Google has revealed a new feature on its mobile keyboard app that lets you create your own personalised emoji stickers. “Today, we’re introducing emoji style Mini stickers for Gboard, designed for those who may have stared into the eyes of emoji and not seen yourself staring back,” said Google on its blog. The stickers, which are created by taking a selfie, are the same as your everyday emojis, they just happen to come in three customisable variants – emoji, bold and sweet. While emoji is a given, the company explains that bold is “for when you might be feeling a little extra,...
In case you forgot, it's Halloween today. And Twitter's celebrating in a subtle but adorable way. When the like button is hit on special tweet posted to its timeline, the heart briefly turns into a pumpkin. It's small, and really wouldn't be noticeable if Twitter didn't overtly tell you, but it's cute. ♥️ this Tweet for a #Halloween treat.pic.twitter.com/7uOn1V73Cc — Twitter (@Twitter) October 31, 2018 We've tried liking the tweet on Firefox and Android's Twitter app, but only the latter seemed to work. Others are experiencing similar issues. Overall, more than 33 000 people have liked the tweet, and we can't help but think how...
In a matter of hours, James Patterson’s book The Chef will be published in an interactive experience via Facebook Messenger. The author confirmed the release in an interview with Cheddar, which was shared on Twitter and retweeted by the man himself. Cheddar Exclusive: Author @JP_Books tells us why even though he's one of the top-selling fiction writers of all time, he partnered with Facebook to launch a first of its kind digital literary experience with his new book "The Chef" that's only available on Messenger. #CheddarLIVE pic.twitter.com/hYqRya2Zg2 — Cheddar (@cheddar) October 29, 2018 In the interview Patterson calls the book a “bookie”, which...
Malusi Gigaba's spokesperson Vuyo Mkhize has confirmed that the sex tape which sent social media into a frenzy on Sunday was "leaked by an opposition leader". Mkhize, who has been asked by Gigaba to handle queries regarding the now infamous video, published the statement to Twitter on Monday morning, just a few hours after Gigaba himself issued a national apology. "The @mgigaba video was leaked by an opposition leader who obtained it from an mp of his party from umzimkhulu who, in turn, obtained it from a guy who was previously implicated in the failed attempt to blackmail the minister... all...
WhatsApp is officially rolling out its new stickers feature. So, that means over the next few weeks we’re all going to be able to communicate using animated stickers on the messaging platform. “Whether with a smiling teacup or a crying broken heart, stickers help you share your feelings in a way that you can't always express with words,” said WhatsApp in a blog post. The company has also made it possible for users to use third-party sticker packs to expand their choice of stickers, this feature also allows developers to make their own stickers too. “To do this, we've included a set of...
This week Facebook is introducing a range of new music-related features to its platform. “Sometimes the right words to fit your mood, feeling, or personality can be hard to find,” the company stated in a blog post. To solve this apparent problem, Facebook will be implementing a Music feature in Stories, adding lyrics to Lip Sync Live and allow the use of songs in profiles. Music in Facebook Stories The Music feature for Facebook Stories is similar to Instagram's. With it you will be able to add songs to your Story updates from a library of music, and a sticker will be added...
South African rapper Jabulani Tsambo, better know as Hip Hop Pantsula, and HHP, has died at the age of 38. The well-known musician was reportedly suffering from depression, and was on Wednesday found dead at his home in Johannesburg. The star’s death was confirmed by his wife on scene yesterday afternoon. Some of HHP most popular songs included "Music and Lights", "Jabba" and "Mptise". Friends and fans of the musician expressed their shock and sorrow at the news on Twitter. I'm GUTTED. I went to high school with Jabs. I listened to him sing in the choir. We went to rugby training. I...
Planet Earth usually doesn't like right angles or draw in straight lines. Mountains are rarely perfectly vertical or horizontal, flat areas of land has its nooks and crannies, and the idea of an iceberg is traditionally imagined as a weird mirrored pyramid. But this block of ice is proving this notion false. NASA's IceBridge project, which monitors the shelves across the Antarctic, last week tweeted an image of a rectangular iceberg during a flyby of the continent's northern Peninsula area. NASA's official account retweeted it on Wednesday. From yesterday's #IceBridge flight: A tabular iceberg can be seen on the right, floating among...
After months of rain, it seems that Cape Town has jumped from the depths of winter straight into the clay oven of summer. The city this week is pretty damn hot. Actually, that itself is probably a bit of an understatement. On Monday, the mercury in the Mother City topped the mid-30s. Tuesday was just as bad. Wednesday, I'm writing this sprawled across the floor, largely melted. The hot weather is also expected to last through the weekend, making many Capetonians question if it's worth braving the surface of Crematoria. "Can this Cape Town weather please protect me from itself?!" one user wrote. 6am...
Early on Wednesday, #AfricaEmoji began trending on Twitter in an attempt to make the emoji a permanent feature on the social media platform. Back in July, it was Absa that tried to save the emoji, which would only be available on Twitter for three months. Last week, the financial institution once again asked Africans around the continent to help save the hashtag, which is much more than a simple emoji of our continent, the company believes. “#AfricaEmoji is the start of a new narrative -- the one told by us as Africans. It’s a tiny symbol with massive clout – an emoji that...
Facebook has announced a simpler version of Facebook Messenger, called Messenger 4, will begin rolling out globally. “We believe Messenger 4 delivers the closeness and authenticity that you’ve been asking for — through simplicity of design and powerful features,” the company said on its website. Messenger 4 will feature a simplified UI with just three tabs to navigate through, as opposed to the current nine. Chats, People and Discover In the Chats tab, you'll find private and group messages along with the app’s camera feature. In the People tab, you can find your contacts and view their Facebook Stories. The Discover tab is “where you can...
According to a report by WABetaInfo, WhatsApp has been developing new features in the form of Silent Mode and Vacation Mode. Silent Mode is already active on all WhatsApp accounts, according to the revelation. With this feature enabled you no longer see how many muted messages you have received whenever you enter the app. Vacation Mode is still in the works however, and will work with archived chats that have also been muted. Currently, when you archive or mute a chat on WhatsApp, you’ll still see the chats when you go back into the app. With Vacation Mode, your archived chats that...
Now you can watch videos and browse through others simultaneously from your web browser using YouTube’s miniplayer feature. For a while now, the mobile YouTube app has had the feature, allowing users to continue watching videos on their smart devices in a little miniature screen while they look for more content. The miniplayer, which was first noted by Engadget, can be found next to the resolution settings at the bottom right of any YouTube video. All you have to do is click the little miniplayer icon and you’re free to browse. You still can’t multitask outside of the mobile app though, we’ve...
It’s Global Champagne Day, a day seemingly dedicated to enjoying the bubbly drink and its origins. While the likes of Tsogo Sun are celebrating with a weekend long event where “champagne will flow from morning till late at select Tsogo Sun hotels”, other events are taking place in both Cape Town and Johannesburg to commemorate the day as well. Of course, South Africans on Twitter are observing the day too with the trending hashtag #champagneday. Me:...
When you report a tweet for breaching Twitter's rules, or when the company takes actions on one, it requires the offending user to delete the tweet before they can publish another. But, the company claims that users aren't always aware that this is the case. Now, Twitter will add overlay offending tweets with a notice alerting the authors of tweets. "Once we've required a Tweet to be deleted, we will display a notice stating that the Tweet is unavailable because it violated the Twitter Rules along with a link to the Rules and an article that provides more detail on how we...
Malusi Gigaba is caught in South Africa’s latest sex tape fiasco
Fans love the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, but hate the ‘blurry’ shots
Malusi Gigaba’s sex tape hack is South Africa’s version of Celebgate
Woman rejects new Datsun from boyfriend, Twitter has the last word
Halloween’s favourite boy band, the Slashstreet Boys, are back
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