Tech | Westminster World

Oct312022 by Rishi Bajpai & Sayan BoseNo Comments

What does Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter mean for free speech? We ask Londoners what they think…

With a 500% surge in the use of the 'n-word' on Twitter, users are concerned whether the platform is now promoting hate speech or free speech Elon Musk, the world's richest man, has completed a $44 billion acquisition of social media giant Twitter, ending a long-running saga. Tesla's CEO immediately imposed his powers on the company and fired three of his executives who were reportedly taken out of the San Francisco headquarters when the acquisition was completed. Musk tweeted: "The bird is freed", referring to Twitter's bird logo, seemingly agreeing with his desire to loosen restrictions on what can be posted on the site. WestminsterWorld reporters headed to Regent Street to ask the public what they thought about Twitter's new owner and the potential policy changes in the fut...

What is Wordle and why is it popular all of a sudden?

Culture, ed-tech, Explainer, Explainers, Explainers, Media, News, Social media, Tech, Technology, Worldnews

Credits: Sharv G Recently, Twitter was flooded with a 5x6 grid of green, white, and yellow squares. The reason behind that is a daily online game called Wordle which has now been sold to The New York Times. What is Wordle? It is a daily game where the user has to guess a five-letter word in six attempts. The letters are spaced out in a grid, and each letter attempted gets marked either in grey, yellow or green. Green letters are part of the final word and in the right place. If they’re yellow, they’re in the final word but in the wrong place and grey letters are not a part of the final word. The game grants users the ability to share their grid after guessing the word correctly. The grid is made of emojis without any letters. Since it’s the same word for everybody, it is engag

Food delivering robots: will this be the new normal?

shopping, Tech, Technology

The future of food delivery has arrived. Starship Technologies, a robotics company have expanded their autonomous delivery robots to another town in the UK. Partnering with Co-op, Starship has been delivering food items to residents in Northampton. Photo credit: Ami Gill The small 100 pound electric robots travel up to four miles to deliver food, working around the customers’ schedule. They are quite a sight to see when you are out and about. It’s as though you are in a futuristic world where robots and humans walk side by side. Ordering food with Starship is very simple. Customers download the Starship Technologies app and then shop in the local store. Delivery times vary from 30 - 70 minutes, depending on what you order. Not only can you get small food orders, but Starshi

Apr142020 by Beth KeeleyNo Comments

Houseparty 101

ed-tech, Education, Explainer, Explainers, Media, Social media, Tech, Technology, Video

Are video calls something you've always stayed clear from? Are you struggling to know which app to use and how to work it? Well here is a technophobe's guide to using the latest viral craze - Houseparty! The interactive video chat application. Check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GtXxx_GIvI&feature=youtu.be

Apr142020 by Editor2No Comments

TikTok for everyone during coronavirus quarantine: an explainer

Adults, Covid-19, Culture, Entertainment, Explainer, Explainers, Explainers, Music, Social media, Tech, Technology

Have you wondered what your family is doing dancing around the house and singing all the time? Here you have your answer: Coronavirus quarantine is driving a global TikTok boom. The app has been named as a fun family bonding activity as it brings people together in a funny way and allows you to share your quarantine with others. It’s one of the most downloaded apps around the world and already holds users of all ages. Animation by Beatriz Bandeira WHAT IS TIK TOK? TikTok is one of the quickest-growing social media platforms worldwide, with more than 800 million active users. If you want to be more surprised, the TikTok app has been downloaded more than 1.5 billion times on the App Store and Google Play. The app aims to record and publish short videos, which can take from 15 to 6

Apr112019 by Bowei FengNo Comments

Do you feel happy to live in the digital age？

Media, Social media, Tech, Technology

The World Happiness report released on 20th March. The Rank of the UK has increased to 15th place since 2013. （Data from the World Happiness report; Graph: Bowei) The measurement involves many factors such as GDP, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom and corruption levels. The top three happiest countries are Finland, Denmark, Norway. Among them, Finland was a second year to be the happiest countries in the world. In the digital era, people spend more time on social media. Based on the recent UK social media statistic, there are 45 million social media users, which is equal to 67% of the entire population. Of these, there are 39 million mobile social media users. On average, people in the UK spend about 1 hour 50 minutes on social media sites

Dec102018 by Upanishad Sharma No Comments

Twitch Streamer taken into custody after allegedly hitting his partner on live Twitch stream

Breaking News, Entertainment, London, ReportingWeek2, Tech, video games, youth

A Twitch streamer who goes by the name Mr DeadMoth has been charged with assaulting his partner during one of his live streams of Fortnite. The Australian streamer has since been apprehended by the police as an investigation continues into the incident after a viewer online got concerned and reported it. The incident occurred during one of the regular Fortnite streams Mr DeadMoth used to host on the streaming platform Twitch. Towards the middle of the stream, a woman’s voice can be heard asking the streamer to close his computer and come out to which he replies: “I’ll be out soon” repeatedly. She then hurls various objects at the man. After a point, the streamer is seen getting up and approaching her during which a sound resembling a slap can be heard. The woman cries out “Wo

Dec112017 by Editor2No Comments

Uber’s appeal will not be heard until Spring 2018

Business, economy, London, London Mayor, News, Tech, Transport

Uber's appeal against TFL’s decision, to not renew their licence will not be heard until the spring of 2018. Judge Emma Arbuthnot proposed two dates, April 30 or June 25th for the five-day trial at Westminster magistrates court on Monday morning. TFL’s decision came after the company was declared not “fit and proper” after a series of failures over passenger safety. TfL said that the company’s approach and conduct “demonstrate a lack of corporate responsibility in relation to a number of issues which have potential public safety and security implications.” The company is in the process of repairing its reputation after they were hit with several controversies including harassment and a data breach that is thought to have affected millions. Chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi fle

Dec42017 by Charline Bou Mansour No Comments

Mobile phone addiction began 25 years ago

Breaking News, Culture, DontUse, Tech, Technology

The first text message that was sent actually used full words rather than text-speak. The first SMS was sent 25 years ago on the 3rd December 1992. A quarter of a century ago a British test engineer, Neil Papworth, typed the first text message which said, “Merry Christmas”. It launched into a success with smartphones that some reports suggest might even have become an addiction. The first SMS message was sent over the Vodafone GSM network in the United Kingdom using a personal computer. It originated from radio telegraphy in radio memo pagers. The initial growth was slow, with GSM customers in 1995 sending on average 0.4 messages per month. But by 2006, over 205 million messages were sent in the UK alone. Did Neil Papworth have any idea at the time that analysts expect 7.89 trillion

Dec42017 by Caroline PaulNo Comments

Don’t be a binner, have it for dinner: millenials targeted over food waste

Business, Environment, Food, News, Tech

Waste reduction charity Wrap is poised to launch an anti-food waste campaign focused on 18-34 year olds living in urban areas. Research shows that millennials are the generation that throws away most food. In the UK more than £13bn of edible food was thrown out in 2015 Photo: Wrap A Wrap spokesperson told Westminster World: "We will be using a targeted approach to reach the right people using Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram – all channels we know are popular with our target audience. We’re advertising our content to ensure we really reach the right people and not just our existing fans and followers." Food waste is the third largest source of greenhouse gas emissions after China and the US according to the UN Food and Agricultural Organization. Take #ClimateActio