tweets

Tweet this: The Oxford English Dictionary has expanded the definitions of "tweet," "follow," and "follower" to include their social media meanings.

"The noun and verb tweet (in the social-networking sense) has just been added to the OED," Oxford English Dictionary Chief Editor John Simpson said in a statement. "This breaks at least one OED rule, namely that a new word needs to be current for 10 years before consideration for inclusion. But it seems to be catching on."

The change officially went into effect Thursday when the OED released its … Read more

TweetDeck, the popular Twitter application for power users, has been updated with a completely new design for Mac users.

Twitter, which owns TweetDeck, revealed the changes on Friday. Version 3.0.2 of the software comes with the same column-based design users are accustomed to, but adds a new sidebar on the left for more quickly navigating across columns. The new version also includes drag-and-drop rearrangement for columns and the ability to translate tweets.

TweetDeck for Mac also includes improved filtering for mentions, retweets, and other features.

The new and improved TweetDeck is available now in Apple's Mac App … Read more

TweetDeck has revamped its desktop application for Windows to put it on the same page as its app for the Web.

Version 3.0.2 of TweetDeck for Windows sports the same design as its Web app, offering a simpler and cleaner look.

The most notable change is the new toolbar. Moved from the top to the left side of the screen, the bar offers a lineup of icons for commonly-used commands. A button to post a new tweet appears at the top of the bar with a Search icon directly underneath.

Icons for all of the currently-displayed columns also … Read more

Twitter has been ordered by a French appeals court to produce the names of the people behind any anti-Semitic tweets, according to Le Monde.

On Wednesday, the Paris Court of Appeal struck down an appeal by Twitter in which the site argued that it shouldn't be required to take action against tweets unless they're illegal in the country where the tweet was reported. Twitter had launched its appeal after a French court ruled in January that it must hand over the names of those who post anti-Semitic tweets.

The case stemmed from several tweets posted last October that … Read more

Twitter has officially pulled the plug on TweetDeck for Android and iPhone, as well as the Adobe AIR desktop version, with the retirement of its API v1.

The microblogging site, which announced API v1's fate this spring but delayed the move by a month, confirmed the disconnect Tuesday in a company blog post.

"Today, we are retiring API v1 and fully transitioning to API v1.1. Given the array of blackout tests, blog posts, Tweets and other updates, this should (hopefully) not be a surprise," Twitter's Taylor Singletary wrote in the post.

The transition means that … Read more

Those of you who use TweetDeck on the Web to access your Twitter account will find a new design the next time you launch the page.

The top bar has been moved to the left side of the screen where it offers virtually all of the commands you'd use on a regular basis. The New Tweet button appears at the top of the bar with an icon for Search directly underneath. Icons for all of your current columns then appear under Search so you can easily navigate from one to another, especially if all of your columns don't … Read more

Twitter has won a battle in its war against spam.

The microblogging service settled a lawsuit on Tuesday with marketing software company TweetAdder, in which the agreement was clearly in favor of Twitter. The terms of the settlement were filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.

Under the terms of the settlement, the owners and employees of TweetAdder agree not to take part in "creating, developing, manufacturing, adapting, modifying, making available, trafficking in, using, disclosing, selling, licensing, distributing (with or without monetary charge), updating, providing costumer support for, or offering for use, sale, license, or distribution (with … Read more

It's always good to stop and smell the roses, but sometimes you have to tweet to access them.

At least that's how it works with an interactive Internet-connected garden created by the U.K.'s University of Lincoln. Familiar plants greet onlookers, but when they tweet using a specific hashtag, electronic paneled screens dividing the plot into two distinct areas shift to reveal an area containing more exotic foliage.

The garden, called "Digital Capabilities," just won a gold medal at this year's prestigious RHS Chelsea Flower Show, which runs through Saturday. But its architects hope to keep it up and blooming as a permanent installation. … Read more

The Bahraini government started the process of revising its penal code last month to allow officials to jail anyone who insults King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, according to Amnesty International.

It appears that the government is now taking action.

Six people were sentenced to one year in prison on Wednesday for allegedly insulting the King on Twitter, according to Al Jazeera.

The criminal court ruled that these people were "misusing the right of free expression" and their tweets were "undermining the values and traditions of Bahrain's society towards the king on Twitter."

Bahrain, which … Read more