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I had a couple of discussions this week about Twitter and how it offers a level of serendipity not found in other online aggregations. The fact that you follow people, rather than specific subjects, increases the likelihood of stumbling across something interesting that you wouldn't have otherwise found.
While that may often provide meaningful insights, sometimes it's just stumbling onto some fun stuff. So, I thought that I'd share two such examples that I found this week.
First is the Twitter stream of Arjun Basu, a Montreal-based writer of something he calls Twisters. These are (very) short stories - each exactly 140 characters in length. Here are a couple of recent examples:
You can follow Arjun at @arjunbasu. Thanks to @MarilynByrd and @chrisdorr for the introduction.
Second is an absolutely addictive new UGC website that I found this morning via Ann Handley called Awkward Family Photos. AFP is exactly what it sounds like. Here are a few pictures that had me ROFL. And, if it's your family with the matching sears polos and bunny ears (or with the matching crossbows), sorry... (really sorry). Be sure to click through and read the comments as well.
I spent my morning in the auditorium at Manhattan Bridges High School in Hell's Kitchen.
It was there that Stephen Colbert, along with representatives of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation came together to announce a $4.1 million grant to Donors Choose.
The "Double Your Impact" program will provide half the dollars to fund an expected 17,000 projects, which will touch 300,000 students. Qualifying projects will focus on college readiness.
Stephen Colbert, who was recently named to the board of Donors Choose, served as moderator of the event, with a panel consisting of Donors Choose Founder and CEO Charles Best, Gates Foundation director of education Vicki Phillips and Elizabeth Smith, a teacher at Manhattan Bridges, who twice has had projects funded through Donors Choose.
Donors Choose is an amazing organization. Founder Charles Best, a former Bronx social studies teacher came up with the concept in conjunction with his students. To-date, the program has funded more than 80,000 projects, impacting more than 2 million students in all 50 states.
Donors Choose blends the concept of micro-donations with transparency, control and accountability. It's an amazing model and it's a model for individual philanthropy. To explore the projects currently seeking funding, visit Donors Choose.
I caught up with founder Charles Best for a few minutes at the end of the event.
Someone has created the Interview Sarah Palin site which leverages a statistical Markov model to auto-generate responses to questions that might be posed to Sarah Palin in the debate.
So, which of the following is the computer-generated response, which is the real Sarah Palin and which is the Tina Fey version?
1. Q: What's your opinion of this potential 700 billion dollar bailout?
A: Like every American I'm speaking with, we're ill about this. We're saying, 'Hey, why bail out Fanny and Freddie and not me?' But ultimately what the bailout does is, help those that are concerned about the healthcare reform that is needed to help shore up our economy to help...uh...it's gotta be all about job creation, too. Also, too, shoring up our economy and putting Fannie and Freddy back on the right track and so healthcare reform and reducing taxes and reigning in spending...'cause Barack Obama, y'know...has got to accompany tax reductions and tax relief for Americans, also, having a dollar value meal at restaurants. That's gonna help. But one in five jobs being created today under the umbrella of job creation. That, you know...
2. Q: Explain to me why that enhances your foreign-policy credentials.
A: Well, it certainly does, because our, our next-door neighbors are foreign countries, there in the state that I am the executive of. And there… We have trade missions back and forth, we do. It's very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia. As Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just right over the border. It is from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right there, they are right next to our state.
3.Q: What is your foreign policy experience?
A: I want you to not lose sight of the U.S. domestic supply of energy, that I am the executive of. And there in Russia Diplomacy is about reform of government and these regulatory agencies back on the world. I'm not looking at poll numbers. What I know is that profound and that is part of the construction bonds and the 49th state, Alaska, and Russia. They are right there, they are our next door neighbor. They're our next door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska. We have got to get that gas line built, so pray for that.
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For those keeping score at home, #1 was Tina Fey and Amy Poehlan on Saturday Night Live, #2 was the real Sarah Palin interviewed by Katie Couric and #3 was the Interview Palin site.
