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Long before Copilot or even the Windows key, Microsoft and IBM were squabbling over Tab - a tale that says more about Big Blue's bureaucracy than hopping between fields. Veteran Microsoft engineer Raymond Chen shared another war story this week, from the time IBM and Microsoft were at loggerheads over the Tab key during the OS/2 collaboration. This wasn't the tabs-vs-spaces debate that has long rumbled through the IT world (another Microsoft veteran, Larry Osterman, came down firmly on the side of tabs when storage was tight, then switched spaces when it wasn't). This was simpler: which key should move you between fields in a dialog box. Microsoft's preference was the Tab key. IBM strongly opposed the decision. Chen didn't elaborate on IBM's preference (and some keyboards in those days had a lot of keys that didn't survive into the modern era), only that the Tab key wasn't the way Big Blue wanted to go. IBM pressed the escalation button, and the issue was sent upstairs, first to the manager of Microsoft's Tab decision-maker. The response, according to Chen, went something along the lines of: "The reason you are in Boca is to make these decisions so I don't have to be in Boca." IBM's offices in Boca Raton, Florida, were where the discussion took place. Chen wrote: "My colleague rephrased this reply in a more corporate manner before passing it on to IBM: 'Microsoft supports the use of the Tab key for this purpose.'" IBM was not happy with this response, so the issue was escalated higher through the byzantine layers of Big Blue management until it reached a VP who was "absolutely opposed to use of the Tab for this purpose." Chen recalled this was approximately seven levels of management above the programmers. The VP demanded confirmation from the equivalent-level manager at Microsoft that the company stood by the choice. Equivalent-level? Who was that senior at Microsoft? Chen wrote: "My colleague replied, 'Bill Gates's mother is not interested in the Tab key.' This apparently ended the discussion, and the Tab key stayed." ®

Privacy groups, VPN providers, and civil liberties outfits have lined up to warn the UK government that its latest plan to slap age gates across swathes of the internet risks breaking the web while doing little to keep kids safe. In a joint statement, signatories including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Mozilla, the Open Rights Group, Proton, and the Tor Project took aim at proposals now moving forward after the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill cleared Parliament, with access to some platforms, services, and specific features potentially restricted by age checks. "The open internet is a global public resource that has long since become foundational to the flourishing of individuals, businesses, and societies," the letter states, warning that "this openness and the opportunities it affords are coming under threat in the UK." Ministers are now consulting on measures that could include curfews for younger users and restrictions across services ranging from games and VPNs to static websites. The signatories say that will quickly turn into a system where everyone, not just children, has to prove their age to get full access. "Implementing such access restrictions hinges on all users having to verify their ages, not just young people," the letter warns, adding that the approach "focuses on restricting young people's access, rather than ensuring services are designed to uphold their rights and interests by default." Early results are not exactly inspiring. It's been months since tougher checks under the Online Safety Act began rolling out, and some systems have already been fooled by little more than a drawn-on mustache, raising questions about how effective the tech really is at keeping minors out. This hasn't gone unnoticed. "Existing age assurance technologies are either insufficiently accurate, undermine privacy and data security, or are not widely available across populations," the letter says, warning that rolling them out broadly "creates serious new security threats." It is not just a privacy headache either: the groups argue the policy could tilt the market further toward Big Tech. Mandating checks across more services risks "cementing the dominance of gatekeeper app stores, operating systems, and platforms' walled gardens," while turning the web into "a patchwork of age-gated jurisdictions." Instead of doubling down on access controls, the groups argue policymakers are targeting the wrong problem. "These risks are real and require thoughtful policy interventions that address the root of the issue, not just simplistic policies like access bans," the letter says, pointing to business models built on "massive collection of user data" as a bigger driver of harm. The closing line does not leave much room for interpretation: "Now is the time to hold tech to account, not undermine the open internet." ®

Haar nieuwe roman is opnieuw ingenieus, geëngageerd en gelaagd. Als je het iemand toevertrouwt de huidige wereld scherpzinnig te duiden dan is het Ali Smith. Glyph een van de de eerste romans – wellicht zelfs dé eerste – over de westerse houding ten aanzien van Gaza.

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• Fan groups have called prices a ‘monumental betrayal’

• Fifa collects 30% cut on resale markets

Fifa president Gianni Infantino has defended World Cup ticket prices, insisting that football’s global governing body was obliged to take advantage of US laws that allow tickets to be resold for thousands of dollars above face value.

Fifa has faced searing criticism over the cost of World Cup tickets, with fan organization Football Supporters Europe (FSE) calling the pricing structure “extortionate” and a “monumental betrayal”. FSE filed a lawsuit with the European Commission in March targeting Fifa over “excessive ticket prices” for the tournament.

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DEN HAAG (ANP) - De Arbeidsinspectie heeft woensdag vier mensen uit Den Haag aangehouden, omdat ze mogelijk hebben gesjoemeld met 8 miljoen euro aan coronasteun. Tijdens de coronacrisis konden werkgevers met wie het slecht ging geld krijgen van de overheid om salarissen door te betalen.

Sommige ondernemers maakten misbruik van die maatregel. Tijdens de aanhoudingen woensdag deden speurders van de Arbeidsinspectie huiszoekingen en doorzoekingen van bedrijfspanden, in binnen- en buitenland. Daarbij vonden ze contant geld, luxe spullen en auto's. Ook is beslag gelegd op bankrekeningen en vastgoed.

De verdachten worden in verband gebracht met twee Haagse uitzendbureaus die onterecht coronasteun kregen. De bedrijven vroegen het geld aan vanwege omzetverlies, terwijl de omzet juist flink steeg en de aanvragers dit wisten. Omdat ze het geld ook doorsluisden, onder meer naar het buitenland, worden de vier eveneens verdacht van witwassen.

In 2012, Jenny Volvovski had no book cover work, so she made some: she redesigned her personal library under a strict set of self-imposed constraints.

What's interesting is watching her break her rules, gradually and then completely, over time. (The oldest covers are at the bottom of the Unsolicited section.) The Published and Unused sections are worth your time too. More covers that didn't make it: designer Nathaniel Roy's A Book Designer's Notebook, where he regularly posts his rejected work alongside what was chosen, and why.