Computerworld Twitter News

Twitter will deliver weekly highlights via email

(Cameron Scott) — Tue, 15 May 2012 00:41:00 GMT

Twitter will begin delivering a weekly email digest to highlight for users the tweets they are most likely to be interested in, the company said on Monday.

Elgan: How I publish from Google+

(Mike Elgan) — Sat, 12 May 2012 11:00:00 GMT

Columnist Mike Elgan offers tips on how to post to Twitter and Facebook, send a newsletter and more all from a Google+ account.

Microsoft Bing goes social in search war with Google

sgaudin@computerworld.com (Sharon Gaudin) — Fri, 11 May 2012 18:02:00 GMT

Microsoft's move to boost Bing's social networking feaures could finally give it an opportunity to truly take on Google's dominant search engine, analysts say.

Facebook IPO's elephant in the room -- mobile

sgaudin@computerworld.com (Sharon Gaudin) — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:52:00 GMT

While Facebook executives talk to the country's top investors about its 900 million users and its powerful global reach, analysts say they need to explain how they're going to fix one glaring problem -- mobile.

Twitter acquires email marketer RestEngine

(Mikael Ricknäs) — Fri, 11 May 2012 10:29:00 GMT

Twitter has acquired RestEngine, a two-and-half-year-old company that has helped social app publishers send emails based on a user's social graph, RestEngine said on Thursday.

Twitter blog post says company leaked no user data

(Jay Alabaster) — Thu, 10 May 2012 09:50:00 GMT

None of the recently leaked Twitter logins and passwords came from within the company, according to a message posted on the Twitter Japanese blog Thursday.

Twitter success thrives on narrow focus, study finds

(Joab Jackson) — Wed, 09 May 2012 14:37:00 GMT

Those looking to build a substantial following on Twitter would do well to stick to one particular topic, rather than use Twitter to discuss a wide range of subjects, a Carnegie Mellon University researcher has advised.

Twitter resists subpoena to release user's data without warrant

(Jeremy Kirk) — Wed, 09 May 2012 03:04:00 GMT

Twitter is contesting a court order requiring it to turn over private data on a user charged with disorderly conduct during the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York last year.

Twitter says many leaked passwords inaccurate, duplicates

(Jeremy Kirk) — Wed, 09 May 2012 00:14:00 GMT

Many of the Twitter logins and passwords leaked on the web this week are either inaccurate or belong to accounts already suspended for spamming, the company said late Tuesday.

Bloggers plead for Windows Live Writer's life

gkeizer@computerworld.com (Gregg Keizer) — Thu, 03 May 2012 21:08:00 GMT

A Windows developer, upset at the likely demise of Windows Live Writer as part of Microsoft's move to retire the Live brand, has launched an online petition drive to save the tool.

With money in the bank, Twitter in no rush for IPO

sgaudin@computerworld.com (Sharon Gaudin) — Wed, 02 May 2012 17:11:00 GMT

With Facebook's IPO looming just ahead, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo says his company is in no hurry to follow suit.

Facebook Likes Could Get You Fired, and Legal Options are a Challenge

(Christina DesMarais) — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 17:19:00 GMT

Facebook "likes" can possibly get you fired, and if you take your employer to court over the punishment you may have an uphill legal battle.

Twitter updates iPhone, Android apps

sgaudin@computerworld.com (Sharon Gaudin) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 21:22:00 GMT

Twitter released updated iPhone and Android apps Thursday that make it easier for users to search and find new information.

Does timing of Facebook IPO matter?

sgaudin@computerworld.com (Sharon Gaudin) — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 19:14:00 GMT

Reports circulated Thursday that Facebook's initial public offering could arrive on May 17.

Twitter touts patent policy meant to give its employees more rights

(Chris Kanaracus) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 18:59:00 GMT

Twitter on Tuesday unveiled a proposed patent assignment framework that seeks to give employees who create works more protection over how their inventions are used.

Ban.jo for iPhone

(Joel Mathis) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 13:56:00 GMT

Feel like you're missing nearby friends or nearby fun? Ban.jo, a free iPhone/iPod touch app, is designed to fix that problem.

U.S. consumers turn to Facebook, Twitter for healthcare answers

lmearian@computerworld.com (Lucas Mearian) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 09:33:00 GMT

A survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers shows that many now use social networks to discover healthcare information and then turn to those same sites to voice their opinions about their own experiences.

Twitter acquires team at analytics firm Hotspots.io

(John Ribeiro) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 03:51:00 GMT

Twitter has acquired the team at Hotspots.io, a social media analytics company, according to a notice on the Hotspots.io website.

How Not to Spam Twitter: 5 Tips

(Angela West) — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 19:29:00 GMT

Twitter served notice to spammers earlier this month that it's beefing up its anti-spam measures, and it has filed a lawsuit against five "aggressive tool providers and spammers" to keep its feeds clean. How can you keep your business off of Twitter's radar while still conducting some form of commerce using the tool? These five tips can help.

Twitter releases its MySQL scalability tweaks

(Joab Jackson) — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 22:57:00 GMT

Twitter has released some of the tweaks it has made to MySQL, potentially bringing greater scalability to the open-source relational database management system.

Twitterverse in uproar over Facebook's Instagram buy

sgaudin@computerworld.com (Sharon Gaudin) — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 20:22:00 GMT

Soon after Facebook announced that it was buying Instagram, maker of the popular photo-sharing app, Twitter began to light up with talk about it.

Employees push IT to accept social networks

sgaudin@computerworld.com (Sharon Gaudin) — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 10:00:00 GMT

As more and more corporate workers use their favorite social networking tools for job-related tasks, IT executives are left with little choice but to find ways to manage the consumer software.

Amazon releases staggering storage figures

(Brandon Butler) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 18:22:00 GMT

Just how big is Amazon Web Service's (S3) Simple Storage Service? Well, it holds 905 billion objects, and it's growing by a billion per day, the company says.

Google co-founder spotted wearing Google Goggles

sgaudin@computerworld.com (Sharon Gaudin) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 16:22:00 GMT

The same day that Google took the wraps off its computerized eye glasses, the company's co-founder Sergey Brin was spotted wearing a pair while out to dinner.

Twitter files lawsuit against alleged spammers and spam tool providers

(John Ribeiro) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 04:31:00 GMT

Twitter has filed a lawsuit against "five of the most aggressive tool providers and spammers" in a federal court in San Francisco, opening a new front in its battle against spam, it said Thursday.

Intuit Brings Big Data to Small Businesses and Consumers

(Thor Olavsrud) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 18:16:00 GMT

When you think Big Data, products such as QuickBooks and TurboTax may not spring to mind. However, Intuit's 'Big Data for the Little Guy' initiative lets individuals and businesses make queries on the data Intuit has collected from its (willing) users.

Facebook, Twitter are lifelines as tornadoes wallop Texas

sgaudin@computerworld.com (Sharon Gaudin) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 16:57:00 GMT

As tornadoes ripped through Texas on Tuesday, people took to social networks to warn of advancing storms and to help their neighbors.

IT execs must deal soon with worker use of social tools

sgaudin@computerworld.com (Sharon Gaudin) — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 13:19:00 GMT

Corporate IT executives and analysts offer advice on dealing with the increased worker use of social networks for business purposes.

Review: 7 password managers for Windows, Mac OS X, iOS, and Android

thegline@optimum.net (Serdar Yegulalp) — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 10:15:00 GMT

1Password and KeePass lead the field in features, flexibility, browser integration, and ease-of-use

More companies are OK with employees using Facebook at work

sgaudin@computerworld.com (Sharon Gaudin) — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 18:22:00 GMT

Workers at AT Kearney connect with their friends on Facebook now and then when they're on the job, and that's just fine with executives there.

In 6 years, Twitter becomes major social, political player

sgaudin@computerworld.com (Sharon Gaudin) — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 18:26:00 GMT

As Twitter celebrates its sixth birthday this week, observers note that the microblogging site has evolved from a social network for blogging about what you ate for breakfast to a tool for promoting social and political change.

March Madness is the perfect storm for IT

sgaudin@computerworld.com (Sharon Gaudin) — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 20:13:00 GMT

March Madness may be fun for college basketball fans, but it can be a nightmare for IT departments trying to keep their networks running normally.

Public safety sees opportunity, pitfalls in social media

(Nancy Gohring) — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 19:26:00 GMT

Law enforcement agencies are looking for ways to mine social media to look for threats, but those speaking at a conference on Wednesday suggested that an equally important issue might be trying to control authorities who are causing problems by their use of Twitter, Facebook and other such applications.

18 firms sued for using privacy-invading mobile apps

jvijayan@computerworld.com (Jaikumar Vijayan) — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 11:04:00 GMT

Facebook, Apple, Twitter, Yelp and 14 other companies have been hit with a lawsuit accusing them of distributing privacy-invading mobile applications.

SXSW: Location, location, location fuels mobile apps

(Cameron Scott) — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 22:31:00 GMT

Soon FourSquare won't be the only cool kid on the location-based apps block: A new wave of startups, including Highlight, Zaarly, TaskRabbit and Localmind, are generating buzz at South by Southwest by drawing on smartphone location data to deliver a range of social, commercial and informational experiences.

Twitter acquires blogging platform Posterous

(John Ribeiro) — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 02:58:00 GMT

Twitter has acquired blogging company Posterous, and said its engineers, product managers and others will join Twitter teams working on several key initiatives.

Mobile apps: The IT pro's new power tools

(Robert L. Scheier) — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 10:07:00 GMT

Heavy-duty mobile IT apps for the iPad, iPhone, and Android devices have many IT departments on the move

KONY 2012 video whips up social media firestorm

sgaudin@computerworld.com (Sharon Gaudin) — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 20:59:00 GMT

A 30-minute video about an African warlord and his army blasted its way onto the Internet this week, lighting up social networks like Facebook and Twitter and becoming a YouTube phenomenon.

Watson clones could be delivered through the cloud

(Brandon Butler) — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 16:44:00 GMT

IBM, whose Watson computer system last year famously beat two of the "Jeopardy!" game show's top contestants, is now looking to deliver the AI-powered computer framework through the cloud.

Social media takes on Rush Limbaugh

sgaudin@computerworld.com (Sharon Gaudin) — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 21:35:00 GMT

Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter lit up this week, and conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh is feeling the effects.

Twitter exec calls tweets the 'ultimate business intelligence tool'

lmearian@computerworld.com (Lucas Mearian) — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 21:04:00 GMT

Twitter plans to make itself more user friendly and will add analytics tools to help companies track what customers and competitors are saying in Tweets, according Mike Brown, director of corporate development at Twitter.

The next evolution of the Internet: The Shared Web

(Jevon MacDonald, president, co-founder, GoInstant) — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 18:48:00 GMT

The past decade has seen a massive evolution of the Internet. The early years focused on the Information Web, allowing users to access enormous volumes of data. The Commerce Web followed, giving consumers the ability to transact online. YouTube and Twitter ushered in the Broadcast Web, turning individuals into self-publishers. And today we have the Shared Web, the next iteration that promises to usher in just as much innovation and change.

Enterprises opening up to social networking

sgaudin@computerworld.com (Sharon Gaudin) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 18:51:00 GMT

The number of large companies that block employees from accessing social media sites from the workplace is dropping, according to a report from industry analyst firm Gartner.

The security risks and rewards of big data

(Taylor Armerding) — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 14:23:00 GMT

Big data does not automatically mean big security improvements. If not handled with care and expertise, it could mean the opposite. That will be the focus of a panel discussion at the RSA Conference in San Francisco today at 3:50 p.m. in room 301.

Pope to set up Twitter account

sgaudin@computerworld.com (Sharon Gaudin) — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 20:49:00 GMT

The Pope Benedict XVI is showing his technical savvy by launching his own Twitter account.

Social network users getting less friendly

sgaudin@computerworld.com (Sharon Gaudin) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 17:52:00 GMT

Facebook users are becoming decidedly unfriendly, according to a Pew Internet & American Life Project study released Friday.

'Generation C' likes social networking, tech gadgets

sgaudin@computerworld.com (Sharon Gaudin) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 20:45:00 GMT

Step aside Gen X. It looks like Gen C is outpacing you and other older users when it comes to online connections. And Gen C likes gadgets, too.

Pinterest takes on social, e-commerce worlds

sgaudin@computerworld.com (Sharon Gaudin) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 11:01:00 GMT

Move over Facebook, Google+ and Twitter. There's a new social site stealing some of your buzz: Pinterest.

Verizon users whacked with another LTE outage

(Brad Reed) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 18:29:00 GMT

Verizon's 4G LTE network has been knocked offline again just two months after its last serious outage.

9 Ways Google+ Can Help Your Business

(Jennifer Lonoff Schiff) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 23:05:00 GMT

Google+ hasn't exactly taken the world by storm. However, with features such as free videoconferencing and the capability to share and promote content with customers and colleagues at a touch of a (+1) button, Google+ is making a concerted effort to court businesses. We look at nine ways it can help you succeed in business.