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China allegedly targets Telegram messenger to suppress protests
The Telegram messaging service has been experiencing DDoS attacks that founder Pavel Durov says originate from China and coincide with protests in Hong Kong against a new extradition law (Gizmodo).
Telegram, which has an encrypted messaging mode, is widely used to coordinate protest activity and Durov says that the size of the attacks indicates the involvement of a state actor. Police have been violently cracking down on the protests.
Sajid Javid has signed the US extradition order for Julian Assange
Home secretary Sajid Javid has signed the US extradition request for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who faces charges of computer hacking in relation to his publication of leaked files including evidence of US military attacks on civilians (The Guardian). This allows the court to decide to extradite Assange in proceedings that are expected to be scheduled later today. Assange is currently serving 50 weeks in Belmarsh prison for jumping bail and going into hiding for seven years to avoid extradition over Swedish rape charges.
What did Google's Pixel 4 'leak' tell us about its next smartphone?
Google’s transparent courting of iPhone owners continues with its tease of the Google Pixel 4 design and cameras, plural (WIRED). In a seemingly playful move in response to numerous Pixel 4 leaks, an image of the back of the phone was tweeted by the Made by Google account after convincing renders, showing the square camera bump, went viral. And it looks almost identical to the ‘iPhone 11’ renders doing the rounds. Google has managed to design the next iPhone and it just so happens to run Android.
CERN goes open source as Microsoft decides it's not academic enough
CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, home to the Large Hadron Collider, has announced that it's in the process of switching to open source software throughout the institution (The Register). CERN's Microsoft Alternatives project (MAlt) has been in development since last year and has been made public in response to Microsoft's March decision to revoke the research institute's qualification for its "academic institution" software licensing programme, instead charging at per-user business rates that CERN says it cannot afford in the long term.
Google Game Builder wants to make cooperative 3D game creation easy
Google has officially introduced Game Builder, a game-cum-development engine designed to make it easy to build a first- or third-person game using its colourful, blocky Minecraft-like assets (The Verge). Critically, no programming is required – although it supports JavaScript if you want it – and its multiplayer feature allows you and your friends to work together in real time. Development is ongoing and it's available for free on Steam for Windows and macOS, and runs on Linux via Steam Play Proton.
Has Black Mirror lost its way?
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This article was originally published by WIRED UK
