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The cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has closed the account of the WikiLeaks Shop -- the official source of WikiLeaks merchandise -- citing violations of its terms of services.

WikiLeaks is not happy about this and is calling for a "global blockade" of Coinbase in protest, saying the exchange is an "unfit member of the crypto community". The WikiLeaks Shop has itself not been closed, and it is still able to accept Bitcoin payments -- just not via Coinbase.

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Many people like the idea of learning to code, but -- like learning a foreign language -- it can be hard to know where to start. With free and paid-for options to choose from, and a wide range of techniques, what's the best way to get started?

If you've been thinking about learning JavaScript, Google may have the answer for you. The company has launched Grasshopper, a free coding app for iPhone and Android that teach through a series of puzzle games.

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If you have a 13-inch MacBook Pro without a Touch Bar, you could be eligible for a free battery replacement. Apple has discovered that a "limited number" of laptops have a problem that causes the battery to expand.

The company has launched a free battery replacement program, and anyone who bought their MacBook Pro between October 2016 and October 2017 is invited to submit their machine's serial number to see if they qualify.

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Its software is already banned from US government computers, and now Kaspersky Lab's advertisements have been banned from Twitter. The Russian security firm has been hit with an ad ban for "using a business model that inherently conflicts with acceptable Twitter Ads business practices".

Eugene Kaspersky has responded angrily in an open letter in which the company CEO says that even if Twitter reverses its decision, his company will not advertise on the platform, opting instead to donate the money to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) to fund the fight against online censorship.

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Photo-sharing site SmugMug -- used by consumers and professionals alike -- has agreed to acquire Flickr from Yahoo-owner Oath. The deal will see Flickr continuing to operate as a separate entity.

The aim is to create what's described as "the world's best home for photography", building on Flickr's existing 100 million-strong userbase. But what does the acquisition mean for Flickr users, and what does it mean for SmugMug's customers?

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The concept of printing out your photos and putting them in an album is pretty much dead. Yeah, some folks probably still do this, but thanks to smartphones, tablets, and smart televisions, there is no reason to do so. There are much better ways to share and enjoy your precious memories these days. In other words, the digitization of photos has created a superior experience.

But OK, it can be fun to print out photos at a party or family get-together, where the images are essentially disposable -- kind of like a Polaroid. After all, not everything is worthy of framing. Today, Canon launches a new portable printer called "IVY Mini" that can do exactly that.

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When we think about Huawei, laptops aren't the first things that cross our mind. The company's presence in this market is limited to a handful of models, though the lineup is slowly growing.

The MagicBook, which is introduced under its Honor brand, is Huawei's latest entry in the laptop scene, featuring some pretty attractive specs, like 8th-generation Intel Core i7 and Core i5 processors and dedicated Nvidia graphics in a 15-inch body.

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Details of a security flaw in Windows 10 S have been revealed by Google's Project Zero after Microsoft failed to issue a patch within the 90-day disclosure deadline.

The "WLDP CLSID policy .NET COM Instantiation UMCI Bypass" vulnerability is described as being of medium severity, and it allows for the execution of arbitrary code on systems with Device Guard enabled.

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Earlier in the week, the US Department of Commerce banned American companies from selling hardware and software to Chinese firm ZTE. The company is understandably unhappy with the US move, and has issued a statement to express its disgust.

The US ban was implemented for -- the US says -- a violation of previous sanctions. ZTE says these allegations are simply not true, and has lashed out at the 'unfair' and 'unacceptable' action.

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I recently spent an amazing fortnight in South Korea. For a tech enthusiast such as myself, it was a no brainer that at some point I would visit Samsung d’light, a three storied exhibition space in the lower portion of one of the company’s massive buildings in Seocho-Gu, Seoul.

Here you can try out different products, including VR, and see what Samsung is working on. It's a glimpse of the future.

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Following the Cambridge Analytica scandal, the spotlight of privacy has been firmly on Facebook. The social network has made numerous promises about offering greater privacy controls to users, and after fears that Europe would end up with greater controls because of GDPR, Facebook then revealed similar tools will be rolled out around the world.

Just a few days ago, the company gave a little more information about these new privacy controls, boasting that it will soon be "offering new privacy protections to everyone, no matter where you live". Sounds great. But it's not -- strictly speaking -- true. And Facebook is being very sneaky once again.

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We reported earlier this month on the ways in which cyber criminals spend their ill-gotten gains.

The company behind those findings, Bromium, has now released more details from its research, which exposes a huge cybercrime-based economy and the professionalization of cybercrime.

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Google has had no shortage of chat and messaging tools over the years, and the company just added another one to its list. Google's Chat is based on the RCS (Universal Profile for Rich Communication Services) protocol which it is hoped will succeed SMS.

The company is hitting pause on Allo -- which only launched towards the end of 2016 -- to focus resources on RCS. Google is transferring "almost all" of the team currently working on Allo to Android Messages which will ultimately feature Chat, its own RCS implementation.

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Apple has no plans to merge iOS and macOS, with Tim Cook explaining: "I don't think that's what users want."

This runs counter to rumors and speculation that have circulated in recent years, but in an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald Cook makes it clear that the two operating system will remain distinct entities.

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Microsoft is busy trying to kill the last remaining -- but problematic -- bugs in the Spring Creators Update (or whatever it ends up being called) but work is still continuing apace on its successor.

Build 17650 for the Redstone 5 branch introduces a number of changes and fixes, including a Fluent Design refresh for the Windows Defender Security Center.

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