Abalobi provides a real-time marketplace for fishers to sell their catch, while also monitoring fish populations, and the tech could go global The 59-year-old Wilfred Poggenpoel is a fisher from Lambert’s Bay, a picturesque town 170 miles north of Cape Town that’s popular with surfers and home to 17,000 breeding pairs of Cape gannets. Five years ago, he made the decision to join a virtual marketplace called Abalobi, which enables fishers such as him to sell their catch directly to restaurants, retailers and consumers using a custom-built app. “I get a better price and I can sell more species n ..read more

Defence secretary to address MPs after names and bank details of armed forces members targeted by unnamed attacker The Ministry of Defence has suffered a significant data breach and the personal information of UK military personnel has been hacked. A third-party payroll system used by the MoD, which includes names and bank details of current and past members of the armed forces, was targeted in the attack. A very small number of addresses may also have been accessed ..read more

Australian studio Aggro Crab has a hit on its hands – and behind all its jokes and excellent crustacean combat lies an uncomfortable truth about our world The Arcane Kids, a video game collective from Los Angeles, have a manifesto that I think about all the time, but particularly when I find art that surprises me, or approaches traditional formats in new and exciting ways. The second line simply states: “The fastest way to the truth is a joke.” Another Crab’s Treasure, the second offering from indie Australian studio Aggro Crab, is full of truth and jokes – and something else, something rarer ..read more

The way that Wizards of the Coast is treating this venerable game is totally at odds with how its players see it The words hit players of the world’s favourite tabletop role playing game like a magic missile straight to the heart. “Dungeons & Dragons has never been more popular, and we have really great fans and engagement,” said Cynthia Williams, former CEO of D&D publisher Wizards of the Coast, in December 2022 at an “investor-focused” web seminar. “But the brand is really under-monetised”. In the run-up to D&D’s 50th birthday this year, the branded tat has flowed with a vengeanc ..read more

I used to be an avid user of TikTok, but the algorithm serves much less delight and serendipity than it used to TikTok is facing its most credible existential threat yet. Last week, the US Congress passed a bill that bans the short-form video app if it does not sell to an American company by this time next year. But as a former avid user whose time on the app has dropped sharply in recent months, I am left wondering – will I even be using the app a year from now? Like many Americans of my demographic (aging millennial), I first started using TikTok regularly when the Covid-19 pandemic began an ..read more

The UK regulator has been criticised by grieving families and internet abuse survivors for failing to engage with them Bereaved parents and abuse survivors who have endured years of “preventable, life-changing harm” linked to social media say they have been denied a voice in official discussions about holding tech firms to account. Mariano Janin, whose ­daughter Mia, 14, killed herself after online bullying, and the parents of Oliver Stephens, 13, who was murdered after a dispute on social media, are among those who have accused Ofcom of excluding them from a ­consultation process for tackling ..read more

The novelist on a comedic TikTok sensation, the importance of a good suit and his favourite educational app Andrew O’Hagan was born in Glasgow in 1968, grew up in a working-class Ayrshire family and studied English at Strathclyde University. His first book was The Missing (1995), which told the story of people who disappeared. In 2003 he was included on Granta’s list of best young British novelists. He has written 10 books, including Our Fathers and Mayflies, with three of his novels being Booker nominated. His most recent, Caledonian Road, a state-of-the-nation tale, is published by Faber. He ..read more

‘Intentions’ badges also launched, as dating app sector sees drops in share prices and moves to diversify “In the end it was the data that killed me,” says Penny* about her decision to leave the dating app Bumble. If she opened the app she might receive 100 likes, 25% of which she might be interested in. She would look at their profiles and write individualised messages; a few would respond, perhaps one would result in a date. “That’s a lot of effort to get one date,” she says. “It’s exhausting ..read more

Victoria Shi is modelled on Rosalie Nombre, a singer and former contestant on Ukraine’s version of the reality show The Bachelor Ukraine on Wednesday presented an AI-generated spokesperson called Victoria who will make official statements on behalf of its foreign ministry. The ministry said it would “for the first time in history” use a digital spokesperson to read its statements, which will still be written by humans ..read more

Researchers and Silicon Valley are using tools powered by AI to read what had long been thought unreadable More than 2,000 years after Plato died, the towering figure of classical antiquity and founder of the Academy, regarded by many as the first university in the west, can still make front-page news. Researchers this week claimed to have found the final resting place of the Greek philosopher, a patch in the garden of his Athens Academy, after scanning an ancient papyrus scroll recovered from the library of a Herculaneum villa that was buried when Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD79 ..read more