![Andreas Vlachos, a computer scientist at the University of Sheffield in England, is one of a growing number of ...](/web/20170502113507im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/w/u/o/d/image.related.wideLandscape.460x259.gvwt5m.png/1493678614177.jpg)
![Andreas Vlachos, a computer scientist at the University of Sheffield in England, is one of a growing number of ...](/web/20170502113507im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/w/u/o/d/image.related.wideLandscape.460x259.gvwt5m.png/1493678614177.jpg)
Pokemon Go player faces years in Russian jail
![Sokolovsky, now 22, protested that his potential punishment outweighed the crime.](/web/20170502113507im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/w/a/c/t/image.related.landscape.120x80.gvw0r9.png/1493674622562.jpg)
Amnesty International called Sokolovsky a "prisoner of conscience" and criticised the Russian government for detaining the blogger.
Tech giants making all the rules this week
![The states are fighting over where Amazon's Australian operations will be headquartered.](/web/20170502113507im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/u/8/3/u/image.related.landscape.120x80.gvwt75.png/1493700575068.jpg)
The companies have vast networks of complementary products that feed off one another to generate more sales, making it ever harder for competitors to keep up.
Learning from the soon-to-be richest man on Earth
![Jeff Bezos is a mere $US5 billion away from the Microsoft founder Bill Gates.](/web/20170502113507im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/4/g/e/s/image.related.landscape.120x80.gvwt7v.png/1493672131773.jpg)
What are the lessons that every business – and investor for that matter – can learn from Jeff Bezos? Here are five of the most important.
Theft of new Netflix season portends a TV crisis
![Screenshot of download website PirateBay where the episodes are available.](/web/20170502113507im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/v/z/9/e/image.related.landscape.120x80.gvvz4o.png/1493624483779.png)
Hacking group is now threatening to release shows by four other networks unless the networks' pay a ransom.
Google's Chrome ramping up warnings when you visit insecure websites
![Always check for the HTTPS padlock when you're concerned about online privacy and security.](/web/20170502113507im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/z/r/y/1/c/image.related.landscape.120x80.gvw4r6.png/1493653658889.jpg)
Google's Chrome web browser is stepping up alerts when you use sites missing that all-important HTTPS security padlock designed to stop online eavesdropping.
Facebook Messenger big deal for Aussie business
![ABC and Qantas are two examples of local businesses using Messenger to reach consumers directly.](/web/20170502113507im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/w/3/z/v/image.related.landscape.120x80.gvw3hc.png/1493600440124.jpg)
Australian companies are the biggest users of Messenger globally, said Stan Chudnovsky, head of product for messaging at Facebook.
Twitter finally gives backers something to tweet about
![Last week, the company revealed that monthly user numbers - an all-important metric for tech companies - had increased ...](/web/20170502113507im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/t/b/0/e/image.related.landscape.120x80.gvvzeb.png/1493589649567.jpg)
Against all odds, Twitter is turning itself around.
Apple surges as investors bet on new iPhones
![What's driving the stock, say sceptics and fans alike, is hope - hope that the new iPhones due in September, after the ...](/web/20170502113507im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/i/3/y/p/y/image.related.landscape.120x80.gvvzmn.png/1493609143083.jpg)
As investors pour in, Apple's shares have closed at $US143.65, up nearly 60 per cent from last May's trough.
Facebook 'must pay to police internet' or face fines
![Internet firms have faced repeated accusations that they are failing to address concerns over the material being ...](/web/20170502113507im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/6/9/d/7/image.related.landscape.120x80.gvvz2e.png/1493629583153.jpg)
SOCIAL media firms may be forced to pay for the cost of policing digital crimes and should be fined if they do not quickly censor illegal posts, under plans published by a parliamentary committee today (Monday).
'It didn't have to be this way, Netflix': Hacker's taunt
![The cast of Orange is the New Black.](/web/20170502113507im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/n/q/9/g/o/image.related.landscape.120x80.gvvmju.png/1493536372142.png)
A hacker or hackers who claim to have stolen unreleased television shows from several major networks shared the coming season of the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black after the streaming service failed to meet its ransom requests.
The war on fake news will be lost whilst the phrase is meaningless
![Neither side of politics can claim the moral high ground when it comes to bending the truth.](/web/20170502113507im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/y/j/e/4/image.related.landscape.120x80.gvuhbp.png/1493420620131.jpg)
One person's fake news is another's explosive revelation, so how can Google, Facebook and others cut to the truth of the matter?
For Microsoft, Surface loses but Windows wins
![Surface sales suffered while Microsoft's own Windows licensing customers prospered.](/web/20170502113507im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/x/v/7/g/image.related.landscape.120x80.gvuhz1.png/1493344442305.jpg)
It has always been part of Microsoft's Surface strategy to release flagship models that goad the rest of the PC industry.
Why you won't be flying in a taxi any time soon
![A concept Airbus A3 from Uber's flying cars plan.](/web/20170502113507im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/c/r/c/r/image.related.landscape.120x80.gvu8op.png/1493333673803.jpg)
It's hard to overstate how many fundamental achievements must occur first, on both regulatory and technical grounds, before anyone can summon a cab from above.
Facebook says it will act against 'information operations' using false accounts
![Facebook will act against influence operations.](/web/20170502113507im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/b/u/b/4/image.related.landscape.120x80.gvu8ky.png/1493325522600.jpg)
Facebook Inc acknowledged on Thursday that it has become a battleground for governments seeking to manipulate public opinion.
'Power can ruin you': Pope Francis issues warning in TED talk
![Pope Francis addressed the TED Talk for 18 minutes.](/web/20170502113507im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/t/q/8/f/image.related.landscape.120x80.gvtpyi.png/1493289614942.jpg)
Pope Francis, an outspoken champion of science and technology, gave his own TED talk Tuesday night, speaking from the Vatican with a three-part message calling for a "revolution of tenderness" and warning those in power to act responsibly or "your power will ruin you."
Will the robots ruin us?
![Fritz Lang's futurist film Metropolis (1927) imagined an automated future. The real one won't be as pretty.](/web/20170502113507im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/r/o/f/n/image.related.landscape.120x80.gvrof6.png/1493254181093.jpg)
Thanks to automation a life of potential leisure beckons – whether we like it or not.
Reminder: popular apps are never truly 'free'
![As the adage goes: if you're not paying for it, you are the product.](/web/20170502113507im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/t/c/0/3/image.related.landscape.120x80.gvtbww.png/1493243200888.jpg)
A free, third-party service with access to your email is almost certainly mining your data for something. It would be silly to assume otherwise.
Why Instagram will be the next Facebook
![Instagram's confident moves seem to be paying off.](/web/20170502113507im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/t/b/h/p/image.related.landscape.120x80.gvtbcr.png/1493241040558.jpg)
Instagram is now changing the experience of using the service at a speed that would ordinarily feel reckless for a network of its size.
'Ruthless': How Zuckerberg keeps Facebook king
![Facebook's tax has risen.](/web/20170502113507im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/s/g/t/p/image.related.landscape.120x80.gvsdl4.png/1493348732491.jpg)
The tech world just witnessed a robbery. The heist was so brazen that you kind of had to admire it.