Anonymous Twitter user sends SF citizens on cash goose chase
If you need cash and don’t mind chasing Twitter clues around San Francisco, you’re in luck. A group called @HiddenCash, apparently led by a wealthy real estate developer, has decided to try a “social experiment” by sharing their good fortune with random strangers. They choose hiding paces around the city like the underside of a park bench or a parking meter, then cache money-stuffed envelopes labeled “@HiddenCash — Tweet when you find.” Though that makes our “PR stunt” antennae twitch, they told the Bold Italic that they have “no commercial interest” and just want to draw attention to the massive income inequity in San Francisco. For critics who though the money could be better used, they added that they already donate to needy charities and encourage those who find the cash to do the same. We’re not sure if we’re buying all that, but what the hell — judging by their Twitter feed, a lot of people have had fun with it so far.
Filed under: Internet
Via: The Bold Italic
Source: @HiddenCash (Twitter)
Twitter’s blocking of ‘blasphemous’ content raises questions over its censorship policy
At first glance, Twitter’s international policy on censorship seems reasonable. If the laws of a particular country require content to be locally blocked, then Twitter will adhere to that, deeming it to be a lesser evil than having the social network blocked in its entirety. This is what’s just happened in Pakistan, where five requests from a government office have, for the first time, resulted in “blasphemous” and “unethical” tweets being blocked to Pakistani users — including crude drawings of the Prophet Muhammad. This successfully avoided a repetition of what happened two years ago, when similar content temporarily led Pakistan to deploy a site-wan ban against twitter.com. However, critics say that, in practice, Twitter’s policy isn’t working fairly, because it’s giving too much power to would-be censors who, even within their own countries, don’t actually have any authority to block or delete content.
In the case of Pakistan, the agency sending block requests to Twitter is just a telecoms regulator, whose legal power to get involved in censorship has been refuted by civil rights groups. Similar objections have been raised in Russia and Ukraine, where Russia has requested blocks against Ukrainian and opposition twitter accounts that appear to have been targeted purely for political, rather than legal, reasons. Even the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which has generally supported Twitter’s censorship policy since 2012, now accuses the social network of “caving” on the issue of free speech.
Filed under: Internet
Source: New York Times
Twitter’s working on a way for mobile users to embed promoted videos
Twitter’s been working on numerous ways to marry tweets and video, and it looks like Seth MacFarlane has inspired them to try another. If you type the hashtags #AMillionWays or #AMillionWaysToDieInTheWest into the iOS client, you’ll be able to embed the red-band (adults only, folks) trailer for the movie into your tweet. We’ve tried to replicate the feature on the Android app to no avail, and when Re/code asked Twitter for an official line, all it said was that it was one of its numerous experiments. Perhaps in the future we’ll all be able to embed longer video into our 140-character missives, or maybe this’ll be reserved just for those impoverished movie studios with tickets to sell.
#AMillionWaysToDieInTheWest test https://t.co/iFnJ7oFJdM
– Dan Cooper (@danielwcooper) May 23, 2014
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet
Source: Re/code
Twitter eyes SoundCloud to get folks sharing more music
Twitter’s usage stats have shown its growth slowing for quite some time, and now it seems buying a social-minded audio-sharing outfit could be part of the plan for a turnaround. Recode reports that SoundCloud may be part of that strategy, bringing its 250 million users to the 140-character microblogging platform. SoundCloud offers free audio hosting and sharing via its website for socialites to scatter however they see fit — with a paid tier for those who need a extra features. The purchase would carry a steep price tag though, as the site was valued at $700 million after a round of funding back in January. This wouldn’t be Twitter’s first foray into music either, as its failed #Music app sought to bring tunes to users based on their popularity on the social platform. That effort was officially decommissioned last month.
Filed under: Internet, Software
Source: Recode
Crafting the perfect tweet is one-third talent, two-thirds science
Random and fickle as social networks may seem, the success of an individual Tweet or Facebook post can be hugely dependent on the way it’s worded. Some sentences will work well, while others will quietly implode in a puff of indifference. However, researchers from Google and Cornell University now claim that they can predict this outcome using straightforward linguistic rules. The rules may not be especially practical when it comes to actually crafting a Tweet (the main tips are: make it sound like a news headline, follow “community norms,” and add more detail where possible), but there does seem to be decent statistical evidence to back them up.
When the rules were applied to a real-world sample of Twitter “twins” — that is, two published Tweets by the same user, about the same subject, where the only big difference is in the wording — they were 66 percent accurate in predicting which twin got more re-tweets. By contrast, average human readers were only 61 percent accurate in spotting the better Tweet, which backs up the idea that social networking success is more about science than about emotion. Then again, the remaining 34 percent of inaccurate predictions delivered by the researchers’ model means there’s still a whole lot of literary flair which remains unaccounted for, and which probably can’t be condensed to a simple set of rules.
If you reckon you know what a good Tweet looks like, to the point where you might be able to beat the human average and the computer model, then the researchers have built an addictive little quiz to give you the chance to prove your skills. (Just to get things going, this author scored 70 percent, after ten trials. Beat that, ppl.)
Via: Washington Post
Source: Chenhao Tan et al. [PDF]
Twitter pledges $1 million to help poor SF families learn tech skills
Twitter has just announced that it will set up a technology learning center for homeless San Francisco families called the “Twitter Neighborhood Nest.” The company told the SF Chronicle that it will partner with the Compass Family Services non-profit organization, and donate north of $1 million over several years. It’s currently looking for space near its home base on Market Street for the project and has already donated 81 computers along with tech support to Compass. Aided by Twitter employees who will donate their time, the center will teach students how to seek jobs online and other basic computer skills. However, as the Chronicle noted, Twitter’s motivations aren’t strictly altruistic.
In order to convince Twitter not to leave the notoriously expensive city, San Francisco waived payroll taxes that could amount to $50 million or more. In exchange, the social network agreed to contribute to the city’s poorest neighborhoods in various ways. However, some claim that its efforts so far have been disingenuous, with questionable donations (like promoted tweets) amounting to far less than the tax breaks. However, even critics widely lauded the new training partnership and are encouraging Twitter and other tech companies in the region to do more of the same. Meanwhile, Compass called it a “major breakthrough” for its users, adding that “to make it in the world today, just to make it through school, you need these skills.”
Filed under: Desktops, Misc, Internet
Via: Sfist
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
Care about an open internet? Tell the US government on Twitter today
Rumors that the FCC would let ISPs like Comcast or Verizon give an internet “fast lane” to well-heeled customers has become a debacle, with Google, Yahoo and a hundred other companies denouncing the idea. The FCC and chairman Tom Wheeler have been in damage control mode ever since, and now want to hear what you think about net neutrality. Starting at 2pm ET today, FCC Senior Counsel Gigi B. Sohn will take your questions over Twitter, submitted using the #FCCNetNeutrality hashtag. Then, you’ll just need to search Twitter using that same hashtag to follow the resulting dialogue. For instance, we’re curious to find out how it could allow such fast lanes without slowing down everybody else, something they’ve sworn not to do. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg — given the sudden swarm of interest in the subject, it should make for a fascinating hour if you can spare it.
Source: FCC
Twitter adds muting options to mobile apps
Twitter has announced a new feature which allows you to mute people. The update is coming to Android, iPhone, and twitter.com users over the course of this week. The feature is nice to have when you have that friend that is just retweeting everything and you just want a break. Well mute them and they willl never even know!
Twitter for Android (5.8.0) has the mute feature ready to go. So go ahead, clean up your feed and not hurt your friend’s feelings! Below is the official excerpt from Twitter.
In the same way you can turn on device notifications so you never miss a Tweet from your favorite users, you can now mute users you’d like to hear from less. Muting a user on Twitter means their Tweets and Retweets will no longer be visible in your home timeline, and you will no longer receive push or SMS notifications from that user. The muted user will still be able to fave, reply to, and retweet your Tweets; you just won’t see any of that activity in your timeline. The muted user will not know that you’ve muted them, and of course you can unmute at any time.
Source: Twitter
The post Twitter adds muting options to mobile apps appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Engadget Daily: Twitter Mute, what you need to know about smart guns and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
What you need to know about smart guns
Nowadays, guns can shoot around corners, aim themselves and even use an iPhone as a scope. But what classifies such weapons as “smart?” Read on as our own Terrence O’Brien discusses the tech and implications surrounding the world’s smartest firearms.
Inmarsat offers airlines free global tracking to prevent another MH370
In hopes of preventing another flight MH730 situation, satellite tracking company Inmarsat is offering its services to all passenger airlines. And though the effort will cost around $3 million annually to implement, the company isn’t going to charge a single dime.
Twitter shuts up your annoying friends with Mute
Today, Twitter announced a new feature that lets you temporarily mute annoying people in your feed, rather than unfollow them. Don’t worry, you can unmute them again once they’ve stopped ranting.
Square’s new app lets you pre-order food and drink before picking it up
Today, Square launched Square Order: a new app that let’s customers place pickup orders with Square-powered cafes, restaurants or shops. So far, it’s only available in New York and San Francisco, but more cities are promised soon.
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Filed under: Misc
Twitter shuts up your annoying friends with Mute
Twitter has just announced a new mute feature that’ll let you shut up the annoying people in your feed, at least temporarily. If, say, one of your friends is at a conference and is just babbling non-stop about the parties he’s attending, you can now mute him. This removes his tweets and retweets from your timeline without you having to unfollow him altogether — think of it as a kinder and gentler blocking, if you will. He will never know that you’ve muted him (unless you tell him of course) and will still be able to fave, reply and retweet you. And of course, you can always unmute him later when he’s being less annoying. A mute feature is something that third-party apps like Tweetdeck and Tweetbot have had for awhile now, but it’s just now being incorporated into the main Twitter offering. Both iOS and Android versions will have it, and the feature will be rolled out to Twitter’s web interface as well. The feature will be available in the “coming weeks,” which means you’ll have to endure your friends’ inane ramblings for only a little while longer.
Source: Twitter
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