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Manhunt for John McAfee comes to an end (week in review)

The weeks-long hunt for software pioneer turned fugitive John McAfee ended this week with his arrest in Guatemala.

McAfee, who was sought by police in connection with a shooting in Belize, was arrested by Guatemalan police for allegedly entering the country illegally. The 67-year-old founder of the company that bears his name apparently entered Guatemala to seek asylum from officials in Belize, who have been pursuing him for the past few weeks in connection with the shooting death of his neighbor.

The Guatemalan government denied the asylum request of the tech-entrepreneur-turned-fugitive yesterday, opening the door for the eccentric millionaire's … Read more

Google brings Snapseed to Android

As of today, Snapseed, one of the more unique photo-editing apps for desktop and iOS, is officially available for Android. After enjoying much success on other platforms and even getting acquired by Google in September, it was only a matter of time before this increasingly popular product would make its way onto the Mountain View titan's own mobile OS.

Snapseed offers borders, filters, and a handful of other useful tools for fine-tuning photo attributes like focus, brightness, contrast, and more. And not surprisingly, the app comes with built-in Google+ sharing, which seems to set the stage for an ultimate … Read more

WordPress' Mullenweg: Users lose in Twitter-Instagram spat

The turf battle between Instagram and Twitter shows the sites have the wrong priorities, said Matt Mullenweg, founder of Automattic and its WordPress.com blogging service.

There's a danger when a company focuses too much on its own properties and pleasing its own advertisers at the expense of giving its users what they need, Mullenweg said here at the LeWeb 2012 show. Those problems are what's afflicted microblogging site Twitter and photo-sharing service Instagram, which Facebook recently acquired.

Twitter has been restricting access to third-party tweeting software and limiting access that third-party companies such as Instagram get to … Read more

Instagram-Twitter feud fudges photos

Wednesday's CNET Update won't cut you off:

Instagram and Twitter aren't playing nice, and it's annoying users. As the two services compete in the photo-sharing space, Instagram stopped supporting a key Twitter feature that helps display media inside a tweet. The casual user won't notice anything different on the Twitter website. But on Twitter's mobile app, you will notice that Instagram photos are no longer properly formatted to fit.

Why would Instagram spoil the appearance of photos shared on Twitter? Because Facebook-owned Instagram is growing its website and wants you to stay on its … Read more

Instagram, Twitter lob grenades in war over value of photos

You've heard it said countless times: A picture's worth a thousand words.

If you think that's not at least as true online as it is offline, you haven't been paying attention to the explosive machinations in the war for digital real estate going on in Silicon Valley over the last year or so.

Today, the tech world is all worked up over the latest in the slow-moving war of attrition between Instagram and Twitter. By cutting off Twitter Card integration, Instagram is hoping to wean its users off Twitter.

This is a seismic event, especially with … Read more

Twitter vs. Instagram: It's all about monetization

Ever since Instagram got a new friend in Facebook, the popular photo-sharing service has, slowly but surely, been distancing itself from its old pal Twitter.

Today's news is that Instagram photos no longer display correctly in Twitter. This is because Instagram has disabled its integration with Twitter Cards in favor of links that direct Twitter users directly to Instagram.com.

"This is an evolution of where we want links to our content to go," Instagram's Kevin Systrom said of the change on stage at the LeWeb conference in Paris.

Instagram has been busy beefing up its Web presence, … Read more

Twitter-Instagram feud escalates as photos show up wonky

The Twitter-Instagram feud continues, with Instagram today disabling a feature that allows photos to be properly displayed on Twitter's Web site and apps.

Twitter noted in a status update today that Instagram disabled its Twitter cards integration. What that means is photos from Instagram are difficult to view and appear cropped or off center.

Instagram Chief Executive Kevin Systrom, meanwhile, said today at the LeWeb conference in Paris that while the relationship with Twitter is changing, Instagram will remain integrated with Twitter in some form.

He noted that the move today, while confusing to some, is the right step … Read more

See the world by way of an Instagram and Google Street View mashup

If you are looking for a fun way to kill some time online, then I would direct your attention to a project from the School of Communications and Information at Rutgers University. Dubbed The Beat, it takes Instagram photos that users have added to their Photo Map and combines them with their Google Street View location.

You can view different collections of photos by searching via hash tag. Plug a hash tag in the search box and if it returns any results, they will display below in a slideshow. You can mouse around on the Street View image to explore … Read more

How to lower your profile on Instagram

If you've been on Instagram long enough, you've likely acquired a few followers whom you don't know. Of course, if you are trying to build your Instagram brand, you'll take all comers. If you are like me, however, and use Instagram primarily to share pictures of your kids with friends and family, you are wary of strangers in your midst. Thankfully, Instagram provides some privacy settings that can help you gain better control of who can see your photos.

In this post, I'll show you how you can use Instagram's settings to restrict who … Read more