In the six months since Elon Musk finalized the Twitter acquisition, the billionaire has turned the platform on its head by overhauling how it decides which accounts to check.
Once issued to authenticate a limited number of accounts from celebrities, government agencies and media organizations, the coveted checkmark is now available for purchase through Twitter Blue’s subscription service. The result: more checks and more confusion.
There were at least 550,000 Twitter Blue followers as of April 23, according to estimates provided to CNN by Travis Browne, a Berlin-based software developer, just days after Musk stripped all users of the outdated blue checks. In comparison, over 400,000 accounts were verified with stale blue checks prior to being cleared.
But with Musk gifting the favor to some celebrities, it’s unclear how much customers are actually paying. It’s also unclear how much more Twitter can increase followers, which Musk has made the centerpiece of his plan to boost Twitter’s revenue.
The change in Twitter’s review process is just one of the many ways Musk has rocked the company since taking over Twitter in October. He fired 80% of his staff and changed the site’s policies, drawing criticism for how the moves could affect security and transparency. Many top advertisers have left the platform, and Musk valued it at about $20 billion last month, less than half of what he paid for it.
But one of Musk’s boldest and most ambitious changes was Twitter Blue. Advertised as a successor to the old checkout system, the subscription model allows anyone to pay $8 a month for a blue badge and other features like priority ranking in conversations and search.
The backlash was swift. Twitter Blue has sowed chaos and confusion. The program was initially suspended just a few days after it was launched, when the account impersonate Pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company tweeted that “insulin is now free,” sending stocks plummeting.
More recently, the removal of blue checks has brought about a cultural change on the platform. Once a popular status symbol, many users find the blue badge not cool anymore. Last week, after the blue tick started appearing on prominent accounts, celebs like Lil Nas X and Chrissy Teigen furiously rejected service payment.
Here’s a look at the rise and fall of the blue Twitter badge:
Everyone needs a reliable both fast internet and a good router can help. The trick is to figure out how a complex tangle of standards, confusing acronyms, and sci-fi features translates into the best Wi-Fi in your home. Join us as we lift the veil to reveal important facts about Wi-Fi, routers, mesh systems and other jargon. Hopefully by the end you will be better prepared to buy a router.
Updated April 2023: We’ve added information about Ethernet, Wi-Fi 6E, and Wi-Fi 7, updated the latest broadband speeds, updated our minimum recommendations, and added an explanation of the SSID.
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Who is your ISP?
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) connect your home to the Internet and usually send you a modem and router (sometimes in the same device). The modem connects your home to the wider Internet, the router connects to the modem, and you connect all of your gadgets—wired or wireless—to the router to access that connection. ISPs often charge you rent for this equipment, and their routers are usually simple in terms of performance and features. The good news is that ISPs are no longer legally allowed to force you to use their equipment or charge you for usage. your own equipmentalthough you may still have to return their items to avoid charges.
In this guide, we mainly cover using your own router and your ISP’s modem. By using your own, you can potentially save money in the long run, but you can also enjoy faster Wi-Fi, better coverage, easier setup, and extra features like parental controls and guest Wi-Fi networks. We’ll take a look at your router options, but whichever system you choose, check compatibility with your ISP before purchasing. You can also search your ISP’s forums for posts where people discuss using different routers and modems. A little research before buying can save you a lot of headaches down the road.
What kind of routers do you need?
Photographer: Netgir
There are different ways to speed up Wi-Fi, and buying a new router is one of the most obvious. To help you decide on the type of router, calculate the approximate square footage of your home before you begin.
one router
The easiest solution for most people is to choose a single router or a combination of router and modem. Keep in mind that this device must be connected to your existing outlet or modem via an Ethernet cable, which limits where you can place it. The Wi-Fi signal will be strongest near the router and will gradually decrease and slow down as you move away. If you can, place your router in the center of your home and leave it outdoors.
Routers should always specify square meters for coverage, but certain types of structures—thick walls, insulation, and other devices—can interfere with Wi-Fi signals, so don’t expect to be able to enjoy full-speed Wi-Fi over long distances. Powerful routers with wide coverage are often large devices with multiple external antennas, but they are usually very expensive.
grid systems
If you have a large house and want solid coverage in your garden, or have thick walls and certain dead zones with your current setup, then a Wi-Fi mesh network might be the answer. Mesh systems consist of a central hub that connects just like a single router, plus additional satellites or nodes that you can place throughout your home.
Devices connect to the Internet through the nearest node, so you can achieve wider Wi-Fi coverage and a more reliable connection in different areas by adding a node. Just keep in mind that each node will need an outlet. Mesh systems are generally more expensive than single router systems (although not always), but they improve coverage and reliability, and often have additional features and management options. They also tend to be smaller than regular routers and are generally designed to blend in with your décor.
Most mesh systems are expandable, and some manufacturers allow you to link individual routers to create a mesh, so you can start with one router and add more as needed. Just make sure you understand which devices are compatible. For example, any Asus router that supports AiMesh can work as part of a mesh system, but TP-Link OneMesh technology only allows compatible Wi-Fi extenders to be added – you can’t link routers together.
Alternatives to a new router
Photographer: Eskay Lim/Getty Images
If your issue is more about coverage and you have one problem room where you want to improve Wi-Fi, or a particular device that needs a faster connection, you may not need to buy a new router. Try one of these options. Each of them has its own technical problems and potential problems. Even if successfully deployed, they won’t match the convenience of a good mesh system, but they’re all much cheaper.
Ethernet cables
Before Wi-Fi was ubiquitous, we relied on Ethernet cables to connect computers and other devices to routers. Ethernet connections are much faster, more stable, and more secure than Wi-Fi (or whatever option we suggest here). The downside is that the device you want to connect must have an Ethernet port and you need to run a cable from the router to the device. If you need to run Ethernet cables at multiple locations, use an Ethernet switch. With a switch, you can connect one cable from your router and run multiple cables to different devices. Anyone looking to get the best performance out of a mesh system should also consider running Ethernet cables between the main router and the nodes to create a wired backhaul that leaves Wi-Fi bands free for your devices to connect to.
Power Line Adapters
Power line adapters, sold in pairs, carry the Internet signal through your electrical wiring. You plug one into an outlet near the router and connect it with an ethernet cable, and the other power line adapter plugs into an outlet in the room where you need faster internet. They can be a good solution if you have a console or smart TV in the living room at the back of the house, and your router is located in the hallway, for example. Unfortunately, efficiency is highly dependent on your electrical wiring.
MoCA (Coaxial Cable Multimedia Alliance)
If you already have coaxial cables installed in your home (for example, for cable TV), you can use them to create a reliable wired network that provides high speeds and low latency compared to Wi-Fi. You can buy routers, network adapters, or Wi-Fi extenders that support MoCA standard. Similar to power line adapters, this can be a great way to pass an internet signal to a smart TV, game console, or desktop that isn’t receiving a strong Wi-Fi signal.
WiFi repeaters
You can use Wi-Fi repeaters to slightly extend the Wi-Fi from a single router and potentially boost the signal in a dead zone. These devices are a good solution for some people, but they can be inefficient, prone to interference, and often create a secondary network with a different name than your regular Wi-Fi.
access points
If you don’t mind the hassle and have a spare old router, you can set it up as an access point or use it as a Wi-Fi extender. This can be especially effective if you can connect it to your main router with a cable, but setup can be tricky.
Photographer: Getty Images
There are many things to consider when you are trying to decide how fast your router should be. The maximum speed of your internet is determined by your ISP. Internet speed is indicated in Mbps (megabits per second). The average global fixed broadband speed is 79 Mbps for download and 34 Mbps for upload. Ookla speed test. Most ISPs claim up to a certain speed or give you a range like 300 Mbps for download and 30 Mbps for upload, but what you actually get is often below the maximum (especially download speeds) and it should be shared among all of you. connected devices.
Back in November, Nintendo and app developer DeNA announced its joint venture called Nintendo Systems to help strengthen Nintendo’s business and “create value-added services”. according to Japanese Nintendo website. The companies officially launched the Nintendo Systems website today.
“Nintendo Systems was formed in April 2023, led by a team of engineers from Nintendo and DeNA, to create a system that makes it easy to deliver Nintendo entertainment to consumers,” Nintendo and DeNA wrote in a post posted on the new site. Nintendo systems website (free translation from Japanese into English).
The eight-year partnership between Nintendo and DeNA dates back to 2015. The companies have worked together on various games such as Super Mario Run, Mario Kart Tour, Pokémon Masters and Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp among others.
“The technologies surrounding the Internet are changing at breakneck speed day by day and are becoming more and more complex. Under these circumstances, Nintendo Systems will build on the trust that has been established between Nintendo and DeNA over the course of more than seven years of partnership and use Nintendo originality and knowledge of DeNA technologies as the driving force to create new innovations for the world. “, the companies added.
It is not yet known exactly what the two companies are currently working on together. No games or software have been announced at this time.
TechCrunch has reached out to Nintendo for comment.
Tetsuya Sasaki of Nintendo is President of Nintendo Systems. In 1995, Sasaki joined the company as a software engineer in the entertainment analysis and development department. He is credited with working on games such as The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Animal Crossing: Wild World, Wii Sports, and Mario Kart DS.
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil. ISPs and wireless carriers in Brazil ended their blocking of Telegram on Saturday after a federal judge partially overturned a decision to suspend the social media app for failing to provide data on neo-Nazi activity.
However, the judge upheld a daily fine of 1 million reais (about $200,000) for Telegram’s refusal to release the data, according to a press statement provided by the federal court that ruled.
A total suspension “is unreasonable, given the widespread influence throughout the country of the freedom of communication of thousands of people who are completely unfamiliar with the facts under investigation,” Judge Flavio Lucas was quoted in a statement.
Telegram was temporarily put on hold amid a police investigation into a school shooting in November, when a former student armed with a semi-automatic pistol and wearing a bulletproof vest shot dead three people and wounded 13 after breaking into two schools in the small town of Aracruz in Espirito. Santo State.
The court statement said the 16-year-old was a member of extremist Telegram channels that distributed manuals on assassinations and bomb-making.
The federal police ordered Telegram to provide details of channel members’ names, tax identification numbers, profile photos, banking information, and registered credit cards, and later disputed Telegram’s claim that it could not comply because the channel had been suspended, the court said in a statement. .
Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov said in a statement on Thursday that the company is appealing the ban imposed the day before across Brazil, saying compliance is “technologically impossible” and arguing that Telegram’s mission is to protect privacy and freedom of speech.
The company says in an online FAQ that it has never shared user data with any government.
It is unclear how much of the requested data Telegram can provide. Only a phone number is required to create a Telegram account, and pseudonyms are commonly used. In addition, starting in December, Telegram offered the possibility of creating accounts with anonymous numbers.
The court statement noted Telegram’s “past clashes with the judiciary” in Brazil. Last year, Supreme Court Justice Alexander de Moraes ordered the shutdown of Telegram across the country, alleging that it was not cooperating with the authorities. It lasted two days and was withdrawn after Durov accused his company of an initial lack of response to the communications mess.
“Technology companies must understand that cyberspace cannot be a free territory, another world… with its own rules, created and managed by agents who use it for commercial purposes,” Lucas, the judge in the current case, said in a statement Saturday.
Brazil is fighting a wave of school attacks. Since 2000, there have been almost two dozen attacks or episodes of violence in schools that have helped them over the past 12 months, including the murder of four children in a kindergarten on April 5th.
The Brazilian federal government is committed to eradicating school violence with a focus on the impact of social media. The aim is to prevent further incidents, in particular to hold platforms accountable for not removing content that is believed to be inciting to violence.
The regulation of social media platforms was a recurring theme earlier this month when President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva met with his cabinet, Supreme Court judges, governors and mayors.
Telegram has been blocked in the past by other governments including Iran, China and Russia.
Durov, an ethnic Russian whose company is based in the United Arab Emirates, has managed to coexist with the Kremlin despite his crackdown on speeches and Western media following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine last year.
Patriot hackers loyal to the Kremlin are using the app to organize cyberattacks on Ukrainian and NATO targets. The other side uses it to fight back.
Security researchers and intelligence agencies regularly monitor certain Telegram groups, with a particular focus on ransomware gangs and other cybercriminals, disinformation providers, terrorist groups and others who incite violence.
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AP Technology journalist Frank Badjak of Boston contributed to this report.
