Tag: restores
Twitter restores free API access for emergency, weather and transportation alerts
Twitter’s decision to shut off its free API caused more than a few problems for public institutions that depend on the functionality, and the company is clearly ready to backtrack. The social network has restored free access to the app programming framework for verified government and publicly-owned services that use the tool for “critical purposes” such as emergency notifications, transportation updates and weather alerts.
The social media giant outlined a three-tier pricing strategy for its API in March. Normally, free access is limited to bots and testers that only need to write posts. It allows just 1,500 tweets per month and one app ID, which can be limiting for creators that need frequent updates. Basic access costs $100 per month with fixed caps on tweets, while businesses have to use multiple enterprise-level tiers to meet their needs. These can cost tens of thousands of dollars per month.
One of the most important use cases for the Twitter API has always been public utility. Verified gov or publicly owned services who tweet weather alerts, transport updates and emergency notifications may use the API, for these critical purposes, for free.
— Twitter Dev (@TwitterDev) May 2, 2023
The shutoff broke numerous apps and services that relied on the free API for sharing and content streams, such as Flipboard’s reader. It also created issues for developers willing to pay for access, including Echobox. While Twitter had warned that a cutoff was coming at some point, it didn’t notify customers of the exact timing and did little to explain the impact.
Government services faced extra pain. New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority said it would stop posting service alerts on Twitter after it faced a $50,000 per month fee for access. Microsoft also pulled Twitter from its social media tool for advertisers, and disabled Twitter screenshot sharing for Windows and Xbox gamers.
Twitter under Elon Musk’s leadership has clamped down on previously free functionality in a bid to both control more of the experience and shift more of its revenue to subscriptions. It banned third-party clients, for example, and required a Blue membership for some verified checkmarks. This latest move is an acknowledgment that the strategy creates problems, particularly for governments eager to provide vital information through as many channels as possible.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/twitter-restores-free-api-access-for-emergency-weather-and-transportation-alerts-204519574.html?src=rss
Twitter Restores Blue Tick To High Profile Accounts
Some Twitter users with more than one million followers have had their blue ticks re-instated, without paying to subscribe. …
The post Twitter Restores Blue Tick To High Profile Accounts appeared first on TechRound.
The US Supreme Court Restores Access to Abortion Pills—for Now
Bethesda sale slashes Skyrim and Fallout, and restores original Doom 3
A huge Bethesda sale is underway, with Fallout New Vegas, The Evil Within 2, Wolfenstein The New Colossus, Dishonored, and the Elder Scrolls games Oblivion and Skyrim all available at a discount, as GOG drops prices as part of a dedicated developer event. More intriguing however, the original, 2004 version of Doom 3 has been released as part of the BFG Edition, with the classic FPS game and its multiplayer also available as part of the sale. If you want to play the id Software shooter as was originally intended, now’s your chance.
Meta restores Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts
As promised, Meta has restored former president Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts, two years after it suspended him from both platforms. The company previously said it would apply extra “guardrails” to his accounts to “deter repeat offenses.”
Meta, like Twitter and other services, kicked Trump off of its platforms in January 2021 after he praised those participating in the Capitol Hill insurrection. The company initially locked the accounts for 24 hours over two policy violations before it suspended him indefinitely. Meta’s Oversight Board was among those who criticized the handling of the ban.
The company later said Trump’s accounts would remain suspended for two years, after which it would reassess things. In late January, it emerged that Trump would soon regain access to the platforms, not long after it was reported that he had pushed Meta to restore his accounts.
By 2:30PM ET, Trump, who is running for the White House for a third time, had not posted anything on either platform. He has an agreement with his “free speech” app Truth Social, whereby he has to share social media posts there first and can’t plop them anywhere else for at least six hours. Twitter restored Trump’s account on its service late last year, but he hasn’t returned to what was once his favored social media platform either. Maybe he’s still too butthurt about that one thing Chrissy Teigen wrote about him.
Twitter restores suicide-prevention feature after briefly removing it
Twitter says it’s working on bringing back the #ThereIsHelp banner, a feature that pointed users to suicide prevention hotlines and other safety resources when searching for certain content. On Friday, Reuters reported that the company had removed the safety tool earlier in the week on orders from Elon Musk.
After the outlet published its story, Ella Irwin, Twitter’s head of trust and safety, confirmed the removal but said it was temporary. “We have been fixing and revamping our prompts. They were just temporarily removed while we do that,” she told Reuters. “We expect to have them back up next week.”
On Saturday morning, Musk denied Twitter had ever removed the feature. “The message is actually still up. This is fake news,” Musk wrote on Twitter, adding, “Twitter doesn’t prevent suicide.” When Engadget tired searching for terms like “suicide” and “COVID-19” on Saturday afternoon, the banner did not appear.
1. The message is actually still up. This is fake news.
2. Twitter doesn’t prevent suicide.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 24, 2022
Moving forward, Irwin told Reuters Twitter plans to adopt an approach used by Google. She said the company “does really well with these in their search results and [we] are actually mirroring some of their approach with the changes we are making.”
The disappearance of the #ThereIsHelp banner, even if it was only momentary, led to criticism of Twitter from some consumer safety advocates. Eirliani Abdul Rahman, a former member of the company’s recently dissolved Trust and Safety council, told Reuters she found the event “extremely disconcerting and profoundly disturbing.” Rahman also pointed out companies typically work on safety features “in parallel,” leaving existing ones in place before replacing them.
In the US, you can reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing 988 or 800-273-8255.
Daily Crunch: After glitch causes a two-hour global outage, WhatsApp restores service
Hello, friends, and welcome to Daily Crunch, bringing you the most important startup, tech and venture capital news in a single package.
Daily Crunch: After glitch causes a two-hour global outage, WhatsApp restores service by Christine Hall originally published on TechCrunch
Judgment mod restores actor who was deleted by Sega
Judgment PC mod restores ‘disgraced’ original Hamura actor
A Judgment PC mod restores the original actor for Captain Hamura in the Yakuza spin-off game after he was removed following drug charges in Japan. The surprise arrival of Judgment on PC along with its sequel, Lost Judgment, has opened the door to a variety of user-made tweaks, and this one was always likely to be on the cards. The news of a Judgment actor change at the time of the game’s release was rather dramatic. Pierre Taki, the original Japanese voice actor and likeness for Kyohei Hamura – one of the action game’s most prominent characters – was pulled entirely from the game in dramatic fashion after admitting to cocaine use.