twitter

Did Missouri's U.S. senator, Claire McCaskill, just use Twitter to blab the timing of President Barack Obama's choice to run the Department of Health and Human Services?

On Saturday afternoon, McCaskill left this post on the microblogging site: "A little anxious about the announcement of HHS Sec. Hopeful that my pal Gov of Kansas will get the call. It should happen today or tomorrow."

Obama's initial choice for the post, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, withdrew his candidacy after he acknowledged failing to pay $140,000 in taxes and interest.

Actually, the announcement--whenever … Read more

You will, along with many millions of others, likely make an emergency appointment with your psychologist this week.

After all, the words of Lady Greenfield, professor of synaptic pharmacology at Lincoln College in Oxford, England, have probably slapped their syllables against your very core. Social-networking sites, she said, like Facebook (it's interesting how Facebook seems to have come to symbolize all social networking), are infantilizing the human mind.

The definition of infantile behavior appears to span such horrific traits as sensationalism, short attention spans, and a need to urinate in the middle of shopping malls. (Perhaps I inadvertently slipped … Read more

Today's headlines from CNET News: Sir Howard Stringer adds to his titles of chairman and CEO; NTT DoCoMo says there's a problem with BlackBerrys it's selling in Japan; Android developers stage mini-revolt; Obama's budget includes money for criticized cybersecurity projects; and more.

Today's stories:

Sony's Stringer consolidates power

BlackBerry Bold sales suspended in Japan

Bleak week for memory chipmakers

Obama's budget blueprint enhances cybersecurity

Paid Android apps blocked on developer phones

Do tech hopefuls still need Demo?

Eager hordes flock to Google's Twitter account

There's still debate about whether Twitter is a mainstream phenomenon, but Google's instant popularity on it should dispel any doubts the microblogging service has become an essential tool in tech-savvy circles.

Google's Twitter account attracted 27,176 followers in the less than two full days since its launch Wednesday. That's nearly one every 5 seconds.

Google's first tweet was characteristically nerdy. "I'm 01100110 01100101 01100101 01101100 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01101100 01110101 01100011 01101011 01111001 00001010." Translated, first from binary to decimal ASCII codes to letters: "I'm feeling lucky."

Google hasn't attained the Twitter follower popularity of Barack Obama, with 333,381 as of Friday morning, but it is a remarkably fast ascent. Microsoft's Live Search Twitter account has 1,536 followers, and Yahoo's Twitter account has 4,876. Yahoo climbed aboard the Twitter bandwagon two and a half weeks ago. … Read more

Matt Webb pointed out in his LIFT presentation today that humans “take pleasure in watching things unfold.” True – even if the events are a quasi-authentic account of something that has already happened.

Coincidentally, the Spanish site Per Soitu reports about a fascinating example of “fake authenticity” and the emerging trend of using Twitter for storytelling. On February 23, 2009, exactly 28 years after about 200 soldiers and paramilitary members of the Spanish Civil Guard toppled remnants of General Franco's dictatorship, a group of Spanish Twitterers revived minute by minute the historical coup d'etat that occurred on February 23, … Read more

Not only because a surgery conducted via Twitter made headlines the other day, Twitter is all the buzz (again). And it seems as if almost three years after its now-legendary debut at South by Southwest Interactive, the popular microblogging service has reached the second (or third) hype cycle, entering the business and media mainstream as the ultimate narrow--and broadcast--network.

As Joel Comm, CEO of InfoMedia and author of "Twitter Power," points out:

It's like the old saying, "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." People who use … Read more

Ginx, the very good Web-based Twitter client I covered earlier this month, has added a very useful new feature: groups. You can now subscribe to curated groups of Twitter users, which is great if you want to make sure you see all the smart things said by people who are experts on a given topic. The groups are managed by other Ginx users.

The groups are person-based, not topic-based. If a person is added to a group of, say, expert horticulturists, but only occasionally Twitters about plants, you'll get all their posts on all their topics if you follow … Read more

Jeff Bakalar makes his return on Fat Tuesday--how appropriate. Justin reveals to the world that he loves Alvin & the Chipmunks, on top of his fascination with Disney music. Disney we can forgive, but really? An Alvin & the Chipmunks cover of "Uptown Girl?" And we figure out that Alvin wears a giant "A" because he's committed adultery.

On today's show, Justin learns some new racial slurs from Clint Eastwood's "Gran Torino." Jeff tells us to check out Mickey Rourke in "The Wrestler"and reveals to us that he once was a professional wrestler known as "The Flying Daisy." In actual news, newspapers are asking the federal government for a bailout. Get with it! Newspapers are going the way of the dodo. On top of that, it's National Pancake Day, so head on over to your local IHOP! Let Fat Tuesday's debauchery begin in earnest.… Read more

According to HTC's Twitter feed, the Touch Pro2 is officially coming to North America. We had every indication that it would, but this confirms it.

What's interesting isn't that the phone's headed our way, but that HTC used Twitter to announce it. Twitter is becoming a useful way for companies to reach out to journalists and fans alike.

The feed also says that while there's no specific date, it will "start to roll out late Q2" this year. That means those of you who are waiting for the Pro2 hotness only have to … Read more