Tag Archives: Twitter

Features that could have made #newtwitter more fun

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While Newtwitter is getting rolled out in phases and might change various avatars when it is finally made available for all (meaning there is scope for improvement till we see the final version). Here are some improvements that Twitter can implement to make tweeting seamless and fun:

1. Retweet with comment / editing. Most of us are happy to add various pre-fixes to the tweets than just a plain RT. Anybody +1 ?

2. Auto-Shortening of URL the way Tweetdeck does it using Bit.ly TinyURL, and others (Oh! wait, I know bit.ly might be on the road to deletion by Libya’s DNR. Read more here) and others. Am not sure when the Twitter’s own shortening service T.co is going to be launched but definitely helps in lessening the time spent

3. Ability to upload pictures and videos natively (as in Tweetdeck using services like TwitPic, Yfrog,Posterous etc) instead of uploading them and then pasting the link.

4. Mute or Filter on keywords – There are many a times when an event or a person suddenly creates buzz on twitter and not many of them be to the liking of everyone. So what do you do? Unfollow because of continuous stream of tweets?  What if we had an option to filter or mute based on keywords instead of Unfollowing tweeple. Tweetdeck provides this functionality and believe me it’s an awesome feature.

5. Ability to tweet on HTTPS connection instead of regular plain text. Although it may sound frivolous because what you tweet is going to be on the public domain, but DMs are supposed to be private. Echofon does provide https connection for tweets, but it is not complete.

Would Twitter really incorporate some of these or will it leave it to the API ecosystem in the form of third party vendors to improvise it? Quite amazing …

Any other features that you think will make #NewTwitter much more Fun? I will update interesting ones 😉

 

Libyan Domain Registry shuts down vb.ly

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violet blue

 

Libya has shut down the popular adult URL shortening service http://vb.ly citing violation and non-adherence to Libyan Islamic Shariah law. Since this domain is not hosted in Libya and if you are wondering what Libya has got to do with it, note that: .ly is the top-level Internet country code for Libya and it is registered with Libyan Domain Registry.

Cyber world is abuzz with the action of the Libyan Domain Registry for this action as this can have ramifications on various such domains with catchy names like justin.tv, radioindigo.fm .tv is owned by the Tuvalu, while .fm is owned by Micronesia A similar service called About.me is about to be launched as well. There were pre-registrations for the About.me services, .me is the top level domain for Montenegro

Because of the popularity of the .ly domains for their shortness and familiarity with the word which sound like sil.ly or high.ly they generally carry a high registration price as well. Owners of vb.ly have claimed that they had recently renewed the annual registration by paying a huge sum.

What exactly prompted Libyan NIC to delete the Vb.ly is not very clear but based on writeup of the blogs of Ben Metcalfe & Violet Blue, who own the vb.ly domain it appears that the above picture with bare arms, a bottle, and the words “sex-positive” were cited as obscene, offensive and illegal and that they were “promoting an illegal activity” with the link shortener. Although the website is a single page and serves no content, it is popular for shortening of adult content all over the world.  One has to also note that Libya’s NIC has also said that any domains with less than four characters are under scrutiny prompting questions on the likes of URL shortening services like bit.ly. Following is the notice put up by the registry of Libyan NIC for those wanting to own the .ly domains.

 

Libya NIC .ly Announcment

The famous three of the .ly domains are bit.ly, which is default URL shortening service used by Twitter (Twitter is about to launch its own URL shortening service soon http://t.co), ow.ly used by Hoot suite web service and 3.ly which claims to be the shortest URL shortener in the world.