Student 'Twitters' his way out of Egyptian jail

[poppysgal]

Student James Karl Buck sent one-word text from detention about his arrest
Twitter message allowed college to get word, hire a lawyer for him
Now Buck's quest is to find translator Mohammed Maree, who was arrested with him
Twitter is a micro-blogging tool that allows users to update their status
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(CNN) -- James Karl Buck helped free himself from an Egyptian jail with a one-word blog post from his cell phone.
James Karl Buck sent a message using Twitter which helped get him out of an Egyptian jail.
Buck, a graduate student from the University of California-Berkeley, was in Mahalla, Egypt, covering an anti-government protest when he and his translator, Mohammed Maree, were arrested April 10.
On his way to the police station, Buck took out his cell phone and sent a message to his friends and contacts using the micro-blogging site Twitter.
The message only had one word. "Arrested."
Within seconds, colleagues in the United States and his blogger-friends in Egypt -- the same ones who had taught him the tool only a week earlier -- were alerted that he was being held.
Twitter is a social-networking blog site that allows users to send status updates, or "tweets," from cell phones, instant messaging services and Facebook in less than 140 characters.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/04/25/twitter.buck/index.html





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