New wave of resignations and memes hits Twitter after Musk ultimatum
Twitter to shut down?
On Thursday, a new wave of employees resigned after Elon Musk issued an ultimatum requiring them to commit to a “hardcore” work environment.
Internal Slack messages revealed engineers and other employees posting goodbye messages to a “watercooler” chat group in the days leading up to Musk’s 5 p.m. ET Thursday deadline.
Also Read: Twitter gets into chaos after wave of blue tick impersonations
Mass Resignation at Twitter headquarter
Hundreds of salute emojis (which convey the message “thank you for your service”) and goodbye messages streamed by. Moreover, three employees who told “CNBC,” requested anonymity out of fear of professional retaliation. All three intended to resign on Thursday. It was unclear how many Twitter employees had resigned.
Also Read: Elon Musk says Twitter blue tick to be revamped
“The train has started in #social-watercooler,” one of the employees said, referring to a Slack room where Twitter employees have been notifying others that they are leaving in recent weeks.
The terror of Elon Musk at the headquarter
Musk sent a companywide email to employees on Wednesday, telling them to expect “long hours at high intensity” if they wanted to stay. He stated that they had until 5 p.m. ET on Thursday to make a decision.
In addition to that, Musk followed that up on Thursday with a pair of emails in which he stated that managers must meet with employees in person once a week or at least monthly, and that managers could be fired for allowing employees to work remotely if those employees do not prove to be “excellent” or “exceptional,” in his opinion.
Furthermore, according to one Twitter engineer familiar with the situation, Musk has asked some top engineers who chose to resign to reconsider staying on.
Moreover, the recent wave of resignations adds to Twitter’s mass layoffs and voluntary exodus, leaving the company significantly smaller than when Musk took over in late October.
The Twitter meme-parade!
Now that rumours of the app’s demise are circulating, we see the best of it as users prepare to bid the microblogging website farewell.
Here are a few of the best Tweets,
This one backfired at Musk, pretty bad!
Well, where is the lie?
At last Elon Musk himself says,
Musk was meeting with top employees to try to persuade them to stay, according to one current employee and a recently departed employee in contact with the colleagues.
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Twitter gets into chaos after wave of blue tick impersonations
Fake blue Twitter impersonations causing havoc!
On Thursday, fake “verified” accounts in the names of politicians, celebrities, major organisations, and businesses began to appear on the platform. Many of them were suspended by Twitter, but the company’s inconsistent attempts to address the issue added to the confusion.
Also Read: Elon Musk says Twitter blue tick to be revamped
Experts had previously warned that Elon Musk’s new $7.99 Blue tick subscription service, would be quickly exploited by scammers. This is eroding trust in the platform.
Also Read: WhatsApp raises group chat member limit to 1,024
The scope of the issue with the new fake blue tick accounts became clear after the feature went live on Wednesday.
Major brand accounts such as Apple, Nintendo, BP, and Chiquita have had their blue tick versions suspended. Fake accounts impersonating high-profile figures such as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, current and former US Presidents Joe Biden, Donald Trump, and George W Bush, as well as former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, were also removed.
In one case, an account in the name of Republican candidate for Arizona governor Kari Lake tweeted that she was conceding to her Democratic opponent, despite the fact that votes in the close race were still being counted. The platform took hours to remove the tweet and the fake account.
Fake announcements! on Twitter
Mr Musk’s other company, Tesla, had a fake account that joked about 9/11, while Mr Musk himself was impersonated.
One of the most obnoxious accounts impersonated the US pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and declared that “insulin is now free.” The company was forced to distance itself from the phoney announcement.
Solution from Twitter Support
Twitter suspended many of the imposter blue tick accounts, but struggled at times to keep up with the rate at which new ones appeared. In addition to that, New grey “official” badges were added. Moreover, they are under the handles of some high-profile accounts before being quickly removed by Mr Musk. However, new grey official badges began reappearing on some profiles on Friday.
Also Read: Twitter tests ‘notes’ feature with 2,500 word limit
It is currently unknown how Mr Musk intend to address the issue of blue tick impersonation in the long run.
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Elon Musk says Twitter blue tick to be revamped
Elon Musk and Twitter’s blue tick revision
Elon Musk, the new owner of Twitter, has stated that the process of obtaining the prestigious “blue tick” will be revised, amid reports that the company may begin charging $20 (£17) per month to be verified.
Twitter is revamping!
Days after taking over the social media giant, Mr Musk tweeted that the verification process was being revamped. A blue tick is currently free and used to indicate that an account is genuine.
On Friday, Mr Musk completed his $44 billion (£37.9 billion) takeover and renamed himself Chief Twit on Twitter.
Throughout the months of legal wrangling that led up to the acquisition, the billionaire repeatedly expressed concerns about the verification process, as well as the number of spam and bot accounts he believes are on the site. Mr Musk’s Sunday tweet provided no additional information about what might change.
Subscribe for a blue tick on Twitter!
However, according to The Verge Twitter now wants to charge people $19.99 per month to maintain their blue tick verification status. In addition to that, the plan entails quadrupling the price of Twitter Blue, the company’s subscription service. And also making verification one of its features. According to the report, verified users will have 90 days to subscribe or risk losing their blue tick.
Furthermore, employees were informed of the project on Sunday and have been told that they must launch the scheme by November 7 or risk losing their jobs, according to the report.
Undo a Tweet now!
Twitter Blue was introduced last summer and provides subscribers with access to a variety of premium features. That includes including the ability to undo a tweet. It is currently available as an option and costs $4.99 per month.
While there has been no official confirmation of the plan, Musk appeared to acknowledge it in a new tweet on Monday, saying, “On no, all our diabolical plans have been revealed!!”
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WhatsApp raises group chat member limit to 1,024
WhatsApp allows 1024 group member limit
WhatsApp has increased the maximum number of members allowed in a group chat to 1,024, after adding the option for “Call Links”-invite links for joining in-app calls-as a feature late last month.
Also Read: Mark Zuckerberg reveals new privacy features for WhatsApp
For the second time this year, WhatsApp has raised the limit on group chat members. The limit was raised to 512 members in May after being set at 256 since 2016.
WhatsApp communities feature
Increasing the total number of users permitted in a group is most likely a move to improve the recently introduced Communities feature. Which allows multiple groups to be added under a single Community umbrella.
With each Community allowing up to 21 groups. The WhatsApp FAQ page says up to 50, which was not the case in our testing. The new group cap should allow for up to 20,480 members in the first 20 groups. Plus an additional 5,000 in the announcement group. The previous 512 limit would have only allowed for 10,240 members in the first 20 groups. And an additional 5,000 in the announcement group.
Also Read: Google moves to make Android apps more private
The increased group chat member limit comes on the heels of a slew of updates and new features added to the messaging app this year, including emoji reactions, the ability to hide the “Last Seen” status for specific contacts, enhanced group voice calls, and an updated native Windows client.
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Everything you need to know about the new iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max
Apple launches iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max
Apple unveiled its new iPhones at its “Far Out” event on Wednesday, but the biggest changes were reserved for the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max models. The new highlight: The iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max do not have a notch. Instead, a small pill-shaped screen cutout houses a redesigned TrueDepth camera unit for Face ID, selfies, and video calls. Rather than ignoring the cutout, Apple created Dynamic Island, a system of moving alerts and notifications that makes use of the black space around it. Aside from the odd name, the feature is compelling and looks cool in person.
Also Read: Xiaomi devices Redmi 8 and Poco X3 explode causing serious injuries to the users
The absence of Dynamic Island on the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus is just one of the ways Apple has widened the gap between Pro and non-Pro iPhone models. Price is another option. The iPhone 14 Pro costs $999, which is $200 more than the iPhone 14, which costs $799. The 14 Pro is priced similarly to previous Pro models and the 2018 iPhone X. However, some people will be put off by the 14 Pro’s or 14 Pro Max’s starting price of $1,099.
Goodbye notch, hello Dynamic Island
From the back, the iPhone 14 Pro looks very similar to last year’s flagship, the iPhone 13 Pro. However, when compared to the notch on the 13 Pro, the display cutout on the 14 Pro looks more modern and fresh. The first thing that stands out about the iPhone 14 Pro is the absence of the infamous notch. In comparison, the pill-shaped display cutout is much smaller.
Also Read: Apple sued for lying about waterproofing iPhones
That’s how it works,
Super Retina XDR display
The cutout is only one component of the Super Retina XDR display, which can now reach 2,000 nits of brightness for improved visibility in bright light. In comparison, the iPhone 13 Pro has a maximum brightness of 1,200 nits. The 14 Pro employs LTPO (low-temperature Polycrystalline oxide) technology to reduce the refresh rate to 1Hz, which may help save battery life and enable Always-On display. The LTPO screen on the 13 Pro has a maximum refresh rate of 10Hz.
Also Read: Apple’s iPhone 13 leads to the largest revenue, but should you buy it?
A new Bionic A16 chip
There’s also the new A16 Bionic chip, which is only available in Pro models this year. The A15 Bionic chip found in last year’s iPhone 13 Pro is used in the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus. The A16 chip is more efficient than the A15 chip, consuming 20% less power.
The A16 chip has 16 billion transistors on a 4-nanometer process, compared to 15 billion transistors on a 5-nanometer process in the A15. Aside from the increased transistor count caused by the new manufacturing process, the jump in computational power from the 13 Pro to the 14 Pro may not be as significant as it was from the 12 Pro to the 13 Pro.
It’s unclear how much RAM the iPhone 14 Pro will have because Apple has never disclosed how much RAM is in an iPhone.
The Pixel binning camera
The iPhone 14 Pro will be equipped with a 48-megapixel camera. For better light capture, the quad-pixel sensor employs pixel binning to group four pixels into one large pixel. With high-megapixel camera sensors, Android phones such as the Galaxy S22 Ultra use a similar technique. The Pro Raw mode on the phone allows photos to be captured at the full 48-megapixel resolution.
iPhone 14 price in Pakistan
iPhone 14 price for 128GB $799 (179,471.74 Pakistani Rupees), 256GB $899 (201,933.79 Pakistani Rupees) and 512GB $1,099 (246,862.26 Pakistani Rupees).
Furthermore, iPhone 14 Plus price for 128GB $899 (201,936.94 Pakistani Rupees), 256GB $999 (224,399.34 Pakistani Rupees) and 512GB $1,199 (269,324.70 Pakistani Rupees).
Moreover, iPhone 14 Pro price for 128GB $999 (224,395.86 Pakistani Rupees), 256GB $1,099 (246,857.90 Pakistani Rupees) 512GB $1,299 (291,782.00 Pakistani Rupees) and for 1TB $1,499 (336,706.01 Pakistani Rupees).
Last but not least, the iPhone 14 Pro Max price for 128GB $1,099 (246,857.90 Pakistani Rupees), 256GB $1,199 (269,320.94 Pakistani Rupees) 512GB $1,399 (314,245.21 Pakistani Rupees), 1TB $1,599 (359,169.47 Pakistani Rupees). All these prices are non-PTA approved. They come in space black and deep purple, in addition to the traditional silver and gold.
So when are you getting your iPhone 14?
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Social media users report bizarre Facebook glitch
Bizarre Facebook Glitch took social media users by storm
On Wednesday afternoon, numerous bugs were reported by Facebook users. Around 4pm AEST, website tracker DownDetector.com.au detected an outage on the significant social networking platform.
What is wrong with Facebook?
Many of the random posts to celebrities that users saw on their feeds came from sites they hadn’t even followed, according to users.
Also Read: Google moves to make Android apps more private
40% of users have complained about the newsfeed, and 16% have complained about the website as a whole. 43% of users have reported problems with the app.
Also Read: The Log4j security bug risk the entire internet here’s what you should know
Is Facebook hacked?
There is currently no evidence to imply that the website has been hacked, and Facebook has not officially confirmed any downtime or issue with the website. Cheeky users have already started introducing themselves to the larger Facebook group by leveraging the glitch.
One user wrote to Adele’s Facebook page, “I don’t know but I want to try it too, hello!”, while another wrote, “Hey mama I’m famous”.
Another user wrote,
Moreover, another user shares his disappointment,
And the meme-fun never stops,
Shannon Grixti also posts about seeing random comments on celebrity pages on his news feed.
Mark Zuckerberg reveals new privacy features for WhatsApp
Meta announces new privacy features for WhatsApp
Meta has announced new privacy features for WhatsApp users. Users will get the option to select who can view their online status, leave group discussions in silence, and block screenshots on View Once messages. This will help keep WhatsApp chat “as private and secure as face-to-face talks,” according to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
This month, the features will start to be released, and a worldwide campaign will be launched, beginning in the UK, to showcase them.
Also Read: Instagram launches ‘limits’ to hide abusive messages
Leave Silently
The well-known messaging software now notifies all participants in a group conversation when someone leaves or is deleted by default.
While it is possible to prevent this for specific group conversations, when users choose to “exit group,” they are not given the option to depart quietly, which can lead to awkwardness, embarrassment, or drama for those attempting to leave unobserved.
Also Read: Google testing new “Self Share” feature in Chrome OS
Users will now be able to exit group chats without telling the other participants—only the group administrators will be informed—thanks to recent adjustments. Ami Vora, the product head, stated that it was in line with the platform’s emphasis on “building product features that empower people to have more control and privacy over their messages”.
“We believe WhatsApp is the most secure place to have a private conversation,” she said.
“Last Seen” settings
The update will also see users given the option to allow only certain contacts – or no-one – to see when they are active on the platform, bringing online status options into alignment with “last seen” settings.
Also Read: Twitter tests ‘notes’ feature with 2,500 word limit
The new privacy features are not available in Pakistan yet, but we are waiting!
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Airlift announces complete shutdown following funding crunch
Airlift Technologies announces complete shutdown
Airlift Technologies has declared a complete suspension of its fast commerce operations. The startup shuts down after three years of operation in Pakistan (July 13). The decision to shut down was made public by the corporation during a meeting with staff today.
Read More: Top 10 Pakistani startups of 2021
The reports that Airlift had decided to shut down completely and that an all-staff meeting had been set for announcement. This caused raging anxiety at the employees.
An anonymous Airlift employee told a local source that the startup was totally wrapping up operations and that an announcement regarding this would be issued soon.
The source at Airlift claimed, “They have decided to give a two-month severance package to employees and shut it down completely.”
Launched in 2019, Airlift held its brief stay in Pakistan to first make their mass-transit concept fail before jumping on the rapid commerce bandwagon and spent tens of millions of dollars in the process.
So what actually happened with Airlift Technologies?
People are currently less inclined to pay money for luxuries like rapid food delivery. This is due to factors like the global financial crisis, rising inflation, and skyrocketing gasoline prices. On top of that, Airlift had to raise the price of these services as a result of the worldwide economic decline.
Startups have traditionally used venture capital funding to subsidise these pleasures. Since investors tighten their strings during the recession, there is kind of a modern meltdown happening.
Due to funding issues, the firm was on the verge of closing down completely. Unnamed investors had backed out of the $20 million round of funding. “The company is wrapping up stock at its warehouses and there is considerable uncertainty around the future of the employees,” said a source at the startup.
Read More: Retailo raises $36 million in a Landmark Series A round
Moreover, Airlift has confirmed that the startup is indeed choosing to shut down completely due to finance issues that have been made worse by the drop in investment activity.
Due to concerning the veracity of its figures, Airlift may have credibility issues. Airlift might have been acquired by Foodpanda. The issue is that Foodpanda’s parent firm is also feeling the consequences of the slump in the stock market and has seen its valuation plummet.
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Twitter tests ‘notes’ feature with 2,500 word limit
Twitter tests notes feature with 2,500 word limit
A new tool that allows users to share “notes” up to 2,500 words long is being tested by Twitter. Posts on the social media site are often limited to 280 characters. The tech giant Twitter claimed that the change was in reaction to users’ using the service to post images of longer announcements and direct followers to external newsletters.
Also Read: Google engineer says Lamda AI system may have its own feelings
Where this Twitter word limit feature is tested?
A limited group of writers from Canada, Ghana, the UK, and the US will participate in the test, which will last two months.
By allowing readers to see a headline and access the entire message by clicking on a link, the new feature seeks to keep audiences within the Twitter ecosystem.
The ability to include gifs, images, and other elements will allow authors to create long-form writings that can be read both on and off Twitter. After they have been published, notes can still be updated.
The business said, announcing the new Notes offering, “Writers have relied on Twitter to publish their work, get seen, be read, spark discourse – everything but the actual writing – since the platform’s earliest days.”
“With Notes, the goal is to fill in that missing piece.”
Also Read: Instagram launches ‘limits’ to hide abusive messages
The action comes after Twitter bought Dutch newsletter start-up Revue last year. The ability to include gifs, images, and other elements will allow authors to create long-form writings that can be read both on and off Twitter. After they have been published, notes can still be updated.
“Adding this extra capability means that Twitter is now in a position to compete with some of the popular blogging platforms and potentially attract a new audience and a different type of user.” [BBC]
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Google engineer says Lamda AI system may have its own feelings
Do Lamda AI have feelings?
One of Google’s artificial intelligence (AI) systems may have its own sentiments, according to a Google engineer, and its “wants” should be honored. According to Google, The Language Model for Dialogue Applications (Lamda) is a groundbreaking technology that can engage in free-flowing dialogues. Engineer Blake Lemoine, on the other hand, believes that beneath Lamda’s excellent speaking talents is a sentient mind.
Google’s statement on Blake Lemoine’s discovery
Google denies the assertions, claiming that there is no evidence to support them. Mr Lemoine “was told that there was no evidence that Lamda was sentient (and lots of evidence against it),” according to Brian Gabriel, a corporate representative, in a statement provided to the BBC.
To back up his assertions, Mr Lemoine, who has been placed on paid leave, disclosed a chat he and a colleague at the firm had with Lamda.
Is Lamda AI actually sentient?
That’s not all, for decades, philosophers, psychologists, and computer scientists have argued over whether computers may be sentient. Moreover, many people have scoffed at the notion that a system like Lamda could be conscious or have emotions.
Mr Lemoine is accused of anthropomorphising. Or placing human feelings onto words generated by computer code and enormous language databases. Prof Erik Brynjolfsson [Stanford] also tweeted that “To claim systems like Lamda were sentient is the modern equivalent of the dog who heard a voice from a gramophone and thought his master was inside.”
[Courtesy BBC] While Google engineers have praised Lamda’s abilities. One telling the Economist how they “increasingly felt like I was talking to something intelligent”. They are clear that their code does not have feelings.
Mr Gabriel further said: “These systems imitate the types of exchanges found in millions of sentences. And can riff on any fantastical topic. If you ask what it’s like to be an ice cream dinosaur, they can generate text about melting and roaring and so on. “Lamda tends to follow along with prompts and leading questions, going along with the pattern set by the user.”
Also Read: The Log4j security bug risk the entire internet here’s what you should know
Some ethicists say that the fact that an expert like Mr Lemoine can be persuaded there is a mind in the machine demonstrates the need for corporations to inform people when they are interacting with a machine.
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