Patrick Swayze Dead?

Twitter thinks so - social networking tools do have some cons, one being the viral spreading of unsubstantiated information a.k.a rumours.

The actor who has been fighting pancreatic cancer since January 2008, Patrick Swayze, is very much alive, despite some rumors earlier today that he’d passed away.

The Florida-based radio station KissFM started the inaccurate rumor this morning. However, it was Twitter that spread the news rapidly, even leading to Patrick’s Wikipedia page being wrongly updated. I'm glad to see that the page has since been corrected to "Actor, years active: 1978 – present".

The false Tweets forced Swayze’s rep to release a statement:
"This is to confirm that Patrick Swayze did not pass away this morning contrary to severely reckless reports stemming from a radio station in Jacksonville, Florida. Swayze is alive, well and is enjoying his life and he continues to respond to treatment." Lesson learned: Beware of reports that surface via Social networking and online media sources; they have to answer to no one for spreading misinformation.

Visitor Frenzy 2.0 by Webzpoint.com

Visitor Frenzy is a simple program that allows you to stimulate referrals coming from your site to other websites. This, accordingly, will boost your website traffic through two ways:

1. Webmasters will see your link at their traffic stats page and click on it.
2. Many websites show “Last referrers” on their website - this may also generate temporary backlinks.

I’ve put together a comprehensive list of more than 72,000 URLS to get you started; however, VF will only simulate 20,000 URL’s each session, so you will have to split these up into chunks. Enjoy! Click here to download.

If you want a fast way of generating your own lists you can download Silverwolf’s domain grabber. Download the windows version here.

If you would like to immediately purchase Visitor frenzy, go here.

WARNING: Facebook Scam Is Spreading Rapidly, Steals Passwords

I just caught news that a widespread phishing scam has hit Facebook today. I think this is spreading quickly as even some of my friends have already been taken advantage of. The end objective of the scam is to steal your login and spam your friends.

I’ve got a number of messages in my Facebook inbox with links to “FBAction.net”, a site that displays a fake Facebook login. Enter your details there, and it will spam all your friends with the same message and link. Even more annoying is that you might get locked out of your account for a time until Facebook purges its system of the issue.

There is no malicious payload with the attack, so it seems; no virus or worm is downloaded, it’s simply an enormous irritation for avid Facebook users.

I know that we all get tricked into clicking on links that we shouldn’t from time to time (don’t you feel so foolish when you’ve been taken advantage of?), but please take note and remember: don’t enter your Facebook password if the URL is not Facebook.com, and contact Facebook if you’re no longer able to access your account.

Is Email Dying?

Some would say that email is being replaced; it has peaked - RSS feeds, social networking, online file storage & URL truncation (TinyURL and Snurl) are all contributors to its demise.

Email is a “catch-all” for every type of communication. What has happened is it has split into more functional technologies: RSS feeds replace list servers, instant messaging replaced the instant communication and social networking replaced the distribution lists.

There are many applications that can be used to send someone a private file without using email - Google Docs, DropBox, SugarSync, ADrive, Flip Drive, Flickr, Picassa, Zoho, etc. Also, all of these programs provide you with more storage space than you could ever use, they allow for version control, give you networked backup, web access to your files from any computer with an internet connection on the planet and let you publish documents and share them with whomever you like.

Twitter, Plurk and other microblogging tools are great ways to send quick notes people and social networking applications (Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) are far more advanced messaging services than our ancient email friend.

One of the latest statistics reports out of the Nielson camp states that communication through social networking is outnumbering emails sent. Nevertheless, the numbers of emails sent haven't drastically reduced.

With all that said, I can confidently say that email is far from a dying breed. I think I can convince you with one simple rhetorical question: Do you invite someone to lunch by e-mail or Twitter?

Top 3 Twitter Updates of All Time... So Far

Twitter updates are most often used to communicate the simple things in life: political opinions, link sharing, what you’re eatting, etc. But there are some exceptional, circumstances where Twitter has been used in some ways that can only be explained as bizarre. Below are the 3 most extraordinary and creative uses of Twitter updates that I have ever come across.

3. Tweeting From Space (aka Spaweeting)

When ice was found on Mars, how did the news break? Through CNN? Maybe a publication? Wrong. The statement that ice had been discovered on Mars was first made by the Twitter account of the Mars Phoenix Lander

The Mars Phoenix Lander was a space vessel designed to collect information on Mars, in particular, whether or not Mars could support life. The response was nothing short of amazing, with thousands of followers and increased buzz for the Mars mission and Twitter alike.

This had to make the list because Mars Phoneix Lander is truly the first to post status updates from another world. I bet you didn’t know that!

2. Tweeting from the womb (aka Infantweets)

What’s the record for the youngest Tweeter? If you’re Corey Menscher’s child, it’s never too early. Corey’s baby was tweeting at 6 months….before he was even born. Corey created a device and a Twitter account, kickbee, which sent out tweets anytime little Tyler kicked his mommy. Tyler was born on January 19th, 2009 and now “tweets” from his new account, @minimensch

1. The marriage proposal (I have no term for this one…)

On May 28th, Max Kiesler proposed to Emily Chang via Twitter. And with a quick response, she accepted.



Stunning! What a way for these two social media enthusiasts to become connected forever. Also, let’s not forget the additional benefit of allowing thousands of people to be part of the special moment.

Others have also gotten engaged using Twitter since: @garazi to @stefsull and @grobertson to @film_girl.