Twitter's New Tweet Button For Websites

Twitter added a new feature for website owners yesterday. The Tweet button allows you to embed a small pieces of code in your site that  will allow twitter owners to tweet your page to their followers, big deal you say... I can already do this, true but the difference in this button is that it embeds your twitter username in the tweet and launches a new overlay page that then keeps the reader on your site. A small but powerful step forward for site owners, IMHO. See twitter's video explanation:

...and here it is, give it a click!

Tweet

Twitter's Deceased-user Policy

I guess when you are a social network you have to consider these things. Twitter, as reported by cnet's  Josh Lowensohn, has apparently created a policy on how it should deal with the passing of users. I had not even considered that there should be such policies but it makes a heap of sense. What should happen to the musings of a loved one? Will it be a painful reminder or a testament to the life and times of the individual? When my grandfather passed away over a decade ago he left behind years of journals, I'm not sure which relative ended up with them or what there fate was. It's obvious that we are living in a very different world than my grandfather grew up in, in our world we have the opportunity to leave a little bit of ourselves behind for future generations to ponder and perhaps gain a bit of insight into who we are (where). Our legacy may very well be our 140 character thoughts, our blog posts, our YouTube videos, and the things we've "Liked" on Facebook. I hope that all of these services have or will develop deceased-user policies to preserve and protect our identities.

If we are notified that a Twitter user has passed away, we can remove their account or assist family members in saving a backup of their public Tweets.

Please contact us with the following information:

1. Your full name, contact information (including email address), and your relationship to the deceased user.
2. The username of the Twitter account, or a link to the profile page of the Twitter account.
3. A link to a public obituary or news article.

You can contact us at privacy@twitter.com, or by mail or fax:

Twitter Inc.,
c/o: Trust & Safety

795 Folsom Street, Suite 600

San Francisco, CA 94107
Fax: 415-222-9958

We will respond by email with any additional information we might need.

Please note that we cannot allow access to the account or disclose other non-public information regarding the account

http://support.twitter.com/groups/33-report-a-violation/topics/122-reporting-violations/articles/87894-how-to-contact-twitter-about-a-deceased-user

foursquare Superuser To The Rescue!

An honor has been bestowed upon me, one that I really hadn't realized that I had received until I was comparing accounts on foursquare.com with a few co-workers. It seems that I am a Superuser and with this comes super powers... well not really but I am able to help foursquare maintain their data regarding their venues. Dare i say it? "With great power comes great responsibility"... you knew I would!

So, what is a Superuser and how do you become one? (like a lot of foursquares's badges they are quite secretive about how to achieve them). We were able to do a quick Google search and ascertain the following: 

"Superusers are regular users who’ve been hand selected by the Foursquare staff to help maintain the venue database.

There are two types of superusers, Level 1 and Level 2. Level 1 superusers have the ability to edit any venue, including name, address, map pin location and tags. They can also suggest duplicate venues to be merged and mark venues as closed.

Level 2 superusers have all the abilities of a Level 1 superuser, but they can also complete merges suggested by other superusers and add categories to venues. To merge venues, they use a special interface that shows both venues to be merged. They can choose which information to keep from each venue page, but they cannot choose which map pin should be kept. This is why it’s important to choose the location with the best map pin when suggesting venues to be merged.

A Level 3 superuser option exists which allows those superusers to create and remove venue aliases. Due to the potential for abuse, however, this level has never been awarded is only awarded very rarely." http://aboutfoursquare.com/faq-what-is-a-superuser/

The biggest issue I've had with foursquare to date is that I can be standing in the doorway of a venue and be told that I'm hundreds of meters away, I always just chalked that up to my phone or provider but now I am able to see and correct the issue for all foursquare players and the power in the universe has shifted on the side of good! May the foursquare be with you. (Sorry, but I crack me up some times.)

European Commission Lobbies, And Gets, One Charger For All Cellphones

Starting in 2011, most cellphones sold in the European Union will have a single charger compatible with most devices. So far 10 major hardware providers including Apple, Motorola, Samsung and Research In Motion, have signed on to a pact that would mean no more proprietary connectors incompatible with other phones. It would appear however that the rest of us will have to wait some time before the companies jump on board in North America and elsewhere. Without the power of government behind such a move the manufacturers are slow to make change happen and 3rd party vendors do not wield enough clout to push for change. The current practice is wasteful and inconvenient and perhaps the Euro experiment will cause the phone manufacturers to see the benefits of a single standard. One can only hope!

Sources: CNN and Europa press release

Second Spacewalk Aborted - Third Being Considered For ISS Crew

The second of two space walks planned to replace a faulty cooling pump had to be called after astronauts Douglas Wheelock and Tracy Caldwell Dyson could not get one of the four pressurized ammonia hoses to come off the disabled pump. The crew struggled to get the forth hose loose but had to reconnect it as "A fair amount of ammonia leaked out, forcing them to set aside time to get any traces of the toxic substance off their spacesuits."

Wheelock and Caldwell Dyson where forced to go back to the air lock, to inspect their suits and equipment for ammonia crystals. While none was found, the precautions where necessary, extending the spacewalk to eight hours and three minutes which NASA confirmed was the sixth-longest spacewalk ever.

A third spacewalk is being considered.

Source: CBC