Posts Tagged ‘Twitter’
Asia
North Korea recently joined YouTube and Twitter, using the social media platforms to mock South Korea and the United States. Interestingly, the messages are aimed at South Koreans, not at North Koreans, who are denied access to websites like YouTube and Twitter.
Europe
Ladies of Italy, rejoice! Venice is soon going to see its first female gondolier! Until recently, the trade has been limited to men due to the tradition of fathers training their sons to become gondoliers. Now, there is a course in becoming a gondolier and more women can try their hand at the profession.
Middle East
There’s another controversy involving Facebook! An Israeli soldier posted pictures of herself smiling and posing next to blindfolded and handcuffed Palestinian prisoners, causing an uproar among Palestinian groups. The Israeli Defense Force has released a statement disapproving the picture, but the soldier sees nothing wrong with her actions.
What the Tweet? from GOOD.is on Vimeo.
We love infographics – especially ones about media. Watch the video above, but make sure it’s full screen. There is a ton of information to catch.
GOOD and Part & Parcel put this animation together to show the breakdown of tweets. Despite a large amount of people sharing information through Twitter, most of that information is coming from old media sources like newspapers Maybe what they found isn’t shocking, but it’s interesting to consider.
We’ve heard over and over again that print media is dead, that nobody reads newspapers, and that nobody listens to the radio.
However, this information paints a different picture. People are consuming old types of media. The difference is not that old media is dying, it’s that the way humans interact with that media is changing.
Sending links to news articles or radio broadcast through tweet is a great way to peak the interest of followers. Interestingly enough, most of the tweeting is about technology.
To see a comprehensive still image of the information covered in the video, look here.
How to answer a sad question from a little girl whose mom could face deportment? See video above.
“Hey guys, wanna go chill at McDonald’s?” The company behind the golden arches wants to get you to “linger.”
Bee kind! Save our honey bees, eh?
Is ur Twitter accnt ruining ur vocab? Beware the effects!
Is Putin re-building the Union? How a common currency could instigate Soviet memories…
The blonde-haired, blue-eyed terrorist? “Jihad Jane” helped target cartoonist.
Colleen LaRose … was “the weird, weird, weird lady who lived across the hall,” neighbor Eric Newell tells the Allentown, Pa., Morning Call. ”We always called her the crazy lady.”
Thanks, Wikicommons
We here at USDemocrazy are taking time to reflect. We would much rather do that then listen to our editors!
This week features a look back at 2009, and today reflection will be political in nature.
Seeing that we are in the season of giving, how about the ten perfect gifts for the politicians in your life? …read more.
SHOCKING NEWS!!! OBAMA DOESN’T TWEET!
That’s right! We’ve learned all those messages on your Twitter feed from the President are really written by his staff. But don’t worry…all US Democrazy tweets are entirely written by us (at least until we can afford a staff).
Now that that is taken care of…. lets talk about the important news, like the comments President Obama made during his current visit to China (No offense to Tweeters but I am limited only 140 characters on stories related to Twitter).
The actual news is that Obama announced he is opposed to China’s “Great Firewall”. This firewall blocks Internet traffic such as Youtube and Twitter reaching Chinese citizens.
via the Associated Press
Not in my Back Prison Yard! :With all the talk of Gitmo closing soon, an Illinois prison may be in line to take “a limited number” of terror suspects. Some local politicians are suspect of these suspects.
Collateral damage: Although we tend to see war in terms of deaths, economic costs, and physical destruction, a new study on birth defects in Iraq may have discovered new unintended outgrowths of modern warfare.
Tweet to Space: Tomorrow’s Space shuttle launch will have a new interactive twist. For the first 100 to sign up, NASA will use Twitter to give people a first-hand look at the launch.
Ooops… The New York Times has uncovered compromising emails sent by lobbyists for Big Pharma company Genentech to members of Congress. What’s the big deal? Some legislators have taken these emails’ talking points and inserted them word-for-word into speeches and statements.
Michael Steele laughs at Arlen Specter on T.V. Did we just hear a collective “Awwwww…” from the left?
I’ve search your person, you pockets, and your luggage. Now may I have your D.O.B. to make sure you’re not lethal?
Hey Google! Thanks for saving our butts! Love, Twitter.
“Russian Vodka Consumption Shocks Even Russians.” We believe that is enough said.
Thanks to Wikicommons.
The newest on the highest bench. Sotomayor confirmed by the US Senate.
NOT TWITTER!!! Twitter gets taken down by black hats.
Already hard at work. New NASA satellite checks out far away planets.
Lee and Ling, pardoned in North Korea
In recent weeks, months, and years (millenia?) there’s been a lot to say about North Korea.
Whether it’s running jokes about North Korea’s leader on late-night TV…or a professor of international relations stressing out on the radio about the DPRK’s nuclear tests , or anything in between, we here at USDemocrazy have heard it all.
Surely you’ve heard of the imprisoned American journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling (pictured above) and their release from a hard labor camp in North Korea. (If not, that’s ok… It was on our “What’zup today?” page yesterday!)
The two had been working along the border of North Korea and China, when they were arrested (for spying) and have been held in prison for the past five months, until yesterday.
The two were employed by Current TV, a news channel founded by former Vice President Al Gore. Big Al expressed his joy at a news conference iat the airport where the two landed safely in the United States. Gore mentioned:
It speaks well of our country that when two American citizens are in harm’s way that so many people would just put things aside and just go to work to make sure that this has had a happy ending.
Gore is referring to the outreach from (mostly online) movements to free the two. The site www.lauraandeuna.com and the very active Twitter page tried to raise awareness about the two women’s plight.
Much has been said, too, about just how the pardons from leader Kim Jong-Il came about.
It’s widely known that former President Bill Clinton took a trip to Pyongyang to work his southern charm on the other side of the world.
Politico wanted to know how Bill Clinton got the gig as negotiator for the non-Obama-administration affiliated mission:
In a mid-July phone call to their families from captivity, the two journalists passed along an astonishing offer: North Korea would be willing to grant amnesty and release them, if Bill Clinton would agree to come to Pyongyang as an envoy and seek their release.
Clinton is now being hailed by many as the reason the journalists saw U.S. soil so soon.
However, the Obama administration was sure to mention at every opportunity there was no message whatsoever from their administration to the naughty rogue Kim administration.
Still…Obama was, however, pretty happy with the job Clinton (and Gore) did.
Of course, in true American fashion, not everyone was wholly happy with the “Mr. Clinton goes to Pyongyang” situation. Former ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush, John Bolton, said in an interview with NPR’s All Things Considered:
The symbolism of a former president going to meet with Kim Jong Il I think is something that benefits Kim Jong Il a lot more than the United States, and it only encourages others to do the same thing.
Bolton is sure that Iran is watching this concession: Act up, hold Americans hostage, or otherwise, and you might get some diplomatic talks out of the situation. (And Bolton isn’t the only skeptic on the situation, either.)
Even people in Seoul, South Korea are a little befuddled about the talks with Mr. Clinton, and how they could affect future North Korea/world politics.
So, what’s left to be seen is a lot: What will this mean for six-party nuclear talks? Will North Korea be more willing to engage in diplomatic talks anytime soon? How will the U.S. proceed in its relationship with the DPRK? What will Bill Clinton do next?
Thoughts?
“It’s on, Google!!!” Microsoft and Yahoo! get together. We read it all on Google News.
Yeah, I tweeted about mold in my apartment. Sue me.
You cheapskates! Time spends just a little for a cover photo.
Who WOULDN'T want this in their home/office?
Shatner does Palin, by reading, of course, her poetic words.
NOT GUILTY! Blago is back (with a vengeance).
More please. Castro wants more from the US.
Twitter Bad? The risks of tweeting.
Today, we at USDemocrazy have decided to take a break from bonuses and Obama and AIG and the economy… and well, you know, all the bad stuff going on. Instead, we’re talking music!
In case you hadn’t heard, this week, Austin, Texas is descended upon by music industry big-wigs and little-wigs, independent musicians from all genres, music journalists, and music junkies for the South by Southwest music festival. If you don’t know what that is, you really ought to. The whole industry has its eye on the eighty-plus stages in Austin featuring hundreds of pretty sweet performances.
But, if you can’t go, or have been too into “the news” to have paid much attention, you’re in luck! There’s a ton of people who would love to tell you about it!
Our favorite place to go is NPR, who are in their element at the music festival, broadcasting select performances on – gasp – the radio! But, if you’re glued to your computer as most of us are, they have great live webcasts from the best shows, including chats with people at the show and photos from the show. It’s like you’re there… but not.
In a recession, spending money on music (we at USDemocrazy are all for legality, and we actually purchase our music!) might seem like a frivolous expense that can be eliminated. But these days, it’s nice to have your money go to something you can actually enjoy, rather than to some slimy Wall Street exec. (OK, so we can’t entirely erase those bonuses from our minds.)
If you’re going to be able to make it mentally (let alone financially) through this economic bust, you might need a little escape from all this money business to take in a show, buy a new album, or discover a new artist. But a lot of people don’t know where to start. Here’s a hint: start by paying attention to South by Southwest. There’s something for everyone — even those finicky bluegrass fans. (The Travelin’ McCourys are a great place to start, if you’re into that kind of music.)
Indulge in a little new music. It’ll make you feel good! And if it’s the top trend on Twitter, it has to be worth talking about!
Most likely, you’ve heard about Twitter, but if you’re anything like us at USDemocrazy circa two weeks ago, you probably still have no idea how it works.
Or maybe you’re one of those annoyingly savvy people who is just lightyears ahead of us mere mortals and can thus pontificate on the greatness of Twitter for hours. (Yawn!)
Either way, you’re likely to find this piece from NPR’s Weekend Edition pretty entertaining. It features Andy Carvin and Scott Simon trying to explain to 80+ year old colleague Dan Schorr the glories of Twitter. They are aided in this challenge by Dwight from “The Office,” also known as actor Rainn Wilson.
Anyone who is anyone is Tweeting these days.
If you aren’t Tweeting, don’t worry — these “Tweets” aren’t what you think. They are just a nickname for your personal mini status updates. These updates are put up on the Web for your “followers” to read. So… Tweeting does not involve chirping, whortles, whistles, wings, feathers. No birds are harmed in the creation of any and all Tweets (so far as we know).
If reading the newspaper in the morning for your daily dose of news isn’t enough for you (and these days, there is ALOT of news!), then go to Twitter. There you can follow constant updates on whatever is going on out in the big, bad world. All this talk of “following” and “followers” may connote some kind of cult, but really, it’s safe to drink the Twitter Kool-Aid. It’s all just a part of the Twit-cabulary.
Once you dive into the Twitter world an unrelenting stream of Tweets may start to show up on your homepage telling you what your favorite celebrities are doing, what the New York Times is currently reporting, or (gasp!) what people you actually know are up to. All this can actually be rewarding. Twitter brings to you the wealth of the internet (should you choose to accept it) without making you go search it on your own. Good Luck!
Come on, if we at USDemocrazy can Tweet with the best of ‘em, it really can’t be that hard.
