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Westmoreland County courts ban Twitter, texting | Philadelphia Inquirer | 03 …

Sunday, March 21st, 2010

GREENSBURG, Pa. – Judges in Westmoreland County have decided to ban Twitter, text messaging, and other electronic communication from county and district courtrooms.

The judges say Rule 112 of the state’s criminal court procedures specifically prohibits electronic transmissions from courtrooms.

Despite that, some judges in the county and elsewhere have been allowing such communication. this month, a district judge in Greensburg let a TV reporter blog during a murder hearing, and a Dauphin County Court judge has let reporters use Twitter to send messages from the public corruption trial of former State Rep. Mike Veon. – AP

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New York food trucks turn to Twitter

Sunday, March 21st, 2010

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Whether it’s fomenting revolution or telling people what you had for breakfast microblogging service Twitter seems to have it all.

Now, New York City’s enterprising mobile food vendors are using the instant messaging website to help their hoards of hungry followers stay tuned to their favorite delicacies.

Kim Ima, owner of the Treats Truck, which serves up caramel creme sandwiches, sugar cookies with icing, and other diet busting delights, uses Twitter to stay in touch with her 3,000 fans.

“For someone like Kim with St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Wednesday, she wasn’t sure if she was going to park here. so with Twitter she was able to provide location updates and we knew where to find her,” said customer EJ Cory.

Twitter allows users to enter messages from a computer or mobile phone, which are instantly transmitted to other users who choose to read their “tweets.”

The service riles some, who say it encourages people to post irrelevant details about their daily lives, such as what they had for breakfast.

There are about 3,000 licensed food vending trucks in new York City, according the Street Vendor Project, representing a sizable niche for Twitter.

Kenny Lao parks his Rickshaw Dumpling truck next to the Treats Truck most Fridays. He has been tweeting since his truck first hit the streets for business and says Twitter is an ideal tool to keep in touch with his 5,000 followers.

“People really depend on us to be at certain locations on every day of the week and they get super-duper excited for dumpling day and this is the best way for us to tell them,” he said.

Twitter, founded in 2006, is free for its millions of users and its founders are still trying to turn the loss-making enterprise into a cash cow.

Last year Twitter hit the headlines for the role it played in helping demonstrators in Iran organize anti-government protests. the White House famously asked Twitter to delay scheduled maintenance during the protests so demonstrators could stay connected.

(Reporting by Edward Krudy; Editing by Eric Beech)

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Is Twitter gearing up for an Android app? – Android and Me

Sunday, March 21st, 2010

I get a lot of Android-related questions from my geek friends and the top one has to be, “What is the best Twitter client for Android?” A new unofficial Twitter app is launched every week on the Android Market, so my answer varies a lot.

Why doesn’t Twitter just release their own application? Facebook and MySpace both have native Android apps. Even Orkut got the native treatment from Google.

If you look at the recent actions and statements coming out of Twitter, they could be secretly planning an Android app. Actually, I think most of us would be shocked to learn that Twitter isn’t working on an app.

The story goes all the way back to last year when TechCrunch posted a leaked Twitter roadmap that gave us a preview of their future. it comes as no surprise really, but Twitter wants to rule the online world (like Facebook and Google) by becoming the first with a billion members so they can become the pulse of the planet.

If Twitter really wants to be the pulse of the planet, then location will be key. they updated their mobile site last year and turned on location in February. Based on what every other company is doing, a native application is the next logical step after creating a mobile site with location (See Buzz, Facebook, Foursquare, Gowalla, etc.).

Biz Stone, the Co-founder of Twitter, talked about the importance of location in a recent blog post.

“A recent burst of interest in location sharing applications, games, and services has many Twitter users excited about appending geographic data to some of their tweets. there are many ways location data can be useful when paired with tweets. People who choose to add this additional layer of context help make Twitter a richer information network for all of us—location data can make tweets more useful.”Biz StoneCo-founder of Twitter

Mr. Stone is correct when he says, “location data can make tweets more useful” but I think he really meant more valuable (as in $$$).

It is going to be awhile before we learn Twitter’s full monetization strategy, but location based ads (or just location data) are sure to play a key role. Twitter knows most of their users are tweeting from GPS-enabled mobile devices and they want to capture that valuable data. Developing a native Android application will allow Twitter to set the new benchmark for the Twitter experience.

Twitter also just announced their @anywhere framework (which is just a few lines of javascript) that could easily be ported to Android as an intent and tie in with countless other apps (Amazon, eBay, YouTube, digg) to expand their reach. just like Facebook, I bet we could see Twitter directly implemented into a future version of the Android operating system.

Does it sound plausible yet? Would you leave your favorite Twitter client to use the official app? I bet a million of you would at least try it.

If you want to play around with the new location features of the mobile site, check out How To Tweet with Your Location to learn how you can turn it on. I’ve uploaded some screens below that show the latest version of the mobile website that uses location.

Gallery

p.s. speaking of native apps, how do I get an invite to the beta for the digg app?

  • Twitter Support
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Demi Moore suicide | Demi Moore Twitter suicide | Demi Moore …

Sunday, March 21st, 2010

Ashton Kutcher Demi Moore Demi Moore Seminole County Demi Moore suicide Demi Moore Twitter mrskutcher Nia Vardalos Twitter Twitter suicide

10:16 am, March 19th, 2010

Demi Moore used Twitter to help stop a potential suicide.

Early Friday, a man near Orlando tweeted Moore with the disturbing message that he was “about to go hang” himself. “I have no reason to live anymore,” the man wrote, later adding, “No one cares if I die or not.”

Moore, whose @mrskutcher account has more than 2.5 million Twitter followers, quickly asked, “R U rlly asking 4 help?”

The man replied, “Yes.”

Moore’s rapid response and high visibility may have helped avert tragedy.

Actress Nia Vardalos (@NiaVardalos) also saw the man’s desperate tweet and alerted a suicide prevention hotline and Florida authorities.

The Seminole County Sheriff’s Office says law enforcement received two phone calls from the West Coast reporting the suicide threat.

Deputies went to a home and took a (thankfully) uninjured juvenile male to a local hospital.

Moore and husband Ashton Kutcher are both very engaged in social media. Today it may have helped save a young life.

Follow @GossipCop on Twitter for accurate celebrity news.

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4 comments

  • Didn’t something similar happen to Demi a little while ago? I feel like it was another suicide threat, also on Twitter.

  • I was thinking the same. thought I was having a Deja-vu thing.

  • This is why I love Demi Moore. she’s so sweet to people. at least she saw the tweet and responded. A lot of people won’t do that especially when they are online. That’s what is sad.

  • Good Job! She’s one of the few who are still paying attention to the world around them.

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    Twitter, Facebook Warn Users of Email Password Scams

    Saturday, March 20th, 2010

    Twitter has followed Facebook in warning users to avoid malicious emails with attachments that claim to provide a new password.

    Opening such an attachment can unleash malware that may ultimately crack the passwords on the user’s computer beyond social media accounts, warn Internet security firms.

    “Remember, Twitter doesn’t send emails asking you to download or open attachments. Don’t fall for that trap!” the micro-blogging site posted on its Twitter.com/safety page.

    Twitter then provides a link to its “Keeping your Account Secure” guidelines page.

    Facebook issued its own warning earlier in the week about “another spoofed email going around” that claims it’s from the social media site and asks the recipient to open an attachment to receive a new password. Facebook says to delete such emails and warn friends of the scam.

    “Remember that Facebook will never send you a new password in an attachment,” said the post on Facebook’s security page.

    McAfee’s Security Insights Blog describes the attachments in the Facebook emails as “potentially very dangerous considering that there are over 400 million Facebook users who could fall for this scam.”

    The attachment is a “password stealer” that installs when the user clicks on it, McAfee said.

    “Once installed, the password stealer can potentially access any username and password combination utilized on that computer, not just for the user’s Facebook account,” the online security firm said.

    One clue that signals a user of a spam email is poor grammar and awkward phrases, such as the greeting: “Dear user of facebook.”

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    Nation's Jews Abandon Facebook and Twitter, One Day Per Week …

    Saturday, March 20th, 2010

    It hasn’t officially been rebranded, of course; God is notoriously conservative about updating that Bible of his. But, as reported by the New York Times, Reboot, a nonprofit Jewish think tank, has come up with a new version of Shabbat that is not only restive but sort of cheekily appropriate. And if you notice a lack of Jews on the internet, starting about now, you’ll know why.

    Shabbat, observed sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, usually involves traditional Jewish meals (including bread, wine, and meat and/or fish), prayers, lighting candles, and spending relaxing time with family and friends, but it’s the myriad restrictions that are best known (and loathed by every bored 13-year-old who just wants his Game Boy). It’s prohibited to turn electronic devices on or off, as well as to travel in cars, trains, buses, and planes. there are workarounds for all of that stuff (like elevators that stop at every floor, or lights on an automatic timer) but many Jews have simply stopped bothering with the more intrusive aspects of Shabbat.

    Reboot’s “Sabbath Manifesto” takes a different approach. instead of observing traditional modes of rest on Shabbat, it recommends we use that day to unplug ourselves from our connected lives. It’s a fun twist on the traditional ban on electronics, and it’s a good idea for anybody, anyway: taking one day to remember what life is like apart from Twitter, Facebook, email, and all the rest can only be good for our perspective and mental stability (let alone our social lives here in the real world).

    Today (right now, actually: I’ve scheduled this article to publish at 7:07 PM EST, sundown in new York City), Reboot is hosting the first “National Day of Unplugging,” which lasts the length of traditional Shabbat: sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. The group is hoping this big press push will encourage more obedience of their “Sabbath Manifesto,” which is basically a weekly version of the National Day of Unplugging.

    The Sabbath Manifesto, in full:

    1. Avoid technology.
    2. Connect with loved ones [note: presumably not via technology]
    3. Nurture your health.
    4. Get outside.
    5. Avoid commerce.
    6. Light candles.
    7. Drink wine.
    8. Eat bread.
    9. Find silence.
    10. Give back.

    The philosophy goes beyond just a list of rules; Reboot is taking a more pro-active promotional path:

    Reboot’s organizers are promoting the National Day of Unplugging via (what else?) Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. But the manifesto also emphasizes direct personal interaction. As such, Reboot has planned intimate gatherings this weekend in new York and Los Angeles, where members will dine and share their views on the manifesto. Cellphones must be checked at the door, where they’ll “sleep” in miniature sleeping bags.

    Look at that! Miniature sleeping bags for cellphones! see, everyone? Shabbat can be adorable too! And that adorability is why you might see a distinct lack of Jews around on the internet tonight and tomorrow. Looking at my watch, it’s just about time for me to head out as well: Shabbat Shalom, everyone.


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    WREX.com – Rockford's News LeaderGet ready for Twitter everywhere… er, @Anywhere

    Saturday, March 20th, 2010

    By Geoff DuncanProved by

    At this year’s SXSW festival in Austin, Twitter CEO Evan Williams unveiled @Anywhere, a new set of tools aimed at Twitter partner sites — think media outlets, retailers, celebrities, and other big names — to embed Twitter feeds and functionality in their sites without making people rush off to Twitter.com to say what they really think in 140 characters or less. The idea is to enable Twitter users to send and receive tweets while they’re already visiting these other sites, instead of popping back to the main Twitter site or turning to a dedicated Twitter application. And rather than being complicated to implement, Williams says it’ll just take a few lines of JavaScript.

    “Imagine being able to follow a New York Times journalist directly from her byline, tweet about a video without leaving YouTube, and discover new Twitter accounts while visiting the Yahoo home page — and that’s just the beginning,” wrote Twitter co-founder Biz Stone in the company blog. “Twitter has proven to be compelling in a variety of ways. With @anywhere, Web site owners and operators will be able to offer visitors more value with less heavy lifting.”

    Twitter hasn’t said when it expects to launch @Anywhere, but says it’ll have over a dozen major partners at launch, including Yahoo, the New York Times, YouTube, Amazon, Bing, Citysearch, Digg, eBay, MSNBC, The Huffington Post, Salesforce.com, Meebo, and AdvertisingAge. Twitter did not offer any details of the financial arrangements with these launch partners.

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    Lance Armstrong and Tony Kornheiser no longer hate each other

    Saturday, March 20th, 2010

    Pilots grounded for dangerous stadium flyover

    Happy Birthday to Bobby Orr and Pat Riley

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    One day after being pitted against each other as bitter enemies fighting for their space on the asphalt, Lance Armstrong and Tony Kornheiser made nice-nice on the radio today.

    Kornheiser apologized for last week’s over-the-top rant against cyclists, in which he passed off a “run them over” suggestion as humor. And Armstrong, phoning in to Kornheiser’s radio show from France, said he accepted the apology as “sincere.”

    Kornheiser, to the surprise of no one who has ever shared press box space with him, also candidly admitted that he hasn’t been on a bike “forever and forever.”

    After a few minutes of Kornheiser pulling the tail out from between his legs the 16-minute conversation digressed into a dialogue about the power of social media. That was mainly because the attack Armstrong unleashed on Twitter seems to have left permanent skid marks on Kornheiser’s psyche. “These rants are over, believe me,” said Kornheiser, invoking his best funeral voice.

    Kornheiser also admitted several times that he’s “old.”

    To hear the whole thing, spin your gears here.

    – Tom Weir

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    Miley Cyrus on Twitter-Hate | Gay Rights | Change.org

    Saturday, March 20th, 2010

    If you were following Miley Cyrus on Twitter last year, you’re probably wondering where the hell she went. Turns out that Cyrus quit her Twitter account, but not because she was bored, found something new, or didn’t have the time to Tweet.

    Nope, Cyrus quit her Twitter account because homophobic fans attacked her after she tweeted her support of gay marriage. If you can’t shoot the message, shoot the messenger, or so it goes for silly anti-gay activists who would attack a teenage pop artist for believing in equality.

    What did Cyrus say that caused the flurry of hate?

    “Jesus loves you AND your partner and wants you to know how much he cares! That’s like a daddy not loving his lil boy cuz he’s gay and that is WRONG and very sad! Like I said everyone deserves to be happy,” Cyrus tweeted.

    Well, as Elton John found out, anti-gay folks really hate it when you lump the word “Jesus” in a statement supporting gay rights. Funny how a religious figure who is supposed to be about the embodiment of love makes people want to hate so much.

    Cyrus told Parade Magazine that after receiving so much hate mail over her support of gay marriage (not to mention a vision of Jesus that doesn’t smote queer folks), she decided to quit Twitter.

    “There has been so much controversy sometimes about what I’ve said or done because I believe there are no mistakes because God is the only one who can judge us,” Cyrus said. “That’s the reason I deleted my Twitter account because I said on there that I believed in gay marriage because everyone should have the right to love each other, and I got such hate mail about my being a bad person.”

    I think we all know who the bad people are in this case. And it’s not Miley.

    Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

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    Entrepreneur sends TwellWishes to Twitter users

    Saturday, March 20th, 2010

    Yahya Henry’s idea for a new Twitter application came to him on his 30th birthday.

    “I noticed I was getting a lot of ‘happy birthdays’ because they saw my tweets,” Henry said.

    Unlike Facebook, Twitter users are not prompted in their profiles to enter their birthday. So Twitter users would learn or be reminded of someone’s birthday only if the user mentioned it in a tweet.

    “It’s kind of a little knowledge gap,” Henry said.

    He saw an opportunity to fill a niche. he created TwellWishes, which launched in January.

    Social media is all about community and engagement, Henry said. Sending virtual gifts or wishing someone a happy birthday is a way to do that.

    Henry is very social media literate, with accounts on Twitter, Facebook, Blip.fm and Foursquare, among others. However, he has been on social media sites for only about a year.

    “I was really one of the many who didn’t understand it, didn’t see the value in it,” he said.

    Now, he consults for social media. he moved to Augusta in July from Norfolk, Va. he also has a real estate consulting business and a Web site focused on sustainable development.

    TwellWishes co-developer Tiffani Bell lives in the Washington, D.C., area, but technology allows Henry to keep in touch with her and other business associates outside Augusta.

    Henry says the growth of social media locally is important.

    “Being able to adapt and being a part of social media shows that you’re relevant,” he said.

    Social media adds visibility to businesses and people, and many could take advantage of the direct way to interact, he said.

    “If you’re invisible, you’re irrelevant,” he said. “Social media kind of allows the walls to be broken down.”

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