Twitter stories with a difference

Twitter has been in the news for some length of time now. That’s the free publicity it has received since its inception. It may be because of its simplicity, mass appeal or just the fact that it provokes a reaction (either love or hate). I decided to have a look at what exactly appears in the news. I studied the news about twitter for the past few days. During this time i came across some interesting news & events which i will share with you.

Amazonfail is a twitter success

-- April 15, 2009 Source :- findingdulcinea
Its about a recent incident wherein Amazon deranked some GLSB (G*y, L**bian, Bi***ual & Transg**der) books in its catalog. Publishers & authors were naturally angry with Amazon’s action because it meant decreased sales for them. So in order to protest against Amazon’s action, they began writing about it on their blog & created a hash tag #Amazonfail on twitter to communicate with each other. After few days Amazon came under intense pressure and apologized publicly & the #Amazonfail became a hot trend on twitter.

Twitter growth goes through the roof

-- April 16, 2009 Source :- The Tech Herald
This is a news article published by The Tech Herald based on Comscore Media Metrix report which said that Twitter’s popularity grew by 131% in the month of march & its user base grew by more than 5 million to reach the 9 million mark.

Jackman in $100K Twitter offer

-- April 17, 2009 Source :- Metro
X-Men star Wolverine actor Hugh Jackman made a sensational announcement on live radio to give away a 100,000$ cash gift to anyone who sends him the best twitter message about charity. He said he wanted people to talk more about charity & give it more airspace through this offer.

Pivotal moments in Twitter's short lifetime

-- April 18, 2009 Source :- CTV.ca
To help explain the growing Twitter Zeitgeist, Forbes published a list of important events in which Twitter played a vital role. All events including the Mumbai Attack, US Airplane crash etc have been listed & along with it Wikipedia page views & media mentions about each event have been added. You may also have a look at my article on this subject – Twitter on a role.

Shaheen Jafargholi to rival Susan Boyle after Twitter praise from Demi Moore

-- April 19, 2009 Source :- Telegraph.co.uk
After Susan-Boyle sang “I dreamed a dream” at the reality show “Britain’s got Talent” she became an overnight sensation with fans all across the world. But amongst all this hype over Susan Boyle Demi Moore, an American actress showered praise on other 12 year old contestant Shaheen Jafargholi by sending a tweet “Wow this kid is something else!”

Twitter Dumb and Twitter Dee

-- April 20, 2009 Source :- Huffington Post
It's a funny article by a Huffington Post writer on a recent highly overhyped tussle between CNN & Ashton Kutcher to reach a million followers mark first. Author hates the Social media & more so twitter & makes some interesting disclosures about how he uses various social media platforms.

Twitter under attack, yet again

-- April 21, 2009 Source :- Digitaltrends.com
After the Mikeyy episode, Twitter has come under yet another attack but not by malware this time. Its a phishing attack which displays tweets containing enticing messages & asks user to check out fake sites like www.thesmartEcard.com. Twitter officials have claimed that the attacks were brief & they have been controlled but have asked users to avoid viewing the profiles of people sending such tweets.
Thanks for bearing me. But have you pondered the title, the dates below each of the posts. Oh wait! its not over yet. Have i told you about a new service announced today by Google which allows you to view the topics in a chronological order, as they occurred in the news, just like what i have done above using the word Twitter. Its a service that presents to you the news stories in a different style & is named as Google Timeline.

(click to enlarge the picture)

Technorati Tags: News,Writer,Twitter,Amazon,X-men,Jackman,Forbes,Susan Boyle,Demi Moore,Huffington Post,ashton Kutcher,CNN,American Actress,Mikeyy,Google,Google Timeline

5 most interesting blogs on IPL 2009

IPL 2009 fever is on the rise as the date of commencement is approaching fast. Meanwhile bloggers are busy creating some cool & interesting stuff for the readers. Watching at what’s in the store, I think readers are in for a real treat this time. Already some amazing posts have been written about IPL in the blogosphere. Lots of controversies maybe one of the reasons for such frenzy. Here i will provide you with some posts that i found really interesting.

• One of my friends, an avid blogger was really disturbed at a recently published news about IPL which read that shifting of IPL was an anti-national act. It was about some crazy fans filing a case in the Supreme Court that shifting of IPL would result in great harm to the national pride & huge economic losses. My friend really digged the news & wrote this interesting post on it – IPL : Anti-national?
• As we all know this IPL has been mired with controversies all around, but there are always some surprises when it comes to such mega events. One of the big ones was an announcement made by famous Kolkata Night Riders Coach John Buchanan that they will field different captains for different matches. This was one heck of a news for a die hard Kolkata Night Riders fan & a blogger. Their favorite star Sourav Ganguly being sidelined as a captain was just not acceptable for him. So with his witty humor he crafted this excellent post – Captain.. Captain..
• General Elections 2009 was the main reason to move this mega event to South Africa. But whilst this was being done there was a lot of hue & cry amongst the people & media about this decision & its pros & cons. A journalist, blogger & a harsh critic was all fury about this drama being done & important issues being sidelined. He launched a scathing attack with his pen & published a masterpiece titled -- IPL Blues.
• Its rightly said that “all work & no play makes jack (or whoever it was) a dull guy”. Similarly for bloggers all words & no pictures makes it a dull post. So here’s an artist & blogger who has published some really funny cartoons on the various news & events related to IPL. Below is one of the IPL cartoons from his blog.
• Last but not the least by any means, in fact this one’s my favorite. We all know about Mr. Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, a smart investor (or like some people say India’s “Warren Buffett”), but not many know about his writing skills & his fantastic blog. He too joined the IPL blogger’s list in his own unique style. He posted an awesome mocking piece on IPL. I will not play a spoiler, only thing i can say is that you can enjoy this must read post at Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’s Website.

Have a happy time reading this short list of blogs that i recommended but please don’t forget to leave your comments here so that i can come up with more such interesting stuff for you to read. Also if you like this post please Digg it or mark it as a Technorati favorite using the buttons below so that others can find it easily. And just a reminder there’s a subscription service ( RSS feeds based and/or email-based) as well.

Technorati Tags: IPL,IPL 2,IPL 2009,Elections 2009,South Africa,Kolkata Night Riders,Rakesh Jhunjhunwala,Warren Buffett,John Buchanan,Shilpa Shetty,Rajashtan Royals,IPL cartoons

Indian livestock & global warming

Global warming is high on agenda everywhere these days. Be it the latest Earth Hour or the controversial Australian forest fire, its the most debated topic in recent times. But yesterday a news story at TIME caught my attention, there was a picture of an Indian cow below the words global warming. So i just gave it a go & i was surprised or say shocked at the facts revealed.
According to this story,
“Indolent cows languidly chewing their cud while befuddled motorists honk and maneuver their vehicles around them are images as stereotypically Indian as saffron-clad holy men and the Taj Mahal. Now, however, India's ubiquitous cows — of which there are 283 million, more than anywhere else in the world — have assumed a more menacing role as they become part of the climate change debate.
By burping, belching and excreting copious amounts of methane — a greenhouse gas that traps 20 times more heat than carbon dioxide — India's livestock of roughly 485 million (including sheep and goats) contribute more to global warming than the vehicles they obstruct.”
Author further quotes the figures released by Space Applications Centre in Ahmadabad that puts the pan-India livestock methane emissions inventory at about 11.75 metric tons up from about 9 million metric tons in 1994.

The reasons for high emission are the poor health of the cows & low quality of supplement being fed. Poor farmer is unable to spend on expensive dietary supplements & hence resorts to local and inexpensive feeds. Also due to high cost, foreign technologies remain unaffordable. With little to no health-care animals remain grossly undernourished & disease prone.
All is not bleak though. Farmers are being encouraged to feed Oilseed cakes which reduce methane production in cows. New supplements developed from herbs like Tea leaves are being tested. Plans are on to use Indian herbs like Reetha & Shikakai as additives to reduce methane excretion. Research is on to find out methane capture strategies. And then there are other old uses like Biogas production for lighting lamps & other energy purposes.

After having said all this, a question still remains in my mind, why this hue & cry now at foreign publications like TIME? If this was as serious an issue what was government & media (both Indian & foreign) doing all these years. Who do you think is responsible?

Technorati Tags: global warming,climate change,emissions,Space Applications Centre,cows,earth hour,australian fire,methane,biogas,carbon dioxide