FCC votes in favor of Net Neutrality... just
The Net Neutrality debate has been rumbling on for quite some time now, but today something of a milestone has been reached. After the campaign gained the support of President Obama, Twitter, and many others, today was the Federal Communications Commission vote on a number of proposals put forward by chairman Tom Wheeler.
It is a victory for Net Neutrality and a great step towards ensuring that the internet remain open and free from controls by companies or government. The policy states, among other things, that ISPs may not charge for prioritization of web traffic. The vote was far from being a landslide. Two Republicans opposed to the policy changes kept the result to a 3-2 vote in favor of the proposals.
Facebook can put users on suicide watch
A few months ago Twitter was criticized for teaming up with suicide prevention charity Samaritans to automatically monitor for key words and phrases that could indicate that someone was struggling to cope with life. Despite the privacy concerns that surrounded Samaritans Radar, Facebook has decided that it is going to launch a similar venture for Compassion Research Day in a bid to prevent suicides.
Working with mental health organizations including mental health organizations Forefront, Now Matters Now, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, Save.org, Facebook aims to provide greater help and support for anyone considering suicide or self-harm.
Twitter lends its support to Net Neutrality campaign
Many prominent groups and figures have given their backing to the fight for net neutrality. Today Twitter reveals why it supports the proposals put forward by the FCC chairman Tom Wheeler, just a few days ahead of a vote that will decide whether they will be adopted by the FCC. The aim is to "protect the open Internet as a place for innovation and free expression".
Twitter's public policy manager, Will Carty, says that protecting the open architecture of the internet is essential for the US to remain competitive and to allow freedom of speech. He says that providing a voice to those who would not otherwise have a platform is at the heart of Twitter, and this is just one of the reasons for supporting the net neutrality proposals.
Suggestions that Twitter is not a valid news source are insane
This morning, as I do most mornings, I started my day by firing up my phone and browsing the news headlines in bed. One story caught my attention -- and the reaction to the story in particular. As you'll have discerned from the headline, there were comments that questioned the value of using Twitter as a source of serious news.
The subject of the story doesn't really matter, but for the sake of completeness, it was this one in the Guardian. It's about the backlash that followed a Telegraph article which suggested suicides in newspaper journalists could be attributed to stress stemming from trying to hit commercial targets. This is a story that's not without irony.
Microsoft enigmatically reveals release date for Windows 10 for phones
The Windows Phone Windows Insider App was recently updated, indicating that a mobile build of Windows 10 is imminent -- but when? Answering questions from eager users on Twitter, Microsoft's Gabriel Aul has given some cryptic hints about when the first preview of the successor to Windows Phone 8.1 will be launched.
Over the last few months Microsoft has been popping out new builds of Windows 10 left, right and center. While we now have a pretty good idea of how things are going to look and feel on the desktop, the same cannot be said of mobiles and tablets.
If your internet connection isn't at least 25Mbps, it's not broadband
For a long time, the official definition of a broadband connection is one that delivers a download speed of at least 4Mbps. Now the FCC has increased the lower limit so any connection that has a download speed of less than 25Mbps and an upload speed below 3Mbps will no longer be considered a broadband connection.
If you look at your line stats and feel a little let down, you're far from being alone, and the FCC feels your pain. The Federal Communications Commission voted to increase the minimum speed as part of an ongoing effort to push ISPs into offering higher speeds. The reason? The modern web demands it.
Follow Super Bowl 49: Patriots vs Seahawks on Twitter with #SB49
Hey bro, it's almost Super Bowl Sunday! You know what that means, right? Testosterone and fatty foods. For one day a year, weak computer nerds like me pretend to be men by watching NFL football and eating junk food. Truth be told, I enjoy watching American football, but for the most part, I am happier watching Big Bang Theory or The Bachelor with a nice cup of herbal tea!
Don't worry, if you are a computer nerd that isn't interested in watching sports, you can at least use technology to enhance the Super Bowl experience. How? With Twitter, of course! Yes, between watching the commercials, you can pull out your iPad or Nexus 9 and follow the action with the hashtag #SB49. This will enable you to at least look like you know what you are talking about when the other guys are discussing the game.
How to remove embarrassing photos from social networks
Sharing photos and videos online has never been easier. Internet access is available practically anywhere and everywhere, and interconnected wearable and portable devices with photo and video recording options are omnipresent.
In such a world, getting the wrong material posted online can become a huge problem, especially for teenagers unaware of the consequences.
Tweet translations come (back) to Twitter thanks to Microsoft Bing
After introducing the "while you were away" feature to help ensure you don’t miss out on tweets because of, you know, getting away from Twitter from time to time, there's now another feature that will help you to get more from the microblogging site. By teaming up with Bing, Twitter is now able to provide on-the-fly translations for tweets in foreign languages.
This is not an entirely new feature; Twitter has brought a translation to the web and mobile version of its service before, but it disappeared. Now the feature is back. It works in the iOS and Android apps as well as in Tweetdeck and on the Twitter website.
Twitter keeps you abreast of missed tweets with 'While you were away'
Twitter is super-awesome and fun; all the cool kids use it. If you aren't on the social network, you just aren't trendy. It is a great way to stay on top of Justin Bieber, Kim Kardashian and other very important people. But seriously folks, it's also a great means of tracking news, interests, and updates from your friends.
The service is only engaging when you follow interesting people, and that is a problem. Why? There are a lot of quality people to follow on the network -- which can make your feed noisy -- making it easy to miss important Tweets while away. Today, Twitter aims to alleviate some of that pain, with a new feature called 'While you were away'. As much as the company would like us to be on the service 24/7, some of us have jobs and have to, you know...sleep. Now, you can be kept abreast of top Tweets that you may have missed throughout the day. Don't worry, the list only contains people you follow.
Microsoft's Cortana learns to Tweet on Windows Phone with new Twitter app update
Twitter is my favorite social media site because it is easy to use. There aren't tons of privacy "gotchas" like on some other sites. I can log in, share my thoughts in 140 characters and be done. Best of all, the time line is basically chronological. On Facebook, I have no idea what the heck is going on -- the order of posts sometimes seem to be random.
So if I like Twitter for its simplicity, I should also want to Tweet without much effort too, right? Right. In a new update for Windows Phone, users can now send Tweets using Cortana. Will you use her to relay your social media communiques?
'Islamic State' hacks US Centcom Twitter feed, YouTube channel
US Central Command's Twitter account appears to have been hacked by CyberCaliphate, a hacker group claiming association with ISIS.
The Twitter feed has since been taken down, but posted messages included "AMERICAN SOLDIERS, WE ARE COMING, WATCH YOUR BACK. ISIS. #CyberCaliphate", "Pentagon Networks Hacked! China Scenarios", and "Pentagon Networks Hacked. Korean Scenarios". These last two posts came with military maps and information relating to the countries in question.
Twitter makes predictions for Golden Globe Awards
What's happening on Twitter is often a fair reflection of what is happening in the world. While it may not represent a perfect cross-section of society, a quick glance at what's being tweeted about -- and the tone being used -- can help to give a sense of the global mood surrounding a subject.
Twitter has been used to predict the outcome of elections, who will win X Factor, and much more; now it's being used to guess movie award winners. The 72nd Golden Globe Awards takes place this weekend, and the numbers have been crunched to see which movies and shows people are talking about the most -- whether these end up as winners remains to be seen, but these are what's on people's lips at the moment.
Social networks are simply not important in the workplace
Surveys often reveal facts that are largely common sense, and this is certainly true of a study by the Pew Research Center -- the findings being that is seen as "very important" to workers. Nearly half of the 1,066 people surveyed said internet, email and cell phones made them more productive, while just 7 percent said the opposite was true.
So far, so predictable. But the same study also reveals that just 4 percent of workers feel that social networking sites like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook are "very important". These are findings that Facebook would almost certainly disagree with, as would Twitter and LinkedIn, despite reports suggesting that Facebook is valuable to business users.
Lizard Squad attacks Tor network, ignoring warning from Anonymous
Lizard Squad, the group believed to be behind the Christmas DDoS attacks on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network now has a new target -- Tor. Just a week ago, the leader of the Tor Project, Roger Dingledine, warned that the anonymizing network could come under attack, and now it seems as though his prediction was correct.
War has already been declared on Lizard Squad by Anonymous, but this does not seem to have been enough to deter the group from its attacks. Reports suggest that more than 3,000 Tor relays have been compromised, and there are fears that this could impact the anonymity Tor was designed to offer.
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