Ebay buys Depop for $1.2bn in effort to lure younger shoppers

The online retailer eBay has agreed to buy the British secondhand fashion resale app Depop from Etsy for about $1.2bn (£890m) in cash, as eBay targets younger fashion-loving consumers.The deal comes at a time when secondhand marketplaces continue to soar in popularity, especially among gen Z shoppers – born between 1997 and 2012 – amid a squeeze on household incomes and concerns about sustainability in fashion.However, the sale to eBay marks a $400m loss for Etsy, an online market that focuses on craft and handmade items, which bought Depop for $1.6bn less than five years ago

Illinois governor proposes cancelling tax breaks for datacenters

The Illinois governor JB Pritzker proposed a two-year break from offering tax incentives for datacenters, a reflection of increasing public pushback against the massive, resource-hungry facilities used to power the modern AI boom.Pritzker made the proposal, which will need the backing of state lawmakers, during his annual state of the state address, which covers Illinois budget and policy plans. The plan was first reported by NBC News.“In the face of rising demand and surging prices, I’m proposing a two-year pause on authorization of new datacenter tax credits,” Pritzker said. “With the shifting energy landscape, it is imperative that our growth does not undermine affordability and stability for our families

Stone, parchment or laser-written glass? Scientists find new way to preserve data

Some cultures used stone, others used parchment. Some even, for a time, used floppy disks. Now scientists have come up with a new way to keep archived data safe that, they say, could endure for millennia: laser-writing in glass.The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link

Finger princesses: are these the biggest villains of the chat group?

We all know one – and there’s a good chance you fall into the category yourself. Here’s how to recognise if you’re a ‘walking, talking red flag’ …Name: Finger princess.Age: The term circulated this month, but the behaviour has been escalating across digital communication for some time.Appearance: Someone you know well enough to share a group chat with.Who?! You tell me

Is it smarter to have a dumb home? ‘We’ve seen clients unable to flush toilets’

When the smart home devices Elly Bailey was expecting in the post never showed up at her Gold Coast home, she was frustrated. As a technology reviewer, these products were crucial for her work.When she eventually found the cause, she had to laugh. It wasn’t a sticky-fingered neighbour or a rogue delivery driver causing her to miss parcels but her smart doorbell – the very thing she’d hoped would prevent missed deliveries, and part of exactly the range of internet-connected devices she was meant to be reviewing.“It’s pretty funny,” says Bailey, 33, who goes by the handle @ellyawesome on TikTok, where she has more than 1

Hazardous substances found in all headphones tested by ToxFREE project

You wear them at work, you wear them at play, you wear them to relax. You may even get sweaty in them at the gym.But an investigation into headphones has found every single pair tested contained substances hazardous to human health, including chemicals that can cause cancer, neurodevelopmental problems and the feminisation of males.Even products by market-leading brands such as Bose, Panasonic, Samsung and Sennheiser were found to contain harmful chemicals in the formulation of the plastics from which they are made.Campaigners condemned “a market-wide failure” as they called for broad bans on whole classes of endocrine-disrupting chemicals in consumer goods and greater transparency from manufacturers about what is in their products