Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer who started his career on PC World and has written for dozens of computer and technology magazines, as well as numerous national newspapers, business and in-flight magazines. He has also written two novels.
He thinks wires are evil and had a custom desk made to hide them, known as the OC Desk for obvious reasons.
He considers 1000 miles a good distance for a cycle ride, and Chernobyl a suitable tourist destination. What can we say, he’s that kind of chap.
He speaks fluent English but only broken American, so please forgive any Anglicised spelling in his posts.
Twitter has slowly adapted to a world in which hoax posts and hate speech can have real-world consequences – ranging from foreign interference in US elections to parents of murdered children being threatened and harassed.
But in evolving its rules, it’s doing one thing it has never done before …
Tinder is testing a new feature which would allow women the option of ensuring that only they can make the first move …
Update: Facebook shares have fallen 2% in pre-market trading, which would wipe $11B from the company’s market cap if unchanged by the time the market opens.
Instagram’s two founders, who have continued work on the app since it was acquired by Facebook six years ago, have announced that they are leaving Facebook to work on something new …
Instagram is testing the ability to add hashtags to posts without including them in the caption. That would retain the searchability of photos and videos, but without the untidiness you get when the #caption #is #stuffed #full #of #hashtags …
Facebook has announced that it has created a ‘war room’ to fight the spread of fake news in the run up to the US midterms, as well as elections in Brazil …
An online service that helps unhappy spouses file for divorce claims that ‘addiction to Fortnite‘ has been cited in 200 divorces so far this year …
Europe’s controversial Copyright Directive has been approved after a previous version was rejected back in July.
Although intended to protect the rights of copyright owners, it’s likely to prove a headache for both Google’s search engine and its YouTube video platform …
We’re seeing growing concern about the impact on teenagers of smartphone usage in general and social media in particular.
A new report makes for disturbing reading in a number of respects, not least that 13-17 year olds now prefer text messaging to face-to-face conversations …
A ‘sophisticated’ attack on British Airways’ mobile app and website has exposed the names, email addresses and full credit card details of 380,000 customers.
Of particular concern is the fact that the attackers captured the three-digit CVV security codes on the backs of cards, something that should not normally be possible …
Most parents will want to ensure that their kids are safe online, but that can be tricky when they are unfamiliar with the apps used by their offspring. That’s an issue Instagram set out to address with a new Parent’s Guide …
Facebook’s COO and Twitter’s CEO will be appearing before Congress today to defend their failure to prevent Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election, and to explain what they are doing to prevent state-sponsored interference in the November midterms.
Google was also asked to appear, but it seems unlikely to do so …
While you’re encouraged to rate your Uber driver at the end of each ride, not everyone is aware that your drivers also rate you. And if you have an average rating of less than four, that may spell bad news …
Samsung first teased a foldable smartphone in a video way back in 2013 (hence the terrible screengrab quality above). There have been periodic reports since then, with a report in July suggesting that it would be launched next year.
The CEO of Samsung Mobile has now said that the device will be shown later this year …
Streaming video services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video will soon have to ensure that at least 30% of the programming offered in Europe is produced in EU countries …
A Google engineer found that he was able to hack the supposedly secure doors at the search giant’s Sunnyvale offices. He was able to unlock doors without the RFID key, and even lock out employees who did have their key …
An international network of intelligence agencies has told the tech industry that ‘privacy is not an absolute’ and that the use of end-to-end encryption ‘should be rare’ …
A partnership with Foursquare will soon see the Accuweather Android app recommend local places to visit, based on hyperlocal weather forecasts …
Both Uber and Lyft have been accused of placing rider safety at risk by using a budget background check service which fails to access the FBI criminal record database. As a result, the checks have missed the criminal records of at least 25 drivers …
A state-sponsored disinformation campaign identified on Facebook and Twitter is significantly bigger than it first appeared, says a new report …
Google has created a new search tool designed to help veterans find civilian jobs when they leave the military. The program was create by a Google engineer who has first-hand experience of how difficult it can be to find appropriate roles.
When I transitioned out of the military in 2014, I asked myself a question that many service members know too well: “What am I going to do next?” For seven years, I had counted on the clear role and security net the military provided. Civilian life, to me, was unknown. Navigating job applications was new, and I remember feeling overwhelmed as I went to job fairs …
California may have found the perfect way to get tech giants to support a federal privacy law: show that the alternative could be an inconsistent mess of state-by-state laws.
An industry lobbying group whose members include Google, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, Samsung and others has been ‘aggressively’ lobbying the White House to argue the case for a federal law, reports the New York Times …
iFixit has completed its teardown of the Samsung Galaxy Note 9. While it said that the innards were mostly very similar to the Note 8, it did find a few things of note …
Google is one of more than a dozen tech giants meeting today to discuss countermeasures for state-sponsored disinformation campaigns on their platforms during the run-up to the 2018 midterm elections …
