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Software should work, and talking about it needn’t be boring
This opinion piece from The Register argues that streamed tech conferences are usually too uneven to watch in full, but praises Software Should Work 2026, held in July, as a rare exception that rewards binge-watching from start to finish. The conference focuses on software reliability in its broadest sense, covering not just working code but…
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My Arms Are Longer Now – comedy stealth game sends lawlessness into new territory
An Australian studio called Toot Games is developing My Arms Are Longer Now, a comedy stealth game in which players control not a spy or thief but a single grotesquely elongated arm that slithers across floors, steals objects and slaps anyone in reach. Founded by Matthew Jackson and Millie Holten, who met through Melbourne’s improv…
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China calls off ambitious ice-hunting moonshot a day before flight
China’s Manned Space Agency has cancelled the planned launch of its Chang’e 7 lunar mission, which had been due to lift off on Monday, saying the spacecraft failed to meet unspecified launch criteria. The mission was designed to send a lander, rover and hopper to a region near the Moon’s South Pole to search for…
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‘Ab-sol-utely incredible!’ The blockbuster ballet that says Pandora’s box unleashed AI
Choreographer Aszure Barton’s ballet Mere Mortals, first staged by San Francisco Ballet in 2024, is receiving its European premiere at this year’s Edinburgh International Festival. The production reimagines the myth of Pandora’s box as a cautionary tale about artificial intelligence, blending live music, dance and large-scale digital visuals to explore themes of technology and human…
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UK graduate job vacancies plunge to lowest in a decade
UK graduate job vacancies have fallen to their lowest level since records began a decade ago, with recruitment website Adzuna reporting just 8,383 university-leaver positions advertised in July, a 45% drop compared with the same month last year. The slump coincides with a record 262,820 students preparing to start university in September, deepening concern about…
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Batch file automated a clean-up job, then fouled itself by deleting the wrong directory
A reader known as “Pascal”, writing in The Register’s regular “Who, Me?” confessional column, recounted how a routine maintenance script he wrote crippled a company’s first Exchange server. Tasked with keeping the mailbox database running smoothly, he created a batch file to stop the Information Store, compact it, clear temporary files, and restart the service,…
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Fairphone 6+ review: the most repairable, ethical phone gets faster
The Fairphone 6+ is the Dutch cooperative’s latest sustainable Android handset, refreshing last year’s Fairphone 6 with a faster chip and more memory while keeping the same fully repairable, modular design. It matters because Fairphone continues to champion longevity and ethical sourcing in an industry dominated by disposable devices, and this model marks its first…
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Divorce, smartphones and control – BBC sees how Taliban run Afghanistan
The BBC gained rare access to senior Taliban figures in Afghanistan, including a provincial governor, revealing how the movement governs five years after retaking power in 2021. Footage shows an 18-year-old woman calmly pleading for a divorce from an allegedly abusive husband before Governor Abdullah Sarhadi, who dismisses women as “mindless” to laughter from male…
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Ex-spy chief warns of Chinese spying risk as Lammy hit by fraudster phone number
TalkFuse briefing: security fears over a Chinese-owned Chery research hub near Millbrook and fresh embarrassment for David Lammy lead, alongside record cyclist-pedestrian casualties, Gary storm blackouts, dramatic Ryanair footage, Waymo’s new chip and a vitamin B6 depression breakthrough.