http://edition.cnn.com
In the beginning was a word, sketched on a legal pad. And the word was Status.
That was the working title used by programmer Jack Dorsey in 2000, when he designed the service that was to become Twitter six years later.
An urban-design geek, Dorsey envisaged a city full of people buzzing short messages at each other the way taxi dispatchers and bike messengers do. Where are you? What's up? What's your status?
Today, five years after its inception, Twitter's status seems in flux. On the one hand, it is a vibrant virtual metropolis beyond Dorsey's wildest imaginings. It has garnered 200 million citizens from every corner of the world, yet manages to be more orderly and simple than that noisy Facebook megalopolis down the road.
There are no annoying Mafia Wars notifications here, no targeted ads, no anxiety-producing friend requests -- nothing but real-time messages from whomever you're interested in, be they Lady Gaga or the girl next door.
On the other hand, all is not well in Status City. This week's cover story in Fortune warns that Twitter usage appears to be flatlining.
One hundred million of those citizens are absent altogether, and Twitter.com has fewer visitors per month -- about 20 million -- than MySpace, according to comScore.
The company has a steady hand on the tiller in new CEO Dick Costolo but lacks a visionary product leader (Dorsey is equally focused on his next company, Square). It still suffers from irritating outages and isn't turning a profit.
And as CNN reported on Wednesday, UberMedia, the company behind mobile Twitter apps like Echofon, is planning to build a rival microblogging network, one that may shun the famous 140-character limit.
So are the buzzards circling over Status City? Should tweeters head for the hills or prepare to move to a competing town with fewer regulations?
BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/
Ten die in Afghanistan army
base bomb
A Taliban suicide bomber wearing a military uniform hit an Afghan army base near the city of Jalalabad, the Afghan defence ministry said.
Coalition officials said five foreign troops died but gave no more details. Four Afghan soldiers and four translators were said to be injured.
The attack was one of the deadliest in months against foreign troops.
It took place shortly after 0730 (0330 GMT) when the bomber approached the gate of the military base and detonated his explosives.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing, adding that the attacker was a "sleeper agent" who had served in the army for at least one month before launching his attack.
However, Afghan officials strongly denied that suggestion, insisting that the bomber was wearing a military uniform but not a serving soldier.
Coalition officials in Afghanistan confirmed that foreign troops had died on Saturday but did not specify the nationalities of those killed.
"Five International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) service members died following an insurgent attack in eastern Afghanistan today," a statement said.
HELLO MAGAZINE
http://www.hellomagazine.com/
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