Twitter is halting the expansion of its verification program; saying it needs to work on the application and review process that lets people into the blue check mark club. This change, where Twitter won’t be letting new people apply for verification; is coming after the company admitted that several fake accounts, which reportedly seemed to be part of a botnet, were incorrectly verified. If you’ve recently applied for verification, there is a chance you’ll get it — Twitter Verified has said that it’ll still be reviewing existing applications; so the freeze is just preventing new people from being able to…
Author: Abiodun A.
When Apple announced changes it plans to make to iOS devices in an effort to help curb child abuse by finding child sexual abuse material (CSAM); parts of its plan generated backlash. First, it’s rolling out an update to its Search app and Siri voice assistant on iOS 15; watchOS 8, iPadOS 15, and macOS Monterey. When a user searches for topics related to child sexual abuse; Apple will redirect the user to resources for reporting CSAM, or getting help for an attraction to such content. But it’s Apple’s two other CSAM plans that have garnered criticism. One update will…
Back in May, SpaceX successfully landed its Starship prototype; SN15, a reusable heavy-lift launch vehicle that could eventually carry astronauts and large cargo payloads to the moon and Mars. SpaceX founder Elon Musk said on Saturday the first orbital stack of the Starship rocket should be ready for flight in the coming weeks; taking the unorthodox billionaire a step closer to his dream of orbital and then interplanetary travel. SpaceX in May successfully landed its Starship prototype, SN15, a reusable heavy-lift launch vehicle that could eventually carry astronauts and large cargo payloads to the moon and Mars. The touchdown came…
A U.S. trade judge ruled on Friday that Alphabet Inc’s Google infringed five patents belonging to Sonos Inc that concern smart speakers and related technology; a decision that could lead to an import ban. The brief ruling from Charles Bullock, the chief administrative law judge of the U.S. International Trade Commission; did not explain why Google’s sale of the products violated a 1930 federal tariff law, commonly known as Smoot-Hawley, designed to prevent unfair competition. Sonos has been trying to block Google from importing Home smart speakers; Pixel phones and other products from China. The search engine company did not…
In a speech given by the Governor of Plateau State, after unknown gunmen attacked and killed about 25 people, Governor Lalong said that so far, over 20 suspects have been arrested, with security agencies conducting investigations to get to the bottom of the matter. He explained that the curfew shall remain in place subject to further review by the State Security Council. Lalong advised residents of the state to abide by the directive to enable security personnel to maintain law and order in the affected areas and deal with those attempting to foment trouble. “While I deeply sympathize with the…
Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong has imposed a curfew on Jos North, Bassa and Jos South Local Government Areas following Saturday’s attack on Rukuba Road in Jos North Local Government Area of the state. Twenty-three people – who were travelling from Bauchi en-route Jos to Ikare in Ondo State – were killed in the incident. Twenty-three others were injured during the attack. While the injured are receiving treatment, 26 others were rescued unhurt. The governor, in a statement he signed on Saturday, said the curfew became necessary to avoid an escalation of tension in the affected areas. “In order to…
Twenty-Five persons were confirmed killed and 23 injured along Rukuba Road in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau state on Saturday morning. The victims were attacked while travelling from Bauchi en-route Jos to Ikare in Ondo state. Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong has reacted to the incident in a statement signed by spokesperson Simon Makut. The Governor condemned the attack and warned troublemakers bent on fomenting trouble in the state to desist as the government will not allow any form of lawlessness to disrupt the peace of the state. The Governor said that attacks on innocent citizens, no their…
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has bagged a $10 billion cloud computing contract with the US National Security Agency (NSA); drawing formal protest from its rival, software giant Microsoft. The current move by Microsoft comes after Amazon spent years contesting the software company being awarded the Pentagon’s Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) contract. “Based on the decision, we are filing an administrative protest via the Government Accountability Office (GAO). We are exercising our legal rights and will do so carefully and responsibly;” a Microsoft spokesperson told tech website Nextgov. Microsoft filed its protest on 21 July with the GAO, claiming the…
Let’s face it. It is not often that we have to schedule an email. However, there are times when it becomes essential. Not knowing how to do so at that time, can lead to problems; especially if there is no one to ask or you are too embarrassed to admit that you don’t know how to do it. Therefore, it is always good to know how to do this. Gmail is one of the most popular emailing services in the world. It not only enables users to share files, videos, and images, but it also enables users to chat with…
WhatsApp, the most popular encrypted messaging service in the world has been constantly adding new features to the cross-platform messenger service in an attempt to increase its userbase. After working on features like multi-device support that is now in beta testing; the company recently released a new view once mode for images and videos. The service is now working on adding support for a new feature – the ability to edit images from WhatsApp Web on the desktop. We recently reported that WhatsApp was adding a new editing feature for WhatsApp Web on a desktop computer or laptop. The arrival…
Firefox, the popular, pro-privacy browser has received an update to version 91; bringing with it several performance improvements and two important new features that will make surfing the web with the browser a lot safer. Mozilla, the company behind the popular browser is adding protection against insecure websites and from cyber attacks; by preventing users from browsing the web in an unsafe manner. Many years ago, very few sites supported HTTPS (the secure version of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol) and browsers were used to loading the HTTP version of a website by default. Unfortunately, HTTP is extremely insecure; and allows…
Gunmen suspected to be bandits attacked the village of the Zamfara State House of Assembly Speaker Nasiru Magarya and kidnapped his father. An eyewitness told newsmen that the gunmen invaded the Magarya community in Zurmi Local Government Area of the state on Thursday. They also abducted the lawmaker’s stepmother, and four other persons in the community. The bandits were said to be on motorcycles and started shooting sporadically to scare people away and allow them carry out their operation. Mass abductions of schoolchildren in the northwestern state have also made headlines. Governor Bello Matawalle who admitted the increasing spate of…
Bandits have ambushed a vehicle escorting travellers in Zamfara and in the process killed one policeman. The incident occurred on Monday when the vehicle was coming from Dansadau community to Gusau with the passengers inside. A resident of the community, Nuhu Dansadau expressed concern about the situation saying that armoured vehicles have been the only source of protection for travellers in the last few weeks between the two major towns. He called on the government to take all necessary steps to curtail the activities of bandits in the area. Efforts to reach the state police command was not successful as…
Chidinma Ojukwu, a 300 level Mass Communication Department student of the University of Lagos accused of killing the Chief Executive Officer of Super TV, Usifo Ataga, has been remanded in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Services. A Lagos State Chief Magistrates’ Court sitting in the Yaba area gave the order on Monday when she and one Adedapo Quadri were brought before the court by the Lagos State Police Command over alleged conspiracy and murder of the victim. When the case was called, they, however, could not take their plea because the magistrate court was not constitutionally empowered to try…
Gunmen have kidnapped the wife of a former councillor Hassana Saudaki and her eight-month-old baby in Zamfara State. Her husband – Babangida Damba – the former councillor of Tudun-Wada Gusau ward – explained that the incident occurred on Wednesday when gunmen invaded their residence at the Government Residential Quarter in Damba, shooting him and his 26-year-old wife. He said that the gunmen who were about four started their operation from 12: 00 am shooting sporadically for over one hour, before leaving with his wife and son to an undisclosed location. The victim’s husband said he put a distress call to…
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested no fewer than 43 dealers and consumers of illicit substances in Nasarawa, Benue, and Ondo States. Following a series of raids tagged ‘offensive action’ in the states, the agency revealed that operatives recovered 137.55 kilograms of assorted drugs. In Nasarawa State, NDLEA operatives backed by a detachment of soldiers from 177 Battalion of the Nigerian Army, Keffi, raided notorious drug joints located in Kara Masaka, Ruwa Ruwa Uke, Abattoir at the border with FCT, Filing Bala, Masaka U-Turn, and others for two consecutive days – August 5 and 6.…
Last year, Epic Games’ flagship game Fortnite was booted off Apple and Google’s app stores after the games developer introduced a new payment system; that sidestepped their payment systems and in-app purchase commissions. Shortly after, Epic would go on to file antitrust lawsuits against both Apple and Google across numerous jurisdictions; with unsealed court documents revealing that; prior to the legal stoush, Google allegedly attempted to acquire Epic Games to remove this app store threat. First reported by The Verge; the unsealed court document was submitted as part of Epic Game’s lawsuit against Google in the United States. Epic Games…
Apple has faced days of criticism from security experts, privacy advocates, and privacy-minded users over the plan it announced Thursday; in which iPhones and other Apple devices will scan photos before they are uploaded to iCloud. Many critics pointed out that once the technology is on consumer devices; it won’t be difficult for Apple to expand it beyond the detection of CSAM in response to government demands for broader surveillance. But the system’s current design doesn’t prevent it from being redesigned and used for other purposes in the future. The new photo-scanning technology itself is a major change for a…
Since Tesla unveiled its electric pickup in 2019, the vehicle has suffered design changes; including a size reduction and improved suspension. Other changes were expected to be announced in December 2020, but that did not happen. Tesla did share that the design process of the pickup was finished and stated that volume production was due to start in 2022; but the first units were expected to come out by the end of this year. However, in its Q2 2021 earnings report published in late July; the company wrote that the industrialization of Cybertruck in Tesla’s Austin Gigafactory would only…
Apple has revealed that it may look into users iPhones and check for child abuse photos when they are being uploaded onto iCloud in an attempt to wipe out this horrific online crime. However, while the attempt to address this issue has been on the agenda of all tech majors; this move by Apple has been blasted by others as it is likely to cause more problems for them. The first to react was WhatsApp Head Will Cathcart and then Fortnite-gamemaker Epic Games CEO Tin Sweeney. What has Apple done? Apple has launched various tools to reduce the spread of…