Twitter has millions tweeting in public communication service

SAN FRANCISCO — It's tea time at Twitter. While that may evoke images of courtly discussion over Earl Grey and finger sandwiches, it's quite another thing at Silicon Valley's new "it" company.

The idea is that any employee can step in front of the 43-person start-up and offer a no-holds-barred weekly critique on a Friday afternoon. Co-founders Evan Williams, Jack Dorsey and Biz Stone often watch from the back, taking mental notes. Some employees recite poems; others make wacky slide presentations. The point is to express what the company means to them.

In another tradition, Alison Sudol, a musician with more than 500,000 followers on Twitter, this month spoke at headquarters, part of a monthly ritual in which artists and academics drop by to impart wisdom and entertain.

Both events underscore the bottom-up culture fostered by Twitter's unassuming co-founders, who have become reluctant media stars. "Tech founders get a little too much emphasis," CEO Evan Williams says. "So many people here contribute to our success."

When pregnant mom eats fish, kids do better

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Children of mothers who ate more fish and other seafood while pregnant are smarter and have better developmental skills than kids of women who ate less or none, researchers said on Thursday in findings they called surprising.

The study, sure to be controversial, sought to assess whether it is wise, as some experts and the U.S. government have recommended, for pregnant women to limit their seafood intake to avoid mercury, a toxin that can harm the nervous system of developing foetuses.

Dr. Joseph Hibbeln, a U.S. National Institutes of Health researcher who led the study in The Lancet medical journal, said seafood is a key source of omega-3 fatty acids, important for fetal brain development.

The Realities of Being an Entrepreneur

It's not all rosy, but it's certainly rewarding.
By Tamara Monosoff   |   November 30, 2007

I'm often surprised when I talk to people interested in starting their own businesses. When asking about my experience as an entrepreneur, they'll say, "You're so lucky," or "It must be great to be out of the rat race." Statements like this make me smile because they couldn't be less true. Luck has nothing to do with it. As for the rat race, while different, it's faster than ever.

That's why I wanted to share the realities of being an entrepreneur. First, a disclaimer: At the end of every day, I wouldn't trade my current situation for any other option, and I'm grateful to be able to do what I truly love. However, being an entrepreneur isn't the easy, carefree career path that many believe it to be; it's actually quite the opposite. When everything is invested in your own business--time, money, passion and creativity--it can border on obsession. And when you work from home or your spouse or family members work with you, you rarely, if ever, leave the office--at least from a mental standpoint.

Let me start with a few hard truths of being an entrepreneur: