Articles about Twitter

Each version of Windows has involved entering a product key either during the installation, or prior to activation. Things have changed with Windows 10, and as anyone who looked for their own Windows 10 product key will have found, Microsoft has used generic keys this time around.

For all intents and purposes, the installation of Windows 10 is now keyless, but there has been some confusion about what this means for future installations, particularly for Windows Insiders trying out new preview builds. Microsoft's Gabe Aul has stepped up to the plate to clear thing up, explaining that Insider builds can only be installed and activated on computers which have preciously activated the RTM build.

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Twitter has inadvertently given a wealth of priceless advertising to a Welsh car company despite refusing to run its ads. Used car dealership Ceir Cymru has been operating in North Wales for over 30 years, but has been told that it is not able to advertise in its native tongue.

Twitter Ads supports just a limited number of language, and Welsh is not included. Having applied to use the service Ceir Cymru was told by Twitter that it would not be able to advertise as more than half of its tweets are in Welsh -- hardly surprising for a car dealership in Wales. Ceir Cymru says Twitter is "stamping on minority languages".

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It's a little while since Google and Twitter announced a partnership that saw the integration of tweets into search results. When this feature started to roll out back in May, Twitter integration only applied to iOS and Android devices. Today it rolls out to desktop search results as well.

The new desktop integration means that it is now possible to search for hashtags, trending topics, and Twitter accounts with a regular Google search. Including real time events in search results is not new for Google, but Twitter integration adds a new dimension.

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You might still be waiting for Lollipop to limp onto your handset, but just around the corner is Android M. We already know quite a bit about what to expect from the next version of Android -- you can even try out the Android M Developer Preview if you want -- but there's one thing that's far from clear: what is it going to be called.

There have been all sort of guesses since the codename was revealed by Google and now the company (Google, Alphabet... call it what you will...) is starting to tease us with name suggestions. There's also a video that offers a 'musical hint' at the name.

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As promised back in June, the character limit for Direct Messages on Twitter is being increased. The 140 character barrier is being dropped so messages sent between Twitter users can be much, much longer than before.

The character limit for regular tweets remains the same -- and tweets via SMS are still subject to the same restrictions -- but private conversations can now be much more verbose. The increase will affect Twitter.com, iOS and Android mobile apps, TweetDeck, and Twitter for Mac.

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The Internet Watch Foundation today announced that it is working with some of the biggest names in technology to stamp out child sex abuse images online. Part of the problem with stemming the flow of such images is that once they are removed from one site, it takes little time for them to reappear elsewhere.

Working in conjunction with Google, Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft, and Yahoo, the IWF says that it intends to share image hashes with a view to making illegal images faster to identify. Three different types of hash will be created -- the familiar MD5 and SHA-1, as well as Microsoft's PhotoDNA -- helping to improve rates of detection.

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Microsoft's Gabe Aul has revealed that the company plans to release a new technical preview of Windows Server 2016 later this month. Responding to questions on Twitter, the company's Corporate Vice President and face of the Windows Insider program also said that Windows 10 RSAT will be launched in August.

Unlike the preview builds of Windows 10, previews of the latest edition of Windows Server have been slower to creep out of Redmond. Sysadmins will be keen to get their hands on the latest builds to see just what direction Microsoft is taking with its server software after the decision to delay the launch.

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Joaquim Vergès, the man behind Twitter app Falcon Pro, is joining Twitter. His much loved app will live on, but Vergès will soon be starting work as part of the official Twitter team, helping with the development of the UI.

The announcement came -- of course -- via a tweet. Vergès said that he was going to use Falcon Pro as a testing ground for new features, but explained that he had become frustrated by the limitations of being a third party developer.

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In an impromptu Q&A on Twitter, Microsoft's Joe Belfiore has revealed more about how Continuum will work on Windows 10 for Phones. He started off by saying that it is a very high-end feature and will require new hardware as it uses dual screens.

Continuum is part of Microsoft's drive to make a uniform experience for Windows 10 users across a range of different devices -- from desktops and laptops, to tablets and smartphones. Belfiore shared pictures of a Xiaomi Mi4 showing how Continuum allows windows to be moved from a desktop to mobile display, giving a tantalizing glimpse of what's to come.

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Customer identity management firm Gigya has released its Q2 "landscape of customer identity" figures, showing how consumers are using third party identity providers such as Facebook and Google+ to log into other websites.

Facebook continued its dominance, now controlling two-thirds of all social logins, followed by Google+ (20 percent), Twitter (six percent) and Yahoo (four percent).

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Sometimes it just takes someone with a big enough name -- and voice -- to draw attention to something that thousands of others have been saying for a long time. Proving this, Kim Kardashian (of all people) has made a suggestion for a feature that Twitter should adopt: editing. Twitter loves the idea. And when we say 'Twitter', we don’t mean 'people on Twitter' -- we mean Twitter itself: none other than co-founder Jack Dorsey.

Kardashian tweeted to her 33.8 million followers letting them know that she'd got in touch with Twitter to share her idea. In a matter of hours she received tens of thousands of replies, favorites, and replies. If she has husband Kanye West on board, that's another 13.5 million followers.

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Can a joke be copyrighted? Twitter seems to think so. As spotted by Twitter account Plagiarism is Bad a number of tweets that repeat a particular joke are being hidden from view. The tweets have not been deleted as such, but their text has been replaced with a link to Twitter's Copyright and DMCA policy.

The joke in question? "Saw someone spill their high end juice cleanse all over the sidewalk and now I know god is on my side." Perform a search for the text and, while you will find several tweeted instances of it available at the moment, there are many examples of tweets that have been censored.

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Part of using any social website is customizing the appearance of your account to your liking; now Twitter has bucked the trend and removed that option. As noted by TechCrunch, Twitter users are no longer able to adorn their profile with a custom background image.

It seems like something of a strange move, made all the more odd by the fact that Twitter has not made an announcement about the change. Firing up Twitter, users around the world will today find that their accounts look rather different. It's bright, white backgrounds all the way. So what on earth is going on?

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Over the years Twitter has taken various steps to help users avoid spam, trolls, abuse, and other online problems. Today the social site takes the wraps off the Twitter Safety Center. This is home to advice about staying safe on Twitter and online in general, as well as including links to the various tools that Twitter has to offer.

The Safety Center is divided into three sections -- Tools, Policies, and Enforcement -- and the idea is that users are given the information they need to keep themselves safe. Each of the sections includes advice and guides about improving security, maintaining privacy, and avoiding unwanted content.

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It’s not exactly insider trading, but if you want to make money on the stock market, monitoring social media in real time could help give you the edge.

On Sunday 12 July, HSBC tweeted a reply to a follower confirming that Apple Pay was due to launch in the UK on Tuesday 14th, beating Apple to the announcement. As a result, investors rushed to buy Apple Stock, causing a sizable spike in interest.

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