Twitter trouble and social sausages

01/12/09 posted by Liz Niland

Following in the footsteps of the social media savvy NSW Police, the NYPD have turned to Twitter for tip-offs about potential turf wars. Using their status updates to arrange brawls and general bloodshed, gangs in New York are attempting to code their messages in gangster-friendly lingo to avert police interference.  

As reported in the NY Daily News, the police and other community groups are still finding their way through the updates to intercept potentially deadly incidents. A police source was quoted as saying tweets are similar to old telephone records. "We can go through them [messages] to track these guys."

Also in Twitter trouble is jailed Hollywood screenwriter Roger Avary. The co-writer of Pulp Fiction was confined to prison in September this year for a dangerous driving charge. Allowed out recently during the daylight hours for work, Avary has been updating his Twitter with all manner of alleged insider snippets. While the institution in question hasn’t commented on the state of play within it’s walls,@avary sure provides a jaw-dropping chronicle of life behind bars. 

Let’s brighten the mood now with a snappy new website for lovers of a good dose of sunshine and sausages. Meat In A Park allows users to locate nearby barbecue areas, arrange some sizzling weekend plans and invite friends through Facebook. You can even leave comments on the site about the pluses of places you’ve visited.