Downtime

Recent Posts

  • There’s a human in my florist

    Ryan Priest 22 Nov 2018
  • The season of festive advertising is upon us, and this year’s key theme is Guilt Olympics. Whether it be Visa, John Lewis or Iceland, firms are lining up to tell you not to even think about ...

  • Raabbit in your headlights

    Ryan Priest 15 Nov 2018
  • Dominic Raab’s resignation from his stint as Brexit secretary will presumably see him evade all accountability for the promises he recently gave the tech industry about the benefits of leaving the ...

  • Samsung phone folds like a cheap suit

    Ryan Priest 08 Nov 2018
  • Samsung has unveiled something resembling a VTech learning toy to try to maintain its foothold in the smartphone market. Commentators humoured the announcement, though, referring to the ...

  • The revolution will not be pasteurised

    Ryan Priest 01 Nov 2018
  • It’s been almost a year since Downtime talked emojis, but from far-right tool bag Jair Bolsonaro seizing power in Brazil to a supermarket magazine editor thinking it’s normal to reply to a ...

  • Paint me like one of your French GANs

    Ryan Priest 25 Oct 2018
  • World-renowned auction house Christie’s has offered up its first ever artwork created by an algorithm, but as usual with artificial intelligence (AI), there’s an elephant in the room: it’s crap. ...

  • A smartphone for your smartphone?

    Clare McDonald - Business Editor 17 Oct 2018
  • As if smartphone devices aren't already taking over our lives enough, a US company has launched a miniature phone to act as a companion to your main device. In a world where smartphones are ...

  • Algorithm gets cancelled

    Ryan Priest 11 Oct 2018
  • Amazon has had to rein in the artificial intelligence it was using to help vet job applicants after picking up on its male chauvinist tendencies. As is the case with its human bigot counterparts, ...

  • Russian cyber crime sends us crackers

    Ryan Priest 04 Oct 2018
  • The UK government has condemned Russia’s military intelligence service for a variety of cyber attacks in its routinely stern way, but at this point, we might as well be told about this kind of ...

  • Delivered and read

    Ryan Priest 27 Sep 2018
  • If you were to make a list of things least worthy of your tears, the wistful tale of a man who sold his soul to Facebook for billions of dollars would surely nestle somewhere between, say, Tim Cook ...

  • The importance of binning idols

    Ryan Priest 20 Sep 2018
  • The art of 3D printing has suffered a setback in Kuwait, after pressure from hysterical clergymen forced the closure of its local Doob 3D store with accusations of idolatry. The company offers a ...

  • Provocation, provocation

    Ryan Priest 13 Sep 2018
  • You don’t need to be told by two self-satisfied dudebros that poking AI with a stick might come back to bite us one day, but Joe Rogan’s recent podcast with Elon Musk has certainly reminded us to ...

  • Buoy, that’s a gnarly app!

    Clare McDonald - Business Editor 06 Sep 2018
  • Australian tourist favourite Bondi Beach has taken a bite of the app market by creating a mobile app which tells lifeguards whether there’s a shark nearby. According to the Telegraph the system of ...

  • You don’t know you’re porn

    Ryan Priest 29 Aug 2018
  • What’s all this about deepfakes? We can’t move lately for the sinister imagery that accompanies this ubiquitous news item designed to make baby boomers put down their Oat So Simple. While the likes ...

  • Taste the deference

    Ryan Priest 15 Aug 2018
  • Sainsbury’s is trialling its first ever till-free supermarket, entrusting us with the task of scanning our own items via our smartphones. This comes as good news for those of us who feel the ...

  • AI makes wallies of us all

    Ryan Priest 09 Aug 2018
  • As much as we try to embrace all the various wonders of modern technology, we still turn into Danny DeVito’s character as the bitter, resentful father in Matilda whenever we see a news story about ...