Articles about Twitter

A Google Project Zero hacker has discovered a zero-day vulnerability in the password manager LastPass that could lead to accounts being completely compromised.

The security flaw can be triggered by visiting a malicious website, and it has been confirmed to be an issue by white hat security researcher Tavis Ormandy. He has filed a full report to LastPass with a view to getting the vulnerability patched.

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Twitter is worried. It's worried that while it is a well-recognized brand, a disturbingly large number of people have no idea what Twitter is actually for. What is the point? Getting slightly meta, the company today explains its raison d'être and tries to clear up some common misconceptions.

'What misconceptions are there about Twitter?', you may well ask. That it is a social network. (It ain't.) That you have to use it every day. (Seriously?) As Twitter says, 'We realized we had some explaining and clarifying to do!'

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College sports is big business -- television, radio, merchandise, etc. While many Americans are fans of professional sports such as the NFL and NBA, not every state has such a team. What every state in the union does have, however, are college athletic programs. Believe it or not, in places like Florida where there are plenty of pro teams, many folks are more wild for the Gators or Seminoles than the Dolphins or Heat.

Today, Twitter announces a media partnership with the Silver Chalice-owned company "Campus Insiders". This deal will bring the live video steaming of more than 300 collegiate sporting events to the social network, bolstering its existing offerings.

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As an American, I have an obsession with food -- it is a big part of our culture. As my last name implies, I also have some Italian heritage, meaning the act of eating is not only a means of staying alive, but a way to celebrate pretty much everything. Heck, I even love watching cooking shows and competitions -- Chopped is my favorite.

As a tech-guy who loves social media, I also share pictures of my meals with friends and family on Facebook and Twitter. Speaking of the latter, there is an all-new 'Twitter Food Council' and associated hashtag (#FoodFlock). This new initiative is a way for lovers of food -- chefs, bakers, eaters, etc. -- to share their love of culinary arts on the social network.

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There's a lot going on at Twitter at the moment. Yesterday, the company opened the floodgates, giving everyone the opportunity to apply for account verification. In the same day, Twitter also handed out a rare permanent ban to Breitbart tech editor and right wing pundit Milo Yiannopoulos, who went under the handle of @Nero.

Yiannopoulos has long-been a controversial figure -- a troll, many would say -- who has spoken out against feminism, movements such as Gamergate, Islam, and political correctness. This is not the first time he has received a ban, but in the past they have been temporary. The permanent ban comes after he was involved in a spate of tweets attacking Ghostbusters actress Leslie Jones.

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Perform a search for how you can get your Twitter account verified and get the much sought after blue tick, and you'll find all manner of nonsense. For a very long time Twitter users have not been able to request verification, but Twitter has reached out to those it deems worthy. Today that changes.

As of right now you can submit a request for verification. No need to sit back and wait for Twitter to contact you; you can now contact Twitter to plead your case. Of course, requests for verification are not guaranteed to result in a blue tick, but here's what you need to do.

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Microsoft has been shouting about Edge a lot as of late. Not happy with claiming that it is the most battery-friendly of the main web browsers, the company has also made much of Edge's 1080p support for Netflix.

In the latest twist, Microsoft switches tack, instead using pop up messages in Windows 10 to badmouth Chrome and promote Edge. The pop up rams home the idea that Chrome is a battery hog and suggests switching to Microsoft Edge to increase longevity.

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PostGhost, the website that describes itself as "an archive of public tweets deleted by politicians, celebrities, and other public figures" has been shut down by Twitter. The website was told that its display of deleted tweets was a violation of the Developer Agreement and Policy.

The site was a relative newcomer, having only been active for less than a week. Political tweets archive Politwoops almost met a similar fate, but the distinction with PostGhost is that it was only concerned with tweets from verified users with 10,000 followers or more -- a group that includes politicians, writers, singers, and other celebrities (major and minor).

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Katy Perry is one of my favorite pop artists. Why? Longevity. Many such singers have very short shelf lives. Having just one hit song is rarified air, but Perry keeps them coming. Her long string of hits is quite remarkable, actually.

Not only is she wildly popular with music sales and YouTube views, but social media too. You see, Katy Perry is the first ever person to achieve 90 million Twitter followers. In other words, her Tweets can reach more people than the entire population of the UK!

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We live in a surveillance state and we all know it. We sort of knew it before the Edward Snowden revelations, but afterwards had a real sense of just how far it went. Apparently it is still, to this day, trying to reach further, and in this case it affects people who simply travel to the nation, even for simple things like vacation or business.

If US Customs and Border Control has its way, people will have to hand over their Twitter handle right in the airport. While an argument can be made for such heavy-handed tactics -- looking for Jihadist tweets, etc -- it is largely unjustified.

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It was a vote that was down to the wire much of the way, but the result of the UK referendum on membership of the European Union took many -- including bookies -- by surprise. 48.1 percent of voters indicated a preference to remain, while 51.9 percent said they wanted to go it alone. The fallout has been dramatic.

Prime Minister David Cameron is stepping down, a second referendum on Scottish independence is now on the cards, and the financial markets have been in turmoil all day. But one of the more interesting side effects of the 'leave' vote is that Google search data reveals that voters don’t know what is meant by Brexit (that horrific portmanteau signifying a British Exit), or what the full ramifications will be.

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While Twitter is primarily a text-based social network, more recently there has been an increased importance placed on images and videos. Just as tweets are limited to a certain number of characters, videos have -- until today -- been limited to 30 seconds in length. Now Twitter is embracing video in a big way, and today increases the maximum length to 140 seconds -- continuing the love affair with the number 140.

The company says that the number of video posted to Twitter has increased by 50 percent since the beginning of the year. This is an astonishing increase in just six months, and it makes the video-related changes all the more understandable. Vine users will also be able to take advantage of longer videos, but there's something of a catch.

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Today Twitter launches a companion app designed for anyone who wants to analyse their tweet activity. Pulling out all the buzzwords, Twitter says it "provides real-time data and insights, allowing you to quickly understand, engage, and grow your audiences".

This is not just about gaining more followers, it's about making more meaningful connections, and trying out different marketing ideas. Twitter already provides fairly detailed analytics on its website, but here things are presented in a more accessible way. It also provides a more detailed breakdown of audience demographics for better targeting.

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Twitter has demonstrated its commitment to artificial intelligence and machine learning by splashing a reported $150m on London-based Magic Pony Technology. The aim is to use the company's advanced technology to improve Twitter's live and video experiences.

Jack Dorsey describes Magic Pony Technology as a 'company that has developed novel machine learning techniques for visual processing'. Thus far this has been used to sharpen blurry images, create computer-generated images from scratch, and to learn to recognize objects.

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This Sunday is Father's Day in some countries, such as the USA. This is not just a day to celebrate biological fathers, but anybody that filled that role. As the family dynamic changes, there are households with two fathers. Heck, in some single-parent families, a woman serves as both a mom and dad, meaning she too should be celebrated. In other words, there is no wrong way to celebrate -- if you feel that a person deserves your praise and recognition, then they do!

Today, in anticipation of the holiday, Twitter shares some interesting tweet information regarding dads. One of the biggest values of the social network is text mining, and the company is giving us a glimpse into its dad data -- dada?

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