How to Get Over the Twitter-Instagram War on Photos

So Instagram made sharing its photos a lot more annoying for Twitter users Wednesday morning, which stinks, but isn't likely to change. Because, see, the publicly traded, accountable-to-shareholders Facebook owns Instagram. Ergo, like the social network, the filtered photo-sharing site needs to do things that will make it money, which might sometimes get in the way of the user experience. That's exactly what happened Wednesday morning in what's being called a "brewing rivalry" with Twitter: Instagram wants people on its site, and CEO Kevin Systrom  said so. That's not how he sold the move, of course — Systrom thinks seeing pictures on the Instagram app or on those new web pages makes for a better user experience than the littler images in the Twitter stream. The Internet begs to differ, with people like Wired's Mat Honan  noting that it's users who lose now. Given that constant, it's might be you that needs to change. We're here to help with a handy three-step program to getting over this terrible ordeal.

RELATED: Why You Can't See Instagram Photos on Twitter Anymore

1. Get Angry About It

RELATED: Twitter Now Valued at $3.7 Billion

In order to avoid harboring horrible feelings about the new situation, which one day leads to an emotional explosion, do as BuzzFeed's Matt Buchanan did and get mad about this whole situation. "Instagram just broke itself," he proclaims, reminding us there is nothing he or you or anyone can do about it. What he means is that the social network just got less social in the name of business. It doesn't work like the social web should, really. So go scream about it, either in a loud room or on Twitter or something. Now's the time to let it all out.

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2. Accept That This Is Reality

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Now that you've gotten that part out of your system, acceptance in the next logical step. Like we said, these social networks will sometimes do things to benefit their bottom lines that directly hurt users. Though Instagram doesn't have the same big-brand-name status as Facebook, it still plays by the same public-company rules, as TechCrunch's Drew Olanoff explains in a sober-minded post.  Users need to get used to this kind of thing — not only from Facebook and Instagram but from all these social networks, which ultimately are always going to be companies trying to succeed.

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3. Do Something About It

OK, whiners, if you're going to go ahead and care that much, how about you hack Twitter? For those who don't see that as an option, it's not impossible to share Instagram photos on Twitter even without Twitter Cards, as Bits Blogs Nick Bilton points out. The two-step solution isn't as seamless as it used to be, but it works. Option one involves saving photos to your phone library (under the settings) and tweeting them out from there. Or, post the image on another social network and tweet it from there. It's laborious, but it works. Kind of.

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25 top-rated Facebook games from 2012

Games can be both a welcome and an annoying diversion on Facebook, the world's most popular online social network. This year, Facebook crossed a big milestone — reaching 1 billion active users. Game companies such as "FarmVille" creator Zynga Inc. and Rovio Entertainment Ltd. of "Angry Birds" fame seek to tap into that vast base of users to gain more players for their games.

This week, Facebook Inc. issued a list of the 25 top-rated games that launched on Facebook in 2012. The company says the rankings are based on user ratings and engagement with the games. It's the same methodology that Facebook uses to rank apps in its App Center.

Some of the games are played on Facebook's website, while others are only on Apple Inc.'s iOS or Google Inc.'s Android devices using Facebook's app.

Here's the list:

1. "SongPop" (by FreshPlanet, on Facebook.com, iOS and Android)

2. "Dragon City" (by Social Point, on Facebook.com)

3. "Bike Race" (by Top Free Games, on iOS)

4. "Subway Surfers" (by Kiloo, on iOS and Android)

5. "Angry Birds Friends (by Rovio, on Facebook.com)

6. "FarmVille 2" (by Zynga, on Facebook.com)

7. "Scramble with Friends" (by Zynga, on iOS)

8. "Clash of Clans" (by Supercell, on iOS)

9. "Marvel: Avengers Alliance" (by Playdom, on Facebook.com)

10. "Draw Something" (by Zynga, on iOS and Android)

11. "Hay Day" (by Supercell, on iOS)

12. "Baseball Heroes" (by Syntasia, on Facebook.com)

13. "ChefVille" (by Zynga, on Facebook.com)

14. "CSR Racing" (by NaturalMotion Games, on iOS)

15. "Candy Crush Saga" (by King.com, on Facebook.com and iOS)

16. "Matching With Friends" (by Zynga, on Facebook.com)

17. "Legend Online" (by Oasis Games, on Facebook.com)

18. "Jurassic Park Builder" (by Ludia, on Facebook.com)

19. "Dungeon Rampage" (by Rebel Entertainment, on Facebook.com)

20. "Pockie Ninja II Social" (by NGames Ltd., on Facebook.com)

21. "Jetpack Joyride" (by Halfbrick, on Facebook.com)

22. "Social Empires" (by Social Point, on Facebook.com and iOS)

23. "Bil ve Fethet" (by Peak Games, on Facebook.com)

24. "Ruby Blast Adventures" (by Zynga, on Facebook.com and iOS)

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Microsoft #DroidRage Tweet Shows How Malware Has Moved Past Windows

 "Do you have an Android malware horror story?" Microsoft asks through its @windowsphone Twitter account, in what may be one of the most ironic tweets of the year.

After all, it wasn't that long ago that "virus" and "worm" stories made headlines on a regular basis, all of them about "computer viruses" which were really Windows viruses. Just a few years ago, Apple advertised the fact that a Mac "Doesn't get PC viruses" as a reason to buy one.

But this year, 600,000 Macs were infected by the Flashback trojan, an epidemic which exceeded the scale of history's single largest Windows infection. And now ​Microsoft​ is implying that its phones don't get malware, as a way to advertise them. How did things get to be this way, and what will malware and virus authors do next?

​When virii attack

For years, Microsoft's DOS and Windows operating systems were the biggest targets for virus and malware authors simply because they were the least secure. Today's PC security best practices had yet to be built into them, and trying to bolt features on to ancient programming code was a half-baked solution at best. HugeWindows malware epidemics spread as the malware programs were able to install themselves without explicit permission and operate without user intervention.

​Network effects

One reason Microsoft Windows dominated the computing world for years and years was simply because it was dominant. More people using Windows meant more profits for Windows app developers, which meant more games and apps for Windows, which meant more people buying Windows PCs so they could use Windows games and apps.

Like with apps, malware is a business that makes money for the people who write it. And while it was theoretically possible to infect a computer running a more secure operating system, like OS X (used on Macs) or Ubuntu (powered by Linux), it was considered impossible to get it to spread far enough to be profitable. Whereas on Windows it was (and still is) possible to infect vast numbers of PCs, even chaining them into zombified "botnets" which act as supercomputers-for-hire.

​How the mighty have fallen?

OS X's more secure design makes it extremely hard to infect with malware -- normally. The Flashback trojan sneaked in this year using the Java web browser plugin, which is bundled with the Mac's Safari web browser and was poorly maintained.

Plugins like Java and Flash open up new ways to infect a computer, which was one reason why Apple stopped including the Flash plugin (already absent on its iPhone and iPad) by default. Apple created a fix for the problem, but not before over half a million Macs were infected.

​What about on smartphones?

Unlike Apple and Microsoft's app stores, the Google Play store allows anyone to submit anything with no review. It's up to Android smartphone and tablet users to look at the "permissions" each game or app requests, as well as the reputation of their developers, and decide whether or not to install them.

While some consider this approach more "trustworthy" and respectful of users, it's also helped lead to a comparatively enormous number of malware infections on Android, including "The Mother of All Android Malware," which completely took over tens of thousands of phones last year.

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Instagram vs. Twitter: Why their beef is bad news for you

Instagram photos will no longer render inside a tweet, spurring howls of protest from many corners of the internet

Once upon a time, a tiny photo-sharing app named Instagram came out of nowhere to trounce all the other photo-sharing apps — thanks to a helping hand from Twitter, which made it awfully easy for Instagram users to post their photos within 140-character missives. Twitter and Instagram's friendly relationship made sense: Instagram founder Kevin Systrom once interned for Twitter co-founder Evan Williams, and Twitter chairman Jack Dorsey was an early investor in the photo service.

But now the two internet services are no longer BFF — and the growing rift is bad news for users.

Today, Twitter announced that Instagram photos would soon no longer be viewable within tweets. Formerly, a user could click on an Instagram link to see that picture expanded inside a Twitter card. Now that link will take them directly to Instagram's website.

Systrom, speaking at the LeWeb technology conference, confirmed the news. "We've decided that right now, what makes sense is to direct our users to the Instagram website," said Systrom. "Obviously things change as a company evolves."

This is just the most recent chill in what's become an increasingly frosty relationship, says Mat Honan at Wired. In April, Instagram was bought by Twitter's key rival, Facebook. In July, Twitter changed its API policy, and Instagram users were no longer able to quickly grow their followings by importing their list of Twitter pals. Twitter is even rumored to be working on its own photo filter and sharing feature. Inevitably those moves "reduce interoperability and cleave the services further apart," says Honan — "no matter who comes out ahead, in each of these battles, the people who use and love both networks are the real and clear losers."

This is frustrating, says Matt Buchanan at BuzzFeed. "Everyone is a multitude on the internet: Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram and whatever other thing we're on are all little bits of who we are or whatever we're choosing to project outward." These social networks approximate our real-world identities, which is why this seemingly minor annoyance makes it "jarring to think that these identities are actually becoming even more fragmented."

Well, "photo sharing continues to be a volatile battleground for social networking services," says Nick Bilton at The New York Times, and "given the potential advertising dollars at stake, the tensions will likely continue to grow." When Facebook acquired Instagram, the newly-purchased service said in a blog post that the deal "means we can now work together to evolve and build a better Instagram for everyone." Apparently, that "everyone" doesn't include Twitter.

SEE MORE: Twitter censors its first account: Ominous precedent or no big deal?

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Other stories from this topic:

    * The List: Obama's victory tweet — and 9 more of history's most popular tweets
    * Opinion Brief: Twitter censors its first account: Ominous precedent or no big deal?
    * Opinion Brief: Twitter's Facebook-like redesign: Good for business?

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Twitter Q&A: Ask Ian McKellen About 'The Hobbit'

Actor Ian McKellen, who plays Gandalf in the upcoming fantasy film The Hobbit, will use Twitter to answer questions about the movie and his role on Wednesday at 4 p.m. EST.

People can tweet questions using hashtag #AskGandalf before and during the Q&A. Answers will appear from the movie's Twitter account, @TheHobbitMovie.

[More from Mashable: To Help or Document: The Citizen Journalists’ Dilemma]

1. Elf (2003)

Where to Watch: Amazon Instant | Google Play/YouTube | iTunes

What's It About?: Buddy, a giant-sized elf, leaves the North Pole to discover himself in New York City.

[More from Mashable: Instagram Declares War on Twitter, Social Media Loses]

Memorable Quote: "You sit on a throne of lies ... You smell like beef and cheese, you don't smell like Santa."

Screenshot via Warner Bros.

Click here to view this gallery.

Photo via Warner Bros.

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Italy claims Google failed to declare millions

MILAN (AP) — Google says it has been working with Italian authorities on an audit of the tax it pays in the country, after financial police determined the Internet giant had undeclared earnings of €240 million ($311 million) from 2002-2006

Google issued a statement Thursday, the day after an Italian Treasury official announced the police findings. In addition, Vieri Ceriani said the company had not paid value added tax of €96 million in the period.

Italy joins France, Germany and Britain in scrutinizing Google's tax practices.

Google insists it complies with tax laws in countries where it operates and that audits are common. It added that Italian authorities to date have not demanded additional tax.

Google's European operations are based in Ireland, where the company contracts out its services and pays corporation tax.

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TSX nears one-week high on RBC results, U.S. hopes

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index hit its highest level of the week on Thursday as financial shares rose on Royal Bank of Canada's  strong quarterly earnings, and as optimism increased that a deal will be reached to avert the U.S. fiscal crisis.

Financials were up 0.8 percent, with RBC rising 0.5 percent to C$58.61. Canada's biggest bank reported a 22 percent jump in fourth-quarter profit on higher fixed-income trading revenue and steady loan growth.

Shares of other banks rose on optimism about the strength of the sector as the quarterly earnings season for banks continues.

Toronto-Dominion Bank
was the biggest heavyweight advancer, up 1.4 percent at C$82.67, followed by Bank of Nova Scotia , up 0.9 percent at C$55.22.

The market was also supported by hopes that a deal would be reached to avert the U.S. fiscal crisis and positive housing data from the United States, Canada's biggest trading partner.

"It is a broad risk rally, fueled primarily by greater optimism on the U.S. fiscal (crisis). The market is sensing signs of progress on the negotiations," said Fergal Smith, managing market strategist at Action Economics.

However, trading was choppy on conflicting comments from Washington on the progress of negotiations on averting the "fiscal cliff": $600 billion in tax hikes and spending cuts that analysts warn could push the U.S. economy back into recession.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index <.gsptse> ended up 62.52 points, or 0.51 percent, at 12,202.85. Earlier in the session, the index hit 12,227.52, its highest level since November 23. All the 10 main sectors on the index traded higher. Energy shares climbed 0.5 percent and materials edged up 0.1 percent.

Portfolio managers and investment strategists say the combination of healthy Canadian bank earnings and some encouraging global economic data could help the Toronto index extend gains further before the end of the year.

Global growth is currently being held back by a slowdown in Asia and the lingering European economic weakness, Smith said. "As some of these issues get resolved, it's bullish for commodities, and bullish for the TSX."

Other big movers on the upside included Research In Motion , which jumped more than 4 percent to C$11.48 after Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock ahead of the release of the company/s BlackBerry 10 device lineup.

"RIM has had a nice rally. It could be setting us up for a very big disappointment with the new BlackBerry 10. Or it may be a turnaround story," said John Kinsey, portfolio manager at Caldwell Securities.

Canadian clothing maker Gildan Activewear Inc rose 2.7 percent to C$33.98 after reporting an 84 percent jump in quarterly profit, raising its dividend, and forecasting current-quarter earnings above analysts' expectations.

Shares of Air Canada were up 1.7 percent at C$1.80 after Canada's biggest airline unveiled a major expansion in its flights to Asia as it seeks to boost revenue.

Inmet Mining Corp rallied nearly 6 percent to C$65.50 a day after rejecting a hostile takeover bid by First Quantum Minerals, which was down 2.1 percent at C$20.37.

($1=$0.99 Canadian)

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Kroger lifts forecast after stronger third quarter

NEW YORK (AP) — Kroger Co. is raising its earnings outlook for the year after the nation's largest traditional supermarket chain reported a third-quarter profit that topped Wall Street expectations.

The company, which also operates Fry's, Food 4 Less and Ralphs, has been working to improve the shopping experience and build customer loyalty as it fends off competition from specialty grocers such as Whole Foods and big-box retailers such as Target, as well as dollar stores and drugstore chains.

As shopping habits change, the Cincinnati-based company has also been experimenting with new formats such as its larger "Marketplace" stores that have a bigger footprint and sell general merchandise in addition to groceries. It has also opened about a dozen smaller "Ruler" stores that focus primarily on cheaper, private-label products.

In an interview, CEO Dave Dillon has said that Kroger's supermarket format would continue to evolve to remain relevant. He noted that the boundaries between supermarkets, big-box retailers and dollar stores are also blurring.

For the three months ended Nov. 3, the company said revenue at locations open at least a year rose 3.2 percent. The metric is a key gauge of health because it strips out the impact of newly opened and closed locations.

The company said it earned $316.5 million, or 60 cents per share, for the period. That compares with $195.9 million, or 33 cents per share, a year ago. The most recent quarter included gains from a settlement with Visa and MasterCard and a reduction in the company's pension fund contributions.

Not including special items, the company earned 46 cents per share. Revenue rose 6 percent to $21.81 billion.

Analysts on average expected an adjusted profit of 43 cents per share on revenue of $21.55 billion, according to FactSet.

Kroger now expects to earn between $2.44 and $2.46 for the year, up from the previous range of $2.35 to $2.42.

Kroger's stock rose $1.19, or 4.8 percent, to close at $26.25 Thursday. The company operates more than 2,400 supermarkets and multi-department stores in the U.S.

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Chevron: Court order harms its future in Argentina

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Chevron Corp.'s Argentina subsidiary ran full-page ads in the nation's leading newspapers Thursday saying that its operations have been complicated by a court order freezing its earnings.

A judge in Buenos Aires embargoed Chevron's Argentina earnings, acting on behalf of plaintiffs in Ecuador who are trying to collect a $19 billion judgment they won over oil spills in the Amazon. Both Chevron and the Ecuadorean plaintiffs have accused each other of committing fraud in the case.

The environmental judgment is only the latest trouble Chevron is facing in Argentina, where it has become a leading partner of the state-controlled YPF SA oil company since President Cristina Fernandez expropriated it from Grupo Repsol in Spain.

Repsol has sued in Madrid accusing Chevron and YPF of unfair competition, for drilling for shale oil and gas in the "Vaca Muerta" basin that was discovered when Repsol ran the company.

Repsol also is suing Argentina at the World Bank's International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes, seeking $10 billion in compensation for the controlling stake in YPF that Fernandez seized, and said it would sue any other international oil company that tries to partner with YPF.

"I don't see the future of Chevron in Argentina as very auspicious under these conditions. They can turn it around, but it's difficult," said Emilio Apud, a former Argentine energy secretary who now works as a consultant. "The numbers just won't add up, and if they had a hope of future profits in Argentina from Vaca Muerta, that too is in doubt."

Chevron's ad called the Ecuadoran judgment fraudulent, and said that "we are seeking the lifting of this embargo as soon as possible, to avoid its negative impacts on the country, the government, the company, and the energy future of Argentina."

The Ecuadorean plaintiffs have denied Chevron's accusation and have filed a lawsuit in a U.S. court accusing the oil company of fraud.

Pablo Fajardo, the lead lawyer for the plaintiffs, issued a statement Thursday saying: "Now that the law has again caught up with Chevron in Argentina, the company is buying newspaper advertisements to improperly pressure the court system to rule in its favor. Argentina is too strong a country to fall for Chevron's game of tricks."
Chevron, based in San Ramon, California, has had a collaborative relationship with YPF since the early 1990s. The companies signed a memorandum of understanding in September to jointly develop Argentina's shale reserves, the world's third largest after the U.S. and China. But Chevron hasn't announced new investments since then, and the Ecuador suit is only complicating matters.

"The judicial embargo limits the capacity of Chevron Argentina to operate and reinvest, since the order affects more than 90 percent of the income from crude sales," the company said. This money pays salaries for 1,500 employees, as well as royalties to the provinces of Neuquen and Rio Negro, taxes to the national government and investments needed to develop unconventional oil reserves.

"This income is a resource that has been generated in Argentina and should be applied to productive investment and the recovery of the country's energy self-sufficiency," it argued.

YPF needs billions of dollars to go after this unconventional oil and natural gas, but major oil companies have held back from investing. Repsol's threat to sue any company that steps forward is one major disincentive; another has been Argentina's elaborate system of keeping consumer energy prices far below international market rates.

Fernandez announced a three-fold increase in well prices for natural gas on Thursday, to $7.50 per million BTU, for any company making new investments in energy development. YPF CEO Miguel Galuccio, who appeared with the president, said the new price should motivate more shale development. But even that price remains far below the $12 per million BTU that Argentina now pays to import gas from Bolivia.
In Canada on Thursday, the Ecuadorean plaintiffs ran into a judge's skepticism when they sought to have the $19 billion judgment enforced against Chevron's Canadian subsidiary.

Ontario Superior Court Justice David Brown did agree to hear the case, but he questioned whether he could issue a ruling since an appeal of the judgment is pending in Ecuador's constitutional court.

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Ahead of the Bell: Yum Brands

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Yum Brands shares skidded in premarket trading Friday after the fast-food operator offered disappointing sales and earnings forecasts and an analyst recommended that investors sell their shares.

Shares lost more than 8 percent before the opening bell on Friday.

Yum Brands Inc., which runs KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell worldwide, said Thursday that its revenue at stores open at least a year should be up about 4 percent in the fourth quarter, compared with a 21 percent increase last year.

In the key Chinese market, that sales metric is expected to fall 4 percent in the fourth-quarter and up about 6 percent for the full-year.

Yum Brands backed its full-year adjusted earnings forecast of $3.24 per share, which represents year-over-year growth of 13 percent. But analysts polled by FactSet expect earnings of $3.28 per share.

Jefferies analyst Andy Barish cut the stock to "Sell" based on its tempered outlook in China, where it has been heavily investing. He added that while Yum has consistently grown adjusted earnings by more than 10 percent each year, it's getting harder for the company to exceed Wall Street's expectations. That's even with better-than-expected results in the U.S. partially offsetting weakness overseas.

Barish said that the company still has several ways to cut costs and hold up earnings, and could also support earnings per share growth through stock buybacks. But he says investors should stay on the sidelines because of concerns about the company's Chinese business and still believes its full-year forecast could be too high for next year considering the possible risks.

Yum Brands shares dropped $6.11, or 8.2 percent, to $68.36 in premarket trading Friday after hitting a 52-week high of $74.75 in Thursday's trading.

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