Facebook street party turns violent

A street party posted on Facebook became unruly and police had to be called when crowds swelled to about 200. Source: AP

A STREET party posted on social media site Facebook drew a crowd of 200 and become violent.

Two teenagers may face charges over the street party on West Street at Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast that went out of control when the address was posted on Facebook, goldcoast.com.au reported.

HORSE OWNERS 'BULLIED' BY POLICE ON FACEBOOK

The party, which began at 7pm on Saturday, struck fear into residents of the street who called the police when crowd began to swell and become violent.

Many of the teens refused to move on, instead abusing police officers who responded to complaints from neighbours.

A police spokesman said the gathering was arranged through posts on social media.

JURY GETTING OFF THEIR FACEBOOKS

"Police were called to reports of a large disturbance in West St about 7pm," he said.

"Several liquor infringement notices were handed out on the spot to teenagers drinking underage and in public.

"A 15-year-old and a 16-year-old are assisting police with their inquiries. No charges have been laid at this time."

A West St resident, who would not be named, said the large group of young people was swearing, smashing bottles and fighting.

"People were scared to leave their houses. It is an issue police need to crack down on," she said.

"I have noticed groups of teens loitering around the streets and drinking in public a lot lately. Something needs to be done to deter them."

Locals say loitering youths is a growing problem in Burleigh and a prime reason the suburb needs a police beat presence.

Read the full story at goldcoast.com.au

View the original article here

Is that you, Hermione? Watson turns bad

Emma Watson portrays a bad girl in the films newly released trailer who longs for the life of the rich and famous.

Emma Watson plays a bad girl for the first time in The Bling Ring. Picture: Supplied Source: news.com.au

IF Emma Watson can't shed her Hermione Granger image after this film, then she never will.

To her millions of young fans, she will always be known as the lovable Hogwarts geek. But Watson has swapped her Gryffindor robe and magic wand for a mini-skirt, leather jacket and high heels for her latest role in The Bling Ring.

The 23-year-old plays the lead in the Sofia Coppola-directed flick based on the 'Bling Ring' or 'The Hollywood Hills Burglar Bunch' as they were known, whom were arrested in 2009 for a string of break-ins into celebrities' homes.

Watson plays Nicki, the ring leader of the Hollywood-obsessed bunch, and transforms her innocent girl-next-door persona into one of Tinsel Town's most notorious party girls.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower star smokes like a chimney, boldly steals from the likes of Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan, and even grinds on a pole in one steamy scene.

Gone is the pixie cut, the adorable British accent and the ginger-haired crush. Instead, Emma is rocking sexy long curls, a Valley Girl drawl and has a throng of minions at her beck and call.

The Bling Ring is slated for release in June, 2013.

What did you think of Emma Watson's transformation for the film?
 

View the original article here

New challenges as iTunes turns 10

After 10 years in business, iTunes is facing new competition from subscription services. Source: AFP

WHEN Apple launched its iTunes music store a decade ago amid the ashes of Napster, the music industry - reeling from the effects of online piracy - was anxious to see how the new music service would shake out.

"The sky was falling, and iTunes provided a place where we were going to monetise music and in theory stem the tide of piracy. So, it was certainly a solution for the time," said Michael McDonald, who co-founded ATO Records with Dave Matthews and whose Mick Management roster includes John Mayer and Ray LaMontagne.

The iTunes music store became much more than a solution; it changed how we consume music and access entertainment. It's not only the US's music's biggest retailer, it also dominates the digital video market, capturing 67 per cent of the TV show sale market and 65 per cent of the movie sale market, according to information company NPD group.

Its apps are the most profitable, it has expanded to books and magazines, and it is now available in 119 countries. This week, iTunes posted a record $US2.4 billion ($2.3 billion) in revenue in first-quarter earnings.

"They revolutionised the retail landscape by making a truly interactive and very user-friendly space and platform, and they managed to do it by keeping a great music experience attached to what was very difficult technology," said Scott Borchetta, head of Big Machine Records, home to Taylor Swift, Tim McGraw and Rascal Flatts.

"They made it very easy to buy music digitally, and that's why I think they've run so quickly in the lead for that space and continue to dominate the space."

But as iTunes celebrates its 10-year mark on Sunday, it faces renewed scrutiny on how it will continue to dominate in the next decade - or whether it can.

With competition from subscription services like Spotify and other services like Amazon.com, Netflix, and others, iTunes will likely need to reinvent itself to remain at the top of the digital entertainment perch.

Apple Inc.'s Eddy Cue, senior vice president of internet software and services, refused to comment on reports that the company will launch a radio service or some other service to compete with Spotify.

"We've been able to add and expand and do a lot of things to make the product even that much better," said Mr Cue, who was integral to the creation of iTunes. "Why it's going to be great for the next 10 years is because people still want access and want more of what's available today."

At first only available to Mac users, iTunes debuted two years after Apple's groundbreaking iPod. With a catalogue of 200,000 songs - compared with tens and tens of millions of songs available today - iTunes entered an industry being upended by illegal downloading yet still skeptical of the new music store.

There were more than grumbles when Apple co-founder Steve Jobs set parameters making all songs available at a cap of 99 US cents (today, songs can cost up to $US1.29) and giving listeners more control of what they could do with music collection in terms of portability and ownership.

"In the case of the labels, we felt and we were able to convince them that we had a business proposition that would be better for them in the long term, and gave them an opportunity to compete with piracy," Mr Cue recalled.

"So our message to them was the only way to beat piracy wasn't lawsuits or TV ads or anything, but to actually offer what was available through piracy and people would actually pay for it if you did that. So we had to get them to all agree. As part of that, you had to get them to agree to all of the same rights."

Some in the industry grumbled about having to accept Jobs' rules; some still do (while digital sales rise, album sales have decreased and the industry's profits have continued to drop over the decade).

"To me, it's been one of the biggest assets to the music business in the last 10 years, but you'll hear from the labels that Steve Jobs ruined the music business," Mr McDonald said.

"But to me, it's allowed a place to expose artists who are gaining popularity in all genres, and although it has impacted the album sales, I think it has become a real barometer of what's good and what's popular," he said.

"Singles artists aren't selling albums. Well, they never should have. But album artists continue to sell albums. If anything, it's given a revenue stream to what would have been the Wild West."

Lady Antebellum's entire career has been in the iTunes era, and it's a key part of their sales. "We found out that ... just around 20 per cent of our sales is iTunes," said Charles Kelley. "iTunes is just something we've always embraced."

iTunes "changed the music industry completely" and "gave people the power as opposed to record companies the power, in a way," said singer-actress Jennifer Lopez.

"It has its pros and cons, I think, for artists," she said. "I'm an artist, so I look at it from an artist point of view. But we're in a new age. It's like anything else. You've got to accept it."

That new age includes the growing popularity of services like Spotify and Rdio, where listeners can stream music for free and can pay a set price to listen and collect songs. Industry watchers have heard rumours that an iRadio could be launched that would be something like Pandora, the popular internet radio site.

"We don't know all the specifics of what it might be and when it might come, but what we've heard so far, it will compete with those other online services," Mr Borchetta said.

Mr Cue refused to comment on the speculation. He said users still favour the iTunes model compared with subscription services.

"(A premium subscription) costs $10 a month, that's $120 a year, and most average music customers don't spend that kind of money," he said.

"If you buy it on ownership, you own it, and a subscription model, your subscription never ends if you want to keep listening to it, so you're paying that $US10 or more for life.

"If you're starting your music collection from existing songs, which a lot of us already have from that standpoint, you're looking to acquire new songs, even today, at 99 cents or $1.29, or $9.99 or $7.99 for an album, it is very economical and a better value for subscription music."

Mr McDonald believes subscription services may become the standard.

"My generation and probably the generation after me still have this idea of ownership and pride in what we own in a record collection, and I think we always thought it spoke to who we are. I think the younger generations, and certainly the ones coming up, the idea of ownership in the way that we thought about it is irrelevant, and I think they're just consuming content, and that's not better or worse," he said.

"So in that way, the subscription models are going to make more sense."

But he doesn't count Apple out in that future: "It may be that Apple and iTunes are going to create the best user space to own that space as well."

View the original article here

New challenges as iTunes turns 10

After 10 years in business, iTunes is facing new competition from subscription services. Source: AFP

WHEN Apple launched its iTunes music store a decade ago amid the ashes of Napster, the music industry - reeling from the effects of online piracy - was anxious to see how the new music service would shake out.

"The sky was falling, and iTunes provided a place where we were going to monetise music and in theory stem the tide of piracy. So, it was certainly a solution for the time," said Michael McDonald, who co-founded ATO Records with Dave Matthews and whose Mick Management roster includes John Mayer and Ray LaMontagne.

The iTunes music store became much more than a solution; it changed how we consume music and access entertainment. It's not only the US's music's biggest retailer, it also dominates the digital video market, capturing 67 per cent of the TV show sale market and 65 per cent of the movie sale market, according to information company NPD group.

Its apps are the most profitable, it has expanded to books and magazines, and it is now available in 119 countries. This week, iTunes posted a record $US2.4 billion ($2.3 billion) in revenue in first-quarter earnings.

"They revolutionised the retail landscape by making a truly interactive and very user-friendly space and platform, and they managed to do it by keeping a great music experience attached to what was very difficult technology," said Scott Borchetta, head of Big Machine Records, home to Taylor Swift, Tim McGraw and Rascal Flatts.

"They made it very easy to buy music digitally, and that's why I think they've run so quickly in the lead for that space and continue to dominate the space."

But as iTunes celebrates its 10-year mark on Sunday, it faces renewed scrutiny on how it will continue to dominate in the next decade - or whether it can.

With competition from subscription services like Spotify and other services like Amazon.com, Netflix, and others, iTunes will likely need to reinvent itself to remain at the top of the digital entertainment perch.

Apple Inc.'s Eddy Cue, senior vice president of internet software and services, refused to comment on reports that the company will launch a radio service or some other service to compete with Spotify.

"We've been able to add and expand and do a lot of things to make the product even that much better," said Mr Cue, who was integral to the creation of iTunes. "Why it's going to be great for the next 10 years is because people still want access and want more of what's available today."

At first only available to Mac users, iTunes debuted two years after Apple's groundbreaking iPod. With a catalogue of 200,000 songs - compared with tens and tens of millions of songs available today - iTunes entered an industry being upended by illegal downloading yet still skeptical of the new music store.

There were more than grumbles when Apple co-founder Steve Jobs set parameters making all songs available at a cap of 99 US cents (today, songs can cost up to $US1.29) and giving listeners more control of what they could do with music collection in terms of portability and ownership.

"In the case of the labels, we felt and we were able to convince them that we had a business proposition that would be better for them in the long term, and gave them an opportunity to compete with piracy," Mr Cue recalled.

"So our message to them was the only way to beat piracy wasn't lawsuits or TV ads or anything, but to actually offer what was available through piracy and people would actually pay for it if you did that. So we had to get them to all agree. As part of that, you had to get them to agree to all of the same rights."

Some in the industry grumbled about having to accept Jobs' rules; some still do (while digital sales rise, album sales have decreased and the industry's profits have continued to drop over the decade).

"To me, it's been one of the biggest assets to the music business in the last 10 years, but you'll hear from the labels that Steve Jobs ruined the music business," Mr McDonald said.

"But to me, it's allowed a place to expose artists who are gaining popularity in all genres, and although it has impacted the album sales, I think it has become a real barometer of what's good and what's popular," he said.

"Singles artists aren't selling albums. Well, they never should have. But album artists continue to sell albums. If anything, it's given a revenue stream to what would have been the Wild West."

Lady Antebellum's entire career has been in the iTunes era, and it's a key part of their sales. "We found out that ... just around 20 per cent of our sales is iTunes," said Charles Kelley. "iTunes is just something we've always embraced."

iTunes "changed the music industry completely" and "gave people the power as opposed to record companies the power, in a way," said singer-actress Jennifer Lopez.

"It has its pros and cons, I think, for artists," she said. "I'm an artist, so I look at it from an artist point of view. But we're in a new age. It's like anything else. You've got to accept it."

That new age includes the growing popularity of services like Spotify and Rdio, where listeners can stream music for free and can pay a set price to listen and collect songs. Industry watchers have heard rumours that an iRadio could be launched that would be something like Pandora, the popular internet radio site.

"We don't know all the specifics of what it might be and when it might come, but what we've heard so far, it will compete with those other online services," Mr Borchetta said.

Mr Cue refused to comment on the speculation. He said users still favour the iTunes model compared with subscription services.

"(A premium subscription) costs $10 a month, that's $120 a year, and most average music customers don't spend that kind of money," he said.

"If you buy it on ownership, you own it, and a subscription model, your subscription never ends if you want to keep listening to it, so you're paying that $US10 or more for life.

"If you're starting your music collection from existing songs, which a lot of us already have from that standpoint, you're looking to acquire new songs, even today, at 99 cents or $1.29, or $9.99 or $7.99 for an album, it is very economical and a better value for subscription music."

Mr McDonald believes subscription services may become the standard.

"My generation and probably the generation after me still have this idea of ownership and pride in what we own in a record collection, and I think we always thought it spoke to who we are. I think the younger generations, and certainly the ones coming up, the idea of ownership in the way that we thought about it is irrelevant, and I think they're just consuming content, and that's not better or worse," he said.

"So in that way, the subscription models are going to make more sense."

But he doesn't count Apple out in that future: "It may be that Apple and iTunes are going to create the best user space to own that space as well."

View the original article here

New challenges as iTunes turns 10

After 10 years in business, iTunes is facing new competition from subscription services. Source: AFP

WHEN Apple launched its iTunes music store a decade ago amid the ashes of Napster, the music industry - reeling from the effects of online piracy - was anxious to see how the new music service would shake out.

"The sky was falling, and iTunes provided a place where we were going to monetise music and in theory stem the tide of piracy. So, it was certainly a solution for the time," said Michael McDonald, who co-founded ATO Records with Dave Matthews and whose Mick Management roster includes John Mayer and Ray LaMontagne.

The iTunes music store became much more than a solution; it changed how we consume music and access entertainment. It's not only the US's music's biggest retailer, it also dominates the digital video market, capturing 67 per cent of the TV show sale market and 65 per cent of the movie sale market, according to information company NPD group.

Its apps are the most profitable, it has expanded to books and magazines, and it is now available in 119 countries. This week, iTunes posted a record $US2.4 billion ($2.3 billion) in revenue in first-quarter earnings.

"They revolutionised the retail landscape by making a truly interactive and very user-friendly space and platform, and they managed to do it by keeping a great music experience attached to what was very difficult technology," said Scott Borchetta, head of Big Machine Records, home to Taylor Swift, Tim McGraw and Rascal Flatts.

"They made it very easy to buy music digitally, and that's why I think they've run so quickly in the lead for that space and continue to dominate the space."

But as iTunes celebrates its 10-year mark on Sunday, it faces renewed scrutiny on how it will continue to dominate in the next decade - or whether it can.

With competition from subscription services like Spotify and other services like Amazon.com, Netflix, and others, iTunes will likely need to reinvent itself to remain at the top of the digital entertainment perch.

Apple Inc.'s Eddy Cue, senior vice president of internet software and services, refused to comment on reports that the company will launch a radio service or some other service to compete with Spotify.

"We've been able to add and expand and do a lot of things to make the product even that much better," said Mr Cue, who was integral to the creation of iTunes. "Why it's going to be great for the next 10 years is because people still want access and want more of what's available today."

At first only available to Mac users, iTunes debuted two years after Apple's groundbreaking iPod. With a catalogue of 200,000 songs - compared with tens and tens of millions of songs available today - iTunes entered an industry being upended by illegal downloading yet still skeptical of the new music store.

There were more than grumbles when Apple co-founder Steve Jobs set parameters making all songs available at a cap of 99 US cents (today, songs can cost up to $US1.29) and giving listeners more control of what they could do with music collection in terms of portability and ownership.

"In the case of the labels, we felt and we were able to convince them that we had a business proposition that would be better for them in the long term, and gave them an opportunity to compete with piracy," Mr Cue recalled.

"So our message to them was the only way to beat piracy wasn't lawsuits or TV ads or anything, but to actually offer what was available through piracy and people would actually pay for it if you did that. So we had to get them to all agree. As part of that, you had to get them to agree to all of the same rights."

Some in the industry grumbled about having to accept Jobs' rules; some still do (while digital sales rise, album sales have decreased and the industry's profits have continued to drop over the decade).

"To me, it's been one of the biggest assets to the music business in the last 10 years, but you'll hear from the labels that Steve Jobs ruined the music business," Mr McDonald said.

"But to me, it's allowed a place to expose artists who are gaining popularity in all genres, and although it has impacted the album sales, I think it has become a real barometer of what's good and what's popular," he said.

"Singles artists aren't selling albums. Well, they never should have. But album artists continue to sell albums. If anything, it's given a revenue stream to what would have been the Wild West."

Lady Antebellum's entire career has been in the iTunes era, and it's a key part of their sales. "We found out that ... just around 20 per cent of our sales is iTunes," said Charles Kelley. "iTunes is just something we've always embraced."

iTunes "changed the music industry completely" and "gave people the power as opposed to record companies the power, in a way," said singer-actress Jennifer Lopez.

"It has its pros and cons, I think, for artists," she said. "I'm an artist, so I look at it from an artist point of view. But we're in a new age. It's like anything else. You've got to accept it."

That new age includes the growing popularity of services like Spotify and Rdio, where listeners can stream music for free and can pay a set price to listen and collect songs. Industry watchers have heard rumours that an iRadio could be launched that would be something like Pandora, the popular internet radio site.

"We don't know all the specifics of what it might be and when it might come, but what we've heard so far, it will compete with those other online services," Mr Borchetta said.

Mr Cue refused to comment on the speculation. He said users still favour the iTunes model compared with subscription services.

"(A premium subscription) costs $10 a month, that's $120 a year, and most average music customers don't spend that kind of money," he said.

"If you buy it on ownership, you own it, and a subscription model, your subscription never ends if you want to keep listening to it, so you're paying that $US10 or more for life.

"If you're starting your music collection from existing songs, which a lot of us already have from that standpoint, you're looking to acquire new songs, even today, at 99 cents or $1.29, or $9.99 or $7.99 for an album, it is very economical and a better value for subscription music."

Mr McDonald believes subscription services may become the standard.

"My generation and probably the generation after me still have this idea of ownership and pride in what we own in a record collection, and I think we always thought it spoke to who we are. I think the younger generations, and certainly the ones coming up, the idea of ownership in the way that we thought about it is irrelevant, and I think they're just consuming content, and that's not better or worse," he said.

"So in that way, the subscription models are going to make more sense."

But he doesn't count Apple out in that future: "It may be that Apple and iTunes are going to create the best user space to own that space as well."

View the original article here

Mobile turns 40, where did the time go?

The world is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the invention of the mobile phone.

THE mobile phone has turned 40 with no fanfare to mark the occasion in a market which seemed focused on new smartphones like the iPhone and a possible Facebook-themed device.

The first mobile call was placed April 3, 1973, by Motorola engineer Martin Cooper, head of a team working on mobile communication technologies.

Cooper made the call on Sixth Avenue in New York, before going into a press conference using a Motorola DynaTAC - a device that weighed one kilogram, and had a battery life of 20 minutes, according to Motorola.

Cooper told the technology website The Verge last year that he placed the first call to a rival, Joel Engler of Bell Labs, who was also working on a mobile phone.

He said: "Joel, this is Marty. I'm calling you from a cell phone, a real handheld portable cell phone." 

Martin Cooper, the Motorola engineer who made the first mobile phone call in 1973.

Cooper says Engler is still resentful about what Motorola did.

"They thought that we were a gnat, an obstacle... we believed in competition and lots of players. And we also believed - our religion was portables, because people are mobile. And here they were trying to make a car telephone and a monopoly on top of that. So that battle was the reason that we built that phone."

Cooper and his team were honoured earlier this year with the Draper Prize by the National Academy of Engineering for their work.

In 40 years, the industry has come a long way. Research firm IDC predicts 900 million smartphones will be sold in 2013 - along with roughly the same number of more basic feature phones.

We all love our mobile phones.

And the phone has become a key advertising platform - eMarketer said US mobile advertising spending grew 178 per cent last year to $US4.11 billion ($A3.95 billion), and spending is expected to rise a further 77.3 per cent to $US7.29 billion in 2013.

Kids are big users of mobiles.

Sometimes poor phone coverage is an issue.

View the original article here

Mobile turns 40, where did the time go?

The world is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the invention of the mobile phone.

THE mobile phone has turned 40 with no fanfare to mark the occasion in a market which seemed focused on new smartphones like the iPhone and a possible Facebook-themed device.

The first mobile call was placed April 3, 1973, by Motorola engineer Martin Cooper, head of a team working on mobile communication technologies.

Cooper made the call on Sixth Avenue in New York, before going into a press conference using a Motorola DynaTAC - a device that weighed one kilogram, and had a battery life of 20 minutes, according to Motorola.

Cooper told the technology website The Verge last year that he placed the first call to a rival, Joel Engler of Bell Labs, who was also working on a mobile phone.

He said: "Joel, this is Marty. I'm calling you from a cell phone, a real handheld portable cell phone." 

Martin Cooper, the Motorola engineer who made the first mobile phone call in 1973.

Cooper says Engler is still resentful about what Motorola did.

"They thought that we were a gnat, an obstacle... we believed in competition and lots of players. And we also believed - our religion was portables, because people are mobile. And here they were trying to make a car telephone and a monopoly on top of that. So that battle was the reason that we built that phone."

Cooper and his team were honoured earlier this year with the Draper Prize by the National Academy of Engineering for their work.

In 40 years, the industry has come a long way. Research firm IDC predicts 900 million smartphones will be sold in 2013 - along with roughly the same number of more basic feature phones.

And the phone has become a key advertising platform - eMarketer said US mobile advertising spending grew 178 per cent last year to $US4.11 billion ($A3.95 billion), and spending is expected to rise a further 77.3 per cent to $US7.29 billion in 2013.

View the original article here

Twitter turns 7 - #happybirthday

Source: The Australian

SOME people can't stand it, others can't live without it.

Twitter turned seven on Thursday and with more than 200 million active users, the social media platform has no shortage of friends to celebrate with.

It's come a long way since March 21, 2006, when web developer and Twitter creator Jack Dorsey sent the first tweet: "just setting up my twttr'' (twttr was the platform's early name).

Now roughly 4600 tweets are sent every second.

Ordinary Australians have embraced the site along with celebrities, athletes and politicians, with results that have ranged from amusing to disastrous.

Our most popular tweeter is actor Hugh Jackman with about 2.18 million followers.

The Wolverine star is still a long way from challenging the world's most popular tweeter, Justin Bieber, who has a whopping 36 million followers.

The first Australian politician to join Twitter was Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young in 2007, but it was another politician, Kevin Rudd, who in 2011 became the first Aussie to exceed one million followers.

Mr Rudd remains our most popular public officer holder on Twitter, which isn't bad for a backbencher.

Other federal politicians who've embraced the platform include Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Environment Tony Burke, the opposition's Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull and Joe Hockey, Greens deputy leader Adam Bandt and independent MP Rob Oakeshott.

A growing tendency for MPs to abuse each other via Twitter has led to calls for a ban on tweeting in federal parliament.
Speaker Anna Burke refused to introduce a ban earlier this year, to the relief of press gallery hacks.

Elite sportspeople have also muscled in on Twitter but some athletes are probably wishing they hadn't.

Stephanie Rice's homophobic tweet celebrating a Wallabies Tri-Nation win over South Africa in 2010 - ``suck on that faggots'' - cost her a lucrative sponsorship with car maker Jaguar.

Former Wallaby David Campese landed in hot water and was forced to apologise last year after posts questioning why a female reporter should cover the rugby.

And the Australian swimming team's 2012 Olympics belly flop was partly blamed on athletes spending too much time on the site.

But it's not only sports personalities who are prone to Twitter gaffes.

Fairfax columnist Catherine Deveny was sacked for tweeting "I do so hope Bindi Irwin gets laid'' during the 2010 Logies.

The same year the Queensland Liberal National Party expelled 22-year-old member Nick Sowden for a racist tweet comparing Barack Obama to a monkey.

Queensland Federal Coalition MP Andrew Laming was castigated in January for a post suggesting Aborigines and Pacific Islanders involved in a violent race feud in Brisbane were only interest in ``welfare on tap''.

And Victorian Labor MP Steve Gibbons was forced to apologise last November for calling deputy Opposition Leader Julie Bishop a ``narcissistic bimbo''.

The outspoken MP found himself in hot water again for a tweet referring to Australia Day as ``invasion day''.

Companies aren't immune from Twitter fails either, as Qantas learned in 2011 when its enQantasLuxury campaign backfired spectacularly.
Instead of tweeting their ``dream inflight experience'' users hijacked the hashtag with jokes at the airline's expense.

The red-faced PR team later admitted it was not the response it was expecting.

Perhaps Australia's lowest Twitter moment was in August 2012 when trolls drove television personality Charlotte Dawson to attempt suicide.

The celebrity was hospitalised after a barrage of hate tweets including one urging her to ``go hang yourself''.

But the platform can also be a force for a good, as shown during disasters such as the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires and the 2011 Queensland floods.
Twitter was used by emergency workers and other organisations to get alerts and updates to people on the ground.
Twitter says about 35,000 tweets were sent in January 2011 using the enqldfloods hashtag and the site also connected flood and bushfire victims with people offering assistance.

Emergency services have increasingly adopted social media accounts including Twitter accounts, which give them the ability to communicate quickly with wide audiences.

Brands are also learning how to turn the platform to their advantage.
The ABC program Q&A's policy of displaying viewer tweets on screen has been instrumental in raising its popularity. Last year it was estimated about 20,000 tweets were sent about the show each week.

The influence Twitter gives ordinary Australians was on display when sponsors of shock jock Alan Jones's radio program were pressured by Twitter users into withdrawing support for him last year.
It followed his comment that Julia Gillard's father ``died of shame''.

The lack of a Twitter company presence in the country has been a source of major frustration for politicians and police inundated with complaints about online bullying.

But those frustrations might be allayed with the company tipped to open its first Australian office this year.

Exactly when is not yet clear. What is clear is that Twitter is here to stay.

View the original article here

Twitter turns 7 - #happybirthday

Source: The Australian

SOME people can't stand it, others can't live without it.

Twitter turned seven on Thursday and with more than 200 million active users, the social media platform has no shortage of friends to celebrate with.

It's come a long way since March 21, 2006, when web developer and Twitter creator Jack Dorsey sent the first tweet: "just setting up my twttr'' (twttr was the platform's early name).

Now roughly 4600 tweets are sent every second.

Ordinary Australians have embraced the site along with celebrities, athletes and politicians, with results that have ranged from amusing to disastrous.

Our most popular tweeter is actor Hugh Jackman with about 2.18 million followers.

The Wolverine star is still a long way from challenging the world's most popular tweeter, Justin Bieber, who has a whopping 36 million followers.

The first Australian politician to join Twitter was Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young in 2007, but it was another politician, Kevin Rudd, who in 2011 became the first Aussie to exceed one million followers.

Mr Rudd remains our most popular public officer holder on Twitter, which isn't bad for a backbencher.

Other federal politicians who've embraced the platform include Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Environment Tony Burke, the opposition's Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull and Joe Hockey, Greens deputy leader Adam Bandt and independent MP Rob Oakeshott.

A growing tendency for MPs to abuse each other via Twitter has led to calls for a ban on tweeting in federal parliament.
Speaker Anna Burke refused to introduce a ban earlier this year, to the relief of press gallery hacks.

Elite sportspeople have also muscled in on Twitter but some athletes are probably wishing they hadn't.

Stephanie Rice's homophobic tweet celebrating a Wallabies Tri-Nation win over South Africa in 2010 - ``suck on that faggots'' - cost her a lucrative sponsorship with car maker Jaguar.

Former Wallaby David Campese landed in hot water and was forced to apologise last year after posts questioning why a female reporter should cover the rugby.

And the Australian swimming team's 2012 Olympics belly flop was partly blamed on athletes spending too much time on the site.

But it's not only sports personalities who are prone to Twitter gaffes.

Fairfax columnist Catherine Deveny was sacked for tweeting "I do so hope Bindi Irwin gets laid'' during the 2010 Logies.

The same year the Queensland Liberal National Party expelled 22-year-old member Nick Sowden for a racist tweet comparing Barack Obama to a monkey.

Queensland Federal Coalition MP Andrew Laming was castigated in January for a post suggesting Aborigines and Pacific Islanders involved in a violent race feud in Brisbane were only interest in ``welfare on tap''.

And Victorian Labor MP Steve Gibbons was forced to apologise last November for calling deputy Opposition Leader Julie Bishop a ``narcissistic bimbo''.

The outspoken MP found himself in hot water again for a tweet referring to Australia Day as ``invasion day''.

Companies aren't immune from Twitter fails either, as Qantas learned in 2011 when its enQantasLuxury campaign backfired spectacularly.
Instead of tweeting their ``dream inflight experience'' users hijacked the hashtag with jokes at the airline's expense.

The red-faced PR team later admitted it was not the response it was expecting.

Perhaps Australia's lowest Twitter moment was in August 2012 when trolls drove television personality Charlotte Dawson to attempt suicide.

The celebrity was hospitalised after a barrage of hate tweets including one urging her to ``go hang yourself''.

But the platform can also be a force for a good, as shown during disasters such as the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires and the 2011 Queensland floods.
Twitter was used by emergency workers and other organisations to get alerts and updates to people on the ground.
Twitter says about 35,000 tweets were sent in January 2011 using the enqldfloods hashtag and the site also connected flood and bushfire victims with people offering assistance.

Emergency services have increasingly adopted social media accounts including Twitter accounts, which give them the ability to communicate quickly with wide audiences.

Brands are also learning how to turn the platform to their advantage.
The ABC program Q&A's policy of displaying viewer tweets on screen has been instrumental in raising its popularity. Last year it was estimated about 20,000 tweets were sent about the show each week.

The influence Twitter gives ordinary Australians was on display when sponsors of shock jock Alan Jones's radio program were pressured by Twitter users into withdrawing support for him last year.
It followed his comment that Julia Gillard's father ``died of shame''.

The lack of a Twitter company presence in the country has been a source of major frustration for politicians and police inundated with complaints about online bullying.

But those frustrations might be allayed with the company tipped to open its first Australian office this year.

Exactly when is not yet clear. What is clear is that Twitter is here to stay.

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WATCH: Star Trek trailer turns Lego

FANS might have seen the Star Trek into Darkness trailer, but we're guessing you might not have seen it... IN LEGO.

The incredible motion-stop Lego version of the trailer has been aptly renamed Star Trek into Brickness and was produced by Italian YouTube user Antonio Toscano.

Toscano is also the man behind the very clever Man of Steel Lego mash-up.

The long-awaited sci-fi flick is scheduled to hit Australian cinemas on May 17.

Compare it to the original trailer below.

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