Thanks to Wired for this update on twittering the fires of California:

"Twitter users Nate Ritter and Viss have been busy posting rapid-fire updates of the current wildfire situation in Southern California. Both of them are on the scene in San Diego, and they are doing an excellent job of providing information and news about evacuations, meeting points and anything important that local residents would need to know. Viss is also on Flickr and he's posting photos.

Nate and Viss are using the hashtag #sandiegofire. Twitter users can enter "track sandiegofire" in SMS or IM and receive notifications whenever a tweet goes out with that tag in it.

Here's an excellent real-world example of the usefulness of Twitter's limited scope and feature set -- Reporting breaking news quickly. They're certainly filing updates more frequently than most mainstream media outlets."

The original article is here.

Update:  The LA Times is also twittering the fires here http://twitter.com/latimesfires 

Today we got a message in about using twitter in the homeland security field. It is another great use for twitter and in an emergency when phone lines are down should prove an excellent tool. We hope that emergency never comes, but if it does...

"I'm a homeland security strategist with a reputation for innovative
strategies to empower the general public through creative use of the
personal communication devices (ie cell phones) and apps (i.e. Twitter)
that we use every day and will use in a disaster whether or not officials
want us to.

As part of my "21st-century disaster tips you WON'T hear from officials"
series on YouTube, I've just posted perhaps the most important one of all:
http://tinyurl.com/2v5las -- about using Twitter messages, which WILL get
through because they're text and use so little bandwidth, vs. voice calls,
which only frustrate you because you won't get through, while crashing the
networks. 

W. David Stephenson
"The Homeland Security 2.0" blog: http://stephensonstrategies.com "

A great use for twitter David! 

We posted an article called "Can you use Twitter for reference or research ?" some time ago. This new article is an addition to that and explains how to use Twitter in a Library scenario.

There are case studies and all kinds of useful info in the article at iLibrarian .  If you are a Librarian or in education, check it out!

A good article on lifehacker.org with some good uses for Twitter.

- Quick Human Answers

- Conference / News Briefings

- Friendsourcing

- Micro-Attention-Sharing

- Direct People to Good Causes

- Bonus- As advertised, Twitter answers the question “What are you doing?” It means that you can stay in touch with others without being intrusive. Just follow their twitters.

Full article here.. 

Here is an article by Stephen Francoeur that has some suggestions for using twitter for reference and research . They even list a couple of libraries that are already using Twitter and how they are using it. He then goes on to a couple of other suggested methods to use Twitter in a research or library scenario. Happy researching!

We are always looking for new ideas to let people know about to make Twitter more useful for them for business, their job, getting the message out, for fun. Here is a good idea about using twitter for IT support , if that is your thing, this is for you.

Rohit Bhargava has a good post up on how to use twitter for marketing purposes. He has some ideas:

1. Capture the live pulse of an event

2. Deepen a static experience through live commentary

3. Facilitate collaborative watching

4. Add a new dimension to promotions - Scavenger hunts, user generated content campaigns, and other reality based marketing promotions

Is Marketing on Twitter a good or bad idea? The above ideas are far from intrusive but where does the line get drawn? Or does it? What is stopping twitter from becoming a torrent of spam.....

Mike Sansone blogs about a great idea of using twitter plugs on a web page for a team to keep in contact. You could see what everyone is saying from any device they are on, anywhere they are. Team meeting, project collaboration and many more uses. Handy! Here is the general idea...
Feel like attending a meeting while fishing or golfing anyone? :)

Scrivs over at 9rules wrote an article about stupid but yet powerful Twitter can be depending on its use. Very interesting article entitled Twitter is Dumb but I'm Dumber.

There have been many comments around the net revolving around "Why do I care if someone is cooking dinner, washing underwear (or whatever)? Twitter is stupid" Scrivs touches on how twitter is another level communication that allows us to move beyond the weather and small talk. No it isn't perfect yet but it has spurred millions to think about new possibilities for communication, delivery of services, advertising and content delivery.

While it's use in its current form (current twitter service) is indeed limited, it is cool to see that many people are thinking about the new possibilities and how that may change (and help) the lives of people in the future.

It is really about sorting through all the information and communications that cross our desks, devices and minds.

It will be particularly interesting to see if ONLY the relevant info / content can be delivered to the right person on the right device at the right time.. for everyone. That is a pretty tall order and twitter may not make it happen... but maybe they can make it one step closer to reality.