My circle of Twitter pals was abuzz today over the news that two online community/social-media providers — Mzinga and Prospero Technologies — had joined forces as part of a $30 million acquisition (press release).

(In the spirit of full disclosure, I do podcast production and consulting for Mzinga, which also sponsored my last Social Media Breakfast; meanwhile, my day-job employer, Monster.com, is a Prospero client.)

And in what may have been something of a first — though I can’t be certain — Mzinga took full advantage of Twitter’s conversational nature by holding a virtual press conference there, encouraging and fielding questions not only on the acquisition but also on the possible trend toward consolidation in the online community business.

As it turns out, this clever use of Twitter came to Colin Browning, former self-proclaimed “mad scientist” at Prospero and now director of business development at Mzinga, in the place where many of us are inspired each morning — the shower.

Hear the full story in my audio interview with Colin and Aaron Strout, vice president of new media at Mzinga and host of the We Are Smarter podcast series, below.

And to get a flavor of the conversation that’s been raging on Twitter throughout the day, check out these search query results:

• Twemes
• Tweet Scan

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I’ll let Paull Young give this post a proper intro:

Today every proud Australian will stand a little taller as the Australian Parliament formally apologises to our indigenous aboriginal people for wrongs committed since our nation was colonised 200 odd years ago.

From the viewpoint of this American, who lived, worked, studied, and married in Australia over a two-year period earlier this decade, this was an apology whose time had long since come. Good on Kevin Rudd, the new Australian prime minister, for doing the right thing and at least starting the healing process with the indigenous Australians who have suffered so mightily.

Rudd’s action are an about-face from former prime minister John Howard’s outright refusal to apologize for the country’s appalling treatment of its native people from the “Stolen Generations,” when Aboriginal children (often of mixed race) were snatched from their blood relatives and resettled with white,”civilized” families.

Saying ’sorry,’ social-media style

Paull has another cool nugget in his post about Australia’s apology. Paul is one of several Australians who is adding a personal apology of sorts by way of Facebook. Here’s what Paull’s status update is displaying as I write this post.

Again, in Paull’s words:

[It's a] small gesture of support for reconciliation. It’s so simple, yet so powerful — reconciliation has been a hot issue in Australia for years, but here, hundreds of regular Australians are expressing to their most important constituency (their friends and family) their support for reconciliation, and lending their own voice as a nation says sorry.

I may no longer live in Australia — though I do hope to return for another stint someday — but I’m especially proud today to say that I once did. Well done, Australia.

Photo from trimba’s Flickr photostream.

Technorati Tags: Australia, Kevin Rudd, Sorry, PaullYoung

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Well, the folks at ooVoo were obviously paying attention, because yesterday they let me know that they had donated 500 web cameras and microphones to U.S. Air Force personnel, making it easier for soldiers to have video chats with their families during their tours of duty.

I don’t know how we would have kept in touch with my father for the last 12 months were it not for VOIP technology. We mostly stuck to voice chat (my father would call us using Yahoo! Voice Out for just a penny or two a minute), but it isn’t hard to forget one of the few times we added video to the mix.

It was on Christmas Day, and our house was packed with visitors who wanted to share the occasion with my young son Amani, who was just 9 weeks old at the time (hard to believe he’s just turned 1!). We rigged a setup using my sister’s Mac (web cam but no support for Yahoo! Voice) and our landline phone, while my father borrowed a web cam from one of his colleagues on the military base.

As we chatted, I held Amani on my lap, so that my father could get his first live look at his grandson. Each of my relatives then took a turn saying hello, including uncles, aunts, and cousins that shouted from the back of the room. It was loud and hectic, but also gave us all a meaningful and emotional holiday connection with my dad … all things considering.

It can be a lonely life for servicemen abroad, especially for guys like my father, who didn’t even venture off the military base more than a handful of times during his 12-month stay in Kosovo. And while video chat certainly can’t replace in-person interaction (which I’m thrilled and relieved we can now resume with my father on a regular basis, since he lives just a few miles from our house), it certainly can liven up the communications possibilities for soldiers away from home.

So, good on ooVoo for its donation. You can bet those 500 web cams will make for plenty of smiles — and tears — this holiday season.

Technorati Tags: ooVoo, VOIP, video chat

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Here’s a portion of the announcement that I found in my inbox this morning:

We have detected what appears to be the exploit of a number of accounts belonging to DreamHost customers, and it appears that your account was one of those affected…

Our records indicate that only roughly 20% of the accounts accessed — less than 0.15% of the total accounts that we host — actually had any changes made to them. Most accounts were untouched.

My bad luck: I was part of the 0.15 percent.

Fortunately, the situation is not so grim. Though I’ll need to do some more research to confirm this, it appears that that the data itself for the sites have not been touched, and I’ve been able to restore the blogs by upgrading to the latest version of WordPress (2.2) and changing a password in my Dreamhost account.

Whew!

Time to go and back up my blogs.

Technorati Tags: Dreamhost

Note: thanks to Jack Hodgson for first alerting me that my sites were down.

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However, I can make no such promises for my brethren in the new-media space. Be ready for anything.

Technorati Tags: April Fools’ Day

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PR pro Luke Armour is the proud new papa of Megan Elizabeth, born March 28, 2007, and weighing 8 pounds, 1 ounce.

I was in the very same place just 5 1/2 months ago, Luke, and there is no greater joy. Congratulations, my friend.

Technorati Tags: Luke Armour

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is thrilled to pass along these two items:

Fatherhood awaits this man!

* Jay Moonah is going to be dad! He and is wife Karen are expecting their first child in September. I first met Jay at PodCamp Boston last fall and then co-presented with him with at PodCamp Toronto last month, and I also chatted for a bit with Karen at very loud pub during my Toronto visit. Congratulations to you both, Jay and Karen! I look forward to swapping new-parenting stories with you soon.

Paull Young (left) is now working with and for Constantin Basturea (right)

* The ambitious Aussie Paull Young is returning Stateside in May, taking a position as a senior account executive with the social media agency Converseon, which also counts the legendary Constantin Basturea of the New PR Wiki among its ranks. Paull recently completed a 108-day, eight-country world tour that included several weeks in the US. We still haven’t met face to face, but I suspect that will change very soon, since Paull will be based in New York City. Goodonya, Paull!

Technorati Tags: Jay Moonah, Paull Young, Constantin Basturea, Converseon

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Technorati Tags: Bum Rush, Bum Rush the Charts, iTunes, Black Lab, Mine Again, Financial Aid Podcast, Student Loan Network

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1. You subscribe by entering your mobile number below
2. You’ll receive a text message telling you that a new episode is available and will be provided with a telephone number
3. Hit the “send” or “call” button on your phone (on my handset, I have to hit “send” twice)
4. Start listening!

Subscribe to “Bryper Bits”!

Just enter your cellphone/mobile phone number here:

Show notes – Bryper Bits 003

Today is the day to Bum Rush the Charts. Help send the song “Mine Again” by Black Lab to the top of the iTunes music charts by purchasing it today for just 99 cents. In doing so, you’ll be supporting:

• Independent music
• New media
• Podcasting
• Education

Here’s the link to get you started: Bum Rush the Charts.

Total time: 1 minutes, 33 seconds

Click below to stream or click to DOWNLOAD THIS EPISODE.

Technorati Tags: Bum Rush, Bum Rush the Charts, Black Lab, Mine Again, Financial Aid Podcast, Student Loan Network

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The idea of taking a cruise has never interested me, in large part because I’m a poster boy for seasickness in any kind of rough seas (I’m still scarred from a whale watch back in the summer of 1990, when choppy waters sent my stomach into a dreadful tailspin).

But my opinion of cruises has just done a complete 180, with the news that PodCamp is now taking to the sea. Behold: PodCamp Miami 2007.

More details to come, but it looks like I need to make a visit to pharmacist to find out how to keep my tummy under control. I want to go cruising!

Technorati Tags: PodCruise Miami 2007, PodCruise

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