A new video from the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) teaches the basics of copyright in just 7 minutes.  You can watch the video for free and without any kind of registration here. 

The video is very informative and clearly describes useful topics that every blogger and content producer should be aware of such as:

• Permission
• Fair use
• Attribution
• Public domain

However, it does leave out one aspect of copyright law that is important to bloggers and content producers – Creative Commons, which plays such a critical role in the social aspect of the web and the viral component of popular content. 

You can learn about Creative Commons and how it applies to sharing content here or by watching the video below.  Like the copyright video by the CCC, this video is under 7 minutes, but unlike the CCC video, this video has a Creative Commons license attached to it, so I can republish it and share it on the Newstex blog.

Micrblogging with Twitter is not just a fad – it’s a global phenomenon.  A study by Forrester released in March reports that between February 2008 and February 2009, Twitter grew by 1,382%  That’s the biggest jump of all member community destinations.  In second place is Zimbio with 240% growth, followed by Facebook with 228% growth. 

To make the story of Twitter’s growth in 2008 even more interesting, consider this — the 1,382% growth rate doesn’t even include the people who visit Twitter through their mobile phones, which is thought to be far in excess of 2 million per month.  That’s a lot of people.

Not convinced yet that Twitter is hot?  Here’s another piece of information from the Forrester report — the average visitor to Twitter visits 14 times per month and spends at least seven minutes on the site reading and tweeting.

What’s next for Twitter?  No one really knows, but one thing is for sure, Twitter is the place to be. 

Did you know you can add your Twitter feed to Newstex NewsTwits and make money from them?  Contact Newstex for details.

Follow Newstex on Twitter.

In December 2008, Sawhorse Media launched the Shorty Awards to recognize the best microbloggers – that is, the best producers of short, 140 character or less, content.   The Twitter users of the world answered the call for nominations.  You see, in this contest, the Twitter community nominated producers and voted for the winners.

On February 11, 2009, the 26 winners and finalists from over 1,500 user-generated categories were honored at an awards ceremony held in New York City.  Some of the winning names are well-known in the blogosphere, such as Guy Kawasaki and Chris Brogan, while others might not be known yet, but they produce great Twitter content!

You can follow the link to view the complete list of Shorty Award winners, and you can watch the awards ceremony below.

If you tweet, you can add your Twitter feed to your Blogs On Demand licensing account.  Follow the link for details about NewsTwits.

If you tweet, then keep reading. If you don’t tweet, but you have a great blog, then keep reading. And if you tweet and your blog is already part of Newstex Blogs On Demand, then you should definitely keep reading, because you’re about to lean how you can boost your Twitter and blog traffic with Newstex NewsTwits.

In May 2008, Newstex launched NewsTwits and began delivering licensed tweets through its content distribution system. Bloggers whose blogs are part of Newstex Blogs On Demand can sign up to have their Twitter content included in NewsTwits distribution, which instantly puts their tweets in front of millions of professionals. The potential is huge with NewsTwits for bloggers to grow their online presence and blog traffic, and they don’t have to do anything more than they’ve already been doing with Twitter.

If you don’t know what Twitter is, here’s a run-down. Twitter is a microblogging platform where users write short 140-character messages called tweets then publish them to their individual profiles, which they create on the Twitter website. Twitter users can sign up to “follow” one another making it easy to stay up-to-date with the tweets from people they like to read. People who use Twitter to promote products, blogs, services, etc. can see an significant jump in business as more and more people sign up to follow their tweets. Twitter is easy, fun and some might say, addictive (but in a good way).

So what are you waiting for? Jump on the Twitter bandwagon and start tweeting. If your blog is part of the Newstex Blogs On Demand service, you can follow the link to sign up for NewsTwits and start extending your online reach in 2009. And if you want to sign up to receive NewsTwits and get access to all the best tweets in one place, contact Newstex for more information.

Our good friend Debby Richman over at Collarity wrote a nice blog post on SearchEngineWatch.com about our new Twitter aggregated newsfeed – “Newstwits“. Read the post, titled “Add Value to Twitter Tweets“

The New York Times on Saturday, May 31 reported that the Phoenix Mars Lander has been "equipped" with Twitter and has been sending Tweets back to earth. Read NY Times article.

I’ve been following the Tweets all weekend from earth and they are great.  I’ve learned all about the ice discovery under one of the landing pads and clicked through to see photos.  This is a great use to Twitter and an example of "news" that I probably would not have discovered anywhere else.  I sent this to my daughter via text messaging and for the first time she "got" twitter.  What a great educational tool!  Kids today think in short bursts of text – Twitter can be used as an education tool to draw kids into to more detail blog posts or main stream news. (more likely video!)

You can see the "Tweets" here:
http://twitter.com/MarsPhoenix

Some recent "Tweets" from MarsPhoenix:

@brownpau Hydrazine fuel in landing exhaust could leave nitrogen traces, but team will account for it in their readings.
about 21 hours ago from web in reply to brownpau

@reciprocum The exposed water ice will sublimate (go from a solid to a vapor) over time, but that may take months. about 21 hours ago from web in reply to reciprocum    

@FoxTwo My arm might not reach that patch, but that’s OK. Team thinks there is ice all over after seeing that shot. Just need to dig for it about 21 hours ago from web in reply to FoxTwo    

Peter Smith says team has nicknamed the ice area "Holy Cow!" Those were the first words uttered in the ops area when image was received. about 22 hours ago from web    

Descent thrusters moved the topsoil during landing, uncovering the ice table. The pic was taken for engineers to check my legs, and voila! about 22 hours ago from web    

More from Peter: "The majority opinion is we have uncovered ice about 4 to 6 inches underneath the soil… The picture is astounding." about 22 hours ago from web    

Team ecstatic over last night’s image: http://tinyurl.com/3crw4s From mission leader Peter Smith: "The mood was electric in ops center!" about 22 hours ago from web

@KathleenLD Correct, right now I’m farther from Earth than the Sun. Average Mars-Sun distance = 142 million miles. 02:51 AM May 31, 2008 from web in reply to KathleenLD    

@MorgaineSwann I’m 171 million miles from Earth. It takes over 15 mins for data and images to travel from Mars to Earth at light speed. 02:18 AM May 31, 2008 from web in reply to MorgaineSwann    

@Carlo A Mars day lasts 24 hours and 37 minutes. My team on Earth starts work that much later every day to keep up with my schedule. 02:05 AM May 31, 2008 from web in reply to Carlo    

@wolfgang If you want news first, sometimes you have to look upside down. This is raw news from another planet! Team will turn it tonight. 12:49 AM May 31, 2008 from web in reply to wolfgang    

@davidherrold and @newmars MarsPhoenix is taking a deep bow. Thank you for following this mission. This is the start of a lot of fun. 11:28 PM May 30, 2008 from web in reply to davidherrold    

Look at this picture: http://tinyurl.com/63jpsj Now, turn your screen upside down. Is this the mother lode of the polar region? Ice!? 11:25 PM May 30, 2008 from web    
@newmars That’s right! A loose screw on Mars can’t stop me now. 11:19 PM May 30, 2008 from web in reply to newmars    

@carstene A bunch of brush motors were already made. The rovers have 50 of them. So cost was low, and I know they’ve worked well. 09:18 PM May 30, 2008 from web in reply to carstene    

My team is looking at the TEGA short-circuit. They work the "Martian graveyard shift" looking at data I send home at end of Martian day. 09:09 PM May 30, 2008 from web    

@TaviGreiner The picture shows a little piece of hardware on the ground, probably a pin. The team is checking it out. No worries. 03:20 PM May 30, 2008 from web in reply to TaviGreiner    

My robotic arm camera got some great shots around my feet. Is that ice right there? http://tinyurl.com/4bf2hj Can’t wait for a closer look! 01:34 PM May 30, 2008 from web    

@depapel Here’s how the team made sure the parachute wouldn’t fall on top of me: http://tinyurl.com/5qgckl (and scroll down to parachute). 09:56 AM May 30, 2008 from web in reply to depapel    

@mmealling Thx! Commercial translation: "just call your insurance company." Those Dutch! They did this one too: http://tinyurl.com/6g9luz 09:25 AM May 30, 2008 from web in reply to mmealling