Twitter movie trailer parody

How does Silicon Valley laugh off Hollywood’s upcoming film on Facebook? With mock trailers for fake movies only slightly less factual than “The Social Network.”

The video opens with such epic tweets as “my hair is sad today” and “my computer is being a fart butt right now.” Then it traces the origins of Twitter: “I need to make a way to blog that is as random and incoherent as writing on a bathroom wall.” Then all hilarity breaks loose. (After watching the clip, Stone tweeted: “HASHTAGS!”)

Protests the earnest, mop-haired actor who plays Williams: “If Twitter was as useless and dull as they say, then someone would have tweeted it.”

Log on to Twitter to Catch Fraudsters

Car insurance companies are targeting social networking sites, particularly Twitter, in order to catch out fraudsters who are causing the cost of insurance premiums to rise at their fastest rate ever, according to the AA British Insurance Premium Index.

Apparently, insurers have been taking advantage of the rise of ‘tweeting’, using Twitter, but also Facebook and MySpace to investigate certain claims and find evidence. The news comes just as it has been announced that car insurance quotes : are showing the highest increase in years, since the Motoring Organisation started tracking trends of quarterly insurance premiums 16 years ago.

Over the last few months, the average cost of a comprehensive car insurance policy has increased to just over GBP 700, which is a rise of 11.5%. This is the average of the cheapest 3 policies for each customer, a measure which the AA refer to as the ‘Shoparound’ index. The fact that this is largely due to fraudulent claims is frustrating for the majority of drivers who treat the claim process properly and responsibly.

Andrew Goulborn, Commercial Director for motor insurance comparison site, Tiger.co.uk commented: ‘It is estimated that fraudulent claims like these are costing policyholders throughout the country an average of just over GBP 40 a year on their car insurance quotes : . Another reason why it is really vital for people to shop around for the best deal on their car insurance’.

The recent recession is thought to be a huge factor in the steep increase in insurance costs, as many unscrupulous individuals have contributed to the amount of fraudulent claims placed.

Twitter, but, is helping to expose the cheats who are abusing the system, as there is more constant streaming of shared information with people posting multiple messages all day long sometimes.

Richard Davies, a board member of the Insurance Fraud Bureau has claimed that the information on sites such as Twitter was very useful to insurance companies, as it could be used as evidence because it was publicly available on the internet. Many industry insiders who agree with him also add that the responsibility of the content falls to the social networking sites, as they are the ones in control of the privacy settings.

There are a couple of different types of fraudulent claims, which fall into categories of people who embellish the details of real claims for a larger payout and organised who make crashes, causing innocent people to be involved in accidents so that they can claim from them.

There are a number of law firms who have already reported successful investigative work using Twitter to ‘out’ fake claimants and are hopeful that it will continue to be a excellent way of ensuring claims are legitimate. Using ‘tweets’ as evidence in revealing fraudulent claims has already saved some firms thousands of pounds.

Community Web Site Celebrates One Thousand Followers

SQL Server Club today launched a special promotion to celebrate reaching their target of 1,000 followers on social networking site Twitter.

Funded by SQL Server tools provider Norb Technologies, SQL Server Club is a free community site devoted to helping database developers and administrators grow their knowledge about Microsoft SQL Server.

“Since launching
in January 2007 we have steadily grown into a popular knowledge base for SQL Server.” said web site Editor Rachel Clements.

“We are delighted by the continuous growth in our popularity, demonstrating that we provide a useful service to the community. Our editorial team comprises of experienced database administrators whose expertise makes our Twitter postings both timely and relevant.”

To say thanks to their followers who support SQL Server Club, Norb Technologies are offering a 25 percent discount on their tools for the next 1,000 hours until 20 November 2009. To receive this benefit, SQL Server Club followers can visit the Norb Technologies online store at www.norbtechnologies.com and enter the coupon code Twitter1000 when they make their purchase.

Preserving The Titanic With Twitter

Social media like Twitter will soon venture where no tweet has gone before: underwater. On August 22, Expedition Titanic will dive to depths up to two and a half miles to revisit the wreck of the Titanic. Accompanying the archaeologists, scientists, and oceanographers, social media tools will enable the public to join in as well.

RMS Titanic, Inc., the company behind this mission, resulted from collaboration between Premier Exhibitions, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and the Waitt Institute.

Christopher J. Davino, President of RMS Titanic, Inc., clarifies that the Expedition:

“will be using some of the most advanced technology available to make a portrait of the Ship unlike any that has been made before – virtually raising Titanic and sealing her current state forever in the minds and hears of humanity.”

More than just supporting further scientific exploration, Expedition Titanic aims to use modern technology to commemorate the legacy of the ship. Throughout the mission, the team will record the entire wreck site through a complete photomosaic and 2D and 3D video. The project aims to compile this expedition with information from past visits to the Titanic in order to develop an extensive record of the ship today.

From home, viewers will be able to experience the site as well. After traveling to the sea depths through a 3D-animated film, visitors will be able to explore the wreck site through near real time images and video, an interactive archeological map, as well as read updated messages from the divers themselves.

Once the mission sets out on its quest, updates will be recorded through a variety of social media tools. Flickr and YouTube will also allow the explorers to share photos and videos online.

With all the social media and digital technology components, Expedition Titanic represents a truly monumental approach to preserving archeological wonders of the world. The expanse of the project only proves the incredible capability of technology to record, remember, and immortalize monuments of today.