My nephew Sebastian remind us what utter delight looks like:

Google Street View provides an on-the-street perspective of destinations around the globe. Captured by specially outfitted Google cars that take 360 degree pictures, the new form of up close and personal mapping allows people to locate addresses via landmarks. It also occasionally captures some folks with their pants down (literally, in one case).

Here are my favorite “Oops! I was snagged by Google Street View” photos (thanks mostly to Gizmodo and their super-observant readers):

Miniature Samurai Discovered in Pittsburgh

Dude Caught Peeing Behind Car in Spain

Creepy Close-Up in Los Angeles

An “Oldie” But Goodie: Drunk Guy Found Passed Out on Curb

I remember when I first started on Twitter – both as @amurphy and as @quizzle. I didn’t know what the hell to do, how to follow others and what to tweet about (or what a “tweet” was, for that matter).

If you’re new to Twitter or thinking of jumping the bandwagon of the (2^nd) Best Overall Startup of 2008, don’t feel badly if you’re not sure what to do. I’m here to help – and so are the friendly folks on Twitter. If it wasn’t for @keithelder and @drigotti when I first got started, I would’ve given up.

How to Get Started on Twitter

1. Sign on, create a profile and upload a picture.

First things first. Create an account. And it’s not just enough to pick a username. Make sure to add your location and your 160 character bio to your account. Remember, you’re joining a community. Just as you’d introduce yourself to someone you meet for the first time, your bio serves as your introduction to the Twitterverse.

Need a little inspiration to write your bio? Check out the bios of Twitter Elite, the “top users” of Twitter.And don’t forget to upload a picture! Personally, I have something against following anyone who doesn’t have a picture. Maybe it’s the perceived lack of commitment… or maybe it’s that creepy default picture staring back at me that turns me off.

2. Go ahead and tweet something!

Now that you’re all set up, try tweeting something. And in case you’re not in on the lingo yet, a “tweet” is one of the 140 character messages you send out to your network.

What to tweet about? Tweet an observation. A link to an interesting or useful news item. A link to a hilarious video on YouTube. Something that amazed you. Something that confused you. Something that made you angry. Ask questions. Answer questions. Promote your blog or company (not too much though). Promote other blogs or companies. Try it. In time, it will be like second nature.

A note to companies joining Twitter: Do not be 100 percent self-promotional! If all you ever tweet about is your latest product, promotion or award, few people will follow you and those who do, will likely unfollow you rather quickly. Remember, this is a community. People aren’t here to be spammed, they’re here to interact and converse with others. To listen and contribute. It’s okay to promote yourself here and there, but also try to contribute in other ways that may not directly benefit you and your business.

3. Find some people you find interesting and follow them.

You can tweet all day long, but if no one’s following you (and your tweets), then what’s the point? The best way to find people to follow you is to follow others. Often times, and true to Twitter etiquette, the people you follow will follow you back.

First, try the “Find People” tab on Twitter and search by name, search by networks, invite friends or try suggested friends. To follow someone, just click the “follow” button by their name. There are also some external tools to help you find more people on Twitter.

When I first joined Twitter, I constantly searched for new, interesting people to follow. And when I discovered that someone wasn’t as entertaining as I originally thought, I simply unfollowed them. It’s up to you how many people you want to follow. The more you follow, the more may follow you. But by the same token, the more you follow, the more tweets you’ll get in your Twitter feed.

I follow about 600 people currently and find it to be just right. And to me, it’s exciting to see what’s going on in the worlds of so many different people — from entrepreneurs and social media nuts, to journalists and tech geeks.

4. Learn the lingo and do more on Twitter.

Besides tweeting, you can also…

• Reply. Spark a conversation! If someone said something interesting, talk to them about it! To do this, just put an @ symbol in front of their username before writing your comment, for example, @amurphy Thanks for the great post! Your tweet will then appear in their Reply section.
• Retweet. If someone says something particularly interesting and you want to make sure the people in your network see it, retweet it! To do this, just type RT @username and paste their tweet into your message. For instance, RT @amurphy Just posted a useful blog post for newbie Twitterers: http://xyz.com.
• Direct message. If you want your message to someone to be private, direct message them! To do this, click on the “Direct Messages” tab on the right, select a user from the dropdown and type your tweet. Keep in mind that there have been a couple of Twitter snafus in the past where DMs were made public, so if your message is super top secret, a private email or phone call might be a better pick.
• Favorite. If you come across a tweet with a message or link you want to save or you think is totally awesome, favorite it! Just click the star to the right of the tweet and it will be saved in your Favorites for later.

5. Become a Twitter Pro.

Once you’ve nailed the basics, try some other Twitter tools. There are a ton of them out there that other people created to enhance the experience. I’ve bookmarked a bunch of my favorite Twitter tools here, but you can also find some more info on the Twitter Wiki. One tool I highly recommend is Twhirl. It’s free software you download that allows you to use Twitter right on your desktop and is much more user-friendly than the web version.

Lastly, be sure to follow me @amurphy and say hi!

Update: Just came across this free download on How to Use Twitter for Business. It basically covers all the same things I cover above, but it does have a few more “how to” tips for those who may not be full-blown tech nerds yet – like how to set up your profile, where to click, how to upload a picture, etc.

Also, with only 140 characters allowed, a URL can easily suck up your precious tweet space. Don’t fret, TinyURL is here to help. Just paste your URL into the field on the site, press the button and voila! Your massive URL is shrunken down to a tiny one.

Congratulations President Obama!

Join in on the fun of this historic day. Get Obamasized by creating your image in the likeness of Shepard Fairey’s famous Obama print at Obamicon.Me:

Pictured: Starting with me in the middle and to my right, Jarrett, Jen, Chris, Doug, Ed, Bryan, Clayton and Corey.

Today marks the one-year anniversary of my friend’s passing. His name was Jarrett “Spiderman” Knyal. He was good and strong and funny and wonderful. One of the most amazing people you could ever hope to meet.

Didn’t know Jarrett? Clayton, a friend of mine and JK’s, wrote this touching DIFF post about the Spiderman shortly after his death. It’s a beautiful eulogy that, in my opinion, really gets to who Jarrett was as a person. Read it. (Or watch this video.)

As I think of Jarrett today, a few memories come to mind…

Jarrett was an avid gardener and would often bring his home-grown veggies into the office for all to share. I sat just over the cubical wall from him and on one occasion I recall being deep in focus, working hard on my computer, when something out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. There it was, an enormously long cucumber – maybe the biggest I’ve ever seen – dangling over the cube wall by the one and only Jarrett Knyal. It was so random and so hilariously timed that I couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

Or that time we went out with a bunch of friends to Dominick’s, our favorite summertime beer garden in Ann Arbor. Since Dominick’s is located amongst a bunch of houses, it closes at 10pm, so when the discussion came up about where we were headed next, Jarrett said he’d pick the spot. And where did my friend (who was in a wheelchair mind you) choose? The only frickin’ bar in the entire city that required we scale a flight of stairs to get in!

But what was a mere staircase to Jarrett (and a couple of gigantic bouncers who were happy to assist)?

Or that time when I was the new kid on the block at Quicken Loans. I had only been there a few weeks, I think, when our CMO asked us to split up into several marketing brainstorming groups that would meet regularly over the next few months. Right away, I felt like the nerdy kid in 7th grade gym class when teams were being picked for dodge ball. I was new, I didn’t really know anyone and I didn’t think I was prepared to be picked last.

Jarrett, as one of the veterans, was selected to lead a group. And who do you think he picked first? Me. A small gesture, but one that I appreciated greatly. That’s just the kind of guy he was. Always thinking of others. Always empathetic.

Jarrett was also stronger than anyone I knew, or know. A roof accident in the 80s left him a paraplegic with a prosthetic arm. Did that stop him? Hell no. Later he would get colon cancer. And beat it. He called himself the “cockroach” because he was the ultimate survivor. His love of life was like a bright light – you couldn’t miss it. And it was contagious.

But tragically, his cancer would return and ultimately claim his life at the age of 44. A year ago today. He left a wonderful wife, Bridget, and two small children, Wade and Violet.

Jarrett’s the kind of guy that you don’t easily forget. He’s the kind of person I aspire to be.

I just wanted to say that I miss you buddy. I think of you often and will never forget you.