Watch Computer Scientist Answers Computer Questions From Twitter | Tech Support

Hello world.

My name is Professor David J. Malan,

I teach computer science at Harvard,

and I’m here today to answer your questions from Twitter.

This is Computer Science Support.

[upbeat music]

First up from tadproletarian,

How do search engines work so fast?

Well, the short answer really is distributed computing,

which is to say that Google and Bing,

and other such search engines,

they don’t just have one server

and they don’t even have just one really big server,

rather they have hundreds, thousands,

probably hundreds of thousands or more servers nowadays

around the world.

And so when you and I go in and to Google or Bing

and maybe type in a word to search for like, cats,

it’s quite possible that when you hit enter

and that keyword like cats is sent over the internet

to Google or to Bing, it’s actually spread out ultimately

across multiple servers,

some of which are grabbing the first 10 results,

some of which are grabbing the next 10 results,

the next 10 results,

so that you see just one collection of results,

but a lot of those ideas,

a lot of those search results came from different places.

And this eliminates

what could potentially be a bottleneck of sorts

if all of the information you needed

had to come from one specific server

that might very well be busy when you have that question.

Nick asks, Will computer programming jobs be taken

over by AI within the next 5 to 10 years?

This is such a frequently asked question nowadays

and I don’t think the answer will be yes.

And I think we’ve seen evidence of this already

in that early on when people were creating websites,

they were literally writing out code

in a language called HTML by hand.

But then of course, software came along,

tools like Dreamweaver that you could download

on your own computer

that would generate some of that same code for you.

More recently though, now you can just sign up for websites

like Squarespace, and Wix, and others

whereby click, click, click

and the website is generated for you.

So I dare say certainly in some domains,

that AI is really just an evolution of that trend

and it hasn’t put humans out of business

as much as it has made you and AI much more productive.

AI, I think, and the ability soon to be able

to program with natural language

is just going to enhance what you and I

can already do logically, but much more mechanically.

And I think too it’s worth considering

that there’s just so many bugs

or mistakes in software in the world

and there’s so many features

that humans wish existed in products present and future

that are to-do list, so to speak,

is way longer than we’ll ever have time

to finish in our lifetimes.

And so I think the prospect

of having an artificial intelligence boost our productivity

and work alongside us, so to

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Is Meta’s new Threads a lot more than a Twitter copycat? | Technological innovation News

Meta has formally released Threads, its text-dependent rival to Twitter.

The app went dwell on Wednesday on Apple and Android application outlets in far more than 100 international locations although its launch in Europe has been delayed over data privacy fears.

In spite of that, in just about 18 hrs of its launch it had racked up more than 30 million sign-ups, posing the 1st actual menace to Elon Musk-owned Twitter.

“Let’s do this. Welcome to Threads,” Meta Chief Govt and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg wrote in his 1st article on the new platform, which will run with no adverts for now.

Below is what you need to have to know about the Threads system:

Is Threads basically a clone of Twitter?

In some strategies, of course. A great deal like Twitter, the new app features short text posts that end users can like, share and reply to even though some of the wording has been changed with retweets called “reposts” and tweets named “threads”.

Posts can be up to 500 figures very long, almost double that of a tweet, and can contain hyperlinks, photographs and videos up to five minutes very long, in accordance to a Meta blog site post.

1 key change from Twitter is Threads does not consist of any immediate messaging abilities.

The launch of Meta’s new product arrives at a time when Musk’s chaotic ownership of Twitter has led to concerns about the long run of the social media system. Can Threads turn into the go-to communication channel for celebrities, organizations and politicians?

“It’ll acquire some time, but I assume there should be a general public conversations application with one billion+ individuals on it. Twitter has experienced the prospect to do this but hasn’t nailed it. Hopefully, we will,” Zuckerberg said in a Threads write-up.

A spin-off from Instagram

Threads will want Twitter’s viewers, and it is no startup. It is crafted on the back again of Instagram, which is owned by Meta, and presents Threads access to a developed-in viewers of much more than 2 billion users, sparing it the challenge of setting up from scratch.

People can log in utilizing their Instagram credentials and comply with the very same accounts, potentially producing it an simple addition to current behaviors for Instagram’s buyers.

In a article released on Thursday, Instagram chief Adam Mosseri reported the system is crafted for “public conversations” and the enterprise was looking to “bring some of what we have created for shots and movies on Instagram to Threads with text”.

He extra that Meta hoped individuals would interact with the system in “friendly and open” discussions.

Mosseri also mentioned Meta was seeking to combine the ActivityPub protocol, the technological innovation driving the Mastodon server and community, which could most likely permit Instagram buyers to have their followers into Threads.

Analysts claimed investors have been psyched more than the likelihood that Threads’ ties to Instagram could give it a constructed-in user base and promotion apparatus. That could siphon significant promotion revenue

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Previous Twitter CEO talks Musk takeover, censorship and AI menace | Technologies Information

In an interview with Breaking Details, Jack Dorsey discusses Elon Musk, Twitter controversies, absolutely free speech, and the probable of synthetic intelligence.

Twitter’s previous CEO Jack Dorsey has supplied an job interview to Breaking Factors in his to start with media physical appearance since stepping down from the social media large in 2021.

Following touching on Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover and surrounding controversies, Dorsey also dealt with censorship battles with governments, his look at of Twitter’s part in the totally free-speech discussion, as effectively as the long term of artificial intelligence engineering.

Dorsey mentioned he was content when Musk designed moves to become more associated with Twitter.

“At the pretty start off, I was hoping for decades that [Musk] would, and I asked him a lot of moments to be a part of our board at minimum. But when he determined to make a bid for the organization, or sign up for the board and then make a bid for the business … it felt excellent,” mentioned Dorsey.

“Elon is our variety one particular user … He recognized the system deeply.”

While Musk “had the option to again out” following his court docket brawl with the firm, Dorsey mentioned this “set up a dynamic where [Musk] had to be very hasty” and make swift decisions that “weren’t thoroughly assumed out”.

“It all seemed pretty reckless, but I do have assurance that he’ll determine it out,” claimed Dorsey.

Free-speech discussion

Musk adopted a plan making it possible for something to exist on the platform as extended as it is permissible by legislation. This, according to Dorsey, gave nations these as India and Turkey a motive to ask for details and censorship from Twitter.

Dorsey included that India, Nigeria, and Turkey experienced threatened to shut Twitter down except it complied with orders to limit accounts, an accusation the Indian government dismissed as an “outright lie”.

Touching on the Twitter Data files – a trove of paperwork unveiled late very last calendar year that in-depth strain from organizations and governments to censor written content – Dorsey explained some of what came out was “questionable”, but extra a great deal of the facts, “I in no way saw”.

“I was astonished by the level of engagement with government agencies,” he said, but concluded his personnel “generally did the right thing”, primarily through the controversy surrounding Hunter Biden’s laptop computer.

AI: Regulation or reward? 

Since the birth of Open up Supply AI in modern years, some analysts have sounded the alarm about its prospective dangers and the grim results it could have on societies all over the environment. Dorsey said pausing AI is unrealistic, at the very least not on an worldwide scale.

“I consider that is unquestionably critical that we all have accessibility to these technologies and persons can create on prime of it and we can essentially see how they work,” he explained.

On the other hand, regulation is desired as AI gets to be “trendy”, he claimed, noting the existence of

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Twitter Blue people who finished subscriptions even now have examine marks

Right before Ryan Garcia acquired Twitter Blue, he was unverified on the platform. He hoped that obtaining a membership to the support, which provides verification and other features, would assist him attain a wider audience.

But he uncovered the company cumbersome and resolved to unsubscribe, last spending for the service in February. 

To his shock, even though, Twitter has however to take out his confirmed examine mark.

Garcia is between 8 former Twitter Blue subscribers who spoke to NBC Information who received verification by the support, canceled their memberships, and have retained their check marks months previous the close of their subscriptions.

“If I woke up tomorrow and I saw my verification badge was gone, I would be overjoyed,” Garcia explained.

The Twitter Blue customers explained being discouraged with their ongoing verification, declaring they’re subjected to dayslong assessments when they want to adjust possibly their profile photo or their show title. In spite of however getting verified, they no for a longer period have access to an edit button or extensive-sort tweets, which are benefits of the subscription. Technologies news web-site Gizmodo initially documented that some Twitter Blue end users retained their verification right after canceling their subscriptions.

Their tales about their unwelcome membership challenges increase to a portrait of chaos close to Elon Musk’s rollout of Twitter’s paid verification procedure — a main factor of Musk’s system to revitalize the company’s finances. The system claimed it would start out sunsetting “legacy” blue verify marks Saturday, but as of Tuesday evening, most nonetheless experienced confirmed accounts. Just one higher-profile test-mark elimination was that of The New York Occasions, which dropped verification right after saying it wouldn’t spend for Twitter Blue.

For the after-shelling out customers who spoke to NBC Information, the glitchiness of Twitter Blue is considerably par for the course considering that Musk took in excess of the web site. A lot of reported they uncover the platform to be glitchier and fewer reliable under Musk’s ownership and Twitter Blue is no unique. 

Evren Durmaz, 27, started subscribing to Twitter Blue on Christmas Day. He explained, as someone who has utilized the system due to the fact 2011, he preferred the expertise of possessing a blue verify up coming to his identify. Nevertheless, he established a reminder on his cellphone to terminate his subscription a thirty day period later in January. Following he canceled, though, his verify mark did not go absent.

James, a Twitch streamer who goes by Chainbrain on social media and requested that NBC Information withhold his previous name to preserve his privateness, purchased Twitter Blue to assistance raise his visibility on the system. He purchased the membership on Feb. 3 and canceled it around a week afterwards when he realized his show identify and image would be subject to review when they were adjusted. 

James mentioned he utilizes a third-occasion software that changes his username to “Chainbrain is stay now” when he goes reside on Twitch.

“I wasn’t capable to transform it

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Elon Musk Suspends Journalists on Twitter Who Report on Him

Twitter abruptly suspended the accounts of at least 6 tech journalists on Thursday, such as reporters for The New York Occasions, The Washington Write-up and CNN.

Many of the reporters experienced recently tweeted about a dispute concerning Elon Musk, the social network’s new operator, and a consumer who ran a collection of now-suspended accounts that utilised publicly available flight info to track the area of private jets, like the one used by Musk. 

The suspensions, which appear to have transpired all around 4:30 p.m. PT, incorporate Washington Submit technologies reporter Drew Harwell, New York Periods technological know-how reporter Ryan Mac and CNN reporter Donie O’Sullivan.

Aaron Rupar, a Substack writer who was also suspended Thursday, said he is dumbfounded by his suspension.

“I have no strategy what procedures I purportedly broke,” Rupar wrote on Substack. “I haven’t read anything at all from Twitter at all.”

Rupar explained he “posted a tweet late final evening noting that Musk appeared to violate Twitter’s plan in opposition to publishing footage of anyone without having their consent in a tweet he posted yesterday. But it really is challenging to picture how either of those people points violated Twitter’s procedures.”

Twitter on Wednesday suspended the @ElonJet account, alongside with other accounts that tracked the personal planes of Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and Invoice Gates, right after updating its privateness coverage to prohibit submitting or linking to information about a person’s physical area or journey route, regardless of regardless of whether the details is publicly readily available.

Immediately after suspending @ElonJet, Musk tweeted that “any account doxxing genuine-time spot facts of everyone will be suspended, as it is a physical security violation. This consists of putting up backlinks to web-sites with real-time location details.” 

Doxxing is the apply of posting determining information about an unique online, these kinds of as their authentic name, home handle or cellphone selection.

The coverage modify arrived a day following Musk claimed a single of his little ones was subjected to an incident involving a “outrageous stalker” in Los Angeles. Even so, O’Sullivan’s account was suspended right after tweeting a statement from the Los Angeles Law enforcement Office that it was in get hold of with Musk’s stability group but that “no criminal offense studies have been submitted yet.”

Late Thursday evening, Musk engaged in a Twitter Spaces discussion with a team of journalists and longtime associate Jason Calacanis about the suspensions just before rapidly withdrawing from the job interview when pressed for extra specifics about the suspensions. Twitter subsequently shut down the Areas element, but it was up and working once again Friday early morning.

Twitter, which no longer has a communications section, didn’t straight away reply to a request for remark. But Musk responded to a tweet about the suspensions with a a single-sentence response that study: “Exact doxxing policies implement to ‘journalists’ as to absolutely everyone else.”

He later on tweeted that doxxing suspensions will very last for 7 days.

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Twitter locks staff out of offices until next week

‘Chief Twit’ takes control

Musk completes his $44bn (£38.1bn) takeover of Twitter, immediately firing a number of the company’s top executives and tweeting “the bird is freed”.

Before officially taking charge of the company, Musk changed his Twitter profile to read “Chief Twit” and turned up to Twitter HQ in San Francisco carrying a sink, saying: “Let that sink in!”

Pledge made over hate speech

Musk responds to concerns that he will loosen regulations at the company governing hate speech and misinformation by saying he’s “not yet made any changes”. He adds that a new “content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints” will meet before any policy changes.

Platform battles ‘trolling campaign’

After a surge in tweets containing racist language, Twitter’s head of trust and safety says: “Hateful conduct has no place here.” Yoel Roth says the company is taking action against users “involved in this trolling campaign” to make Twitter safe and welcoming for everyone.

Musk shares inaccurate story

Musk tweets an article containing a number of inaccuracies about an attack on the husband of US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi by a hammer-wielding intruder. The site has a history of publishing inaccurate stories and Musk later deletes the tweet after a backlash.

Trump return dismissed – for now

With just over a week to go before the US midterm elections, Musk responds to questions about whether he will reinstate former President Donald Trump’s account on Twitter by tweeting: “If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me if Trump is coming back on this platform, Twitter would be minting money!”


Image copyright by Getty Images

Later that day, Musk attended a halloween party in New York and posed for photographs wearing a “Devil’s champion” costume.

Criticism over subscription service

Following reports that Twitter will begin charging users to have verified accounts, Musk responds to criticism from author Stephen King by saying: “We need to pay the bills somehow!”.

Musk moves to cut staff numbers

Employees at the company begin receiving emails entitled “Your Role at Twitter” informing them whether they have lost their jobs. Responding to news about the layoffs, Musk says “unfortunately there is no choice when the company is losing over $4M/day”.

Yoel Roth, the head of trust and safety, said 50% of the company’s nearly 8,000 employees had been laid off but sought to reassure users and advertisers that the platform’s moderation capacity remained intact.

Twitter founder breaks silence

Twitter co-founder and ex-CEO Jack Dorsey breaks his silence over the Musk takeover to apologise to staff who have lost their jobs, saying: “I own the responsibility for why everyone is in this situation: I grew the company size too quickly.”

Crackdown on parody accounts

Musk announces that Twitter accounts impersonating people without being clearly labelled a parody will be permanently suspended – a change to the previous process when accounts were given a

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