Shiny Shiny snippets: Spotify latest tech firm to cull staff
Swedish music-streaming giant Spotify says it will cut 6% of its about 10,000 employees, citing a need to improve efficiency. "In hindsight, I was too ambitious in investing ahead of our revenue growth," boss Daniel Ek wrote on the company's blog. Spotify has never posted a full-year net profit, despite its popularity in the online…
Top 25 words Brits mispronounce – quinoa tops list
The top 25 most mispronounced words have been revealed, including quinoa, parliament – and even the word ‘pronunciation’ itself. A poll of 2,000 adults found 17 per cent say ‘kin-oh-ah’ rather than ‘keen-wah’ for the popular grain, quinoa. And more than one in 10 (12 per cent) have mistakenly pronounced espresso as 'ex-press-oh'. Other commonly…
ShinyShiny snippets: Why M3GAN is the perfect AI ‘monster’
M3GAN is Hollywood's latest attempt to turn AI into a horror genre. Pic: Universal There is no shortage of robot uprising fiction in the Western canon (see: the works of Ray Bradbury and Philip K. Dick; classics like “The Terminator”; family-friendly spins like “The Mitchells vs. the Machines”). It’s a conceit that…
ShinyShiny snippets: Microsoft to cut 10,000 jobs worldwide
Microsoft will cut 10,000 jobs in the latest round of staff redundancies to hit the tech industry. It will affect up to 5% of its global workforce and cost the business $1.2bn (£972m) in severance and reorganisation costs. Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella said that while customer spending had grown during Covid, more people were…
Millions of homeowners wrongly believe property is energy efficient
A poll of 2,000 adults who own a home found 72 per cent think their property is economical in terms of its energy use, but two-thirds are unaware of what their energy performance certificate (EPC) rating is. These range from A, the most energy efficient with the lowest costs, to G, the least efficient,…
Top 40 Toys Brits have stashed away – including Barbie dolls and G.I Joes
Britain's lofts are filled with more than one billion treasured toys – including Barbie, LEGO and Hot Wheels. A study of 2,000 adults revealed they each have an average of 20 toys and playthings stashed away, with 65 per cent planning to pass them down to their children or grandchildren. Other popular items stored away…
ShinyShiny roundup: Goodbye Google Stadia
Google has just released the last ever game for the Stadia platform, ahead of its shutdown today (January 18). After much speculation, Google confirmed that the Stadia would be shutting down last September, with the cloud gaming service set to shut up shop today. Ahead of the shutdown though, Google has released one last game…
ShinyShiny snippets: Microsoft to face possible EU Antitrust warning over Activision deal
Microsoft (MSFT.O) is likely to receive an EU antitrust warning about its $69 billion bid for "Call of Duty" maker Activision Blizzard (ATVI.O), people familiar with the matter said, that could pose another challenge to completing the deal. The European Commission is readying a charge sheet known as a statement of objections setting out its concerns about…
Half of Brits less tolerant with drivers because of ‘January Blues’
Nearly half (45%) of drivers admit being in a bad mood leads them to become more agitated and less tolerant with fellow drivers, according to new research by Citroën UK. The findings, from a survey of 2,000 UK drivers, highlighted some of the risks of being unhappy or in a bad mood whilst out on…
7 things that tech has made obsolete since 2000
Many humble telephone boxes have disappeared altogether or been converted into takeaway coffee booths, mobile libraries or defibrillator stations Many of us will remember dial-up internet, browsing Ceefax for the latest news, flicking through the Yellow Pages or those endless games of Snake on primitive mobile phones. While all are mainstays of early 2000s…
