Twittering

From "The Lamplighter", Wisconsin Valley (WI) Library Service, April 2009.

"To Tweet or Not to Tweet"

The next time someone tells you "I don't get Twitter, it seems kinda stoopid to me. What's it all about?" You will have this as an answer...Twitter is a short message routing service - messages are limited to a maximum of 140 characters. This length restriction makes "tweets" (Twitter messages) equivalent to cell phone "texts" but with a difference: text messagesare essentially one-to-one, whereas tweets are one-to-many.

The core of social networking is that there's a commons, a shared area, wherein people communicate. Normal e-mail has no commons. Blogs have localized commons and there's usually a specific focus to the hierarchical discussion, the post's topic, and editorial control over the thread. Twitter has a global commons and there's no restriction (other than on length) to what is posted and no enforced hierarchy.All of these forms of commounication are almost like a poort man's email. Here's the way to view these differnt forms of communications: email is like person-to-person phone calls while blogs are like lectures with follow-up questions and idcussions. But social media, such as Twitter, are like a cocktail party.

So why Twitter? According to a blog entry on Compete.com in February, Twitter ranks as the third largest social network with six million users and fifty-five million monthly visitors (Facebooks is number one and MySpace number two).

How you can use Twitter:
Twitness - which involves a few hundred Twitterers watching something, such as the Academy Awards show, and tweeting about the show with all sorts of funny remarks about the clothes, etc. It turns something solitary like TV watching into an interactive experience.
Breaking News - when a major news event happens, often a Twitterer will be there and share their experience faster than the cops can cordon off the spot.
Communications - a great way to broadcast a quick message to other co-workers wokring out in the field without having to contact them each individually.
Feedback - an instantaneous way to respond to a question or comment versus using e-mail.
Crowd-sourcing and Information Polling - you can poll people who are your Twitter followers about a question you have or conduct an informal survey.
Public Address System - you can use Twitter to announce the start of something or to promote a product or service to your followers.

Bunny Hill Designs. com

This wonderful pattern source makes me want to quilt. They also sell Weeks Dye Works wool that looks delicious.

http://bunnyhilldesigns.com/dynamic/?page=Welcome

Anne Sutton's blog: http://bunnyhill.blogspot.com/

Pink Chalk Studio

This is the coolest source! I love the Dia de los Muertos fabrics. What a hoot!

http://www.pinkchalkfabrics.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=242_249

Halloween Quilt

I'm a fan of the Baltimore Album quilt patterns and love this one done in a Halloween motif. Note the use of the bat wings to create the scalloped border. I discovered this on a site called Craft Gossip.Com

http://quilting.craftgossip.com/pattern-baltimore-halloween/2009/09/04/

Pieces of Time by Lori Smith

Patchwork Quilts

Quilt patterns are a source of inspiration for design composition and color planning. For example, check out the lovely quilt patterns by Lori Smith.

Winterberry Cabin

Wonderful patterns and kits!
http://www.winterberrycabin.com/store/WsDefault.asp?Cat=PennyRugs

Honeysuckle Lane

I just came across a lovely site called "Honeysuckle Lane." The artist has beautiful fraktur style watercolors among other handcreated items. Beautiful use of color and an array of creative ideas. Enjoy: http://www.honeysucklelane.com/index.htm

http://www.rootsnbluesnbbq.com/

Here's the scoop on the Roots 'N Blues 'N BBQ Festival coming up here in Columbia in October.