Social Networks

Twitter Blue, the paid subscription service that was recently discovered with a distinctive user experience on the microblogging site, has now apparently been confirmed. Twitter has included the paid service as an in-app purchase within its app listing on the App Store. However, the experience is yet to go live for the public. It is said to bring features including the anticipated ‘Undo Tweet' option and colour themes. Separately, Twitter has brought its Clubhouse-style Spaces to the Web for a broader audience.Reverse engineering expert Jan Manchun Wong has spotted the reference of Twitter Blue as an in-app purchase in Twitter's listing on the App Store. The service is priced at $2.99 (Rs. 269 in India) for a month. However, it isn't accessible through the Twitter app at this moment.Twitter Blue has been listed as an in-app purchase on the App StoreWong said that she has started testing the feature as the first paying Twitter Blue customer. The service brings colour themes and custom app icons.  » Read More

May 27, 2021 10:09 PM Kaitlin Knapp Posted: May 27, 2021 10:09 PM Updated: May 28, 2021 7:41 AM SPOKANE, Wash. — Making friends during a pandemic is hard, imagine doing that when you are two-years-old. One Spokane mom hopes what she is doing will help other families in the same boat. Parents have been cooped up, so have their kids. Now, with vaccinations reaching a good portion of people in Spokane, one mom hopes what she’s doing will help other families connect and make vaccinated friends. She has found a way to skip the sometimes awkward, ‘are you vaccinated?’ question and get right to the good stuff — play dates. Mothers like Danielle Mize want what is best for their children. Along the way, it does not hurt to have a friend or two. “He doesn’t talk very much like words or phrases so we’ve taught him sign language and I think it’s partially because he’s not very socialized,” Mize said. Making friends was put on pause because of the pandemic,  » Read More

News18» News»education-career»Vaccination for Kids Cant be Decided based on Panic on WhatsApp, Says Modi Govt on Vaccination Before Exams Demand1-MIN READThere has been demand from several politicians for vaccinating younger children (Representational)There have been studies about the safety of vaccines in children, which have been encouraging. Trials in children in India are also going to begin soon, said Centre.News18.com New DelhiLast Updated:May 28, 2021, 10:28 ISTFOLLOW US ON:Vaccinating children should not be decided on the basis of panic in Whatsapp groups, said the Narendra Modi government in an official statement. The statement came after repeated demands for vaccinating students. The demands for vaccinating the younger population picked up after there were discussions on holding physical exams for class 12 boards.Several ministers have been raising demands for vaccinating children before they are made to appear for the class 12 board exams.While there is no existing vaccination drive for the population below the age of 18 in India, the government said that it is working on it, however, the process will not be fastened by politicians weighing in. “There have been studies about the safety of vaccines in children, which have been encouraging. Trials in children in India are also going to…

Former WWE star Paige has been banned from her Twitch channel. Her channel at Sarayaofficial is currently offline as of this writing. The ban apparently happened after she did a watch along of Jim Carrey’s “Dumb and Dumber” movie. She previously streamed the movie “Labyrinth” but the ban did not happen until “Dumb and Dumber was streamed. Twitch is very strict with what they allow on their platform and their rules state that copyrighted footage is not allowed. At this point, there’s no word on if this is a temporary or permanent ban. This is a big deal for her because she makes a significant amount of money on the platform. Paige has not publicly commented yet on the ban. ❌ Twitch Partner "SarayaOfficial" (@RealPaigeWWE) has been banned! ❌https://t.co/FBzPy08KLv#twitch #ban #firstban #partner #twitchpartner 🙌 — StreamerBans (@StreamerBans) May 28, 2021

The DoT's plan comes at a time when when the government is in a tussle with Facebook-owned WhatsApp and social media platforms. May 28, 2021 / 09:47 AM IST WhatsApp and the government are in a legal battle over the messaging app's revised privacy policy. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is considering bringing calling apps such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Skype under its purview.The DoT is mulling this move from a national security point of view, and has sought comments from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs before preparing a licensing system, The Economic Times has reported."Some sort of licensing is required so that these companies store data of Indians within India like telcos do and give information to law enforcement agencies in a manner similar to that provided by telcos," a government official told the publication.Also read: Govt hits back, says Twitter's statement baseless, false and attempt to defame IndiaMoneycontrol could not independently verify the story.  » Read More

The New South Wales deputy premier, John Barilaro, is suing the YouTube comedian Jordan Shanks for defamation.In a statement of claim lodged in the federal court on Thursday, lawyers for Barilaro say Shanks, a former male model who uses the nom de plume Friendlyjordies in his popular YouTube videos, defamed the deputy premier in a series of “vile and racist” videos that had brought him into “public disrepute, odium, ridicule and contempt”.Court documents reveal Barilaro is also suing tech company Google for its failure to remove two YouTube videos posted by Shanks.Barilaro is understood to have briefed the star silk Sue Chrysanthou SC for the case. It comes after the high-profile barrister, who has previously represented the actor Geoffrey Rush and the Greens MP Sarah Hanson-Young, was restrained from acting for the former federal attorney general Christian Porter in his unrelated defamation claim against the ABC this week.Shanks, who often appears beside state and federal Labor MPs, has been routinely critical of Barilaro in his videos. Court documents reveal Barilaro is suing over a series of videos posted in September and October last year.The first, which Shanks filmed inside an Albury property owned by Barilaro which he had rented on…

The Indian government in its response to WhatsApp’s lawsuit claiming tracing of encrypted messages violates the right to privacy of citizens highlighted the “international precedence” of such requirements. The government defended itself by saying that the ‘Five Countries’-- United Kingdom, United States, Australia, New Zealand and Canada -- are also in support of similar IT rules that give power to governments to intercept encrypted communications to protect citizens. The criticism of such laws is obvious as any mode to intercept encrypted communications gives authorities more control over the online privacy of citizens. And there’s no denying that there’s always a risk that governments may use the same to suppress dissent. At the same time, we also cannot ignore the fact that it takes less than $10 to buy a virtual phone number of a different country which can be used to activate an account on WhatsApp, Signal or Telegram. And armed with AES-256 encryption, it would make it seemingly difficult for any local law enforcement agency to crack down on the source of offensive content related to child pornography, hate messages, fake news or any content that incites mob to be violent.India has already witnessed on several occasions as to…

Former WWE Divas Champion Paige was banned from Twitch earlier today due to copyright infringement. According to her followers, Paige did a watch along of Dumb and Dumber and her stream was shut off in the middle of Jim Carey’s classic comedy. She had previously streamed 1986 movie Labyrinth but didn’t get banned for the same. As of this writing, Paige’s Twitch channel throws up the following message: Sorry. Unless you’ve got a time machine, that content is unavailable. A user on Twitter noted that Paige was likely DMCA’d by a rights holder since Dumb and Dumber is not a movie eligible for Prime Watch Parties on Twitch. Typically, streamers on Twitch are allowed to host watch parties for several movies at the Amazon-owned platform but Dumb and Dumber does not qualify. Paige has been streaming on Twitch since last year and is one of the top wrestling personalities on the platform. As per Twitch guidelines, a suspension can last for up to 30 days, and streamers with prior suspension records can be removed from the platform indefinitely. Since this was Paige’s first violation, she is likely to be back on the platform soon. Last month, Paige celebrated three years of…

When STEM School senior Devon Erickson brought several loaded guns to school on May 7, 2019, he had multiple opportunities to alert teachers or change his mind before the attack that killed and injured his fellow students, prosecutor George Brauchler told jurors on Thursday as the Erikson’s trial opened. Though Snapchat videos show that Erickson was pressured by his friend, Alec McKinney, to break open his parents’ gun safe and was under the influence of alcohol and cocaine at the time, he had several interactions with other students, teachers and a nurse right before he went into the classroom, Brauchler said. “In this room is terror, in this room is every parent, every teacher’s worst nightmare. In this room are bullets, students’ blood and the body of a hero,” Brauchler said. “This plan was as diabolical as it was deadly.” Both prosecutors and Erickson’s defense lawyers made their opening arguments Thursday in the case against Erickson, now 20. Erickson faces 46 criminal charges in connection with the shooting, which killed fellow student Kendrick Castillo, and injured eight others. Brauchler accused Erickson of firing his gun four times before it jammed and he was taken down by several other students who,…

The NAACP Boulder County chapter, along with other organizations, is calling on the St. Vrain Valley School District to make sweeping changes after a Snapchat photo surfaced of three Mead High School students reenacting the murder of George Floyd. “After George Floyd was murdered, everyone said, ‘If this doesn't wake us up, what will?’” said Alicia Graves, who wrote the letter and is the NAACP Boulder County’s Education Committee chairperson. “They chose not to do any kind of equity-based training the year after George Floyd was murdered. And then the year ends with students reenacting the murder of George Floyd.”  While she doesn’t think that the lack of training is what caused the student reenactment, she is calling for the district to take proactive steps to address systemic racism, rather than address the individual incident and then move on.  The letter was read by Superintendent Don Haddad during public comment at a school board meeting on Wednesday. Graves was unable to attend.  Over the last year, Graves and Haddad have worked together to make changes in the school district. In the letter, Graves praised Haddad’s condemnation of the incident. The school has made a commitment to equity and inclusion, including…