April 25, 2009

Featured TwitPic: Niagara Falls up close


"Here's a pic taken on the iPhone. Glare was so bad that I couldn't see what I was aiming the camera at!" (Posted by @kimb0lene of United Kingdom, April 25, 2009 - more photos on her Flickr page)

Share/Save/Bookmark

World Health Organization concerned about swine flu

Per the Associated Press, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned various countries to watch for unusual flu breakouts after dozens of individuals within North America have died.

According to WHO Director-General Margaret Chen, the outbreak between Mexico and the United States caused it to become "public health emergency of international concern." Due to the decision, countries are required to keep surveillance on the disease.

Twitterers around the world are posting their reactions to the spread of swine flu:

  1. Christy Castellanos
    Christiannmarie (California) is kinda scared of the Swine Flu...damn you American media, you got me!
  2. Rebecca
    frenchiie (Dublin, Ireland) This whole Swine Flu is getting kind of scary.. I prefer people talking about the recession = (
  3. Trisha
    TrishaYA (Hawaii) Also, all this swine flu news makes me want to read a book about the flu. Alas, no library in my system has Winnie's War yet.
  4. Zadie
    zadie2 (Canada) is astonished that the unknown swine flu has edged out the odds-on favourite (bird flu) to reach level 4 pandemic status
  5. Luigi Cappel
    BluesBro (Auckland, New Zealand) Now that we have all forgotten about the bird flu, could be that the swine flu is worse as it spreads man to man http://tinyurl.com/cyjdr3
  6. JenniferLoeberHillis
    Bluesiren (New York) Swine flu outbreak at my former high school in Queens!
  7. Kneale Mann
    knealemann (Canada) All the reports of more cases of swine flu found today has convinced me that we should just stay in our homes. Avoid human contact.
  8. Quincy Bradley Dator
    piglet78 (New York) be careful... the swine flu has killed at least 68 people in mexico city... a pandemic is imminent
  9. Scott Fuller
    squires32 (Undisclosed) Anyone else paying attention to the swine flu outbreak? Mexico, Texas, Cali, NY, Kansas, London. This is a little freaky...


Share/Save/Bookmark

Downed balloon in Egypt injures 13 tourists

Per BBC, 13 foreign tourists were injured after their hot air balloon crashed into a cell phone tower while touring the Ancient Egyptian city of Luxor. The tourists are from France, England, Canada, Denmark and Korea.

Ballooning in Luxor has become popular among tourists, according to BBC. Twitterers in the last few weeks have written about their balloon excursions, and one Twitterer posted this TwitPic from Luxor less than two weeks ago:


TwitPic by @bodza of balloons in Luxor, April 12, 2009

This is not the first incident involving Luxor balloons, as three went down in separate incidents in late February, according to BBC. Twitterers quickly offered opinions of this latest incident.

  1. The Ottawa Ross
    ottaross (Ottawa, Canada) If you gotta get injured in a balloon accident it may as well be over Egypt's Valley of the Kings at sunrise rather than in Gatineau.
  2. andy nightingale
    4pixels (Surrey, U.K.) Is really glad he did his balloon ride over Luxor last year! Would not have the balls now. http://tinyurl.com/co72gm
  3. paulcox
    paulcox (South America) Be wary of hot air balloon rides in Egypt: http://tinyurl.com/crrqbc (via @bbcnews)
  4. Richard Stephenson
    richstep51 (California) Odd conjunction of old and new - cell phone tower hit near ancient Luxor: 16 tourists injured in Egypt balloon crash: http://ow.ly/3VY

Here's a collection of other Luxor tweets in recent days:

  1. Maribel Tirona
    BellaLibre (Las Vegas/Brussels) Chillin' on the Nile in Luxor...life ain't half bad,nope - not at all! Tomorrow a hot air balloon ride to the Valley of Kings!
  2. Sandwagon
    Sandwagon (Undisclosed) Awesome day in Luxor inc sunrise hot air balloon and 3 tombs at the Valley of the Kings. Summer has arrived here and heat is seriously on
  3. Katie Allen
    katiea48 (Undisclosed) We just got back from a hot air balloon ride over the valley of the kings in luxor egypt


Share/Save/Bookmark

Twitter campaign raises awareness about World Malaria Day

Per the Seattle Times, American celebrity Ashton Kutcher continues to lead a social media campaign on Twitter against malaria in Africa as today, April 25, is World Malaria Day. Recent anti-malaria campaigns have led to a 50 to 60 percent decline in deaths among children in nations like Zambia and Ethiopia, according to WHO statistics.

"World Malaria Day" has been trending on Twitter for hours, mostly with retweets of Kutcher (@aplusk), and social media leaders like @mashable and @kevinrose.

Here's a collection of tweets about the cause, showing that it is has no geographical boundaries:

  1. F. Quick
    quick13 (Minneapolis, Minn.) Regardless if you like Ashton Kutcher or not Today is World Malaria Day, great cause for awareness. http://is.gd/sI6Y
  2. Dr. Sos Chifiero
    BeMalariaFree2 (Nigeria) @Deepak_Chopra U are one of the best. April 25 is World Malaria Day. Pls kindly note the plight of 1.8 m African kids who die annually. Tk U
  3. Ahmed Naguib
    ahmednaguib (Cairo, Egypt) World Malaria Day: Tweet to Beat Malaria! http://ff.im/-2m3Lk
  4. Kyle Turner
    KyleTurnsOut (Sydney, Australia) everyone should donate to help buy nets for world malaria day!!! these mosquito nets save lives!
  5. Jeannine Rodriguez
    jeannrodr (Caracas, Venezuela) "World Malaria Day is Sat. April 25. I’m supporting Malaria No More’s fight to end malaria"
  6. Shashi Korla
    shashikorla (Dubai, U.A.E.) RT @aplusk We can wipe out a disease today get on board. 10$ saves a life Support World Malaria Day = http://bit.ly/30Io8 RT
  7. Kaush
    littledictator (London, U.K.) RT @mashable World Malaria Day: Tweet to Beat Malaria! http://tinyurl.com/dl2dcm (via @tweetmeme)
  8. Tekeste Sebhat
    tekeste1 (Beijing, China) RT @kevinrose: Every 30 seconds a child dies from Malaria. Nets save lives. Support World Malaria Day = http://bit.ly/30Io8 RT


Share/Save/Bookmark

Train ruins motor home in collision near San Francisco

According to multiple Twitterers, including journalists and emergency services in the San Francisco Bay Area, a Union Pacific train collided with a motor vehicle in Burlingame, Calif., Friday night.

@deancsmith, a local televisionographer, sent Breaking Tweets this TwitPic of the destroyed RV after the crash:



The San Mateo County Fire Dispatch provided the first tweet on the accident.

  1. FireDispatch.com
    FireDispatchSMC Traffic accident - train, BROADWAY/CALIFORNIA DR ,BRM (04/24/09 19:38:21)


One Twitterer was on board another Bay Area train service, Caltrain, and tweeted about unusual delays. He soon learned the reason and provided a feel for being on the tracks.

  1. DeusXMachina
    DeusXMachina Awesome. Random train delays and cryptic explanations over the PA system.
  2. DeusXMachina
    DeusXMachina Spoke too soon. Apparently my train is delayed because the train up the tracks hit a truck. No idea how long I'll be here.
  3. DeusXMachina
    DeusXMachina Ooh, ooh! Let's all look out the window as our train crawls past the tragedy. My species makes me ill.


Twitterers in the area, including journalists, provided additional information.

  1. sebastiankunz
    sebastiankunz UPDATE: Train hits motorhome in Burlingame at Broadway Ave Crossg. intersection as well as Caltrain service will be significantly delayed
  2. tess
    mtgarton Bummer, freight train hit a car in Burlingame tonight : ( @caltrain
  3. Jenny Zhu
    jennyzhu @mtgarton hopefully no one was hurt! i hopped off at the burlingame stop, but @jasoncr was on the train
  4. Zhanna Shamis
    Zhanna Freight train collided with an RV stuck on the tracks at Burlingame's Broadway station. No one hurt, thankfully. http://twitpic.com/3y1iq
  5. Brad Belstock
    bradbelstock Wait until you see this train accident in Burlingame. No one got hurt, but the pictures make you think differently.


Share/Save/Bookmark