UK Considers Forcing Households to Fill Out Key Economic Surveys
UK officials are probing the legal and practical implications of forcing households to fill out key economic surveys after a collapse in responses left the Bank of England in the dark over jobs data crucial to its interest-rate decisions.
The UK Statistics Authority is carrying out detailed work on whether Britain can feasibly shift to a mandatory labor market survey after a review recommended exploring the option last year, a spokesperson told Bloomberg News.
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CNET
an hour ago
- CNET
Refurbished Tech Is Always an Option for You, and It Could Be a 'Joyful' One, Too
I've been writing about the right-to-repair movement and finding more sustainable ways to buy tech for years, but it wasn't until earlier this year on a routine Tube journey across London that I heard of Back Market, a refurbished tech marketplace originating in France. While avoiding any possible eye contact with strangers, as is good Tube etiquette, my gaze drifted up to a Back Market advert above the window pane. "Sorry, cats. Tech now has multiple lives too," it said. It was amusing and immediately made me want to know more. It turned out that I was late to the party, and this was just one of many cheeky ads that Back Market has run on the London Underground network and beyond. The aim of the company's campaigns is to normalize buying refurbished tech by making it fun, Back Market's CEO Thibaud Hug de Larauze said at SXSW London on Tuesday. Back Market projects a slogan onto the Apple Store in London. Back Market "Don't make people feel guilty, like you're a bad person because you're buying new," he said. "It's not going to work. It's not going to change people's behavior." Extending the lifespan of our phones, laptops and other tech products, whether through repair, responsible trade-ins that prioritize recycling or buying refurbished devices is critical to ensure we're not wasting precious minerals and exerting pressure on the natural world in ways that contribute to the climate crisis. It's serious stuff, but Back Market's lighthearted approach is about sparking "a joyful revolution" in the world of refurbished tech, said Hug de Larauze. Buying into this revolution is good for the planet, and for protecting the wellbeing of the people in developing countries whose health is impacted by mining for minerals or recovering them from discarded e-waste. It's also good for another reason – avoiding price rises on new tech sparked by tariffs. The repair and refurbish movement Back Market isn't the only marketplace willing to pay for your old tech and to sell you a refurbished device, but it's one part of a more widespread movement for change. Earlier this year, the company partnered with iFixit, which is equipping people around the world with the tools they need to repair their own tech while advocating for right-to-repair legislation. "We want to enable people to repair by default, if they want and if they can," said Hug de Larauze. "If they cannot, let's trade in easily and adopt a refurbished one." Together the companies are encouraging people to increase the time they hold onto their phones to five years, rather than the current average of two and a half years. They're also applying pressure to phone manufacturers to increase software support to 10 years. But Hug de Larauze has an even bigger request for tech companies, which he describes as "the next fight we need to push for." At the point when tech manufacturers cease to provide ongoing support for devices, he wants them to unleash the hardware they've made so that it can be fully divorced from the operating system. The idea is that an old iPhone, for example, could get a new lease on life as something like a baby monitor or security camera if combined with different software. This feels like a big ask for tech companies, with the main argument against the proposal likely to center around security concerns. Still, the world of refurbished tech is changing quickly. Over a million refurbished devices were purchased through Back Market last year alone and according to Hug de Larauze, there are already signs that people are holding onto their smartphones for longer and trading in more often. "For me, it's about building a global ecosystem of service for everybody to basically access to repair by default," he said. "Obviously, keep the device longer, but if for some reason you cannot, then easily trade it in and access refurbished devices instead."
Gizmodo
an hour ago
- Gizmodo
Cillian Murphy's Role in the '28 Years Later' Trilogy Is Coming Later Than We Hoped
Director and writer Danny Boyle teased the Oscar winner will appear to set up a third movie, if the first two do well. Cillian Murphy is set to make his eventual return to the world of 28 Days Later within the upcoming trilogy that 28 Years Later will kick off this summer, but there are a few catches. Director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting) revealed vague details about the Oscar-winning Oppenheimer actor's involvement to IGN. The upcoming trilogy expands on the world Boyle and Alex Garland (Civil War) started with 28 Days Later and its star Cillian Murphy, with a new set of interconnected stories. However, Murphy will not appear in the first film as it introduces a new central character: Spike, a 12-year-old boy portrayed by Alfie Williams whose family (led by Jodie Comer and Aaron Taylor-Johnson) finds itself in the thick of the post-apocalyptic zombie outbreak. 'Although each story completes itself, there's a handover section to the next film as well. So it's very ambitious. We haven't got the money for the third one yet. It will depend how the first one does, I guess,' Boyle shared and explained that Murphy's return is contingent on how the first two movies do. 'But hopefully if we do ok, they'll give us the go-ahead for the money and for the third one. Everybody's standing by for that, really. Including Cillian,' the director confirmed regarding Murphy's participation. Currently it's planned that he will make an appearance at the end of the Nia DaCosta (Candyman)-directed follow-up 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, which picks up on the immediate continuation of events from Boyle's upcoming reboot sequel and is slated to open in theaters next January. 'He is in the second one,' Boyle revealed, 'I shouldn't give away too much. I'll get killed.' But we can guess that his appearance will only tease the potential of the third film, which Sony has yet to confirm. Boyle continued, 'You know that thing about sequels, you want to push it on and take huge risks.' 'I have to say fair play to [studio Sony Pictures]. They did allow us to take great liberties with [28 Years Later]. They could have said, 'Oh no, it needs to be more sequel-y. You need to rely on some of the ideas that are in the original. And what do you mean Cillian's not going to appear in the first one? I thought you said Cillian was going to be in it.' We said, 'Yeah, Cillian is going to be in it, but not quite the first one.' So fair play to them. They've put up with a lot.' 28 Years Later opens June 20.
Bloomberg
an hour ago
- Bloomberg
UK Could Miss 2030 Clean Power Goal, Parliament Committee Warns
The UK's goal of a clean power grid by 2030 is in danger of slipping out of reach as planning delays and infrastructure bottlenecks challenge the government. The ambition requires 'building more energy generation and network infrastructure at a faster pace than Great Britain has managed in recent years,' according to a report from the House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee published on Wednesday.
