Twitter is currently developing a new API that will allow you to add your latitude and longitude to your Tweets. Meaning you will now be able to give a specific location to any Tweet of your choosing. The new feature, however, is optional and must be activated for use.

The new feature has the potential to be a rather useful tool for getting info on local events. Rather than just following Twitter users who’s Tweets you like, you will be able to follow Twitter users in your area for updates on local news and events. Biz Stone said “It’s easy to imagine how this might be interesting at an event like a concert or even something more dramatic like an earthquake.”

The new API will be going into the testing phases and will first be made available to platform developers. We will most likely be seeing this new API integrated into a mobile app before being released on Twitter. Biz Said “will most likely be available on your app of choice before it’s available on Twitter’s web site.”

Twitter Blog

Some of you are saying “thanks captain obvious,” but when was the last time you really considered the scope of Social Media’s popularity. Back in 2002 when all this craziness began, it was a word that was fairly new and its definition was obscure. Fast forward to 2009 and social media is taking over the world! According to Bambi Francisco (great name) with VatorNews “Today, for the first time ever on a global basis, social networks are more popular than email.”

Social Media has grown into a monster, two-thirds of the planet are on social media websites now.  Facebook is currently the king, with 175 million active users. Surpassing MySpace with a higher number of visitors, Facebook peaked at 132 million. Currently the top 3 Social Media sites are Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter. I can honestly say I don’t know a single person who isn’t on one of these three sites.

Hit the jump below to read the story, very good stuff.

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Image of Botanicall kit from Botanicall.com

Have you been so busy lately that you have been neglecting your house plant? Well don’t worry, this is the 21st century when your plant needs some TLC it will just come right out and tell you! Although it will need some hardware and a Twitter account, essential your plant now has the ability to communicate with you, and let you know when it needs to be nurtured!

A kit created by a company called Botanicalls will be what enables communication between your plant and you via Twitter. The process seems pretty straight forward once the hardware is set up and the software is enabled you simple create an account for your plant here http://twitter.com/yourplantsID, and then your plant is ready to start talking!

Created by 3 NYU students in a telecommunications program, the idea for the software came about when someone mentioned how it would be nice to have some plants. After it was agreed that a greener looking work place would be nice, they then deliberated on how they would remember when to water it and the rest is history!

Botanicalls is part of a new movement of more accessible technology and even more so it is a step forward in bridging the gap between the humans and plants. Botanicalls has stated “The Botanicalls project is fundamentally about communication between plants and people. We are empowering both by inventing new avenues of interaction. Plants that might otherwise be neglected are given the ability to call and text message people to request assistance. People who are unsure of their ability to effectively care for growing things are given visual and aural clues using common human methods of communication.”

It isn’t for everyone as you will require some minimal hardware savvy, and programming experience, but none the less it is totally awesome, and the coolest story I have read today!

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