Archive for December, 2008

Ever the snoop I just love watching variations in opinion in the news. Even among so-called “experts” (as in the ridiculous opinions on mortgages yesterday on CNBC by at least one nearly useless “expert”) there is disagreement about the economy, the mortgage market, the real estate market, and how soon we will see recovery.

This afternoon, much to my delight, I find a fantastic example of tweets from twitterers who obviously do not go to the same school. In fact, the tweets about the same subject are obviously so divergent you wonder if the Tweeters live on the same planet. They say a picture is worth a thousand words so here is the screen shot followed by the link to the tweets:

(Click on the image for a full size view).

So you can see that mycmps says MBS performance is tanking and rates will be headed higher. Link to the tweet.

Meanwhile Alex_Stenback takes what appears to be a diametric position in his tweet. Link to the tweet.

From outside the industry the amazingly disillusioned idefix168 urges the government to stay away from historically low priced MBS’s and speculate in oil and gold. These gold people absolutely amaze me. No link to the tweet – it’s irrelevant.

While these samples are about mortgages there are literally millions of tweets every day which hold opposing viewpoints. Who can you trust? Take a word of advice and make sure you know the history, background and performance of the tweeter who’s tweeting those tweets on Twitter.

By the way, that CNBC interview I mentioned was about 30 seconds of blithering ingorance by a mortgage broker (CEO of some brokerage probably 4 employees that closes 10 loans a month max) presented this bafoon as an expert in the industry when the information he provided was so far from reality or good advice that anyone who believed it is in danger of a repeat. This all written to say you cannot trust the news expert or the reporter either. Do your research on the speaker and the reporter.

Remember this, too. Talking heads are talking heads. Most talking heads are not actively in the industry they are speaking of with a few exceptions. Rhonda Duffey and he husband host a radio show and I have hosted a radio show (looking for another!) and we are all highly active and involved in our respective industries. Others read what we write and try to distribute it as their own advice to you. (Hint, it never works out right so please stop.)

Teh GOLD!

ambersalmon Crap. I’m sore from the wii. That wasn’t supposed to happen.

Teh SILVER!

_RM Before you get divorced, you have to get married.

Teh BRONZEs!

SharonLD Why does my cat seem to love me most when I’m on the computer?

tomallinder You know you live in the south when… your ancestors are buried in your yard

Tweet of the Day is about YOU. Trust me, it would be easier to not bother with it and just play another game of pool or write another blog post. In reality it is just a small gift back to all of you who participate with Twitter and follow. Have a VERY VERY focused and prosperous New Year!

twitter means business: how microblogging can help or hurt your company

Millions of Internet users have fallen in love with the Twitter “microblogging” service, which lets them swap brief text “tweets.” Now companies are embracing the service to engage customers, promote products and monitor what is being said about their brands.

Given the passion and high profiles of “Twitterverse” denizens, the service has evolved into a vital early-warning system for businesses seeking to stave off criticism, and as a way to build better relationships with customers. That is why companies need to know Twitter. Embracing it can help a business thrive; ignoring the service could well hurt it.

For companies unfamiliar with Twitter, this book serves as a field guide. They will get a Twitterverse tour, and learn about the dozens of firms big and small that have harnessed Twitter as a powerful, flexible business tool. The bottom line: Twitter means business.

Every night, okay MOST nights, @TS_Elliott shares her Top Ten somethings about social media and I learn from them EVERY time. So make sure you visit their site and give them some of your time to see what they can do for you.

10. Track online conversations and buzz around your brand with trackur http://twurl.nl/njrmom

9. Google Trends can track relative popularity of keyword groups. http://twurl.nl/pc8kgm

8. Google Alerts will help you track brand mentions and other keywords or competitor information. http://twurl.nl/3j6338

7. Keotag will help you track sites that have tagged your brand or other related keywords. http://twurl.nl/7sdlfe

6. BoardTracker will track brand mentions on message boards and forums. http://twurl.nl/my8bnq

5. Google Video will track brand related videos across multiple video streaming platforms. http://twurl.nl/x7u2s8

4. Backtype will track comments on all blog threads with brand mention or any other search term. http://twurl.nl/d1xl0v

3. Profilactic will track your activity on all social media sites, supports 190 sites, it is huge!! http://twurl.nl/jxe4g6

2. Social Mention is another tracking tool that monitors multiple platforms all in one place. http://twurl.nl/avz5ya

And the number one Top 10 Free Online Reputations Monitoring Tool:

1. Usernamecheck – you have to do this if you have a brand – do it now before it is too late!! http://twurl.nl/k8a2d7

Now, Twaddle your mouse on over to http://netgendesign.com/ – no, seriously. I know people. You ate my bandwidth to read this humor so go. Else I will have to tell uncle Ray. You don

LAST CHANCE TO ORDER 12/31

Seriously – 20 articles for $40 for ALL of them. Not each. Expertly written and proofed.

And now, the moment you both have been waiting for …

Teh GOLD!

Linc4Justice I need a long vacation. I’m thinking three years should be enough.

The Silver was nominated by BBoomsma

DBoomsa for your nomination today you win a custom Twitter background theme. All you need to do is send an email to ken.cook AT icobb.com with an image (or link to an image), the text you want on your page (probably your business contact info?) and three color choices from http://html-color-codes.com/ also indicate the major backrgound color from that same page.

Teh SILVERs!

RT @guykawasaki: FBI issues code cracking challenge http://ow.ly/1J6 – what do you want to bet it’s a suspects data.

jasoncrouch Could someone explain to me why “slim chance” and “fat chance” mean the exact same thing?

Teh BRONZEs!

ArtcardsbyskyM You distracted me with pie! @anogy

DrAnthony Explaining spam to my second grader who thought that he was the winner of a new car (lol!).

foxnews NATIONAL: Man Arrested After Using Pay Stub as Bank Robbery Note http://tinyurl.com/ayk5l7

(I normally do not include commercial Tweets but that FoxNews deserved a tip of the hat!)

Oh my people – you probably don’t know how much effort a Top Ten List takes but you definitely owe it to yourself to check out @TS_Elliott’s Top Ten FireFox Extensions even if you don’t think you owe her a thanks!

10. http://twurl.nl/amhuv6 This is ShowIP, that shows the IP address of any website you are on – some people like to see this.

9. http://twurl.nl/80ibx8 SEO Tools for firefox helps you when you are searching in google and give you SEO information.

8. http://twurl.nl/p76h7i SearchStatus for Firefox will display the google PageRank, Alexa rank and compete ranking in your browser.

7. http://twurl.nl/rcbqg8 This is the best address finder addon, goes right to your cell phone from your browser.

6. http://twurl.nl/ysvat1 Greasemonkey allows you to add a bunch of scripts to make firefox better.

5. http://twurl.nl/tzmdvv Delicious Bookmarks – incase you don’t have another addon with Delicious in it. Makes it so fast to use.

4. http://twurl.nl/25laov This is one of my favs, Shareaholic – quickly add links to FB, Myspace, Digg, Gmail, Twitter, Delicious and more.

3. http://twurl.nl/ll7071 Yoono has so many uses, helps you organize you social life!! Does it all with last.fm, recommendations and shopping.

2. http://twurl.nl/jg4ifz Cooliris, I have never seen anything like this. I love Cooliris. I use it on most sites I visit now.

1. http://twurl.nl/6wfwif Ubiquity, this addon does so many things. Helps with email, maps, weather, to do lists and more. Nice!!

And while you are at it go ahead and pick up her Top Ten Twitter Apps #2
http://www.netgendesign.com/index.php?option=com_myblog&show=Top-10-Twitter-Apps-2.html&Itemid=134

The GOLD is nominated today by Craig Barrett of Hughsville, Maryland. Craig is a real estate broker in Maryland and Virginia and goes by the handle @craig42k on Twitter. Craig’s main website is hughesvillemdrealestate.com and he also is a regular at Active Rain.

For Craig’s nomination tonight he wins a fully customized 1280 x 800 Twitter background (theme).

Teh GOLD!

REBlogGirl Is it official yet or does Tony Romo suck? Like so suck so hard that he should be put on a JV highshool team as the mascot in a furry suit?

Teh SILVERs!

housechick never trust a bluffer.

HawaiiRealty Smartass alert. I feel the urge coming on. Giving everyone fair warning.

Teh BRONZEs!

OrlandoProperty @boomerjack Been meaning to ask…at what age do I officially become a codger & curmudgeon?

ruthsias Yikes! my mother is here going through my refrigerator!

junyor Still losing money, I don’t think this gambling is a sure thing.

Tweet of the Day is about YOU. Trust me, it would be easier to not bother with it and just play another game of pool or write another blog post. In reality it is just a small gift back to all of you who participate with Twitter and follow. Have a VERY VERY focused and prosperous New Year!

@TS_Elliott brings us her regular installment of Top Ten Lists – THANKS!

Ok, everybody the Top 10 tonight is work related – Top 10 Productivity Applications for an Online Business, lots of research and use here!!

10.”NetGenDesign’s Network on Delicious” You should totally get a delicious account and learn how to use it. ( http://tinyurl.com/79 …

9.”Browse Bookmarks :: Firefox Add-on” Do the world a favor and use Firefox and get cool extensions, do it- you will love it!! ( htt …

8.”Remember everything. | Evernote Corporation” Great app and it works on your iphone and does cool stuff, loving it!!! ( http://ev …

7.”Skype official website ? free download and free calls and internet call” Yes, I still have to tell people about skype, can you b …

6.”GoToMeeting : Web conferencing, Online Meetings, Net Meeting, Online Training, Web Conference, Presentation Software, Web confere …

5.”Zoho CRM, On-Demand CRM Software, Customer Relationship Management” Takes some getting used to, but does a lot!! ( http://tinyurl …

4.”Online Project Management, Collaboration, Timesheet Tracking – Zoho Project” Seperate from Zoho Crm, also does alot – awesome!! ( …

3.”Google Reader – Tour” This will help you if you have time to actually read and catch up on what is going on in the world!! ( htt …

2.”Google Adds Gadgets To Gmail (Docs And Calendar)” If you spend time to filter and gadget your gmail, your life will change. ( htt …

1.”Mindomo – Web-Based mind mapping software” Absolute best thing to do is Map your Mind!! ( http://mindomo.com/ )

HEY! You think Tweet of the Day is all about YOU? Then you are RIGHT! It IS! Twitterbits and Tweet of the Day and all the stuff here is all about you.

Free Twitter Background Themes

Got an idea for a Twitter background? Need a custom background with your name and contact info? Got a custom background (theme) you would like to share? Give it up! Try this New Year 2009 background and others for free!

And now, the moment you have all been waiting for … or not. Today’s Tweet of the Day lineup! Too many to mention today so if you see your friend on here please @message them

Teh GOLD!

Adrigonzo i wish there was a ‘Whack-a-Bernanke’ game for Nintendo DS

Teh SILVERs!

gingerw @AndyKaufman You are hanging with somebody named “cheddar”? Only in wisconsin. I hope he doesn’t call you cheese curd.

timu_matt Yet another cooking attempt ends in a kitchen full of smoke

Teh BRONZEs!

lonniehodge Trying to get caught up on work! Living next to a Chinese Uni makes life interesting, but… Many folks come by to visit (practice English)

jasoncrouch Had a great bike ride with my son earlier tonight. His fingers were cold – I told him not to worry b/c they would just fall off soon.

BigRichB Don’t ya hate it when people send an auto dm thanking you for following, but they don’t follow u back. Idiotic.

Nominating a Tweet of the Day is simple and there are multiple ways to do it:

A) DM @thekencook

B) RT with #twod

C) Leave in a comment to the previous or any other Tweet of the Day here at Twitterbits

D) Email the full tweet to REIBroker AT gmail.com

E) Call me at 678-946-0101

F) Send me a post card

IF you nominate a #twod you get some search juice because I do a little write up on you so if you are nominating you probably want to email me and send me a little blurb to write about … otherwise I Google you until I get the cheese.

I’m back! Had a great time with family and friends and I think they are all slowly drifting to …. zzzz zzz zz

Tweet of the Day is about YOU. Trust me, it would be easier to not bother with it and just play another game of pool or write another blog post. In reality it is just a small gift back to all of you who participate with Twitter and follow. Have a VERY VERY Merry Christmas! DM or RT @thekencook or post as comment here and get a little extra traffic for being featured!

These are not necessarily all from today since there was no #twod since 12/24 -

Teh GOLD!

feliciaday Bracing for end-of-year “Top-Whatever” lists. For some reason they irritate the crap out of me.

Teh SILVER!

pinkelephantpun My mother thinks Brandy is the cure for everything… I have had a glass in front of me since I got here.

Teh BRONZE!

michelecushatt discovered I can facebook, twitter AND brush my teeth at the same time. i’m full of hidden talents.

20 Articles, 200 Words – all fully search engine optimized by someone who doesn