What are Tweets? What is Twitter?

Simply put, a Tweet is a message sent on Twitter. To send or receive a Tweet, you have to create a free account with Twitter. You also need to have friends and contacts with Twitter accounts — otherwise you’re typing to the void. Of course, you could use Twitter as a blog and keep all of your Tweets public, meaning anyone could read them on your personal Twitter profile page. But if you want to use Twitter as a way to keep in touch with friends, you’ll need to convince them to sign up, too.

Photo courtesy Twitter, Inc. Twitter’s time line displays the latest public Tweets sent across the network.

Once you have an account, you can begin building your network of contacts. You can invite other users to receive your Tweets, and you can follow other members’ posts. As you receive Tweets, you may discover you’re looking into only part of a conversation. You’ll see your contact’s posts, but if he or she is sending messages in response to someone who isn’t in your network, you won’t see the other person’s messages.

Tweets have a few limitations, mostly due to the fact that Twitter’s design relies heavily on cell phone text messages. Tweets can only have up to 140 characters before the system cuts off the rest of the message for cell phone users. Members can read full Tweets on their Twitter Web pages or by using a third-party developer’s desktop or Web-based application.

Just Make It Short Some people call Twitter micro-blogging — very short messages. Users can update people about what’s going on, like a blog, but the messages themselves are limited in length by system constraints.

Tweets can only contain text — members can’t include pictures, video or other computer files with Tweet messages. Members who want people in their network to look at multimedia content must find a Web page to host the files, then send a message containing the page’s address to their networks. Twitter converts all addresses more than 30 characters in length into tiny URLs — links that compress the full Web site address to conserve space.

Twitter makes it easy to opt into or out of networks. If you join Twitter and find that you’re being bombarded by Tweets from a particular member, you can choose to stop following his or her feed. All you have to do is send a message to Twitter that says “off,” plus the chatty member’s user name. Later, if you find that you miss the sender’s updates, you can type “follow,” plus the user’s name. As long as the sender has kept you in his or her network, you’ll start receiving those messages again.

TweetiquetteOn the Twitter fan wiki, you can find a few guidelines for proper Tweets:

Use discretion — if the subject matter is sensitive, take it off Twitter.

Don’t impersonate other users.

Avoid using profanity excessively.

Try to use restraint — don’t bury your network under an avalanche of Tweets.

For 2 Free Twitter hints and guidebooks – click here

Twitter History

Many social networking Web sites have lots of bells and whistles. Sites like MySpace and Facebook let users build profiles, upload pictures, incorporate multimedia, keep a blog and integrate useful or bizarre programs into homepages. But one Web company with a very simple service is rapidly becoming one of the most talked-about social networking service providers: Twitter.

So what does Twitter do? When you sign up with Twitter, you can use the service to post and receive messages to a network of contacts. Instead of sending a dozen e-mails or text messages, you send one message to your Twitter account, and the service distributes it to all your friends. Members use Twitter to organize impromptu gatherings, carry on a group conversation or just send a quick update to let people know what’s going on.

Twitter’s history is entwined with a few other Internet companies. Twitter’s founders are Evan Williams, Biz Stone and Jack Dorsey. A few years before Twitter was born, Williams created Blogger, a popular Web journal service. Internet giant Google purchased Blogger, and Williams began to work directly for Google. Before long, he and Google employee Stone left the Internet giant to form a new company called Odeo.

Kara Andrade/AFP/Getty Images Biz Stone (left) and Jack Dorsey are co-founders of San Francisco-based Obvious, the 10-person startup behind the popular Twitter social messaging service.

Odeo is a podcasting service company. According to Williams, he didn’t have a personal interest in podcasting, and under his guidance, the company temporarily lost focus. However, one of Odeo’s products was just beginning to gather steam: Twitter, a new messaging service. Stone gave Twitter its name, comparing the short spurts of information exchange to the chirping of birds and pointing out that many ring tones sound like bird calls .

As the service became a more important part of Odeo, Stone and Williams decided to form a new company with Twitter as the flagship product. Williams bought out Odeo and Twitter from investors, then combined the existing company and service into a new venture called Obvious Corporation. Jack Dorsey joined the team and began to develop new ways for users to interface with Twitter, including through computer applications like instant messaging and e-mail. In March 2006, Twitter split off from Obvious to become its own company, Twitter Incorporated.
ref: -http://computer.howstuffworks.com/twitter.htm

For 2 Free Twitter hints and guidebooks – click here

The purpose of life

Tenzin Gyatso; The Fourteenth Dalai Lama

ONE GREAT QUESTION underlies our experience, whether we think about it consciously or not: What is the purpose of life?  I have considered this question and would like to share my thoughts in the hope that they may be of direct, practical benefit to those who read them.

I believe that the purpose of life is to be happy.  From the moment of birth, every human being wants happiness and does not want suffering.  Neither social conditioning nor education nor ideology affect this.  From the very core of our being, we simply desire contentment.  I don�t know whether the universe, with its countless galaxies, stars and planets, has a deeper meaning or not, but at the very least, it is clear that we humans who live on this earth face the task of making a happy life for ourselves.  Therefore, it is important to discover what will bring about the greatest degree of happiness.

How to achieve happiness

For a start, it is possible to divide every kind of happiness and suffering into two main categories: mental and physical.  Of the two, it is the mind that exerts the greatest influence on most of us.  Unless we are either gravely ill or deprived of basic necessities, our physical condition plays a secondary role in life.  If the body is content, we virtually ignore it. The mind, however, registers every event, no matter how small. Hence we should devote our most serious efforts to bringing about mental peace.

From my own limited experience I have found that the greatest degree of inner tranquility comes from the development of love and compassion.

The more we care for the happiness of others, the greater our own sense of well-being becomes. Cultivating a close, warm-hearted feeling for others automatically puts the mind at ease. This helps remove whatever fears or insecurities we may have and gives us the strength to cope with any obstacles we encounter. It is the ultimate source of success in life.

As long as we live in this world we are bound to encounter problems. If, at such times, we lose hope and become discouraged, we diminish our ability to face difficulties. If, on the other hand, we remember that it is not just ourselves but every one who has to undergo suffering, this more realistic perspective will increase our determination and capacity to overcome troubles. Indeed, with this attitude, each new obstacle can be seen as yet another valuable opportunity to improve our mind!

Thus we can strive gradually to become more compassionate, that is we can develop both genuine sympathy for others� suffering and the will to help remove their pain. As a result, our own serenity and inner strength will increase.

Our need for love

Ultimately, the reason why love and compassion bring the greatest happiness is simply that our nature cherishes them above all else. The need for love lies at the very foundation of human existence. It results from the profound interdependence we all share with one another. However capable and skillful an individual may be, left alone, he or she will not survive. However vigorous and independent one may feel during the most prosperous periods of life, when one is sick or very young or very old, one must depend on the support of others.

Inter-dependence, of course, is a fundamental law of nature. Not only higher forms of life but also many of the smallest insects are social beings who, without any religion, law or education, survive by mutual cooperation based on an innate recognition of their interconnectedness. The most subtle level of material phenomena is also governed by interdependence. All phenomena from the planet we inhabit to the oceans, clouds, forests and flowers that surround us, arise in dependence upon subtle patterns of energy. Without their proper interaction, they dissolve and decay.

It is because our own human existence is so dependent on the help of others that our need for love lies at the very foundation of our existence. Therefore we need a genuine sense of responsibility and a sincere concern for the welfare of others.

extract from Dalai Lamas writings

Susan Boyle Syndrome

Susan Boyle - the contestant on Britain has Talent – sings a song and within three days her video is everywhere – and her performance is on every newscast in every paper and on every blog – within three days – why?

Who knows?

But its has something to do with the fact that we believe that somewhere, even in a calculated and  carefully edited program of sneers and snide looks  that we will all leap to our feet and cheer – what?

Well.

Someone who allows to connect, to believe, to shout with joy – at…

Achievement, at connection. And the fact that a human being with perhaps a great voice (who knows we are so manipulated by the edits) – but with some wonderful moment that allows us to connect, with each other, in some mysterious fashion, that we only have so far dreamed about.

The human spirit is somehow touched, yes perhaps manipulated , perhaps its a fake – (not her- but the way she is presented) but nevertheless what shines through?

Well we do.

We do- at our best – our desire for achievement and glory and respect and and belief that truly somewhere we are wonderful.

Somewhere we are wonderful.

So for whatever reason

Thank you Susan Boyle

YouTube link

No problems – no life

Sometimes the biggest mistake we make is in thinking that we should have no problems.

We think problems are a curse, instead of knowing that our problems are a gift.

The only way we usually grow is if we get a good enough problem to stimulate us to use our resourcefulness to find a part of our

self that is not being used.

video here

c/o Tony Robbins blog

Compassion and the world

Individual happiness can contribute in a profound and effective way to the overall improvement of our entire human community.

Because we all share an identical need for love, it is possible to feel that anybody we meet, in whatever circumstances, is a brother or sister. No matter how new the face or how different the dress and behavior, there is no significant division between us and other people. It is foolish to dwell on external differences, because our basic natures are the same.

Ultimately, humanity is one and this small planet is our only home, If we are to protect this home of ours, each of us needs to experience a vivid sense of universal altruism. It is only this feeling that can remove the self-centered motives that cause people to deceive and misuse one another.

If you have a sincere and open heart, you naturally feel self- worth and confidence, and there is no need to be fearful of others.

I believe that at every level of society – familial, tribal, national and international – the key to a happier and more successful world is the growth of compassion. We do not need to become religious, nor do we need to believe in an ideology. All that is necessary is for each of us to develop our good human qualities.

I try to treat whoever I meet as an old friend. This gives me a genuine feeling of happiness.  It is the practice of compassion.

Quoted – Dalai Lama

WHY PRIVATE FRANCHISING THROUGH AN AFFILIATE MARKET

• True Affiliate Marketing, is a business that provides real products and services to real customers, and generates – RESIDUAL INCOME.
• That is -
• A Franchise/Affiliate business allows you to create income with , eventually, less and less time required to generate an ongoing income.
• A Private Franchise, requires little or no start up cost, a template to create and run the business, and no ceiling, no territorial boundaries, and no income restrictions.
• The only restriction on growth and profit – is You.
• A private Franchise is Your Own Business, though you are part of a Group for buying and penetration power. Though you have a servicing agent and training company. Its your business. In your name. And never never reverts back to someone or can be bought out by someone or something. And if built correctly will run after your lifetime.
• Let me repeat that -
• If you choose to design it , a Private Franchise allows you create Residuals to such an extent they outlive you and are willable income (if you so desire) to your family or your favourite pet, charity or whatever.

As in a true Public Franchise, you as the Franchisor retain a  percentage of your affiliates sales.

A residual income.

HOW MUCH?

Up to you -

a large business is $8,000, to $25,000 a month – every month, every year (many earn more, many earn less)

A moderate business $3,000 to $6,000 a month, every month, every year (average estimates)

If you have a lot of profitable affiliates – you will benefit from a large residual income.

As in a Public Franchise, you the Franchisor have a responsibility to your affiliates to train and serve them so that they can become profitable.

If you do not provide a true service to your customers. You will have no customers

If you do not provider a true service to your affiliates. You will have no affiliates.

For more info click this link