animation, animation techniques, L'animation côté coulisses, stop-motion, 2D animation, 3D animation, animation exhibition, film creation, Gentilly, Lavoir Numérique ## Introduction Ah, animation—the magical world where characters come to life, and childhood fantasies dance across the screen. But have you ever paused to wonder what lies behind the curtain of this animated spectacle? If you’ve...

In 1989 a computer scientist argued that more functionality in software actually lowers usability and practicality — leading to the counterintuitive proposition that "worse is better". But is that still true? Python's original creator Guido van Rossum addressed the question last month in a lightning talk at the annual Python Language Summit 2025. Guido started by recounting earlier periods of Python development from 35 years ago, where he used UNIX "almost exclusively" and thus "Python was greatly influenced by UNIX's 'worse is better' philosophy"... "The fact that [Python] wasn't perfect encouraged many people to start contributing. All of the code was straightforward, there were no thoughts of optimization... These early contributors also now had a stake in the language; [Python] was also their baby"... Guido contrasted early development to how Python is developed now: "features that take years to produce from teams of software developers paid by big tech companies. The static type system requires an academic-level understanding of esoteric type system features." And this isn't just Python the language, "third-party projects like numpy are maintained by folks who are paid full-time to do so.... Now we have a huge community, but very few people, relatively speaking, are contributing meaningfully." Guido asked whether the expectation for Python contributors going forward would be that "you had to write a perfect PEP or create a perfect prototype that can be turned into production-ready code?" Guido pined for the "old days" where feature development could skip performance or feature-completion to get something into the hands of the community to "start kicking the tires". "Do we have to abandon 'worse is better' as a philosophy and try to make everything as perfect as possible?" Guido thought doing so "would be a shame", but that he "wasn't sure how to change it", acknowledging that core developers wouldn't want to create features and then break users with future releases. Guido referenced David Hewitt's PyO3 talk about Rust and Python, and that development "was using worse is better," where there is a core feature set that works, and plenty of work to be done and open questions. "That sounds a lot more fun than working on core CPython", Guido paused, "...not that I'd ever personally learn Rust. Maybe I should give it a try after," which garnered laughter from core developers. "Maybe we should do more of that: allowing contributors in the community to have a stake and care". Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Launch week is finally here, and though I would love to be bringing you a proper review of the Nintendo Switch 2 right now, I still don’t have one at the time of writing. In its wisdom, Nintendo has decided not to send review units out until the day before release, so as you read this I will be standing impatiently by the door like a dog anxiously awaiting its owner.I have played the console, though, for a whole day at Nintendo’s offices, so I can give you some first impressions. Hardware-wise, it is the upgrade of my dreams: sturdier JoyCons, a beautiful screen, the graphical muscle to make games look as good as I want them to in 2025 (though still not comparable to the high-end PlayStation 5 Pro or a modern gaming PC). I like the understated pops of colour on the controllers, the refined menu with its soothing chimes and blips. Game sharing, online functionality and other basic stuff is frictionless now. I love that Nintendo Switch Online is so reasonably priced, at £18 a year, as opposed to about the same per month for comparable gaming services, and it gives me access to a treasure trove of Nintendo games from decades past.But here’s the key word in that paragraph: it’s an upgrade. After eight years, an upgrade feels rather belated. I was hoping for something actually new, and aside from the fact that you can now use those controllers as mice by turning them sideways and moving them around on a desk or on your lap, there isn’t much new in the Switch 2. Absorbed in Mario Kart World, the main launch title, it was easy to forget I was even playing a new console. I do wonder – as I did in January – whether many less gaming-literate families who own a Switch will see a reason to upgrade, given the £400 asking price.Brilliant … Mario Kart World. Photograph: NintendoSpeaking of Mario Kart World, though: it’s brilliant. Totally splendid. It will deservedly sell squillions. Alongside the classic competitive grand prix and time trial races, the headline feature is an open, driveable world that you can explore all you like, as any character, picking up characters and costumes and collectibles, and getting into elimination-style races that span the full continent. All the courses are part of one huge map, and they flow right into one another.Your kart transforms helpfully into a boat when you hit water, and I found an island with a really tricky challenge where I had to ride seaplanes up towards a skyscraper in the city, driving over their wings from one to the other. Anyone could lose hours driving aimlessly around the colourful collection of mountains, jungles and winding motorways here. There’s even a space-station themed course that cleverly echoes the original Donkey Kong arcade game, delivering a nostalgia hit as delightful as Super Mario Odyssey’s climactic New Donk City festival.Pushing Buttons correspondent Keith Stuart also had a great time with another launch game, Konami’s Survival Kids, which is a bit like Overcooked except all the players are working together to survive on a desert island. (Be reassured, if you generally find survival games hard work: it’s very much fun over peril.)However: I would steer clear of the Nintendo Switch Welcome Tour, an almost belligerently un-fun interactive tour of the console’s new features … that costs £7.99. Your tiny avatar walks around a gigantic recreation of a Switch 2 console, looking for invisible plaques that point out its different components. There are displays with uninteresting technical information about, say, the quality of the console’s HD rumble. One of the interactive museum displays shows a ball bounding across the screen and asks you to guess how many frames per second it is travelling at. As someone who aggressively does not care about fine technical detail, I was terrible at this. It’s like being on the least interesting school trip of your life.And it felt felt remarkably un-Nintendo, so dry and devoid of personality that it made me a little worried. Nintendo Labo, by contrast, was a super-fun and accessible way of showing off the original Switch’s technical features. I had assumed that Welcome Tour would be made by the same team, but evidently not.I couldn’t wait to get back to Mario Kart World, which, once again, is fantastic. I’m excited to spend the rest of the week playing it for a proper review. And if you’ve pre-ordered a Switch 2, you’ll have it in your hands in the next 24 hours. For those holding off: we’ll have plenty more Switch 2 info and opinions in the next few weeks to help you make a decision.What to playArms akimbo … to a T is funny and weird. Illustration: Annapurna interactive/SteamLast week I played through to a T, the beautifully strange, unexpectedly thoughtful new game from Katamari Damacy creator Keita Takahashi. It is about a young teenager who is forever stuck in a T-pose, arms akimbo. As you might imagine, this makes life rather difficult for them, and they must rely on their fluffy little dog to help them through life. It’s a kid-friendly game about accepting who you are – I played it with my sons – but it is also extremely funny and weird, and features a song about a giraffe who loves to make sandwiches. I love a game where you don’t know what to expect, and I bet that if I asked every single reader of this newsletter to guess how it ends, not one of you would be anywhere close.Available on: PS5, Xbox, PC Estimated playtime: What to readTake chances … Remy Siu (left) and Nhi Do accept the Peabody award for 1000xRESIST. Photograph: Charley Gallay/Getty images 1000xRESIST, last year’s critical darling sci-fi game about the immigrant experience and the cost of political resistance, won a Peabody award this week. From the creators’ acceptance speech: “I want to say to the games industry, resource those on the margins and seek difference. Take chances again and again. This art form is barely unearthed. It’s too early to define it. Fund the indescribable.” Keith Stuart wrote about the largely lost age of midnight launch parties – for the Switch 2 launch, only Smyths Toys is hosting midnight releases. Did you ever go to one of these events? Write in and tell me if so – I remember feeling intensely embarrassed queuing for a Wii on Edinburgh’s Princes Street as a teenager. The developers of OpenAI are very proud that their latest artificial “intelligence” model can play Pokémon Red. It’s terrible at it, and has so far taken more than 80 hours to obtain three gym badges. I’m trying not to think about the environmental cost of proving AI is terrible at video games. When Imran Khan had a stroke last year, he lost the ability to play games. I found this essay about the role that Kaizo Mario (super-difficult hacked Mario levels) played in his recovery extremely moving. skip past newsletter promotionSign up to Pushing ButtonsFree weekly newsletterKeza MacDonald's weekly look at the world of gamingPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionWhat to clickQuestion BlockSoothing … Unpacking. Illustration: Humble Games/SteamReader Gemma asks:“At this moment I am cuddling my three-month-old as he naps on the sofa while I’m playing Blue Prince. It might be the best postnatal game: it has very little background sound or music; can be paused any time; is very chill with zero jeopardy; but also has a fascinating storyline and incredible puzzles. I also find myself narrating the letters and talking out loud for the maths puzzles. (Do three-month-olds understand algebra?) Your article [about Nintendo at naptime] made me feel less guilty, so thank you. Any other updated tips for similar games that you’ve discovered in the last eight years for postnatal gaming?”In the small-baby years I played two types of games: five-hour ones that I could complete in a couple of evenings, or endless Stardew Valley/Animal Crossing-type games where you could just drop in and zone out for as long as you needed, and it didn’t matter whether you were “achieving” anything. I couldn’t play anything with a linear plot because my brain was often mush and I’d simply forget what had happened an hour ago. It’s different for everyone, though – my friend Sarah was obsessed with Grand Theft Auto when her baby was wee.I became hooked on a couple of exploitative phone games that I won’t recommend – don’t go near those in a vulnerable brain-state, you’ll end up spending hours and £££ on virtual gems to buy dopamine with. Something like Unpacking or A Little to the Left might be soothing for a puzzle-brain like yours (and they’re short). I’ll throw this out there to other gamer mums: what did you play in the early months of parenthood?If you’ve got a question for Question Block – or anything else to say about the newsletter – email us on pushingbuttons@theguardian.com.

Home Meta and Yandex Spying on Android Users Through Localhost Ports: The Dying State of Online Privacy News Meta and Yandex Spying on Android Users Through Localhost Ports: The Dying State of Online Privacy 7 min read Published: June 4, 2025 Key Takeaways Meta and Yandex have been found guilty of secretly listening to localhost ports and using them to transfer sensitive data from Android devices. The corporations use Meta Pixel and Yandex Metrica scripts to transfer cookies from browsers to local apps. Using incognito mode or a VPN can’t fully protect users against it. A Meta spokesperson has called this a ‘miscommunication,’ which seems to be an attempt to underplay the situation. Wake up, Android folks! A new privacy scandal has hit your area of town. According to a new report led by Radboud University, Meta and Yandex have been listening to localhost ports to link your web browsing data with your identity and collect personal information without your consent. The companies use Meta Pixel and the Yandex Metrica scripts, which are embedded on 5.8 million and 3 million websites, respectively, to connect with their native apps on Android devices through localhost sockets. This creates a communication path between the cookies on your website and the local apps, establishing a channel for transferring personal information from your device. Also, you are mistaken if you think using your browser’s incognito mode or a VPN can protect you. Zuckerberg’s latest method of data harvesting can’t be overcome by tweaking any privacy or cookie settings or by using a VPN or incognito mode. How Does It Work? Here’s the method used by Meta to spy on Android devices: As many as 22% of the top 1 million websites contain Meta Pixel – a tracking code that helps website owners measure ad performance and track user behaviour. When Meta Pixel loads, it creates a special cookie called _fbp, which is supposed to be a first-party cookie. This means no other third party, including Meta apps themselves, should have access to this cookie. The _fbp cookie identifies your browser whenever you visit a website, meaning it can identify which person is accessing which websites. However, Meta, being Meta, went and found a loophole around this. Now, whenever you run Facebook or Instagram on your Android device, they can open up listening ports, specifically a TCP port (12387 or 12388) and a UDP port (the first unoccupied port in 12580-12585), on your phone in the background.  Whenever you load a website on your browser, the Meta Pixel uses WebRTC with SDP Munging, which essentially hides the _fbp cookie value inside the SDP message before being transmitted to your phone’s localhost.  Since Facebook and Instagram are already listening to this port, it receives the _fbp cookie value and can easily tie your identity to the website you’re visiting. Remember, Facebook and Instagram already have your identification details since you’re always logged in on these platforms. The report also says that Meta can link all _fbp received from various websites to your ID. Simply put, Meta knows which person is viewing what set of websites. Yandex also uses a similar method to harvest your personal data. Whenever you open a Yandex app, such as Yandex Maps, Yandex Browser, Yandex Search, or Navigator, it opens up ports like 29009, 30102, 29010, and 30103 on your phone.  When you visit a website that contains the Yandex Metrica Script, Yandex’s version of Meta Pixel, the script sends requests to Yandex servers containing obfuscated parameters.  These parameters are then sent to the local host via HTTP and HTTPS, which contains the IP address 127.0.0.1, or the yandexmetrica.com domain, which secretly points to 127.0.0.1. Now, the Yandex Metrica SDK in the Yandex apps receives these parameters and sends device identifiers, such as an Android Advertising ID, UUIDs, or device fingerprints. This entire message is encrypted to hide what it contains. The Yandex Metrica Script receives this info and sends it back to the Yandex servers. Just like Meta, Yandex can also tie your website activity to the device information shared by the SDK. Meta’s Infamous History with Privacy Norms This is not something new or unthinkable that Meta has done. The Mark Zuckerberg-led social media giant has a history of such privacy violations.  For instance, in 2024, the company was accused of collecting biometric data from Texas users without their express consent. The company settled the lawsuit by paying $1.4B.  Another of the most famous lawsuits was the Cambridge Analytica scandal in 2018, where a political consulting firm accessed private data of 87 million Facebook users without consent. The FTC fined Meta $5B for privacy violations along with a 100M settlement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.  Meta Pixel has also come under scrutiny before, when it was accused of collecting sensitive health information from hospital websites. In another case dating back to 2012, Meta was accused of tracking users even after they logged out from their Facebook accounts. In this case, Meta paid $90M and promised to delete the collected data.  In 2024, South Korea also fined Meta $15M for inappropriately collecting personal data, such as sexual orientation and political beliefs, of 980K users. In September 2024, Meta was fined $101.6M by the Irish Data Protection Commission for inadvertently storing user passwords in plain text in such a way that employees could search for them. The passwords were not encrypted and were essentially leaked internally. So, the latest scandal isn’t entirely out of character for Meta. It has been finding ways to collect your data ever since its incorporation, and it seems like it will continue to do so, regardless of the regulations and safeguards in place. That said, Meta’s recent tracking method is insanely dangerous because there’s no safeguard around it. Even if you visit websites in incognito mode or use a VPN, Meta Pixel can still track your activities.  The past lawsuits also show a very identifiable pattern: Meta doesn’t fight a lawsuit until the end to try to win it. It either accepts the fine or settles the lawsuit with monetary compensation. This essentially goes to show that it passively accepts and even ‘owns’ the illegitimate tracking methods it has been using for decades. It’s quite possible that the top management views these fines and penalties as a cost of collecting data. Meta’s Timid Response Meta’s response claims that there’s some ‘miscommunication’ regarding Google policies. However, the method used in the aforementioned tracking scandal isn’t something that can simply happen due to ‘faulty design’ or miscommunication.  We are in discussions with Google to address a potential miscommunication regarding the application of their policies – Meta Spokesperson This kind of unethical tracking method has to be deliberately designed by engineers for it to work perfectly on such a large scale. While Meta is still trying to underplay the situation, it has paused the ‘feature’ (yep, that’s what they are calling it) as of now. The report also claims that as of June 3, Facebook and Instagram are not actively listening to the new ports. Here’s what will possibly happen next: A lawsuit may be filed based on the report. An investigating committee might be formed to question the matter. The company will come up with lame excuses, such as misinterpretation or miscommunication of policy guidelines. Meta will eventually settle the lawsuit or bear the fine with pride, like it has always done.  The regulatory authorities are apparently chasing a rat that finds new holes to hide every day. Companies like Meta and Yandex seem to be one step ahead of these regulations and have mastered the art of finding loopholes. More than legislative technicalities, it’s the moral ethics of the company that become clear with incidents like this. The intent of these regulations is to protect personal information, and the fact that Meta and Yandex blatantly circumvent these regulations in their spirit shows the absolutely horrific state of capitalism these corporations are in. Krishi is a seasoned tech journalist with over four years of experience writing about PC hardware, consumer technology, and artificial intelligence.  Clarity and accessibility are at the core of Krishi’s writing style. He believes technology writing should empower readers—not confuse them—and he’s committed to ensuring his content is always easy to understand without sacrificing accuracy or depth. Over the years, Krishi has contributed to some of the most reputable names in the industry, including Techopedia, TechRadar, and Tom’s Guide. A man of many talents, Krishi has also proven his mettle as a crypto writer, tackling complex topics with both ease and zeal. His work spans various formats—from in-depth explainers and news coverage to feature pieces and buying guides.  Behind the scenes, Krishi operates from a dual-monitor setup (including a 29-inch LG UltraWide) that’s always buzzing with news feeds, technical documentation, and research notes, as well as the occasional gaming sessions that keep him fresh.  Krishi thrives on staying current, always ready to dive into the latest announcements, industry shifts, and their far-reaching impacts.  When he's not deep into research on the latest PC hardware news, Krishi would love to chat with you about day trading and the financial markets—oh! And cricket, as well. View all articles by Krishi Chowdhary Our editorial process The Tech Report editorial policy is centered on providing helpful, accurate content that offers real value to our readers. We only work with experienced writers who have specific knowledge in the topics they cover, including latest developments in technology, online privacy, cryptocurrencies, software, and more. Our editorial policy ensures that each topic is researched and curated by our in-house editors. We maintain rigorous journalistic standards, and every article is 100% written by real authors. More from News View all View all

In a Bloomberg interview Wednesday night in downtown San Francisco, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai pushed back against concerns that AI could eventually make half the company’s 180,000-person workforce redundant. Instead, Pichai stressed the company’s commitment to growth through at least next year. “I expect we will grow from our current engineering phase even into next year, because it allows us to do more,” Pichai said, adding that AI is making engineers more productive by eliminating tedious tasks and enabling them to focus on more impactful work. Rather than replacing workers, he referred to AI as “an accelerator” that will drive new product development, thereby creating demand for more employees. Alphabet has staged numerous layoffs in recent years, though so far, cuts in 2025 appear to be more targeted than in previous years. It reportedly parted ways with less than 100 people in Google’s cloud division earlier this year and, more recently, hundreds more in its platforms and devices unit. In 2024 and 2023, the cuts were far more severe, with 12,000 people dropped from the company in 2023 and at least another 1,000 employees laid off last year. Looking forward, Pichai pointed to Alphabet’s expanding ventures like Waymo autonomous vehicles, quantum computing initiatives, and YouTube’s explosive growth as evidence of innovation opportunities that continually bubble up. He noted YouTube’s scale in India alone, with 100 million channels and 15,000 channels boasting over one million subscribers. At one point, Pichai said trying to think too far ahead is “pointless.” But he also acknowledged the legitimacy of fears about job displacement, saying when asked about Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei’s recent comments that AI could erode half of entry-level white collar jobs within five years, “I respect that . . .I think it’s important to voice those concerns and debate them.” As the interview wrapped up, Pichai was asked about the limits of AI, and whether it’s possible that the world might never achieve artificial general intelligence, meaning AI that’s as smart as humans at everything. He quickly paused before answering. “There’s a lot of forward progress ahead with the paths we are on, not only the set of ideas we are working on today, [but] some of the newer ideas we are experimenting with,” he said. “I’m very optimistic on seeing a lot of progress. But you know,” he added, “you’ve always had these technology curves where you may hit a temporary plateau. So are we currently on an absolute path to AGI? I don’t think anyone can say for sure.” Techcrunch event Save now through June 4 for TechCrunch Sessions: AI Save $300 on your ticket to TC Sessions: AI—and get 50% off a second. Hear from leaders at OpenAI, Anthropic, Khosla Ventures, and more during a full day of expert insights, hands-on workshops, and high-impact networking. These low-rate deals disappear when the doors open on June 5. Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you’ve built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last. Berkeley, CA | June 5 REGISTER NOW