SurfersBrowse – LifetechLife...: Twitter promise blossoming in new technological applications

Have you used the increasingly popular Twitter yet? I have a Twitter account elsewhere on the Web but have just used it briefly just to literally send update messages about my current online activity into cyberspace.

Yes, sent into space because I had no particular friend or contact in mind. So, imagine my surprise to get some response in my blog about my hitherto spaced out messages!

Now, you may be asking why all that is really important to take up a post? Well, I discovered that Twitter could be a step closer to fulfilling my old technology challenge for a tool that bloggers can use in real time to record unraveling personal incidents and/or natural events that could be lost for ever otherwise.

Twitter has achieved that feat in this incident, in which a US graduate student was able to send a one-word post to his friends and university about his arrest in Egypt using only his cell phone and Twitter.

That was simply amazing, I think. Now how about going beyond the 140 character texting capability and adding some video, picture, and GPS tagging abilities?

Hopefully, the new funding round for Twitter could do just that and prevent the occurrence of any unwanted service disruptions in the future?

Do you have something in existence right now that can meet my technology challenge criteria of portability or miniaturization, wireless live broadcast, real time publishing, and GPS tagging abilities? I hope these guys would find this post soon.

On the television right now is historic soccer! 'My' Chelsea Football Club has just pipped Liverpool Football Club by 3 goals to 2 at the invincible/indomitable Stamford Bridge Stadium to set up a unique all-English 2008 European Champions League Cup Final against Manchester United in Moscow in May!

You see, Chelsea has never reached the finals of the European Champions League Cup and never before have two English football/soccer teams met at the European Champions League Cup Final! Someone, please tweet that right now?

By the way, it should have been 5 - 2 after extra time but the three 'Mikes' of Chelsea failed to get their names on the score sheet.

Michael Ballack narrowly missed his first-half freekick, while Michael Essien's goal must have been disallowed for some reason, and Mikel Obi probably did not play today?

However that may be, please let me know, if you saw the game. I really applaud the remarkably similar brace from Didier Drogba and the winner by Frank Lampard!

Incidentally, I think the goals by Torres and Babel after the first-half were just lucky shots. What do you think?

UPDATE - Thursday, May 01, 2008 @ 04:30 PM:

Wow, these guys really work fast! Just saw this May Day - no alarm, just a Worker's Holiday - e-mail message from the Twitter team, acknowledged by this post update, as follows:

[

Date:	Fri, 02 May 2008 08:20:43 +1000
Subject:	Twitter News and Updates


Hello Twitter-ers,

It's time for a semi-monthly update from Twitter headquarters in
sunny San Francisco, CA. There's lots of attention and activity
surrounding Twitter these days and we're focused on staying ahead
of pace. Don't miss a beat, come by and visit http://twitter.com
to see what we're up to.

Bucking The System

Last weekend CNN lead with a big story about James Buck, a
graduate student in journalism from the University of
California-Berkeley who was arrested last month in Mahalla, Egypt
while covering an anti-government protest. Thinking quickly, James
was able to send a one-word Twitter update: "Arrested." His
followers in Egypt and back in the US reacted by contacting the
university and the consulate on his behalf. Before long, James was
updating Twitter with another one-word message, "Free."

CNN Story: http://tinyurl.com/4b4hsg

Twitter Japan

While we're on the subject of international adventures, it should
be noted that Twitter has officially launched in Japan. We noticed
a significant percent of Twitter usage consistently originating
from Japan despite the fact that our service is in English. This
highlighted an opportunity for us to make Twitter better so we
worked with our partner in Japan, Digital Garage to launch a
Japanese version of Twitter.

About Twitter Japan: http://tinyurl.com/626noj

Mother's Day: On The Way

We've noticed a trend of parents twittering the moments of their
baby's birth so we know there are some new moms on Twitter. Are
you a mom on Twitter? Is your own mom on Twitter? Maybe you even
made "The Ultimate List of Moms on Twitter"? Mother's Day is just
around the corner so don't forget to @reply the moms you know with
a thoughtful phrase--but keep it under 140 characters, moms are
busy people.

List of Moms on Twitter: http://tinyurl.com/6cxgp5

Ridiculously Awesome Greeting Cards

You'll be surprised at how funny a short, gutsy phrase can be when
it's paired with an odd, old-timey illustration. You've got to
check out this hilarious greeting card site that had us cracking
up at the office recently. Maybe you'll find something for
Mother's Day but while you're there, keep an eye out for the
Twitter-inspired cards these talented writers have created. We
hope they'll do more!

Greeting Card Site: http://someecards.com
Twitter Card #1: http://tinyurl.com/6xeec2
Twitter Card #2: http://tinyurl.com/5pfreq
Someecards on Twitter: http://twitter.com/someecards

Follow The "Juno" Screenwriter and PC Guy

If the greeting cards aren't wacky enough for you, try following
Diablo Cody and John Hodgman on Twitter. Cody is the Oscar-winning
screenwriter of "Juno" and Hodgman is the guy who plays "PC" in
those Apple ads on TV. Hodgman is also the Resident Expert on "The
Daily Show with John Stewart" and author of the book, "The Areas
of My Expertise." Be warned--these are a couple of tweaked-out
Twitterers.

Diablo Cody: http://twitter.com/diablocody
John Hodgman: http://twitter.com/hodgman

Welcome John and Steve

We're thrilled to announce two talented new team members. John
Kalucki is an experienced distributed systems architect well
versed in relational messaging as the former co-founder of San
Francisco based SQLstream. Steve Jenson is a familiar face for a
few of us here at Twitter HQ because he's a former Google software
engineer known for his work scaling Blogger and Blogspot--a
service which tens of millions of people use on a regular basis.

John: http://twitter.com/jkalucki
Steve: http://twitter.com/stevej

Reminder: Update Your Account Settings

Twitter is growing fast and there are likely folks joining who
want to find you and follow your updates. So, if you haven't
already, be sure to add your real name, location, and your web
site address to your Twitter Profile.

Account Settings: http://twitter.com/account/settings

Happy Twittering,
-Biz Stone and the Twitter Team
http://twitter.com/biz

]

Thanks, guys, for the message. I just noticed the big time and date difference. Where are you? Anyway, I will now go to my account settings and update my profile properly ASAP.

By the way, I have just read about what Microsoft will be doing for NBC's Beijing Olympics website and at the upcoming Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado, with its Silverlight video streaming software.

Could Twitter work with Silverlight or the Adobe equivalent? Hello, all Techies out there... May Day, May Day...

UPDATE - Wednesday, May 14, 2008 @ 2:00 PM:

Got the following in the mail recently from [DavesGadgetWorld.com 827 Hollywood Way #554 Burbank, Ca 91505.] regarding this technology challenge. Their entry was the remarkable "Trackstick II Personal GPS Tracker".

Read more about this remarkable product that records by GPS your location and other real time data or pictures at preset intervals or on Google Earth maps.