The message pictured above was posted as a reply to me on Twitter, in response to a picture I posted on this blog from I Has a Hotdog. It also represents the kind of internet user I can’t stand — the kind that makes comments on articles, blog posts and the like without taking it into proper context.

Anyone who knows me knows full well I hold no support for the McCain/Palin ticket in this election. I didn’t see the response until 2 days after it was posted, I went back to see what this guy was referring to (the aforementioned picture). I concluded he didn’t even look at the blog entry. Judging from the archive of responses this person left all over the Twittersphere, it seems like anyone who had “Obama” in their tweets got hit with a negative response, often mentioning Joe Vogler; I had to look this guy up as I’d not heard of him until today. Commenter status: TROLL and blocked.

So, to co-opt a line from one of my favorite teen movies, “Remove head from sphincter, then drive comment.”

The Morning News’ Margaret Mason offers 14 Ways to Use Twitter Politely. I can think of a few tweeters who should read this.

Via SFist, a post-earthquake tweet on twitter:

I am totally serious. My Ob/Gyn was IN my vagina and an earthquake started rattling the room! – MissRFTC

Did anyone by chance visit a proctologist?

Those of you on twitter may appreciate this: a 3D representation of the infamous Fail Whale. This is full of WIN!

Twitter users may find this Twitter Tweet Sheet handy.

Commuter Feed is a free service that lets you see reports on traffic incidents in your local area using Twitter.

Commuter Feed is set up for several cities, including Washington, DC. Anyone with a twitter account can submit an incident by writing a response tweet to twitter user commuter, followed by the designated airport code and a brief statement of the incident. For instance:

@commuter IAD First St NE blocked off between Constitution & Mass.

IAD — the airport code for Dulles International Airport — was set up for DC’s feed, which is currently empty. Personally, I would think DCA — the code for National Airport — would be far more appropriate. (via Daring Fireball)

Among the announcements at today’s “The Beat Goes On” event at Apple (Yes Virginia, there really is a revamped iPod line.), the iPhone is getting a price drop.

Surprise!

And Dan Cederholm called it out on twitter about an hour ago.

The 8GB iPhone drops to $399, a $200 difference from it’s release date price. No word on 4GB pricing, though given it’s $499 price point there’s no doubt that it too will see a price break.

Sigh. This happened to me last year too; not long after I bought a 60GB iPod, Apple upgraded it upped the capacity and dropped the price.

Update: I should clarify something here. The fact that the iPhone’s price dropped doesn’t bother me at all. In fact, I expected it would… eventually. A $200 price break in just over two months since release is a bit of a burn, though. Such is the price for early adoption, I guess.

As for last year’s iPod incident, the 60GB model had been out a while, but I didn’t pay attention to speculation that a bigger model would soon be out.

Time Magazine offers up an article on twitter, which deems it MySpace’s successor. Whatever — though now I know John Edwards’ campaign makes use of it.

A recent tweet from Brian asks,

Since when can you not take photos in metro stations? And why isn’t that posted anywhere visible?

Last I checked, photography is allowed within D.C.’s Metro system. At least according to their WMATA Use Regulations document, available on their web site.

Still photography that does not require a tripod, special lighting, film crews, models, impair the normal ingress/egress or operation of Authority services and can be accomplished by a hand held camera by one person is not regulated.

In other words, you don’t need a permit. The document was last revised in September 2004, and I heard of photographers who ran into trouble with uninformed Metro police or other personnel. Carry a copy of the document in your camera bag. That way, you’ll have something in writing from Metro itself. I had to Google search to find this document, as it wasn’t easy to find on the site.

One caveat: I understand that security reasons prohibit all photography at the Pentagon station. I’ve not seen that in writing, however.

Also keep a copy of the Photographer’s Right on you, put together by lawyer/photographer Bert P. Krages.

Jason Kottke muses on Pocket, twitter before its time.

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