Tech

Twitter to show ‘half ads’ to Blue subscribers. 2 other stories and a trivia

Published

1 year ago

April 6, 2023

Ripples Nigeria

This line-up of stories will help you discover the latest happenings around the tech world, today

1. Twitter to show ‘half ads’ to Blue subscribers

Twitter is introducing new features for Blue members, including the ability to see 50% fewer advertisements in their timeline than free users and an increase in search visibility.

Twitter made the announcement describing the feature on its page on Thursday.

The social media platform noted that the feature does not apply to advertising displayed in replies or on profiles as well as trending accounts, sponsored accounts, or promote events on the Explore tab.

“As you scroll, you will see approximately twice as many organic or non-promoted Tweets placed in between promoted Tweets or ads. There may be times when there are more or fewer non-promoted Tweets between promoted Tweets,” Twitter’s description of the feature says.

However, Twitter stated that the half-ads functionality would only be available after a subscriber’s profile had been examined and given the verification seal.

Tech Trivia: Which of the following components is most commonly overclocked?A. CPU
B. SSD
C. HDD
D. Monitor
Answer: see end of post

2. Crypto exchange, Paxful, halts operations

Peer-to-peer (P2P) cryptocurrency marketplace, Paxful, has announced halting operations.

The Founder and CEO, Ray Youssef disclosed this in a statement on Thursday.

Paxful bills itself as a peer-to-peer (P2P) cryptocurrency marketplace that allows users to buy and sell Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies using various payment methods such as bank transfers, credit and debit cards, and even gift cards.

In order to empower Nigerians through Bitcoin education, Paxful established the PaxNaija Education Center in 2021.

They also organized a number of campus tours and workshops to promote entrepreneurship, as well as meetings with hundreds of members of the local community to promote financial literacy.

“Today, Paxful will be suspending its marketplace. We are not sure if it will come back.

“This will probably come as a big shock to many. While I cannot share the full story now, I can say that we unfortunately have had some key staff departures,” explained the CEO.

The CEO blamed regulatory challenges for the industry especially in the peer-to-peer market in the U.S. as part of the reasons for winding down.

3. Google strengthens restrictions on Personal Loan App

Google has announced plans to strengthen restrictions for Personal Loan Apps to shield consumers against abuse.

This was contained in the tech giant’s updated Personal Loans policy seen by Ripples Nigeria on Thursday.

Google said it will disallow personal loan apps from accessing sensitive user data such as photos, videos, and contacts in response to the growing issue of predatory lending practices and harassment of borrowers.

“Apps that provide personal loans, or have the primary purpose of facilitating access to personal loans (i.e., lead generators or facilitators), are prohibited from accessing sensitive data, such as photos and contacts,” Google stated.

Ripples Nigeria understands that the development is in response to reports and worrying trends where borrowers who obtained credit through mobile apps have faced harassment from debt collectors.

Trivia Answer: CPU

Overclocking involves increasing the clock speed of the computer’s CPU past the rate at which it was originally designed to run.

Some ways to overclock a processor include increasing the CPU’s operating speed in the system BIOS or changing the hardware jumper settings for the processor.

By Kayode Hamsat

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