Twitter will offer free verification to the top 10,000 organizations

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Twitter’s verification program has been a hot topic of discussion lately, especially since Elon Musk, the CEO of Twitter, announced that the company would be phasing out the legacy verification for all users. However, it looks like Twitter has revised its plans, as the company will now provide free verification to the top 500 advertisers and the top 10,000 organizations.

This move comes as Twitter prepares to discontinue its legacy verification program and launch a new program called Twitter Verification for Organizations. Under this new program, verified companies will have to pay $1,000 per month to maintain their verification status and identify specific accounts as “affiliated.” Moreover, Twitter will also charge $50 for each affiliated account.

“We’ve already seen organizations, including sports teams, news organizations, financial firms, Fortune 500 companies, and nonprofits join Verified Organizations and list their affiliated accounts publicly on their profiles. And starting today, Verified Organizations are available globally. “We are now sending email invitations to approved organizations from the waitlist,” says Twitter.

Improving relations with advertisers

The move is a welcome one for advertisers, as it could help repair strained relationships with Twitter. The platform’s revenue has declined since Musk became CEO, with over 500 advertisers leaving the platform in response to his changes. Therefore, a $1,000 monthly fee could have been the final straw for many advertisers, but if Twitter verifies for free, they won’t have to make that decision.

While Twitter’s decision to charge organizations and businesses for the verification checkmark may offer a new revenue stream to the struggling platform, smaller companies and startups may find it difficult to pay the $1,000 per month fee.

As a result, many businesses and owners have expressed their criticism including, William LeGate, the co-founder of Pillow Fight, who believes the charge is “outlandish” and “meaningless,” as the blue checkmark didn’t even offer significant boosts in engagement.


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Google Keep gets multi-instance support on tablets and foldables

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Regardless if you are looking to make a list, note down a new awesome quote or keep track of all of your favorite recipes, Keep can help you do that with style and ease. Google’s notation app has been around for ten years now, and it keeps getting better.

Now, the app has received a brand new feature, which is exclusive to Android phones with big screens, foldable smartphones and tablets. Namely: multi-instance support. This only makes sense, as the same feature has been added to apps like Sheets and Docs. Not only that, but it would be a total game changer on productivity powerhouses like the best foldable Android phones. 

Thanks to this new feature, users on large Android phones of all formfactor and… foldfactor, will be able to run two instances of Keep side-by-side. This will help you transfer items more quickly, keep track of progress and goals or just compare notes.

In order to try out the multi-instanced feature on Keep, you’ll need to do the following:

  1. Open Keep on your Android device
  2. Highlight a note/list through tapping on it and holding
  3. Tap the three dotted menu on the upper right corner
  4. Select “Open in new window”
  5. Voila! Now you should have the previously selected note to the right

Naturally, this leaves you free to select any other note or simply browse through all of your other entries to the right. This is pretty much like multitasking, only with a double instance of Keep itself. You are free to attempt these steps on your own phone or tablet, but if you don’t see the “Open in new window” option, that might be due to one of two things: you are behind on your updates or your phone just ain’t big enough.

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Tor Project Creates New Privacy-Focused Browser

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Mullvad Browser

The Tor browser guarantees that your communication remains operational through a decentralized network of transfers maintained by volunteers located worldwide.

It safeguards your internet connection from prying eyes by preventing any individual from monitoring the websites you visit, shields your physical location from being disclosed to the websites you browse, and enables access to blocked websites.

Numerous reasons exist for why individuals may seek to share files anonymously, with the most prominent being the case of whistleblowers or political activists striving to avoid persecution.

When a user initiates Tor, it initially passes through the first node in the circuit chosen from a pool of 2500 out of 7000 computers referred to as the “Entry Guard.” These nodes are known for their high uptime and availability.

New Mullvad Browser

A new browser was launched today, featuring an alternative infrastructure that includes a layer of VPN support in place of the Tor network.

With the new Mullvad Browser, anyone can fully utilize the privacy features developed by the Tor Project.

“Mullvad Browser, a free, privacy-preserving web browser to challenge the all-too-prevalent business model of exploiting people’s data for profit,” Torproject said.

This could be another privacy-focused browser that does not require extensions or plugins to bolster its privacy features.

“Our goal was to give users the privacy protections of Tor Browser without Tor. For instance, the Mullvad Browser applies a “hide-in-the-crowd” approach to online privacy by creating a similar fingerprint for all of its users.”

The Mullvad Browser has a default private mode that obstructs third-party trackers and cookies while providing convenient cookie deletion options.

Mullvad aims to handle all of that for you, allowing you to open the browser with the assurance that you are not easily traceable.

“Our mission at the Tor Project is to advance human rights by building technology that protects people’s privacy, provides anonymity and helps them bypass censorship.”

“We want to free the internet from mass surveillance and a VPN alone is not enough to achieve privacy. From our perspective there has been a gap in the market for those who want to run a privacy-focused browser as good as the Tor Project’s but with a VPN instead of the Tor Network,” says Jan Jonsson, CEO at Mullvad VPN.

The Tor Project has released a statement affirming that the Tor Browser will continue to evolve and enhance its capabilities.

Searching to secure your APIs? – Try Free API Penetration Testing

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The OnePlus has an official pre-order date… but no price

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We’ve been waiting a few years for a OnePlus-branded tablet to hit the market, and that day is finally near. The OnePlus Pad is official, and the device finally has a pre-order date. The only bit of information we’re waiting for is the price (via XDA developers).

OnePlus announced this device back when it unveiled the OnePlus 11. While we were seeing the “Shape of power”, we were introduced to the powerful OnePlus Pad.

Looking at the specs that OnePlus loaded this tablet with, we can tell that it’s meant for power users. Starting off with the display, we’re looking at an 11.6-inch AMOLED display with a 2880 x 2000 resolution that runs at 144Hz. It will have a peak brightness of 500nits, so you’ll be most comfortable using it inside.

The display has a unique 7:5 aspect ratio that the company is calling the ReadFit Screen. OnePlus says that this is perfect for reading all types of documents and e-books. It’s pretty close to being a square, so we’ll need to see how that looks.

Moving onto the internals, this tablet is powered by the flagship-grade MediaTek Dimensity 9000. This is the company’s answer to the latest Snapdragon processors. That’s backed up by a respectable 12GB of RAM. This means that you should expect great performance.

Keeping the lights on, there’s a large 9510mAh battery. That’s a decent size battery for this tablet, so you should get a lot of work and play done. It supports 67W Super VOOC charging, and the company claims that it’ll get the tablet up to 90% battery on a one-hour charge.

We’re still in the dark on the price

So, you’ll be able to pre-order the OnePlus Pad starting on April 28th. The question is: how much will it cost to pre-order it? It has a sharp display, a large battery, fast charging, a flagship processor, and tons of RAM. With specs like those, we shouldn’t expect it to be light on the wallet.

With those specs, The OnePlus Pad is expected to be an alternative to the best Galaxy Tab S or the latest iPads. So, it may very well be priced accordingly. Or, it could be priced very competitively.

Who knows, maybe the OnePlus Pad could be to the Galaxy Tab what the OnePlus 11 is to the Galaxy S23. The OnePlus 11 heavily undercuts the Galaxy Flagships, making it quite a tempting offering. The OnePlus Pad might do the same thing. We could be looking at a $500 or $600 tablet to contrast the Tab S9 which may possibly start at hundreds of dollars more. We’ll need to wait on more information about this tablet to come out.


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Elon Musk surpasses Barack Obama to become the most followed user on Twitter

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Elon Musk is now officially the most followed Twitter user after he could dethrone former president Barack Obama, The Verge reports.

The billionaire has been at the top of the news after he took over the platform last year. According to the latest calculations, Elon Musk now has 133,531,099 followers, making him the most followed person on the platform.

Prior to this, US former president Barack Obama had the most follower base, with over 133 million followers. To be precise, Obama now has 133,007,786 followers on Twitter, making him the second most-followed user after the owner Elon Musk.

Elon Musk is now the most followed user on Twitter

After a lot of back and forth, Elon Musk completed the Twitter deal for $44 billion in late October 2022. Since then, the billionaire has been making the headlines for laying off employees, changing the company’s direction, and launching innovative programs like paid verifications.

Back in June, Musk had 100 million followers on Twitter, and his follower base has grown exponentially since then. Musk’s handling of his Twitter account is different from most of his counterparts. Unlike billionaires who post lazy and boring stuff, Musk posts funny and offensive memes to tease a specific group or individual.

The billionaire sometimes also surveys Twitter users about required changes to the platform and policies. He recently polled followers about whether former president Donald Trump can return to the platform or he should step down as Twitter CEO.

After Elon Musk and Barack Obama, the pop singers Justin Bieber and Katy Perry are the most followed users on Twitter, with 113 and 108 million people following them.

Many experts say Musk could turn Twitter into a trillion-dollar company as TikTok is at the edge of getting banned in the United States. The Chinese video-sharing app is known to be a threat to US national security following its suspicious ties with the Chinese Communist government. If TikTok gets banned in the US, Twitter can hope to attract millions of new users.


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Twitter Blue is now finalized, but checkmarks haven’t changed much

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So, Twitter Blue — Musk’s alternative to the valuable verified checkmark of the social platform — launched a while back, but its terms finalized just in time for April Fools. What was supposed to be a restart for the verified system, however, resulted in utter confusion.

Here is what users were expecting to happen on April 1, 2023: anyone who has not signed up for Twitter blue, regardless of if they’ve previously earned a verified checkmark, would no longer have a checkmark. Until they subscribe to Twitter blue.

But imagine everyone’s shock when the world woke up to find that the blue checkmark’s description was changed to: “This account is verified because it’s subscribed to Twitter blue or is a legacy verified account”. So does this mean that legacy checkmarks were never going to go away after all?

In all honesty, no one knows and Elon Musk doesn’t seem very interested in explaining things.

Influencers on the platform were quick to admit if they’ve paid for the sub or not. Some of them did so out of fear of backlash, as they’d previously taken a stance against the subscription model, only for their followers to see that the blue checkmark is still there. But in reality, these people haven’t gone against their word: it’s just that the terms were unclear, to say the least. Furthermore, this impacted Golden checkmarks too — like the blue ones, but for official organizations — as some profiles seemingly retained theirs without having paid up either. The New York Times is an example, as its profile Tweeted out a jab, which pointed out the inconsistency.

And here is where it gets spicy: Elon pulled a “hold my beer” and outright removed the publication’s Gold checkmark seemingly manually. Which in turn spiraled into an argument in typical internet fashion.

And just for a bit of context, gold checkmarks are quite more costly when compared to their blue counterparts. Twitter requires each organization to pay $1,000 for its primary profile, and then an additional per-user fee for each “company” profile.

While all of this doesn’t mean that Twitter blue is outright or literally canceled, it does shift perspective. What happens to those who had legacy checkmarks but paid for blue anyway? What about owners of blue, who had it in them to earn legacy checkmarks? Would they have paid at all if they had the option to work for it?

Food for thought. And Twitter’s competition.


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T2 social is the latest Twitter competitor packing similar features

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Ever since Elon Musk’s take-over of the bird app, a ton of competitors have risen, one of such being T2 social. This new app is currently accepting people to join its waitlist. Already some early birds are getting to try out the platform, making posts and even getting a checkmark.

At this early stage, there are a few design elements within this social media platform that is similar to those found on Twitter. This doesn’t mean that the T2 social platform is in any way affiliated with the bird app. But, this new social media platform was founded by ex-Twitter staff that are now correcting some ‘flaws’ they feel need fixing.

One of the flaws this new social media platform aims to correct is creating a fuse among some Twitter users. It has to do with the verification badge that Twitter is ripping off of users that earned theirs without being Blue subscribers. The competition now offers to give these individuals back their check marks but on a different platform.

Verified Twitter users that don’t want to pay a Blue subscription can now move to T2 social

Twitter is currently bringing an end to its legacy verification program, hence forcing users to pay a Blue subscription. This is a monthly subscription plan that will give users a verification badge and access to other features. Well, this move (which came after Elon Musk’s takeover) doesn’t sit well with all Twitter legacy users, hence the search for a new platform.

T2 socials are promising legacy users a new verification badge if they open an account with them. The offer only lasts for a few days, and some Twitter legacy users are already making the switch. Their new accounts with T2 come with a verification badge and a sign to tell that they were once Twitter Legacy users.

This is simply a plight to attract Twitter users robbed of their verification badges. Still, the new competition restricts this offer to previous legacy users that didn’t pay for the Blue subscription. To benefit from this program, those signing in will need to fill out a form to confirm if they were once Twitter Legacy users.

You can also join the waitlist to open a T2 social account, but be wary that it is very similar to Twitter. The company’s founder, Gabor Cselle said that this platform is “a pretty straightforward copy of Twitter with some simplifications.” They have also hired some key players in the social media industry to help build this platform to become a worthy Twitter competitor.

Truthfully, this new social media platform has to put in a lot of work before it becomes a worthy competition to the bird app. It is also going up against other options like Mastodon and the new Bluesky. The growth of the T2 social platform, which will get a new name, will become evident in the coming months.


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Google gets partial relief against the CCI ruling

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Over the past few years, Google’s control over the Android ecosystem has been a topic of debate, particularly in India, where regulators and the government have called for changes in Google’s treatment of its operating system. These changes include reducing pre-installed apps, loosening restrictions on Android “forks,” and allowing third-party app stores to distribute through the Google Play Store. However, in a recent ruling, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) partially relieved Google by setting aside four of the 10 directives issued by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) related to the abuse of Google’s dominant position in Android.

Earlier this year, the CCI directed Google to make several changes to its business practices in India, including giving users the ability to remove Google apps, use third-party billing options on the Play Store, and change their search engine if desired. Google argued that the CCI’s order suffered from “confirmation bias” and was too similar to a verdict by the European Commission in 2018.

Partial relief for Google

Although the NCLAT upheld the $161 million penalty levied on Google by the CCI, it offered some relief to the tech giant by removing four out of ten directives. These directives included the need to permit the hosting of third-party app stores within the Play Store and restrict the uninstallation of pre-installed apps by users.

Despite the appeal, Google has agreed to implement some changes suggested by the CCI. Indian smartphone vendors can now license individual apps for pre-installation on their Android-powered devices, and users can change their search engine and use third-party billing options for apps and game purchases on the Play Store.

“We are grateful for the opportunity given by the NCLAT to make our case. We are reviewing the order and evaluating our legal options,” said Google on the verdict.


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Nearby Share app for Windows in open beta makes file sharing easier than ever

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Nearby Share is one of the most convenient ways to send a picture or video to a friend’s phone while they are, well… nearby. The feature debuted in 2020 and it is found on all of the best Android phones on the market.

That being said, Nearby Share has always lacked a very specific feature, which would severely bump up its utility. Namely, the ability to transfer files just as effortlessly to Windows PCs.

While such an option has been available on Chromebooks for a while now, it is now officially available for Windows PCs in the form of a beta app. Well, as long as you aren’t in Europe, but it is bound to come around sooner or later, so this is still a great start. So, what can this new Nearby Share app accomplish? Pretty much the same as ever, but in regards to Windows PCs.

Once you download and set up the app, you’ll have established the possibility of opening a two-way connection between your Android phone and PC. That means that you can send files not only from your phone to your PC, but from your PC to your phone too!

Here’s a quick overview of the file types that Nearby Share supports:

  • Photos
  • Videos
  • Documents
  • Audio files
  • Entire folders of files as the ones above

By the sound of things, there is no limit to size, but you’ll have to pay for that transfer with your patience, as larger files are bound to take more time. AndroidAuthority managed to do a bit of testing and a 690MB file got transferred in about five minutes, while a 80MB one took less than a minute.

As part of the app’s setup, you’ll be required to log into your Google account, after which you’ll have several options to choose from when it comes to who can find you on this network. But for an extra layer of security, you can always just disable the feature when you are not using it.

All in all, this app was long overdue. It’s great to see that the feature is finally supported on Windows and we can’t wait to see it become fully rolled out. In the meantime, if you are excited about trying it out, you can download it straight from Google here.


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Galaxy S24 series to offer more RAM than you may think

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The entire Samsung Galaxy S24 series is tipped to offer more RAM and storage. This information comes from Tarun Vats, a tipster, as he shared the info via Twitter.

The Galaxy S24 series is tipped to offer more RAM than you may think

The tipster claims that the Galaxy S24 and S24+ will offer 12GB of RAM. That is an improvement over the 8GB of RAM current-gen models offer. Samsung has been sticking with 8GB of RAM in its vanilla and ‘Plus’ models for quite some time now.

He also claims that both of those smartphones will come with more storage. The current-gen base models offer 128GB of storage. Well, based on the info this tipster shared, the Galaxy S24 and S24+ will offer 256GB of storage in their base models.

What about the Galaxy S24 Ultra? Well, Tarun says that Samsung will utilize up to 16GB of RAM. That is an improvement over the 12GB of RAM the current-gen ‘Ultra’ model offers, of course. He did not say anything about the storage, though.

We’re looking at LPDDR5X RAM & UFS 4.0 flash storage here

Do note that all Galaxy S24 models are also expected to utilize LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 flash storage. Well, almost all Galaxy S23 models do, except the base Galaxy S23 model, the 128GB storage unit.

The Galaxy S24 series is not expected to arrive before Q1 next year. So, there’s still a long way to go until then, and these are only some initial rumors that we’re seeing.

The Galaxy S23 series turned out to be quite successful for Samsung, at least until now. All Galaxy S23 models come with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC. So, not even Europe has to deal with the Exynos model, as previous Exynos variants were inferior to their Snapdragon counterparts.

It remains to be seen what will change with the Galaxy S24 series. Samsung is due to some sort of a notable design change, however, so… let’s see if next year is the year when the company changes things up.


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