I follow @BreakingNewsOn on Twitter. They do a great job of providing latest news and information. They have been the first to break some very big stories. I’m not sure how much I want to pay for this news service. How about you?

Latest Breaking News

Social Media is often equivalent to immediate gratification and expectations. When I subscribe to an RSS feed or to Twitter updates, I want the latest breaking news. I don’t think I’m alone.

I have been hungry for news, especially amidst the intensity of stock market crash(es) and financial crisis. On October 9, I looked at multiple news services on Twitter and was surprised at how many of news profiles had not updated frequently. One news site had not updated for 3 months!

The root word of “news” is “new” – which infers the plural of “new stuff” <personal dictionary>. So if you are going to give us new stuff, make it new. Post your stuff often.

I sent out multiple tweets (I won’t bore you with all of them); however, a few news profiles on Twitter started posting immediately – oh, the power of instant messaging on Twitter!

Okay… My final analysis was to follow @BreakingNewsOn & @NewsOnTwitter.

Donate to News Service?

Back to the donation request for news service…

How valuable is news to you?

How much are you willing to pay?

How will you evaluate the quality of the news before making a decision?

To repeat, BreakingNewsOn’s service rocks on Twitter! I’ve found it invaluable. However, I’m taken back by their donation request posted today.

BreakingNewsOn’s donation site, http://www.bnonews.com, is a dot com, not a dot org. Dot coms are normally commercial enterprises, while dot orgs are non-profit organizations. NOTE: They don’t claim to be a non-profit!

Donation requests via PayPal are common on sites that provide a valuable service, especially those who provide free WordPress plugins or blogs that share a ton of information. I have yet to see a news site request donation support, however.

News Advertising

News services often receive their funding by advertising. Tweets on Twitter are not advertising-based.

How does a news service fund themselves in Social Media and Twitter?

The ground rules for Social Media are currently being developed. What is the new News Advertising model?

To request or not to request money, that is the question.

It started just after 2:00pm PST on August 11, 2008. I was on the phone with a friend/client and planned to follow-up with information via email. Oh, “Temporary Error” – hmmm… turns out it was not that temporary.

What does one do when stranded by Gmail and Google Apps?

Here was my trouble-shooting and decision-making process:

1. Test access to Google Apps and Gmail accounts using various browsers.
2. Check my connectivity. (All other sites work well; move to next step.)
3. Check Twitter to see if any of my friends were also down to ensure this was not an isolated incident.
4. Call client who heavily relies on Google Apps for their email and inform their office so they don’t panic.
5. Use Yahoo! mail for urgent alternative electronic communication.
6. Check Twitter stream of conversations and be amazed at how many people are stranded.
7. Decide that other tasks can be done. (Be thankful I track tasks with a Franklin Planner – old fashioned pencil & paper.)
8. Pick up phone and call friend who was on list to call today. (Good thing her phone number was in my cell. My contact list is in Google Apps.)
9. Water the plants and feed the baby doves in our back yard.
10. Check Twitter stream again. (Oh, boy!)
11. Write blog post.
12. Finish non-email-related tasks. (Unfortunately, many of us rely on Google Apps for our files, calendars, etc.)
13. Determine other alternatives to Google Apps & Gmail dependence for future. Maybe it’s time to look at Zoho. Lucky number 13?

The Twitter stream was amazing. The following image shows a search for “gmail” on search.twitter.com. In a little over an hour, over 7,000 additional conversations were tracked for people discussing their email woes.

Thanks to Twitter, my friends told me Gmail was back up! Just under 2 hours later, it’s been a good chance to think about decision-making process and productivity.

What does one do when Google Apps and Gmail go down in the middle of the work day?

• Be thankful you didn’t pay for Google Apps Premium Edition!
• Be thankful Twitter’s “Fail Whale” didn’t appear during Gmail’s outage.
• Do something non-electronic. (Call a friend!)
• Remember that all challenges are opportunities to re-evaluate.

The follow Big 3 (plus 1) are the leaders in search.

• Google
  
• Yahoo! Search
  
• Microsoft Live
• Ask

These guys are the reason we fret over Search Engine Optimization to ensure our websites get indexed. (Well, most of us just fret over Google.)

There is one guarantee about search – Changes are constant! Enter… a newcomer who announces they are the next search beast to be reckoned with.

Cuil

Cuil is a new search engine that claims it can index web pages significantly faster than Google. The interface for search results is similar to a 3-column magazine, sometimes showing thumbnail pictures inset into each article.

I wanted to learn more about Cuil, so I went to Google! Go, figure! I especially liked this snippet:

Cuil Stumbles out of the Gate – Jul 28, 2008

Stumble it did. It has the audience laughing!

Cuil was developed by ex-Googlers and announced itself as “Google-killer” – oh, boy! They did a bang-up PR job with announcements blanketing the walls of tech and search news websites. Well, they won’t be found guilty of murder, because their attempt to kill Google has thus far been unsuccessful. The following discussions reveal Cuil has many issues:

• Twitter conversation about Cuil – Take a look at the changing sentiment and tweets.
• SEOmoz Cuil analysis and discussion – Your eyes may glaze over at the depth of detail and the shortcomings of Cuil.
• Search Engine Land: Cuil Launches – Can This Search Start-Up Really Best Google?
  
• Search Engine Land: Cuil Fast Test – Relevancy Isn’t a Google Killer

I’m won’t try to summarize the last two articles. Good reading for those who want to know more.

TASK: [ ] Visit Cuil and search for your name, your company’s name. Please share your findings. Is it accurate?

Yuil

Here come the copycatters! TechCrunch announced Yuil, a “mashup” of Yahoo search results presented with the 3-column magazine layout of the Cuil look and feel. (Think of it like a horse painted with zebra stripes.) AND…talk about accurate! The discussion on TechCrunch was about this great parody and the accuracy of Yuil’s results.

Time to write a blog post about Yuil. But who the heck are these guys? Remember, changes are constant.

I took a Yuil screenshot, cropped the logo, went for a walk, had dinner… GONE! Yuil has been shut down. They received a cease and desist order from Cuil.

July 30, 2008
Yahoo! BOSS is easy — meet Yuil
Updated Again: Yuil is dead. However, you can always get the same great search results here.

Clicking on “here” takes you to Yahoo!

Maybe Yahoo! results are really worth taking a look at! Why are we fretting so much about Google?

A few hours ago we we so excited about Yuil, and now we find out they were simply Yahoo! results with a Cuil interface!

TASK: [ ] Visit Yahoo! and search for your name, your company’s name. How do they compare to Google? Please share your findings.

Drum roll… Whuil be next in Search?

Broadcasting Twitter News

Twitter is a microblogging platform where people, world-wide, are communicating and broadcasting news. News is sent out as “tweets,” messages sent to Twitter. Each tweet is like a bird chirping, short and hopefully sweet – 140-characters or less. The conversation on Twitter may be as simple as updating what you are doing, posting links about informative or fun website articles, to providing information about fire and evacuations.

Messages can be sent from the Web or from a cell phone. You can text message to Twitter on your cell or speak your tweet using TwitterFone.

People want the latest information. News Stations are now posting information on Twitter. I’m following KCRA (Sacramento) & KSBW (Monterey). All Public Information Officers should get online now and setup Twitter accounts.

Reading News

There are many ways to read this alternative news source. Here are a couple.

1. Create an account on Twitter. Then follow friends, family, business associates, news stations. You could follow me on Twitter, for example – @danalookadoo.
2. Open a Web browser to login to Twitter. When people you follow someone, you receive their tweets.
3. Read posts using a tool like Twhirl, a piece of software, called a “client.” Twhirl lets you access Twitter outside a Web browser. (It works for both Windows and Mac platforms.) Shown right is an example of Twhirl’s interface.
4. Twhirl allows you to search for people, for information, and even post images to TwitPic. (I haven’t tried TwitPic yet.)
5. Setup your cell phone to receive tweets as text messages. When you follow someone, you have the option to have their tweets update your device. You can turn that On or Off.

Posting News

Suggest you listen and watch the conversation before joining in. However, if you want to start broadcasting news, it’s easy. Join Twitter and tweet! Make sure you add value and don’t sensationalize your “news stories.” Follow others, and they may follow you.

Shorten Long URLs. This is important! Remember the 140-character limit. Think about how many domain names and Web pages are so long you couldn’t even “speak” them in one breath. There are “Shorten URL” services like TinyURL that create an “alias” you can paste into Twitter to broadcast your website link. Hint: Twhirl has a built-in feature you can use to shorten long URLs (using snurl or is.gd).

Real-Time Twitter News

Summize and TweetScan are tools for tracking discussion on Twitter. Let’s call them “Twitter search engines.” You don’t need a Twitter account to search and find your “news updates.” Get real-time news posted by real people.

ALERT TIP: TweetScan users can sign up for email alerts or import news into an RSS reader. TweetScan is also available from Twhirl.

SEARCH TIP: Use quotes for exact matches or type “OR” (in caps) to combine searches together.

Disaster & Fire Info

Current fires in California are weighing heavy on hearts and all over the news. What’s the latest? Which fire is the hottest? Twitter knows because people are posting the latest happenings!

Fires in Butte County north of Sacramento are raging and out of control. Last night on news talk radio, a man from Paradise, CA called into a local Sacramento radio program. He calmly expressed his disappointment that local radio was not broadcasting as an emergency service but was still broadcasting only top- and bottom-of-the hour news. He was looking to radio to find information about his house, evacuation information, where to go. I immediately thought of Twitter!

One of the first posts I saw from KCRA on Twitter this morning (July 9, 2008) was a notice that 8,000 people were evacuated by fires in Butte County, threatening the town of Paradise. (See Twhirl screenshot above.)

Read the latest happenings of the Butte County fire at Summize or TweetScan (type in “butte+fire”).

Social Media Networking

People are sharing what they are doing online, what is happening around them. Again, Twitter is one way to broadcast evacuations and disaster information.

Twitter is more than a social news broadcast medium. As an online marketer, it’s a great source for latest blog posts and discussion about marketing and search engine optimization, consumer opinion, and a way to get to know my peers better while also making new friendships. I recently wrote about Social Media and how it’s changing the marketing game. Social Media is also news source as well as a community builder.

I trust most of these “friends” and am thankful that our peers are now our news reporters!

Use Twitter to get the latest news!

As I head out the door, I know I’ll be using my headlights. I just saw the following tweet:

@joshdmorg: Smoke so thick in sac folks driving with headlights on

You can always turn on your radio at the top of the hour or look out your window! I prefer to use Twitter as my alternative news source!

Hundreds of homes and business owners are preparing for impending flames. The Basin Complex fire merged with the Indian Fire and is moving closer to Big Sur Village. More than 900 residents have been evacuated. Homes burned. What they know of freedom and independence is gone, only with hopes of starting over.

Darby Marshall, spokesman for the Monterey County Office of Emergency Services, states:

“The fire is just a big raging animal right now.”

Evacuations

According to the KSBW News website:

“Big Sur is a virtual ghost town tonight except for some trying to protect their homes and businesses.”

Evacuations were expanded. Up to 40 miles of the scenic Pacific Coast Highway are closed. The fire is moving north and is very unpredictable.

I spoke to a friend yesterday who lives in Carmel Valley. Her neighbor is a fire fighter, and he told his wife to pack their valuables and papers. CARMEL VALLEY? That’s so far away! Two other friends had a ranch in Arroyo Seco – notice past tense, “had.” It’s gone.

I used to live just 20 miles north of Big Sur in Monterey. This area was my home for over 20 years. Big Sur was and is home to hundreds. So many hearts are breaking. What can one do?

Hope. Pray. Give. Prepare.

Resources

SureFire2008.org – A community bulletin board matching those in need with those who want to help.

KUSP Central Coast Public Radio – Official Big Sur fire updates.

Xasáuan Today – A blog that used to cater to “a small audience of aging beatniks, social and environmental justice advocates, cyclists, and backwoods retro-grouch types” is now a voice for fire updates.

Big Sur Nearly Deserted As Fire Looms – News update as of July 3, 2008.

Flickr Photostream, Before & After – Don’t look at these unless you have tissue in hand.
Stone House: Before & After

Monterey County SPCA – Adopt an animal or give online. See Donations information.

Independence Day

Today is Independence Day, the day we celebrate freedom! It’s always been a day of introspection for me. My Dad died when I was 4 years old on the 4th of July. Gosh…

The United States was originally formed to be “One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” Today, I’m appreciating the freedom fought for by many others and being thankful for liberties and legacy.

I have not known, and probably never will know, such sacrifice. I’m dedicated to helping those in Big Sur who have little to celebrate today. Please join me.

Visit the SurFire2008.org blog for latest notices.

Big Sur Evacuees return home with a “soft” evacuation. Much of the fire is still burning, but Palo Colorado and Big Sur residents are able to return to assess the condition of their properties and settle in, if that’s possible. Learn more on KSBW News.

FEMA has declared a FEDERAL DISASTER rather than FEDERAL EMERGENCY. This means more funding for businesses, homeowners and services. Additional federal funding will help rebuild. Many lives will never be the same, and reports are that one firefighter lost his life fighting the Big Sur fire.

Our prayers for the family and all the firefighters.