twitter

New profile pages coming to all Twitter users Dec. 12

Just a few months ago, Twitter announced a new look for its profile pages in a bid to mimic some of the visual allure of Facebook's Timeline cover photos -- though the update was only available to a subset of users.

Now the microblogging service is finally rolling out the redesign to all users. On December 12, everyone will be able to update their Twitter profiles to include a large header image across the top of the page with a smaller profile image in the center (see image above).

And no, users really don't have a choice about … Read more

Make Instagram pictures display properly on Twitter

You've probably noticed, or read, by now that Twitter and Instagram aren't really getting along all that well. Twitter originally blocked Instagram users' access to their Twitter friends. Then last week Instagram began disabling its integration with Twitter Cards, completely removing support as of yesterday.

Now, when you or someone you follow sends an Instagram photo to Twitter, you'll only see a link to the photo (as you can see in the screenshot above). In the past, you'd see the entire photo directly in your Twitter timeline when using any official Twitter app or the Web … Read more

Instagram photos disappear from Twitter feeds

Instagram photos have vanished from Twitter as the photo-sharing app turned off all support for the microblogging site.

Facebook ended all support today for Twitter cards, meaning Twitter users won't be able to view Instagram photos from within their Twitter feeds.

Users are instead greeted by white space where the image formerly appeared.

Twitter noted the move in a blog update this afternoon:

"Instagram has disabled photo integration with Twitter. As a result, photos are no longer appearing in Tweets or user photo galleries. While tweeting links to Instagram photos is still possible, you can no longer view … Read more

Android fanboys rage at Microsoft's Droid Rage hype

Microsoft has been bestially competitive of late.

It has gnashed its teeth, thrust out its limbs, and accused most of its rivals of being little more than mice.

It has called Google "Scroogle" and called IE haters sad.

And it has sent its cohorts out into the world to prove that iPhones and their Android counterparts are nothing but slugs.

But all this fit hissing sometimes has side effects.

One of Microsoft's latest aggressive stances was to use its Windows Phone Twitter account to ask whether people were suffering from DroidRage.

Should you be unaware of this … Read more

Did Twitter's founder reveal its would-be Instagram killer?

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey may have dropped the first public proof that Twitter is getting ready to release its own photo filtering feature, a tool it hopes could help in its increasingly tense battle with Instagram.

A report published today by All Things D suggested that informed sources have said that Twitter plans to launch its photo filtering tool before year's end. A series of black-and-white photos tweeted by Dorsey today appear to have been created using Twitter's own photo hosting service, pic.twitter.com. That would mean that Dorsey, who has largely relinquished his operational role at Twitter, … Read more

Add Twitter results back to Google search in Chrome

Quite some time ago, Twitter discontinued the ability to see tweets when you did a search through Google. The tweets were actually useful, because you could see who was talking about whatever you searched for, as well as gather additional information.

If you want to add the Twitter results back to Google search, you can do so with a simple extension. Just install a copy of HashPlug for your Chrome Web browser.

This extension will add the Twitter results into a small column to the right of your search results. The column updates with live tweets, but if you … Read more

Manhunt for John McAfee comes to an end (week in review)

The weeks-long hunt for software pioneer turned fugitive John McAfee ended this week with his arrest in Guatemala.

McAfee, who was sought by police in connection with a shooting in Belize, was arrested by Guatemalan police for allegedly entering the country illegally. The 67-year-old founder of the company that bears his name apparently entered Guatemala to seek asylum from officials in Belize, who have been pursuing him for the past few weeks in connection with the shooting death of his neighbor.

The Guatemalan government denied the asylum request of the tech-entrepreneur-turned-fugitive yesterday, opening the door for the eccentric millionaire's … Read more

Tweeting gets harder: Chalk up two more lost characters

Twitter said today that it will implement a change in February that will extend the number of characters used in its automatic t.co link shortener by two.

Such a move may seem insignificant to the average Twitter user, but it does mean that there will be two fewer characters available under the 140-character limit in a tweet.

Twitter had no comment on the rationale behind the switch, but on its blog for developers, it simply spelled out the plans. "We're going to be extending the maximum length of t.co wrapped links from 20 to 22 characters … Read more

WordPress' Mullenweg: Users lose in Twitter-Instagram spat

The turf battle between Instagram and Twitter shows the sites have the wrong priorities, said Matt Mullenweg, founder of Automattic and its WordPress.com blogging service.

There's a danger when a company focuses too much on its own properties and pleasing its own advertisers at the expense of giving its users what they need, Mullenweg said here at the LeWeb 2012 show. Those problems are what's afflicted microblogging site Twitter and photo-sharing service Instagram, which Facebook recently acquired.

Twitter has been restricting access to third-party tweeting software and limiting access that third-party companies such as Instagram get to … Read more