the Dog is landing on October 29th.
Read the full article on GamingOnLinux. ⌘ Read more
500K Facial Recognition Scans at UK Stations Yield Zero Arrests, One False Positive
A six-month British Transport Police trial of live facial recognition at London railway stations scanned more than 500,000 faces, cost over 320,000 pounds, and produced just one alert with no arrests directly resulting from the technology. That one alert ended up being a false positive.
Despite those results, … ⌘ Read more
UK Government Rejects ‘Kill Switch’ Idea For Dangerous AI
The UK government has rejected proposals for an emergency AI “kill switch,” arguing that blocking access to dangerous models inside Britain would do little if the same systems remained available or were developed elsewhere. The BBC reports: The proposal to create a legal mechanism for the UK to switch off an AI model in an emergency has been brought to Parliament … ⌘ Read more
Apple Sued For $2.7 Billion Over App Tracking Transparency Rules
A former UK competition official has filed a $2.7 billion lawsuit against Apple on behalf of app developers, alleging its App Tracking Transparency rules unfairly disadvantaged third-party apps while favoring Apple’s own advertising ecosystem. Engadget reports: ATT debuted in 2021, ostensibly to give users more control over how much of their activit … ⌘ Read more
BT’s Old Copper Landline Network Could Be Worth Over $2 Billion
BT could make more than $2.7 billion by recycling copper from its aging UK landline network as BT subsidiary Openreach replaces legacy wiring with full-fiber broadband. Engadget reports: BT’s recovered copper was previously valued at around $2 billion. But prices have surged, thanks to rising global demand tied to AI data centers, renewable energy an … ⌘ Read more
Iran-linked Cyberattackers Shut Down a UK Power Plant for Four Days
“Iran shut down a British power plant for four days in an unprecedented cyber attack,” reports the Telegraph.
More details from the BBC:
The government said that at no point was there a risk to the UK’s energy system, but the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has contacted power companies to advise them about the risk of … ⌘ Read more
Canonical is Funding a PhD to Automate C to Rust Translation
An anonymous reader shared this report from the blog It’s FOSS:
Canonical has committed funding to a three-year PhD project focused on building a system that can automatically translate large C codebases into Rust. And they are not alone; UK Research and Innovation is matching their funding for the project, which is set to run through the Universi … ⌘ Read more
Battery Fires At Recycling Centres Are Costing the UK £1bn a Year
Wrongly discarded lithium batteries, such as those in vapes, are causing more than 10 fires a week at U.K. recycling centers, according to figures shared with the Guardian:
The Environment Services Association (ESA), the trade body for waste management companies, said its members had reported 1,518 fires in the year to March 2026. At … ⌘ Read more
UK Scientists To Grow Miniature Human Organs For Drug Testing
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: Miniature human organs and other tissues are to be grown from NHS patients’ cells in a drive to improve medicine testing and reduce the number of animals used in drug development. Scientists will use the clumps of tissue to learn how diseases vary between patients, helping them identify which tr … ⌘ Read more
Apple Launches Legal Challenge Against UK Demand To Access Encrypted User Data
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: Apple has launched a new legal challenge against a UK government demand to access its customers’ highly encrypted data, a year after the Home Office agreed to abandon its previous request. The US tech company launched the legal complaint last month at the Investigato … ⌘ Read more
IT Teams Report 11 Hour a Week on Cloud Connectivity Problems
Researchers found enterprises are spending time troubleshooting cloud connectivity due to increased AI workloads, reports Computer Weekly. More than 400 IT and infrastructure decision-makers (US and UK) were surveyed for internet/cloud/AI exchange operator DE-CIX by market researchers Censuswide. But despite 96% of respondents claiming their enterprise n … ⌘ Read more
Catastrophic MoD Data Breach Caused By Lack of Training On Excel
A UK parliamentary inquiry found that a catastrophic Ministry of Defense breach exposing 18,700 Afghans could have been prevented with basic Excel training, after an employee unknowingly shared a hidden worksheet containing their details. The Independent reports: The leak, in February 2022, exposed the details of 18,700 Afghans who said they were … ⌘ Read more
Humans Can Learn To Echolocate In Just 10 Weeks, and It Rewires the Brain
alternative_right shares a report from ScienceAlert: A study published in PLOS One in 2021 by researchers from Durham University in the UK showed that with 10 weeks of training, both blind and sighted people could learn to echolocate using verbal clicks. While the technique is already used by a number of people with impaired v … ⌘ Read more
Acer Predator Atlas 8 Handheld with Intel Arc G3 gets UK pricing and launch month
The Acer Predator Atlas 8 Handheld now has a price and expected launch month, for the UK at least.
Read the full article on GamingOnLinux. ⌘ Read more
UK Considers Forcing Social Media Firms To Prioritize Trusted News
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Britain is considering forcing social media companies to prioritize what the government called trusted news sources as part of its broader push to tighten regulation of the sector. The culture department said on Monday it was considering requiring platforms such as Meta’s Facebook, Alphabet-ow … ⌘ Read more
AI Law Firm Wins UK Court Case For First Time
Garfield AI, the UK’s first regulator-approved AI law firm, has won its first court case after helping a freelancer recover 7,000 pounds in unpaid fees. “I was owed money for work I had done, but it felt like the process of recovering it could be too stressful, expensive and time-consuming,” said Tamires Camal Taquidir, a freelancer who had provided HR-related services to a hospitalit … ⌘ Read more
UK Official Promises Statements ‘Around VPNs’ and Further Teen Restrictions on Chatbots and Social Media
PC Gamer reports:
The UK government is considering an Australia-style ban on social media for under-16s, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer saying that the ban could take effect as soon as spring next year. As for the much nearer future, Science and Technology Secretary … ⌘ Read more
Tesco Moving 40,000 Server Workloads Off VMware Amid Broadcom’s ‘Abusive Conduct’
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Tesco, a retail conglomerate headquartered in the United Kingdom, is moving 40,000 server workloads off of VMware amid “abusive conduct” from Broadcom, recent legal filings claim. Tesco filed a lawsuit in the UK’s High Court against Broadcom alleging breach of con … ⌘ Read more
Snap’s First Consumer AI Glasses Are Coming This Fall For $2,195
Snap is launching its first consumer augmented-reality glasses this fall for $2,195. “You can preorder a pair of Specs now at specs.com with a $200 refundable deposit, and Snap says they’re expected to ship ‘this fall’ in the US, UK, and France,” reports The Verge. From the report: This is a big moment for Snap: The company made a big entry into sma … ⌘ Read more
UK Scientists See Little Evidence for Claims Smartphones Are Rewiring Kids’ Brains
UK’s Members of Parliament (MP) were “looking for proof that smartphones and social media are rotting children’s brains,” writes The Register — but they got “a less satisfying answer from neuroscientists on Wednesday: nobody can really prove it.”
Appearing before the Science, Innovation and Technology Commit … ⌘ Read more
UK Police Officer Accused of Using AI to Fake Evidence
The Sunday Times reports:
A criminal investigation has begun after a police officer allegedly used AI to create evidential material in a “number of cases”. Derbyshire Constabulary said an officer was being investigated over an allegation of suspected perverting the course of justice. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) confirmed it was engaging with defence lawyers … ⌘ Read more
New UK Referendum Would Flip ‘Brexit’ Result of a Decade Ago, Poll Finds
It’s the 10-year anniversary of Britain’s “Brexit” vote withdrawing from the European Union.
But a new UK poll “shows that a new Brexit referendum would reverse the vote that led to Britain’s departure,” reports Bloomberg:
Fifty-two percent of Britons think the UK should rejoin the EU, according to an Ipsos survey of 1,137 British … ⌘ Read more
Truth submerged? AUKUS will cost us $368 billion, so this is no time for secrecy
Secrecy in policy development is rarely justified – and it certainly isn’t for AUKUS, our eye-wateringly expensive defence deal with the US and UK. ⌘ Read more
ShinyHunters Hacked 100+ Organizations By Exploiting an Oracle PeopleSoft 0-Day
ShinyHunters claims it exploited a critical Oracle PeopleSoft zero-day to compromise more than 100 organizations, including the University of Nottingham, where it says it stole 40GB of student and billing data. “ShinyHunters posted the UK university on its data leak site on Tuesday before publishing the stolen f … ⌘ Read more
‘Hands Off Our NHS’: Anti-Palantir Protests Break Out in UK Over Deal With National Health Service
Crowding the gates of a major health care conference, protesters called for Palantir to be booted out of the UK’s National Health Service over privacy concerns and political grievances. ⌘ Read more
UK defence minister quits over military spending
The UK defence minister has quit, putting more pressure on the AUKUS agreement. ⌘ Read more
UK defence minister quits hours before AUKUS meeting with Marles
The extraordinary move stunned the government, heightening the instability of Keir Starmer’s leadership. ⌘ Read more
UK defence minister quits hours before meeting with Marles
The extraordinary move stunned the government, heightening the instability of Keir Starmer’s leadership ⌘ Read more
Письмо Зеленского назвали сигналом к новой кампании Украины ⌘ Read more
Eddie Izzard once ran 43 marathons in 51 days. Her solo turn as Hamlet is a similar feat
The great UK stand-up has turned her eye to Hamlet - and is performing every role herself. The results are mixed. ⌘ Read more
BYD To Install Thousands of 5-Minute EV Chargers Across Europe
BYD plans to install 3,000 ultra-fast “Flash Chargers” across Europe by the end of 2027, with the first stations already appearing in Germany and the UK. The Verge reports: At an estimated cost of 580,000 euros (about $670,000) per charger according to the Financial Times, that would mean a total spend of roughly $2 billion to install the network … ⌘ Read more
Britain Became as Poor as Mississippi
Article URL: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/07/uk-productivity-economy-reform-party/687303/
Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48476751
Points: 5
# Comments: 0 ⌘ Read more
Building an HTML-first site doubled our users overnight
Article URL: https://mohkohn.co.uk/writing/html-first/
Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48475483
Points: 25
# Comments: 6 ⌘ Read more
Chemist Warehouse owner eyes $14 billion deal for UK giant
The Australian pharmacy giant now has its sights set on the UK pharmacy chain Boots. ⌘ Read more
Chemist Warehouse owner eyes $14 billion deal for UK giant
The Australian pharmacy giant now has its sights set on the UK pharmacy chain Boots. ⌘ Read more
The LD_DEBUG environment variable (2012)
Article URL: https://bnikolic.co.uk/blog/linux-ld-debug.html
Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48464330
Points: 3
# Comments: 0 ⌘ Read more
UK PM Gives Tech Firms Ultimatum To Block Explicit Images on Children’s Phones
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has given Apple, Google, and other tech firms until September to introduce device-level protections that prevent children from taking, sharing, or viewing explicit images. “If businesses do not comply within three months, legislation will be brought forward requiring the protection to be add … ⌘ Read more
Job: Head of Stonehenge
Article URL: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/about/our-people/careers-with-us/job-search/default-job-page/?jobRef=16449
Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48455928
Points: 7
# Comments: 0 ⌘ Read more
Surveillance Is Not Safety: A statement on the UK’s latest threat to privacy [pdf]
Article URL: https://signal.org/blog/pdfs/2026-06-08-uk-surveillance-is-not-safety.pdf
Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48450646
Points: 4
# Comments: 0 ⌘ Read more
The UK Is Betting on a Billion-Dollar AI Supercomputer to Kick Its Addiction to US Tech
The British government thinks a state-backed infrastructure initiative will help supercharge homegrown chip startups. ⌘ Read more