TWITTER, THE MOST IMPORTANT WEBSITE SINCE GOOGLE?
I will be the first to admit while it didn’t take me a long time to sign up and start networking with friends on Twitter, it has taken me a long time to understand the true power of the website. When I first started using it I saw it as a networking and communication tool. The more I come to use it and the more I watch people from all walks of life using it I am starting to see why Twitter may possibly be the most important website since Google. To help you understand my logic I want to start with some thoughts on Google.
I think it is safe to say most everyone believes Google is currently the most important website on the internet. When I say important I mean the one that has effected how we use the internet the most thus far. Before it came out we were all satisfied with Yahoo, DogPile and other engines and then Google came a long and it got some grass roots buzz, it was the cool new minimalistic search engine that had surprisingly good results with a clean interface. Soon everyone that was savvy enough to know they could choose the search engine they retrieved info from, chose Google. Google didn’t enhance search, Google popularized search. Yes search was around before Google but people didn’t stop using the Yellow Pages and the Phone book and every other method of finding information until Google.
Enter Twitter -
Even among Google, Google Blog Search, RSS Readers, Blogs, Digg, Reddit, StumbleUpon, FaceBook etc. there is still room in our already thin attention span for a site like Twitter. Like Google, Twitter is simple, straight forward and extremely easy to use. I don’t look at Twitter as a micro-blogging service I look at as a literal representation (both through information and networking) as to how small this planet really is. Short 140 character messages isn’t what Twitter is but how it is carried out. Twitter is becoming a behemoth of instant information with the ability to follow up with and talk to the person providing that information. Sure you could say that is the same thing as blogs, but most of what is said in blogs can and is starting to be said through 140 characters and you can digest more info from more people that way. I replaced my RSS reader with Twitter in fall of last year, I have seriously logged in to my Reader less then 10 times since September to read blogs when it used to be a daily occurrence. If someone asked, “what is Google not doing well on the web?” Twitter would be at the top of my list. Twitter is a Real Time engine with personal and live feedback.
#Twitter #Search -
Part of the long term stability I see with Twitter is from search.twitter.com. Anything I need to know about something that is happening right now or has happened in the last 12 hours I use Twitter search for. I used to search through Google Blogsearch, Digg, Delicious, Youtube to get breaking news but now I am alerted to it so quick through someones update, and I can go to Twitter search and get hundreds if not thousands of snippets of info and links seconds/minutes after it is happening. Everyone knows about Twitter and theHudson River, Mumbai attacks etc. You can’t get that from Google. What takes Google minutes or hours to show you takes Twitter seconds. Google Organizes others content, Twitter creates and organizes its own content. When Jon Stewart ripped Jim Cramer a “new one” I found out about it live from people watching in Eastern time and I was able to go set my TIVO for MST and watch it that night. Before Twitter it would of been a Youtube clip submitted to Digg, Reddit or SU the next day. Danny Sullivan mentioned a similar experience during his keynotes at Omniture Summit and SMX West 09 about an earth quake that hit SoCal, he had tweeted about it and started to get replies and see results with information within minutes. There is no other site on the web that has this capability, and I don’t mean as in software but in software powered by a large and growing organic user base.
Sandwich Tweets -
Tweeting about the homemade panini you made or about the Audi test drive you just took is just as vital to Twitter as live excerpts from members of Congress during the State of the Union. If I wanted a new recipe to make for my wife I would use Twitter in that quest. I am in the market right now for a new car and I have used Twitter to find and reach out to those driving what I am interested into get real live feedback. You can go to CitySearch or Amazon to see reviews on a product or company, but you can go to Twitter to see less biased reviews and you can talk to the person making those reviews and ask specific questions.
No More Red tape -
Twitter will replace a lot of media outlets or at least steal a lot of share from them. The way companies can communicate and react to customers via Twitter is Gods great gift to customer communication and loyalty. Before Twitter and partly due to sites like Digg Comcast was the Cable provider ran by Lucifer himself, now because of the outreach that Comcast has utilized via Twitter it is on its way to Saint Hood. Dell has similar experiences. Twitter is finally helping companies be agile who without it were stiff and slow. Social media and blogging in the large corporate space has always been hindered by Red Tape, Twitter forces companies to break that Red Tape. Large companies put review and approval processes before publishing blogs, can you imagine if tweets had to go through legal first? Not going to happen, Twitter forces companies to put someone capable and trusted at the helm as it cannot be regulated it like other mediums.
Twitter Tipping point -
Twitter is mainstream, the nature of Twitter allows every user to utilize its power in their own way, if you are a stay at home mom, CNN, Ashton Kutcher, Jimmy Fallon, small business owner, or the President of the United States you can use Twitter to better your objectives no matter what they may be. This is why it is Mainstream and why it isn’t going to stop, and you think there are a lot of people on there now? I guarantee you that in less than 6 months the user base will nearly double, and instead of people with 400k followers we will have people with over 1M followers. Before Twitter where else would you be able to talk to Shaq or get a late night link to a live streamed jam session by Shawn Ptwitty Combs. People that have influence on Twitter will have influence on the world especially in media. If I was hiring in any kind of business that needed media/marketing presence and I had two nearly identical resumes on my desk and one applicant had no twitter account and the other had 15,000 followers who do you think I am going to hire?
Embrace or be Replaced -
Every company needs to embrace and leverage Twitter before Twitter replaces them. Twitter is already been said to take a chunk out of Job sitesit could do the same to Social Sites, classifieds, dating sites, search engines, aggregators, and so on. FaceBook knows that Twitter is their biggest threat, and it is carving out a strong hold as the most powerful Real Time Search Engine that Google cannot Duplicate.
Conclusion -
There will be a new media darling in a year just as Digg was before Twitter, but Twitter will take on its own role and it isn’t going anywhere. Soon pretty much anyone with an internet connection will be using Twitter if not to tweet but to find Real Time information. In my opinion it is the most influential and important site since Google.
Testicular Cancer and Marijuana Smoke
A new study has revealed the connection between use of smoking marijuana and cancer aggravation. This study has shown that using marijuana in a long-term period ameliorates the risk of developing testicular cancer. The researches of the said study on the connection between use of smoking marijuana and cancer has stated that men who used marijuana even once a week or those who began using the drug while in their adolescence resulted to doubling the risk for aggressive testicular cancer. The nonseminoma type of testicular cancer has been determined to elucidate around forty percent of these cancer cases.
According to an epidemiologist and member of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and co-author of the study, Janet Daling, the increase of the incidence of testicular cancer has been known in the United States and Europe for the last 40 years. At the same time, the incidence of marijuana use has risen. Thus, according to Daling, it seemed apt to assume the association between smoking marijuana and cancer. Furthermore, Daling claimed that as they analyzed the data on the study, they found out that no evident relationship exists between smoking marijuana and cancer, specifically testicular cancer.
According to the United States National Cancer Institute, testicular cancer accounts for just a percent of cancers particularly among men since this type is very rare. Nonetheless, testicular cancer has been the most common type of cancer among American men between the ages 15 and 34. The rate of testicular cancer has increased from 3% to 6% in the past half century in different countries including New Zealand, North America, Australia, and Europe. This increase has prompted some researchers in suggesting that the escalation might be associated with marijuana as its exposure and use among adolescents has increased.
As such, the researches has emphasized that the association between smoking marijuana and cancer could be evident in the testes as well as the spleen, brain, uterus, and heart. The testes organ consists of specific receptors for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is the primary psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.
In the past, some human and animal researches have demonstrated that the use of marijuana could lead to impotency, reduced hormonal production, and poorer semen quality in men. Consequently, Daling and the rest of her team has explored on the association between smoking marijuana and cancer through analyzing information collected by the Adult Testicular Cancer Lifestyle and Blood Specimen Study from 369 testicular cancer patients.
Based on the results from the participants between the ages of 18 and 44 diagnosed with testicular cancer and users of marijuana between 1999 and 2006, there is an association between smoking marijuana and cancer as a 70% increased risk was found in them. The nonseminoma risk was high particularly among participants who used marijuana at least once a week. It was also high among participants who started using the drug prior to reaching the age of 18. Daling has emphasized, however, that the results of their study are only preliminary although it should be given appropriate attention.
Wood is good but Plastic is fantastic
From local to national press and TV to radio, uPVC windows have met a steady stream of criticism. Detractors have derided the benefits of the product whilst highlighting the perceived negatives. Surely, we can trust what we read, see and hear, can’t we, because all these pieces are based on indisputable facts? Or are they?.
Indeed, a particularly interesting article by Naomi Cleaver was printed recently on this page. Her initial sentiment was memorable: “Putting uPVC windows in a period property is like making your grandmother wear a shell suit.” Now, I can’t be certain, but I imagine that the Golden Girls would have something to say about that. However, what followed was of little surprise. Like so many before her, Naomi has apparently been seduced by the fashionable views of extreme environmentalists and has neglected to listen to both sides of the story. Instead of an informed decision, we have one based on hearsay. Naomi and other critics focus on two main areas: the manufacture of PVC and the disposal of old windows.
As with Chinese whispers, over time a handful of misconceptions about the manufacture of PVC have been twisted and turned into what many now perceive as fact. One such “fact” is that is takes eight tons of oil to make one ton of PVC. This simply is not true. By far the greatest proportion of these eight tons go to make diesel oil, heating oil and petrol. Less than half a ton of PVC, with the balance provided by common salt. This is a fact of chemistry and no amount of wishful thinking or imaginative statistical analysis can change that.
Another misconception is the level and type of pollutants produced during the manufacture of PVC. The industry is very well regulated in terms of emissions control, both on a national and European level. In fact, studies have shown that it would take a large PVC production facility many hundreds of years to emit the same amount of dioxins (one of the more commonly mentioned pollutants) emitted each year on Bonfire Night.
It is often alleged that uPVC windows are non-recyclable. However, from a technical point of view, it is actually quite easy to recycle them. The European PVC industry signed a voluntary commitment to increase the levels of recycling of post-consumer PVC products in 2000. This contains a target for windows: rather than just recycle them into short-life products, such as traffic cones, the industry is focusing on using “closed-loop” recycling. This will allow PVC material from old windows to be used for the manufacture of similar long-life buildings products. It is a very sustainable solution and the more time we spend on research and development now, the greater the dividends we will reap in the future.
The industry is showing considerable form in negotiating a number of hurdles, which have historically been in the way of all recycling, including paper and tin cans. Cost, as ever, is the key. The youth of the industry – 25 years in the UK – means that only a relatively small proportion of old uPVC windows are available in the waste stream, a factor which time itself will resolve. Nevertheless, they are currently being recycled, along with over 80 per cent of the factory scrap.
Many who criticise the windows do so for their aesthetic qualities and consider them cheap and cheerful or even tacky. This, of course, is a matter of personal taste, and everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion. However, have the critics actually looked at a current uPVC window before putting pen to paper, or are they just recalling a hazy memory form the mid-1980s?
Take a look at the images accompanying this article: these are samples of PVC windows and demonstrate the continuous efforts of the PVC industry to make a windows that is not only durable but aesthetically pleasing as well.
