Twitter under attack, stop using Twitter.com until the problem is fixed.

If you're an user of Twitter, you probably observed today that many of the persons you follow are tweeting strange things. The idea is that there's an exploit in Twitter.com responsible for that. More exactly, the website fails to disallow the "onMouseOver" JavaScript command, which means that if you move the mouse over the offending tweet, you'll automatically retweet that tweet or you will be redirected to another website.

This is how a message like that looks like (DO NOT click on that links!!):

http://a.no/@"onmouseover=";$('textarea:first').val(this.innerHTML);$('.status-update-form').submit()" style="color:#000;background:#000;/

or another one:

http://t.co/@"onmouseover="document.getElementById('status').value='RT Unlevin ';$('.status-update-form').submit();"class="modal-overlay"/

It seems that most third party clients aren't affected by the exploit. Stop using Twitter's official website for now, as the strange messages are still coming in. Anyway, DO NOT click on the websites that tweets are linking to, they can possibly try to insert malicious code in your computer.

Twitter didn't announce anything about this until now, but they'll surely notify users when Twitter.com is safe, so follow status.twitter.com for latest news.

If you haven't got the new Twitter interface (yet), you don't have to worry, you will be getting it soon.

You probably heard about the Twitter's new interface which has been released on Tuesday night (September 14th). I didn't write anything about it because I didn't have time for almost anything on the last few days. So, this is one of the most important changes Twitter did to its official website until now.

However, there are some users who don't see the change even two days after the change has been released (I also don't have it). The change is rolling out progressively, so there might be a few more days to wait for some users to get it. As it writes on its official blog, the update started rolling out on that night for a very small number of accounts, and it's probably still rolling out for some accounts.

What's changed, as I've told you, is the interface which has been redesigned, maintaining its simplicity. Twitter also got more user friendly. It's now possible to view embedded photos and videos from DailyBooth, deviantART, Flickr, Justin.TV, TwitPic, USTREAM, yfrog, YouTube and others. You can now see related content, meaning you can see replies to a tweet, other tweets by a user, the location from where a tweet has been sent, and more. Moreover, you now have "mini profiles", which allows you to view quick information about someones account, without having to leave the page you're on.

Over the following few weeks, both versions of Twitter will be available. The possibility of changing between interfaces allows you to accommodate easier with the new one. We'll see how the users will reaction when the old one won't be available anymore (because there are people who don't like the progress and the change).

Twitter API changed (again), most third-party clients are failing to authenticate.

Twitter announced on its official blog that starting from August 31st, its API is going to be changed. All third-party clients/applications are now logging on via OAuth, a new method of authentication that doesn't require them to store your username and your password anymore (this has the purpose of increasing users' security). This new change requires some changes in all third-party clients/applications, changes that the guys from Twitter say that they have been done.

They say that most clients, such as Echofon, TweetDeck, Twitterific, Seesmic, and Twitter for Android, iOS and BlackBerry are already authenticating through OAuth, which is not true. TweetDeck, Seesmic and Twitter (all on Android), are all refusing to sign in. I've last checked a few minutes ago, and there is no update into the Market (for any of the specified apps) to fix this problem. Bad, very bad, Twitter!

If it's necessary, I can make a video for Twitter (or for any other company providing third-party clients for Twitter), proving that the mentioned clients cannot connect at all.

TweetDeck announces new Beta version for Android, includes few new features.

TweetDeck announced today their new Beta version for Android, v0.9.5. This new version brings some updates and features, such as:

• Full compatibility with all Android 1.6 devices and above.
• Added option to remove Facebook, Buzz and ForeSquare accounts, but also to delete tweets sent by you.
• Added multi-Twitter account compose.
• New More button for Twitter profiles and updates, allowing users to: Reply All, Sharing, Translation, Copy update text, Copy update URL.
• Tapping on top of a column automatically updates that column. 

I really used to be a fan of TweetDeck when I was a user of iOS, but now my favorite Twitter client is HootSuite (both on my Android device and on my computers). TweetDeck seems so unfinished on Android (it's normal, however, as it is still a Beta version), and I think that just the possibility of using other social networks from the same client (such as Facebook or Buzz), isn't a good enough reason just to choose TweetDeck.

The complete changelog of this new Beta version of TweetDeck is available here.

TweetDeck v0.9.5 is available for download from here.

HootSuite say Twitter API is currently experiencing a critical issue that affects some third-party clients.

HootSuite announced on their official blog that Twitter's API is currently experiencing a critical issue, and that is the reason of which some third-party clients (including HootSuite), have some problems. They said that "Home" and "Mention" streams are currently not updating correctly, and this also affects the users of iOS and Android. Additionally, some users may also experience crashes when they try to view certain streams.

They also said that the guys from Twitter are aware of the problem, and they are working in order to fix this.

You can view the current status of Twitter's API here.

Using social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, Myspace or LinkedIn? Then, try HootSuite.

HootSuite is a professional social client, featuring various platforms: Twitter, Facebook, Facebook Page, LinkedIn, Ping.fm, WordPress, MySpace and  Foursquare. I presented you some time ago Seesmic's web service (here), and the main difference between them is that HootSuite is much more complex and supports other platforms, not just Twitter.

There are many things you can do with HootSuite: track results of your websites (only for WordPress), add contributors to your account (who can post from your account), schedule posting at certain time/date, monitor mentions or assign tasks to your contributors. All those in a well organized screen, with a theme of your choice (you have 3 themes to choose from).

Posting is done easily with a large number of options, and with the option of selecting the network on which to post. If you are confused about changing settings, viewing your stats or managing plugins, just hit that owl on the upper left corner of the window.

Go now on http://hootsuite.com/, create an account, and start using all of your social networks from one single place.

Twitter own Android app launched.

Twitter has launched their own Android app, and it is not something extraordinary at all. It connects with your Google contacts (if you want), it has a clear blue interface (maybe too blue) and interesting video effects. I won't explain them, as you can download it yourself and test it.

But what I must tell you related to the effects is that it uses an active background (that blue characteristic clouds are moving), and it seems that this slows my phone down. Considering that this is a Nexus One and I feel that clouds moving, I don't know how this application works on slower devices. Even if the application has many options, the interface makes it seem...a bit too simple.

In my point of view, Seesmic is better than this Twitter app. You can get Twitter's own application via the Android Market by searching "Twitter" (first app).

Seesmic web, or another type of twitter.com .

Seesmic has its own twitter.com like site. It lets you access your twitter account, but with lots of options, like on a dedicated client (such as Tweetdeck). Except that it is just a website. The idea is that it was created especially for incompatible platforms with Seesmic applications (Linux), but it is also great for general use, and it's ideal for slower computers.

The website is really customizable, and its a pleasure to use Twitter via this way (it's much better than on twitter.com). And what I like the most is that you can choose between two skins, a light one (white) and a dark one (black). The website is also available in more languages: English, Chinese (I think), Deutsch, Romanian (this is my language, but I really wasn't expecting this), Portuguese, Spanish and again something like Chinese ( I don't know those languages at all).

Link: http://seesmic.com/app/

Twitter comes to Ubuntu by default, in Lucid Lynx.

The new version of Ubuntu will be having Gwibber installed, a new social client that allows you to connect to

• Twitter
• Flickr
• StatusNet
• Qaiku
• Facebook
• FreindFeed
• Digg
• Identity.ca

Gwibber is already included into Alpha releases of Ubuntu 10.04, and it is a very simple and efficient client. It's easy to be configured, starts fast, moves fast, and it's easy to see your own tweets in the timeline.

Many Twitter accounts were compromised. Again!

After the problem that Twitter had the latest weekend with that phishing attack, Twitter faces now with another one. It consists into sending people DM's with the following content: "hey, i've been having better sex and longer with this here" or "Get bigger and have sex longer", followed by a link that changes continuously. It is not certain on which website you will be redirected to by clicking that link.

This attack is important because anyone can be affected and if you receive one of that DM's from someone you know and trust, your first intention will be to open it. It is not sure, but this attack may have connection to the earlier one.

If you think that your account has been compromised, change your password immediately.

Twitter is under a phishing attack.

In this period an attack is developing on Twitter. It consists into receiving direct messages containing "lol, is that you" or "lol, this is funny, followed by a link. When you enter the link, you will be asked to enter your user and password, and, after this procedure, your account will start sending the same messages. If you got the message, you shouldn't worry, but if your account starts sending these types of messages by its own, change your password immediately.

The messages will take you to a page from allinonecontracting.com, which links after to bzpharma.net. Anything you're doing, do NOT click on these links.

Buzz on...Google!

Google has now its own Twitter-like client, named Buzz. I've tried it, it's pretty interesting, but I found it more complicated than Twitter (that's probably because I'm not familiar with Buzz yet), and it doesn't have any restriction related to number of characters that can be posted once. It has more functionalities compared to Twitter, but I don't think that it's better... It has a very simple interface, but for me, it seems to be hard to follow what the others say. This, if you find who other to follow. I haven't found almost anybody to follow. The secret of Buzz is that it runs directly from Gmail, with your Google account. But, for the moment, I'll remain on Twitter. Sorry Google.

What do you think about Google Buzz?

Twitter is a part of our lives.

Twitter, the popular micro-blogging platform, is a network that anybody "should use". It's the best socializing platform I've ever seen. I've joined it about 4 months ago, and I'm actively using it every day. Twitter helped me to find really nice people from any part of the world, and also generated some traffic to my blog. But it also helped me to get the latest news very easy, in minutes after they were released on the internet, without having to wait for the magazines I'm usually reading until they appear.

Twitter has grown dramatically in the last year, so their servers are sometimes out of capacities when something important happens, and everybody tweets about it. Due to this aggressive increase of users, many programs appeared which can allow you to connect to Twitter in other ways than via "Web" method, providing you different ways to use Twitter, and many options to make it more efficient.

Yahoo!'s "Meme", a kind of Twitter, was launched by Yahoo! but so far, it has no success. I'm just thinking about how much time can Google resist without buying Twitter, because the more they wait, the more they will have to pay for it. And even if Google didn't declare anything about a possible acquisition of Twitter, many experts said that now is the moment when Google should take Twitter.

So, if you didn't do it already, I invite you on http://twitter.com/ to create an account, and then to start following me. My username is "ITeer". Enjoy Twitter !

PockeTwit, a good Twitter client for Windows Mobile devices.

The mobile version of the Twitter website offers limited options, and as we know, Internet Explorer welcomes you to the hell when you try to view desktop versions of websites. So, it is not a satisfying solution when we are talking about Twitter on Windows Mobile devices. There are a little few clients for Twitter available for Windows Mobile, but most of them completely suck.

But I found, after trying different applications, PockeTwit, which will give you many options for Twitter, exactly like those applications which are found on the iPhone. The program runs good, I can't say anything bad about it, except that the interface could be made a little more clear (its quality is not the best on HP iPAQ 111). The official website says you need .NET Framework Compact 2.0 or higher for the application, but it runs fine for me without it. If you need options, just slide right or left on the screen (into the application) to get them.

Official website http://code.google.com/p/pocketwit/

Download link (.CAB): http://www.4shared.com/file/193097291/d8bfb09c/PockeTwitv76.html

TweetDeck. The popular Twitter client.

TweetDeck is one of the world's most popular Twitter clients. His popularity comes from its efficiency and ease of use. It is for me the best Twitter client I have ever used. It comes with a dark interface, just perfect for the eyes. You can add many columns, started from your timeline, replies, dm's, public timeline and even columns with searches (you can view constantly what people from all over the world are saying about something).


I'm using it almost everywhere. On my computer (Linux), on my Windows-based Laptop, on my MacBook, and even on my iPhone !! Its installation will also install Adobe AIR, which will practically manage TweetDeck. But when you're using TweetDeck, do not use any other Twitter client at the same time. Both clients might search periodically for updates, and the requests limit per hour will be passed, so you will have to wait for them to reset in order to receive new tweets. And it can connect even to your Facebook, MySpace, or/and LinkedIn simultaneously, and get updates from this networks.


Just try it, I'm sure you'll like it: http://www.tweetdeck.com/.