Friday, October 01, 2010
Twitter Unveils Fast Follow via SMS for India
In a way, it is creepy as anyone knowing just your username will get to read your updates without even you getting to know about it! Anyone, we repeat, ANYONE can receive Twitter updates on their phones without signing up on Twitter. This feature is currently available only in U.S., India, Indonesia and Haiti. In India, Fast Follow feature is available for Airtel and Videocon mobile subscribers only. The short code for India is 53000.
Kick start to get updates by sending a SMS message - Follow [USERNAME] to 53000 and start receiving updates from that particular user. Do note that you must know the particular username, like Techtree, to start getting updates.
For example, Airtel and Videocon mobile subscribers can send an SMS with text - Follow Techtree to short code number 53000. And then, they would receive Techtree's Twitter updates via SMS.
Here's a basic list of command for users to start receiving twitter updates on their phones:
- Follow [username] - To receive updates from a user send Follow along with the username to 40404
- OFF or STOP or LEAVE- You can turn off receiving updates from the user that you are following by sending OFF or STOP
- ON - Sending ON will turn on device updates and you will start receiving tweets again.
- WHOIS username - Retrieves the profile information of the user.
- STATS - This command returns the number of people that you are following.
- GET username - This retrieves the latest update that the user has posted.
For a comprehensive list of commands, visit this page.
Do note that there's no way to stop following a user or block them via SMS. You'll have to visit that user's profile on the web interface to stop following them. Using ON/OFF commands in SMS will only stop the notifications being sent out to your phone.
Now if you, as a Twitter user, don't want any random people to follow you, then you'll have to protect your updates by setting a privacy filter from Twitter account settings. Go to the Settings link on the top of the page and on the Account tab scroll down to check the box next to Tweet Privacy. Once you've protected your Tweets, only users you approve can follow you and get to read your Twitter updates - be it for the mobile notifications or on the web.
Visit this link to register the phone number to sign up for Twitter.
The new Fast Follow feature for selected countries is an effort to bring aboard more Twitter users via mobile phones. Even though whatever is being sent out as Twitter updates is available and accessible openly on the web, the privacy of existing users is at stake and an average user won't be able to figure out if someone is already receiving his/her updates via mobile phone. What do you think about this new feature? Leave us a comment and let us know
Teen Exposes Twitter Flaw, Hackers Exploit It
The flaw, which was exposed in a casual tweet, was exploited by hackers and in a few hours, Twitter was under attack. The "MouseOver" JavaScript code that was exposed automatically opened a pop up window when a user simply hovered his mouse over links on Twitter. This spelt a golden opportunity for hackers who used the flaw to make people click on links they might have not clicked usually. Most of these links lead to adult and infected websites.
Twitter explained about the attack in a detailed blog post and added that it was aware of the flaw a month back and had already fixed it. However, a recent update to the site caused the security hole to reappear and was then forgotten. Bob Lord, a spokesperson from the Twitter Security team says, "First, someone created an account that exploited the issue by turning tweets different colors and causing a pop-up box with text to appear when someone hovered over the link in the tweet. Other users took this one step further and added code that caused people to re-tweet the original Tweet without their knowledge."
Twitter confirmed that it would not be pursuing legal action against the perpetrators of the attack - nor will it identify individuals publicly who might have been involved in these attacks.
Mozilla: We're Not Porting Firefox to the iPhone
Mozilla again reiterated that it has no intentions of bringing its Firefox browser over to the iPhone, saying it would be 'impossible' to do for various reasons.
'We are working to bring as much of your Firefox experience as possible to Firefox Home,' Mozilla wrote in a blog post. 'People have asked about adding more browser-like features to Firefox Home, but there are technical and logistical restrictions that make it difficult, if not impossible, to build the full Firefox browser for the iPhone.'
In other words, Jobs and company would never let it happen. In order to get your Firefox fix, Mozilla continues to tweak its Firefox Home platform, which just recently launched in the Apple App Store. Firefox Home is a cloud-based app that gives users the ability to pull their Firefox desktop history, bookmarks, and tabs their iPhone.
Firefox Home
'We are working to bring as much of your Firefox experience as possible to Firefox Home,' Mozilla wrote in a blog post. 'People have asked about adding more browser-like features to Firefox Home, but there are technical and logistical restrictions that make it difficult, if not impossible, to build the full Firefox browser for the iPhone.'
In other words, Jobs and company would never let it happen. In order to get your Firefox fix, Mozilla continues to tweak its Firefox Home platform, which just recently launched in the Apple App Store. Firefox Home is a cloud-based app that gives users the ability to pull their Firefox desktop history, bookmarks, and tabs their iPhone.
Firefox Home
Microsoft Security Essentials Now Protecting Over 31 Million PCs
Antivirus vendors went on the offensive when Microsoft announced it was dropping its Windows Live OneCare in favor of offering a free security suite, Microsoft Security Essentials. One year later and with 31 million installations now under its belt, Microsoft is free to serve up a slice of humble pie to the competition.
'It's been a busy year for Microsoft Security Essentials. As we observed right after the first week of release, Microsoft Security Essentials had already detected threats on over half a million computers,' the Redmond outfit said in a TechNet blog post. 'As Microsoft Security Essentials enters into its second year with over 31 million installations, 27 million of those computers have reported infections to the Microsoft Malware Protection Center (MMPC).'
In other words, MSE isn't just popular, it's also working (you can read our review of Microsoft Security Essentials right here). It's also a global hit.
'The country with the most installations is the United States, but the next 10 countries with the most installs show that Microsoft Security Essentials has a global install base,' Microsoft points out. 'It is available in 27 languages – so language shouldn’t be a barrier to good security. Money is no problem, either – Microsoft Security Essentials is available at no cost!'
'It's been a busy year for Microsoft Security Essentials. As we observed right after the first week of release, Microsoft Security Essentials had already detected threats on over half a million computers,' the Redmond outfit said in a TechNet blog post. 'As Microsoft Security Essentials enters into its second year with over 31 million installations, 27 million of those computers have reported infections to the Microsoft Malware Protection Center (MMPC).'
In other words, MSE isn't just popular, it's also working (you can read our review of Microsoft Security Essentials right here). It's also a global hit.
'The country with the most installations is the United States, but the next 10 countries with the most installs show that Microsoft Security Essentials has a global install base,' Microsoft points out. 'It is available in 27 languages – so language shouldn’t be a barrier to good security. Money is no problem, either – Microsoft Security Essentials is available at no cost!'
Goo.gl URL Shortener Available to All
You might have heard of the Goo.gl URL shortener late last year when it was made available to those using the Google Toolbar. Now Google has created an easy to use web page where you cancreate shortened links using Goo.gl. Just type Goo.gl into your address bar to get started.
Google is touting their near 100% uptime since launching the service late in 2009. As they have expanded it into other services, Goo.gl has remained rock solid. Though, now that it's available to everyone, we'll have to see how it goes. The service will also have auto-detection of spam using Gmail's excellent filtering technology.
Perhaps the most interesting feature is that if you are signed into your Google account, you can see a list of all your shortened links, along with real-time analytics data. Google says they will be making a public API for the service soon, so expect apps to start offering Goo.gl as a URL shortening option.
