Tech overload for teachers and parents | Letter

I am a parent of two and I teach at a university. I read Dr Robert Harrison’s letter (14 April) with scepticism. He writes eloquently of students using technology in “healthy, purposeful, and life-enhancing” ways. This sounds lovely, but very far from the reality that we are living.My five-year-old’s school has furnished parents with no fewer than five technology platforms where we interact with the school; this does not include the many parent WhatsApp groups

Drones could deliver NHS supplies under UK regulation changes

Drones could be used for NHS-related missions in remote areas, inspecting offshore wind turbines and supplying oil rigs by 2026 as part of a new regulatory regime in the UK.David Willetts, the head of a new government unit helping to deploy new technologies in Britain, said there were obvious situations where drones could be used if the changes go ahead next year.Ministers announced plans this month to allow drones to fly long distances without their operators seeing them. Drones cannot be flown “beyond visual line of sight” under current regulations, making their use for lengthy journeys impossible.In an interview with the Guardian, Lord Willetts, chair of the Regulatory Innovation Office (RIO), said the changes could come as soon as 2026, but that they would apply in “atypical” aviation environments at first, which would mean remote areas and over open water

Australians pay $84 a month for their internet. Why so expensive, and what can be done to lower the cost?

Australians are paying an average of $84 per month for internet access on the NBN – and in a cost-of-living crisis, questions are being raised about why cheaper internet is not available for people on lower incomes.What could be done to lower NBN pricing plans, and can we learn from overseas?According to the latest report, about 8.6m of the 12.5m premises able to connect to the NBN are now using the service in Australia.Consumer advocacy group Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (Accan’s) latest survey conducted by Essential, of 1,065 people, found Australians are paying $84 per month on average for their home internet connection, with 31% paying between $81 and $100, 30% paying between $61 and $80, 20% paying over $100, and just 13% paying $60 or under (with the rest unsure)

Views of TikTok posts with electronic music outgrow those using indie

It is another example of the parallel worlds in the music industry. The Gallagher brothers may be taking over the world’s stadiums this summer, but over on TikTok users are moving to a different beat.Views of posts using electronic music as a soundtrack, including techno and house, outgrew those tagged for indie and alternative for the first time in 2024, according to the social media app.There were more than 13bn views of videos tagged #ElectronicMusic worldwide last year, an increase of 45% on 2023, representing faster growth than the “indie and alternative” and “rap and hip-hop” genres. Videos created with the electronic music tag grew by more than 100% over the same period

Parents must make tough choices on smartphones, says children’s commissioner for England

Parents should be prepared to make difficult decisions over their child’s smartphone usage rather than trying to be their friend, the children’s commissioner for England has said.Dame Rachel de Souza said this should include parents considering the example they are setting their children through their own phone usage.Writing in the Sunday Times, de Souza said that “if we are serious about protecting our children, we have to look at our own behaviour”.She added: “The temptation as a parent to give in to a child’s pleas is a real one. Every parent has been in that position

It’s not too late to stop Trump and the Silicon Valley broligarchy from controlling our lives, but we must act now | Carole Cadwalladr

To walk into the lion’s den once might be considered foolhardy. To do so again after being mauled by the lion? It’s what … ill-advised? Reckless? Suicidal? Six years ago I gave a talk at Ted, the world’s leading technology and ideas conference. It led to a gruelling lawsuit and a series of consequences that reverberate through my life to this day.And last week I returned. To give another talk that would incorporate some of my experience: a Ted Talk about being sued for giving a Ted Talk, and how the lessons I’d learned from surviving all that were a model for surviving “broligarchy” – a concept I first wrote about in the Observer in July last year: the alignment of Silicon Valley and autocracy, and a kind of power the world has never seen before