Twitter Robbery of Arizona Man Could Freak Some Folks Out

Twitter -- you know what it is, obviously, please, in addition to following PTG and myself? -- doesn't have many downsides, provided you're not some cranky old person that hates "those dang kids and their blog machines!" Or if you're Twitter user "@IzzyVideo" who recently tweeted that he and his family were going on vacation. Good times, right? Um, no. He got robbed, likely as a result of the social media site's ability to reach hundreds of thousands of people.

On May 24th, Izzy dropped this:

We made it to Kansas City in one piece. We're visiting @noellhyman's family. Can't wait to get some good video while we're here. :-)

And then four days later ...

Well, it's confirmed. Someone stole my Mac Pro and two displays while I'm visiting relatives here in Kansas City.

But, fortunately (I guess) the robbers left his Xbox. Now, before everyone decides to freak out and blame the Twittermachinez for this horrible travesty, let's go ahead and point out the same thing that Izzy did: his Twitter account automatically updates his Facebook status. That means Izzy could have accidentally sent this message out to thousands of people (I'm not his friend, so I have no clue how many he has) in addition to the over 2,000 folks that follow him on Twitter.

And the other thing, as I tell my parents often, is that we live in a very transparent world when it comes to internet personalities -- most of the "interwebz people" aren't hidden behind some odd name or false front anymore, particularly if they earn their living online. Which means that if you see Person X tweet that they're somewhere on vacation, and that person has a website where they make a living, you can probably find out where they live (or at the very least, check the WhoIs.net registration for the site) or at the very least get your Google/White Pages on.

Izzy actually has his full name, Facebook, Myspace, Twitter and mobile phone number on his website. That's not particularly shocking, because it's his business site, but the thing is with a mobile number and a first and last name, you can track anyone in the world down to their home address pretty quickly. Which is what someone, obviously, decided to do.

Either that or one of Izzy's friends is a real jerk. The lesson? Well, it's not that "Twitter is evil" or the "Internet will kill us all" as many people will probably shout once they see his story all over the news (it's been picked up by ABC, NBC, CBS and then tweeted by IJustine, who's actually bigger than all of those, somehow).

The lesson is that you have to be careful when you broadcast something on the interwebz. Yes, it's that simple: just think before you tweet, folks.

Hyatt Gives Away Vacation Via Twitter

Twitter. You know you want to know what's going on with it. And now you have an excuse -- you want to win a free, paid vacation to the Hyatt Regency Tamaya.

That's right. It's "social media FTW" time; Twitter isn't just for nerds who like to engage with the world in bursts of 140-character, pedantic (and sometimes snarky) messages. It's for people who like to win vacations too!

What can you win? Excellent question. How about a 3-night stay for two persons in a luxury suite at the Hyatt Regency Tamaya, airport transportation, daily breakfast, one dinner, two spa visits and 18 holes of golf (or a trail ride; if you select the latter, just sell me your golf.)

Now, of course, there is kind of a catch. See, you have to have a Twitter account (duh) and you have to provide your Twitter name, Twitter password (boo), email address (quadruple boo) and your name.

The Twitter password isn't a huge deal because basically, the Twitter-Contest page will just automatically tweet the news that you entered the contest, which I believe is a requirement. What creeps me out is the email address ... because I have a hunch that you might suddenly be getting some Hyatt newsletters. Of course, I'm much too lazy to read the terms and conditions, but I bet if I did, there would be something about opting-in found within the small print.

However, if you like free stuff and you don't care about emails relating to Hyatt hotels, hit it up. What's the worst that can happen? (Answer: Spam! Upside: Free vacation!)

Man Tweets His Way Around the World

Twitter is taking off. Just ask Paul Smith.

The Brit, who apparently has a lot of free time on his hands, made his way around the world relying only on the tweets he sent to the 11,000 people who followed his journey.

His self-imposed golden rule was that he could only accept offers of travel and accommodation from people who use Twitter. Smith was also banned from making any travel plans more than three days in advance and has to leave each location within 48 hours of arriving.

Smith made it from his home in Newcastle-upon-Tyne to Stewart Island, New Zealand, in 30 days and visited the Netherlands, France, Germany and the U.S. And while stateside, he found time to hang with actress Liv Tyler.

It wasn't all fun and games, as you can read on the blog he kept, but it is impressively cool. Plus, the journey helped raise money for Charity: water, a non-profit that brings clean drinking water to developing nations.