This Week in Google (MP3): Recent Episodes

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Google Debit Card, Zoom Burnout

• Google is working on a debit card to rival Apple card
• Google posts testing center maps
• Zoom burnout is now a thing
• Microsoft: how to preserve privacy while tracking COVID-19
• Amazon shuts down 6,000 accounts for price gouging
• Twitter tried to tell us that the government is spying on you. A judge just said they can't.
• Tubi is mining credit bureaus to target ads at you
• Palantir will track COVID-19 for Trump
• Is Twitter good again?
• Fortnite on Google Play
• Stuntmen on Twitter

Picks of the Week

• Leo's Tool: How-To: Data Tracking for a Sourdough Starter - Twilio
• Stacey's Thing: Folding@Home on a Pi
• Jeff's Numbers: Twitter discovers White Castle paté

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Stacey Higginbotham

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-google.

Sponsor:* ZipRecruiter.com/worktogether

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Apple & Google's COVID-19 Tracking: How It Works

• Google starts the 'Journalism Emergency Relief Fund' to support local news in the COVID era
• Haircuts in the coronavirus era
• Where can you get a coronavirus test?
• How to make sure the coronavirus news you are getting is true
• How Apple & Google's coronavirus contact tracing plan will work
• Taco Cabana is like Taco Bell, but with margaritas
• Google Classroom takes Italy schools online
• Google will build its own chips for Chromebooks and phones
• iPhone SE and iPad Magic Keyboard available now!
• Rating the celebrity Zoom calls
• The return of Karsten Cam!
• Tik Tok hits 1 billion, Quibi hits 1.7 million
• WHO releases tips app
• Verizon hits 800 million calls per day, internet traffic also way up

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Stacey Higginbotham

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-google.

Sponsor:* WWT.COM/TWIT1

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Coronavirus Experts, Zoom Security

• The COVID Tracking Project
• All the best coronavirus experts Twitter links in one place
• Steak-Umm Twitter gives the best coronavirus advice
• We need responsible coronavirus journalism
• How should we design apps to track coronavirus?
• Google Stadia launches free tier at the perfect time
• Zoom brings in Alex Stamos to help them with security
• Thank God for the Net!
• UK Judge: Google must give a ranking algorithm to SEO expert
• Scientists pledge to be open about their coronavirus data
• Google is working on autocomplete for speech
• Facebook Tuned is a new way for couples to flirt
• Samsung Galaxy Chromebook is gorgeous, but has a terrible battery and is way too expensive
• Quibi launches at the perfect time
• Former TV Guide Reviewer Jeff Jarvis reviews John Krasinski's Some Good News
• Google Stadia Pro free for 3 months
• Stacey Higginbotham explains the new super-fast Wi-Fi 6E 6Ghz

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Stacey Higginbotham

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-google.

Sponsor:

• itpro.tv/twit2

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Best Zoom Backgrounds, April Fools Canceled!

• Spiffing up your work from home video with Zoom, Prezi, and Sesame Street
• Siva Vaidhyanathan wins Zoom backgrounds
• Rating the media's work-from-home setups
• What do we want the world to look like after coronavirus?
• April Fools is canceled: Google forgoes its traditional April Fools jokes
• What happened to Adrian Lamo? A TWiT true-crime podcast
• Facebook pledges $100 Million for local news outlets hit by the coronavirus
• Amazon fires strike organizer
• Microsoft announces that they will keep their conferences virtual through 2021
• Apple is the new Microsoft - Apple buys Dark Sky and shuts off Android app
• Hangouts is staggering under load
• A deep dive into how weather forecasting works in America
• Google Drive folder structure will change in September
• Wyze updates security cams so you can use them as webcams
• How to set up your point-and-shoot camera as a webcam
• Amazon and Walmart cut off Buzzfeed's affiliate marketing deals
• Astrophysicist coronavirus inventor gets magnets stuck up nose

Picks of the Week

• Leo's Tool: Zotero
• Stacey's Thing: The Hidden Girl and The Paper Menagerie
• Jeff's Numbers: Romance via drone

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Stacey Higginbotham

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-google.

Sponsors:

• mintmobile.com/twig
• LastPass.com/twit

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This week's stories

• Google I/O is canceled, unless they want TWiT to do it for them
• We rate the media's work-from-home setups
• Google's COVID-19 page
• The HUGE privacy debate that coronavirus has brought up
• We craft the perfect coronavirus tracking law
• Tracking coronavirus through Kinsa
• In this time of crisis, we need to listen to experts
• This Week in Virology
• Amazon and other big tech companies are using coronavirus to take over the world
• How much bandwidth capacity can we add?
• Why don't we ban targeted advertising? Jeff vs Leo and Stacey

Picks of the Week

• Leo's Tool: Google Podcasts
• Stacey's Thing: Wyze Band and Scale
• Jeff's Numbers: Conference Call Bingo

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Stacey Higginbotham

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-google.

Sponsors:* WWT.COM/TWIT * mintmobile.com/twig

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Today's Stories:

• Jeff Jarvis' list of who to follow on Twitter for expert advice on coronavirus
• Zeynep Tufekci on masks - they are not perfect, but they help.
• Google under coronavirus: pausing chrome updates, security issues
• Musk defiant: Tesla factory stays open despite shelter-in-place orders
• Charter makes workers come in
• Coronavirus patent trolls vs open-source medical supplies
• NBCUniversal offers streaming first-run movies - from movies to diapers to toilet paper, direct-to-consumer industries are thriving
• Amazon hiring 100,000 workers, increasing pay, as all other industries collapse
• Facebook, Reddit, Google, Twitter, YouTube fight coronavirus misinformation
• The EARN-IT Act will kill encryption and Section 230
• Jeff Jarvis fixes Facebook's coronavirus spam filter
• Reporters Without Borders create the Uncensored Library in Minecraft
• Pixar founders win $1 million Turing prize

Picks of the Week:

• Jeff's Number: Virtual Choir x 3
• Stacey's Thing 1: Teach your kid science
• Stacey's Thing 2: Sourdough: A Novel at https://amzn.to/2UgWVOm
• Karsten's Quarantine Tip: Stuck at home? Take Harvard's FREE Intro to Computer Science course!
• Leo's Tool: Around Next-gen video calling

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Stacey Higginbotham

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-google.

Sponsor:

• HealthIQ.com/twig

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This Week's Stories:

• Coronavirus: Harvard kicks all students out of dorms with less than a week's notice
• Coronavirus: cancellations - E3 and NAB canceled, SXSW may go bankrupt, NBA and NHL will play to empty colosseums
• Coronavirus: reactions - is paranoia the wrong answer?
• Coronavirus: is it even possible for most people to telecommute?
• Coronavirus: White House goes to Big Tech to ask for help to fight Coronavirus and stop misinformation
• Coronavirus: YouTube demonetizes all content mentioning Coronavirus
• Coronavirus: Australian newspaper prints blank pages to use as toilet paper
• Is it time to stop buying Android phones?
• Pixel 4a leak: starting at $399
• Android vs iPhone - security, environmental impact
• Pixel 3a, Pixel 4a: Google makes some darn fine cheap phones
• Anthony Levandowski ordered to pay $179 million to Google, declares bankruptcy
• Tulsi Gabbard's $50M suit against Google dismissed
• Swedes fine Google 7M Euros. Google plans to appeal and search couch cushions for change. Spain is fine with Google.
• Facebook adds two women to its board; now 40% female, 30% black
• Sweden passes law to spy on anyone anywhere
• Locate X: where cops go to buy your location data without a warrant
• The EARN IT Act will kill internet encryption. IT MUST BE DEFEATED.
• Leo's giant ham
• New Chromecast with Android TV coming soon!
• Olallieberry, marionberry, blackberry, and other great pies
• Adam Mosseri: Facebook "serves as an s***-umbrella" for Instagram
• Amazon sells its "just walk out" tech to airport vendor OTG
• Amazon Music's "My Soundtrack" station is terrifyingly accurate
• Verizon launches Yahoo! Mobile MVNO. DO NOT BUY!

Picks of the Week:

• Leo's Tool: Thermomix
• Ant's Good Stuff: My OTHER Uncle Mac
• Stacey's Thing: Nodle Cash
• Jeff's Numbers 1: Nielsen Investigation: "Pandemic Pantries" pressure supply chain amid COVID-19 Fears
• Jeff's Numbers 2: Hamsterkauf Hoarding Numbers
• Coronavirus Tool: Is It Canceled Yet?

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, Stacey Higginbotham, and Ant Pruitt

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-google.

Sponsor:

• ZipRecruiter.com/twig

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This Week's Stories

• Coronavirus: Should SXSW be canceled? Should Seattle be quarantined?
• Coronavirus: Don't touch your face. Don't shake hands. Don't lick your ballot envelope.
• King County Official Coronavirus Guidance Recommendations
• Stadia is failing because Google is Google
• Fishal recognition: Google Tidal is a new moonshot tracking fish migration patterns
• Google re-invests in Waymo
• Android One is in shambles
• Pixel Drop March update: new gestures, emoji, AR effects, and more
• Twitter under siege: activist investor wants Jack Dorsey out
• Twitter is testing "Fleets," their own version of Instagram Stories
• Libra is dying off
• Daily Caller added to Facebook fact-checking
• Verge poll finds that Techlash is a Myth
• Update: South Carolina weatherperson uses Facebook Live filters, apologize

Picks of the Week

• Jason's Tool: You can now jailbreak an iPhone with an Android phone
• Ant's Good Stuff 1: Record Box Loft Helping Local Photographers
• Ant's Good Stuff 2: Jason Miller's shoot (@jasonmiller1981 on Twitter)
• Stacey's Thing: Helium Router
• Jeff's Numbers 1: Amazon removes 1m products for virus gouging, lying
• Jeff's Numbers 2: Where to buy Amazon and Walmart returns in bulk
• Jeff's German Word of the Week: Der Hamsterkauf: from the verb hamstern, which means "to hoard or panic buy," since hamsters are known for filling their cheeks with food. It's used to describe the panic buying or hoarding that occurs during times of widespread fear or concern.

Hosts: Jeff Jarvis, Stacey Higginbotham, Ant Pruitt, and Jason Howell

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-google.

Sponsors:

• linkedin.com/TWIG
• LastPass.com/twit

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This week's stories

• Get yourself some Stroopwafels at https://amzn.to/2w5siD9
• San Francisco declares state of emergency over coronavirus
• WHO says coronavirus cases may have peaked and plateaued in China
• Google starts announcing I/O 2020 ticket winners
• Google removes 600 apps for annoying ads
• Google will stop labeling pictures as "man" or "woman"
• Trying to trick Amazon Go with a banana
• Facebook bans fake coronavirus cures
• YouTube not bound by First Amendment
• Weather reporter accidentally broadcasts with Facebook filters on
• Trump asks the Supreme Court to back Oracle over Google
• Google warns against sideloading its apps on Huawei phones
• What are your smart speakers recording by accident?
• Verizon will still sell the Pixel 5
• Google moving data out of UK for Brexit
• Is Twitter real life?
• Twitter tries to fight misinformation, adds "continue thread"
• Clearview AI hacked, all clients and searches stolen
• Samsung "1" Find My Mobile data breach
• Dunkin' Bag of Bacon
• Mike Bloomberg busted for paying for tweets, but Facebook is fine with it
• Swiss law forbids liking hate speech
• EU to staff: use Signal
• TSA bans employees' Tik Tok use
• Gmail blocks malware with AI
• Musicians Copywrite every melody possible
• Intuit buys Credit Karma
• Bruce Schneier joins Tim Berners-Lee's internet alternative startup
• Creator of the Konami code dies at 61

Picks of the week

• Leo's Tool: Smithsonian Open Access
• Ant's Good Stuff 1: RIP Katherine Johnson
• Ant's Good Stuff 2: What My Grandfather Said: Finally Got 'Em
• Mathew's Stuff: NSA phone surveillance program cost $100 million and yielded one major investigation
• Jeff's Number: Andreessen Horowitz a16z Marketplace 100

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Ant Pruitt

Guest: Mathew Ingram

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-google.

Sponsors:

• expressvpn.com/twig
• HealthIQ.com/twig

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This Week's Stories

• COVID-19 fallout: IBM quits RSA, Sony quits PAX East
• COVID-19 fallout: will this year's new game consoles be delayed?
• COVID-19 facemasks work with Face ID
• Samsung Galaxy Chromebook coming April 6th
• Jeff Jarvis: "I don't have a Corvette, I have a Chromebook." Who needs a $1000+ Chromebook?
• Android 11 Developer Beta Hands-On Preview
• Pixel 5 Leak - Real or Fake? (hint: faaaaaaaaaake)
• Samsung Galaxy Z Flip - worth the $$$$?
• Beyond Foldable: TCL shows a concept with a slide-out screen
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold coming this summer
• Google might start paying publishers for news
• Wendy is mean: "Brand Twitter" normalizes Twitter trolling
• Google falls behind in AR?
• Google kills free Station Wi-Fi program
• Bookbot rises from the grave! Return your library books with this Google robot
• Mark Zuckerberg blow-dries his armpits
• Alphabet's Makani energy kites crash
• Reminder: if you signed up for the free Stadia Founders Edition trial, it's not free anymore
• Stadia coming to more than just Pixel phones
• Australian judge: leaving a bad review on Google is illegal

Hosts: Jeff Jarvis, Ant Pruitt, and Jason Howell

Guest: Kevin Tofel

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-google.

Sponsor:

• mintmobile.com/twig

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A look back at the biggest tech stories of 2018.

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Stacey Higginbotham

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-google.

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• Google takes Manhattan
• Almost 50% of Google's workers are temps, contractors, or vendors.
• Facebook vs New York Times
• Harassment on Twitter
• Jack Dorsey's beard shavings, Azalia Banks, and ISIS
• A very Google holiday season
• RIP Oath • Tesla fart app
• Peter Jackson restores WWI footage

Picks of the Week

• Leo's Tool: NexJack DeX Station
• Jeff's Number: Chartbeat's 2018 Most Engaged Stories

Hosts: Leo Laporte and Jeff Jarvis

Guest: Mathew Ingram

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-google.

Sponsors:* brex.com/twit * RocketMortgage.com/Twig * grammarly.com/twig

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• Huawei CFO gets bail in Canada, awaits extradition to US
• China detains Canadian ex-diplomat in retaliation
• Marriott breach blamed on China
• No Chinese spy chips found on Super Micro servers
• Google CEO tells Congress "No plans" for Chinese search engine
• Pichai also explains that Google doesn't make iPhones
• Google's continuing messaging mess
• YouTube Rewind vs Justin Beiber: who do we hate more?

Picks of the Week:

• Jeff's Number: Verizon loses $4.6 billion on Oath
• David's Stuff: OnePlus 6T sells 249% more than OnePlus 6
• Leo's Pick: Google gives duck.com to DuckDuckGo

Hosts: Leo Laporte and Jeff Jarvis

Guest: David Ruddock

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-google.

Sponsors:* SlideBelts.com/TWIT code: TWIT * twit.cachefly.com * brex.com/twit

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• When will Google kill Hangouts? Definitely not until after it kills Allo, but (probably) before it kills Android Messages.
• Pixel Slate pros and cons.
• Pixel 3 XL review after a month of use: still buggy.
• Flutter 1.0 will bridge the Android / iOS divide.
• Is Microsoft switching to Chrome?
• Google's censored search Engine for China: employees may strike, many have quit already
• Contractors at Google demand equal treatment.
• Facebook email trove leaked by UK government.
• Qualcomm's newest chipset features 5G and in-screen fingerprint reader.
• Waymo One launches self-driving taxi service.

Picks of the Week

• Kevin's stuff: e Foundation
• Stacey's Thing: Onelink Safe & Sound Smart Smoke + Carbon Monoxide Alarm
• Jeff's Number: Bose's $199 AR audio sunglasses
• Jason's Tip: say "Pretty Please" to Google Assistant

Hosts: Jeff Jarvis, Stacey Higginbotham, and Jason Howell

Guest: Kevin Tofel

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-google.

Sponsors:

• expressvpn.com/twig
• RocketMortgage.com/Twig
• do.co/twit

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• At their re:Invent conference, Amazon makes dozens of announcements about AWS, machine learning, the blockchain, ARM chips, and more.
• Big Mouth Billy Bass is now compatible with Alexa.
• Cyber Monday was Amazon's biggest sales day ever, but it still can't hold a candle to Alibaba and Singles Day.
• Google Duplex is coming to a Pixel near you
• Pixel Slate review
• Google Fi now available on most iPhones and Android phones.
• Disney + Google =?
• Possibly the biggest story of the decade: CRISPR babies!

Picks of the Week

• Stacey's Thing: Starbucks Juniper Latte
• Jeff's Number: Taylor Swift is the most influential Tweeter of 2018, plus: how big is the big cow?

Advent Calendar Picks

• Stacey's Pick: Ginvent Advent Calendar
• Jeff's Pick: Beef! Advent Calendar
• Leo's Pick: Advent of Code Calendar

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Stacey Higginbotham

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-google.

Sponsors:

• WordPress.com/twig
• privacy.com/twig
• curiositystream.com/twit offer code: TWIT

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• Google News may abandon Europe over link tax
• Alphabet's Verily gives up on glucose-sensing contact lenses
• Alphabet also gives up on bipedal robots
• Is this the Pixel 3 Lite? • Google patents VR shoes
• Facebook admits it knew all about Soros-bashing
• Siri can talk to Google Assistant
• Mapping Thanksgiving

Picks of the Week

• Mathew's Stuff: Airbnb tracks Mongolian nomads with what3words
• Jeff's Number: Wirecutter's Black Friday sales page, Airbag bike helmet
• Leo's Tool: Facebook Portal

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Mathew Ingram

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-google.

Sponsors:* SlideBelts.com/TWIT code: TWIT * brex.com/twit * RocketMortgage.com/Twig

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• Google ends forced arbitration for sexual harassment claims
• The woman behind Google design
• Waymo will launch driverless car service
• Google AI helps New York Times get a handle on its vast photo archive
• Amazon's HQ 2 and HQ 3: NYC and DC
• Google will double its NYC staff
• New Google LA HQ: Spruce Goose hangar
• Controversy over Google's NHS kidney data
• Night Sight comes to all Pixels
• Squoosh your pictures
• Pandora's new podcast recommendations
• The new kilogram

Picks of the Week

• Stacey's Thing: Notify Me skill on Alexa
• Jeff's Numbers: $1 billion of charitable donations on Facebook, $699 Pixelbook at Best Buy on Black Friday
• Leo's Tool: Mozilla Shop Safe This Holiday Season

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Stacey Higginbotham

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-google.

Sponsors:* capterra.com/twig * expressvpn.com/twig * twit.cachefly.com

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• The Samsung Developers Conference Keynote features a foldable phone, SmartThings IoT, and Bixby innovations.
• Android will support foldable phones.
• Google employees stage a walkout over sexual harassment
• Tim Berners-Lee's Contract for the Web
• How to encourage civility online
• YouTube Content ID
• Facebook and "White Genocide"
• Young people are deleting Facebook in droves
• Facebook's holiday pop-up store
• Everybody gets free Amazon shipping
• Amazon's new HQ2(s)
• 8 new Chromebook features
• Google Home Hub teams up with Sephora
• Ajit Pai's FCC is hopping mad about robocalls

Picks of the Week

• Jeff's Number: Black Friday home tech deals
• Stacey's Thing: Extinct cables, Alexa Christmas Lights

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Stacey Higginbotham

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-google.

Sponsors:* curiositystream.com/twit offer code: TWIT * RocketMortgage.com/Twig * do.co/twit

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• Andy Rubin has a $90M payout!
• Is the culture at Nexflix too cut throat?
• Who is the the No. 3 digital-ad seller in the country? You might be surprised.
• All the journalists from a new media website have been laid off.
• Some crypto news outlets will post paid content and not mark it as sponsored content.
• More from the Change Log.
• Some ads are using kids' apps to target children, and at an alarming rate!
• Using AI to assist people with disabilities.
• Use the Google Gboard to create emojis that look like you!
• Google wants to use iRobot to map your home, are you game?

Picks of the Week:

• Leo's Tool: Coach Tony from Better Humans
• Jeff's Number: Google's $25M AI Contest
• Stacey's Things: Halloween Costumes Chosen by AI

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Stacey Higginbotham

Guest: Andrew Higginbotham

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-google.

Sponsors:

• privacy.com/twig
• WordPress.com/twig
• SlideBelts.com/TWIT code: TWIT

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• Google Home Hub First Look Review
• Pixel 3's many nit-picky issues
• Titan M security chip
• Pixel 3 Qi Charger DRM? Not so fast.
• 10 years of Android
• Tim Cook loves privacy, hates Bloomberg

Picks of the Week

• Mathew's Stuff: How the Night King uses Chromebook
• Stacey's Things: Google Assistant's colorful names and Alexa Whisper Mode

Hosts: Leo Laporte and Stacey Higginbotham

Guest: Mathew Ingram

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-google.

Sponsors:* RocketMortgage.com/Twig * do.co/twit