Jan 24
A federal grand jury has charged two law enforcement officers with civil rights violations in the violent arrest of a man outside a convenience store that was caught on video.
Jan 24
NASA Announces Plans For Nuclear-Powered Rocket With In-Space Tests As Soon As 2027
Posted in: Today's ChiliNASA and DARPA have teamed up to demonstrate whether it’s possible to use nuclear-powered rockets to get to Mars faster than when using current methods.
Jan 24
Twitter has reversed course on its extremely unpopular decision to make an algorithmically generated timeline the default for all Twitter users. On Tuesday, the company’s support account tweeted that Twitter would go back to users defaulting to seeing the accounts they follow in chronological order, if they so choose.
Jan 24
Here’s the answer for all the Rick and Morty fans who were wondering what was going to happen to the popular Adult Swim series after it came to light that its co-creator and distinctive voice actor, Justin Roiland, had been charged with felony domestic violence: Roiland is off the show, and for that matter—he’s off…
Jan 24
Don’t worry if you hate Twitter’s curated For You tab, as you now have a better way to avoid it. Twitter is updating its web and mobile apps to default to the timeline tab you last had open. If you close the app after looking at the chronological Following tab like a sensible human being, you’ll see it again when you come back. The tab default is rolling out today on the web, and “coming soon” to the Android and iOS apps.
This won’t revert to the old “twinkle” button that saved space. It does let you stick to your preferred timeline, though. This could be particularly helpful if you want to follow time-sensitive events (one of the main reasons many people use Twitter) and would rather not switch tabs every time you check your feed.
Were any of you (all of you) asking for your timeline to default to where you left it last?
Starting today on web, if you close Twitter on the “For you” or “Following” tabs, you will return to whichever timeline you had open last. iOS and Android coming soon! https://t.co/uKz9DpNRux
— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) January 24, 2023
For You is an algorithmically generated feed that highlights certain tweets based on the users and conversations Twitter believes are relevant to you. While this can surface slightly older posts you might have missed, it also tends to bury content from some users and makes it difficult to follow live events.
The update comes as Twitter faces criticism of its approach to clients following Elon Musk’s acquisition last year. The social network now bans third-party clients, forcing developers to shut down popular apps and pivot to rival services like Mastodon. Many of those apps gave users more control over their timeline view and otherwise helped users dodge common Twitter annoyances. This change won’t likely satisfy fans of alternative apps. It might, however, reduce the sting of being force to use official software.
Jan 24
Twitter engineers can still use 'GodMode' to tweet as any account, claims whistleblower
Posted in: Today's ChiliTwitter has a new whistleblower, as another former employee has sounded the alarm about security issues, according toThe Washington Post. The new complainant, who has spoken with Congress and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), says any Twitter engineer still has access to an internal program — formerly called “GodMode” — that lets them tweet from any account.
The whistleblower’s complaint alleges GodMode (now renamed to “privileged mode”) remains on the laptop of any engineer who wants it, requiring only a production computer and a simple code change from “FALSE” to “TRUE.” Screenshots of the code, included in an October complaint filed with the FTC, show a warning to anyone attempting to use it: “THINK BEFORE YOU DO THIS.”
This isn’t the first time Twitter security has drawn scrutiny. In 2020, teenage crypto scammers hacked the company’s internal systems, sending fake tweets from the accounts of President Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Musk and others. Twitter’s at-the-time executives said they had fixed the issue and launched a “comprehensive information security program that is reasonably designed to protect the security, privacy, confidentiality, and integrity of nonpublic consumer information.”
However, Twitter’s first whistleblower, Peiter Zatko, disputed that. Another engineer claimed at the time that GodMode was still widely available.
Justin Sullivan via Getty Images
The new complainant’s filing says the incident led to Twitter reopening the case, which sparked the discovery that engineers could also delete or restore anyone’s tweets. (Regular Twitter users can’t do either.) He also claims Twitter can’t log who, if anyone, uses or abuses any of the special privileges.
The new whistleblower’s complaint was filed by Whistleblower Aid, the same nonprofit firm representing Zatko. The FTC is reportedly interviewing former Twitter employees about the allegations.
Jan 24
Former President Donald Trump has abandoned efforts to revive his federal lawsuit against New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Jan 24
Google has just decided to end a pilot program that may have given political campaigns an edge — as long as they signed up to be part of it.
Jan 24
Firewalls are an important part of personal security online, but what exactly are they? How can you be certain that yours is running properly?
Jan 24
Another lawsuit has been filed against tech giant Google for alleged abuse of power in online advertising, according to a court brief filed in federal court.
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