Google, Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft, Yahoo collaborate to fight child sex abuses images
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.
Windows 10 RSAT and Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview 3 coming this month
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.
Improvements coming to Twitter for Android as Falcon Pro developer joins the company
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.
Joe Belfiore talks Continuum in Windows 10 Twitter Q&A
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.
Facebook dominates social website logins [Infographic]
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).
Kim Kardashian suggests a tweet editing option... Twitter loves the idea
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.
Twitter censors plagiarized tweets that repeat copyrighted joke
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.
Huh? Twitter just removed the option to use a background image
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?
Twitter launches new Safety Center to educate and protect users
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.
HSBC prematurely announcing Apple Pay in the UK causes Apple stock to rocket
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.
Twitter removes Vine ads that could trigger epileptic attacks
Twitter acted quickly to remove two Vines advertising the network's #DiscoverMusic campaign after warnings from an epilepsy charity. Epilepsy Action advised Twitter that the two ads could be dangerous to those suffering from photosensitive epilepsy.
The charity made a public appeal to Twitter in a tweet, and the company was fast to respond. Communications director Rachel Bremer thanked Epilepsy Action for drawing attention to the ads which were removed. The epilepsy charity was not alone in sending warnings to Twitter -- quite a few concerned tweeters got in touch with the company to point out the problem.
Twitter says Apple Music is more hit than miss, but there's a lot to hate
Apple Music launched yesterday and Oxford University's TheySay sentiment analysis company monitored Twitter to work out the overall feeling towards the new service. When the firm monitored the sentiment towards Apple’s WWDC keynote three weeks ago, the announcement of Apple Music received an overall 85 percent approval rating from tweeters, but now that it’s here, the actual service is proving far less popular.
Dr Karo Moilanen, Oxford University professor and co-founder of TheySay, observed: "Compared to the sky-high positive sentiment ratings that Apple products and announcements typically reach on Twitter, this time Apple Music invoked a healthy dose of strong negative sentiment (ca. 24 percent) amongst tweeters".
Medium.com ditches passwords to increase security
Remembering all of the passwords required to gain access to all of your online accounts is a pain. You could opt to use a password manager, or you might decide to use the same password for everything. But Blogging platform Medium.com has another option -- just don't use one!
The site has been anti-password for some time; users log into their accounts using an existing Twitter or Facebook account. For people who are not social network users, however, there's a new option. Working in a similar way to the 'I've forgotten my password' system used by many sites, Medium allows users to log in using nothing but their email address -- and says the system is more secure than regular passwords.
Apple Music to quadruple iTunes Match limit to 100,000 songs
Apple Music has managed to cause quite a storm before it even launches, and Eddy Cue has revealed something that will be music to the ears of subscribers. Writing on Twitter he confirmed that Apple Music subscribers will be able to take advantage of an iTunes Match-like feature that allows tracks to be stored in the cloud.
This in itself is nothing new, but the Apple executive also talked numbers. He explained that while Apple Music would have the same 25,000 as iTunes Match to start with, there are plans to increase this fourfold. The jump to 100,000 songs is penciled in as a feature for iOS 9.
Anti-trolling site aims to stamp out online abuse, sexism, and homophobia
The day after the US Supreme Court voted to legalize same-sex marriage in all 50 states, the self-explanatorily named Stop Abuse Online website has launched. While the site has been set up with the intention of combating online abuse and trolling in general, female and LGBT victims are a particular focus.
The aim of Stop Abuse Online is to offer advice to those who find themselves falling victim to abuse -- be it online harassment, stalking revenge porn, or blackmail -- complete with legal tips about how to deal with different circumstances. The site is run by seven voluntary organizations in the UK and looks to bring the same protection to the web that people expect in the real world.
Recent Headlines
BetaNews, your source for breaking tech news, reviews, and in-depth reporting since 1998.
© 1998-2025 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. About Us - Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy - Sitemap.