The arrival of the Japanese language Twitter service in 2008 tapped into a greater sense of individuality in Japan, especially among younger people less accepting of the understatement and conformity their culture is usually associated with, analysts say.

A mobile version of Twitter started last October, further fueling the Twitter boom in a nation where Internet-connecting cell phones have been the rule for years.

These days, seminars teaching the tricks of the tweet, as the micro-blog postings are known, are popping up. Ending Japanese sentences with “nah-woo” — an adaptation of “now” in English — is hip, showing off the speaker’s versatility in pseudo-English Twitter-speak.

A TV show features characters that tweet. A Tokyo bar has screens showing tweets along with World Cup games. And pop idols, a former prime minister and plain regular people are all tweeting like crazy.

The proportion of Japanese Internet users who tweet is 16.3 percent and now surpasses the ratio among Americans at 9.8 percent. Twitter and Japan’s top social networking site, mixi, have been running neck-and-neck with monthly visitors between 9 million and 10 million but in April Twitter squeaked past mixi, according to ratings agency Nielsen Online.

In contrast, only 3 percent of Japanese Internet users are on Facebook compared with 62 percent in the U.S., according to Nielsen. MySpace has also failed to take off in Japan, at under 3 percent of Net users versus 35 percent in the U.S., according to comScore Inc.

Twitter estimates Japanese write nearly 8 million tweets a day, or about 12 percent of the global total. Data from Tweet Sentiments, a web site that analyzes tweets, show Japanese are sometimes tweeting more frequently than Americans.

“Japan is enjoying the richest and most varied form of Twitter usage as a communication tool,” says Daisuke Tsuda, 36, a writer with more than 65,000 “followers” for his tweets. “It’s playing out as a rediscovery of the Internet.”

One reason is language. It’s possible to say so much more in Japanese within Twitter’s 140 letter limit. The word “information” requires just two letters in Japanese. That allows academics and politicians to relay complex views, according to Tsuda, who believes Twitter could easily attract 20 million people in Japan soon.

Another is that people are owning up to their identities on Twitter. Anonymity tended to be the rule on popular Japanese Web sites, and horror stories abounded about people getting targeted in smear-campaigns that were launched under the shroud of anonymity.

In contrast, Twitter anecdotes are heartwarming. One well-known case is a woman who posted on Twitter the photo of a park her father sent in an e-mail attachment before he died. Twitter was immediately abuzz with people comparing parks.

So far, people are flocking to Twitter in positive ways, reaching out in direct, public and interactive communication, debunking the stereotype of Japanese as shy and insular, says Noriyuki Ikeda, chief executive of Tribal Media House, which consults on social media marketing.

“Twitter is turning out to be like a cocktail party,” he told The Associated Press. “Japanese see how fun it is to network and casually connect with other people.”

Twitter is also proving a good business tool. Companies are exploring Twitter as a way to reach consumers and get feedback, a function that holds potential in Japan where broadband connections are widespread and cheap, and mobile phones outnumber the population.

Retailer Tokyu Hands uses Twitter to answer queries from customers, while clothing-chain Uniqlo has used Twitter in marketing by setting up a virtual queue where people tweet with each other and get freebies.

Motohiko Tokuriki, chief executive of consultant Agile Media Network, who has nearly 200,000 followers, believes Twitter is on its way to be chosen the hit new word of the year, a coveted honor that draws great publicity here.

“It’s telling that Twitter was translated as ‘mumbling’ in Japanese,” he said. “They love the idea of talking to themselves,” he said.

Twitter may even offer Japan’s web entrepreneurs global opportunities that had so far eluded them because it’s the first digital “global-standard” outside of search engines like Google or Yahoo! to catch on here, says Toru Saito, chief executive of Loops Communications, which specializes in social networking businesses.

That means software applications Japanese develop for Twitter could win acceptance from a global market. Japanese mobile software products have tended to be for Japanese up to now.

“I’m getting so many queries, including those from abroad,” Saito said.

Rocky Eda, corporate communications manager for Digital Garage, which supports Twitter’s Japan operations, is thrilled people are embracing Twitter.

“In finding fulfillment in expressing what’s on your mind for the moment, Twitter is like haiku,” he said. “It is so Japanese.”

A study released Friday by The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project says adults and teenagers are equally likely to text while driving.

And adults are more likely to chat on their phones while driving: 61 percent of U.S. adults do it, compared with 43 percent of teenagers.

Two years ago, Padrini developed the iBreviary, an application that brought the book of daily prayers used by priests onto iPhones. To date, some 200,000 people have downloaded the application, he said.

The iPad application is similar but also contains the complete missal — containing all that is said and sung during Mass throughout the liturgical year. Upgrades are expected to feature audio as well as commentaries and suggestions for homilies as well as musical accompaniment, he said.

“Paper books will never disappear,” he said in a phone interview from his home parish in Tortona, in Italy’s northern Piemonte region. But at the same time “we shouldn’t be scandalized that on altars there are these instruments in support of prayer.”

Padrini, 36, said he expected priests who have to travel a lot for work would find the application most useful, noting that he recently had to celebrate Mass in a small parish where the missal was “a small book, a bit dirty, old.”

“If I had had my iPad with me, it would’ve been better than this old, tiny book,” he said.

Pope Benedict XVI, a classical music lover who was reportedly given an iPod in 2006, has sought to reach out to young people through new media: the Vatican has a regularly updated presence on You Tube and Facebook. Based on the success of the iBreviary, Padrini was recruited by the Vatican to oversee its youth outreach program in the new media, http://www.pope2you.net.

He stressed that the iPad application, like the iBreviary, was launched at his own instigation and with his own money and is not an official Vatican initiative. Vatican officials have previously praised the iBreviary as a novel way of evangelizing.

The method has grown in popularity — especially since President Barack Obama’s widely chronicled and successful embrace of social media during the 2008 campaign. He even had a sophisticated iPhone app that let people get in touch with local organizers and find local events.

“The demand for it, to be able to do it, is going to grow a lot, particularly if it’s shown that apps are an effective way to raise money for a political campaign,” said Peter Scheer, executive director of the California-based First Amendment Coalition.

Doug MacGinnitie, a Republican running to be Georgia’s secretary of state, has an iPhone app that provides information about his campaign and helps supporters donate money. Friends approached him about making one for the campaign last year, and it’s been downloaded roughly 200 times, he said.

“I don’t think it’s going to change the course of history, but I’ve gotten comments from people who think it’s cool,” MacGinnitie said. “It reinforces the notion that I come from the business world, which is generally quicker to embrace technology.”

Minnesota House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, who’s running to be the Democratic nominee for governor, has an app that lets people follow her calendar, read news releases, familiarize themselves with her background and make campaign contributions.

“It shows that our campaign is a modern campaign,” said Kelliher spokesman Matt Swenson. “We’re connecting with people where they are right now through the phones in the palms of their hands.”

Illinois state Sen. Dan Rutherford, who’s the Republican candidate for state treasurer, said his campaign has been using so many other forms of social media — even announcing his candidacy via Twitter and Facebook — that an iPhone app was the next logical step.

“This is another medium for our supporters to track us, and we have people in house who can do it, so it was common sense to have one,” he said.

Apple says it doesn’t keep track of how many campaign apps — or any other kind of app — are among the roughly 225,000 in its app store.

If a candidate doesn’t have a friend or staffer who can do it, a basic iPhone app might cost between $5,000 and $10,000 to develop, said Gregg Weiss, the founder of iPhoneAppQuotes.com, which matches people wanting to create an app with U.S.-based developers.

Apple has had spats over rejected apps, including at least one candidate whose app was turned down. Some online chatter has focused on whether the power to reject gives Apple too much influence over politics, though Scheer dismissed that notion.

“There certainly would be a problem if there were no competitor to Apple offering an alternative platform to reach a similar audience,” Scheer said. But there are competitors — for instance, BlackBerry and phones that use Google’s Android software.

Google spokesman Anthony House said in an e-mail that the company doesn’t review Android apps but will take them down if they use illegal content, are obscene or violate other policies.

Jamie Ernst, of BlackBerry maker Research In Motion, said in an e-mail that apps must be submitted for approval before they appear in BlackBerry’s App World but that there are no specific guidelines for political apps.

Some also have worried that Apple’s rejections limit free speech. But Scheer said Apple is able to control what’s in the apps because it’s a private entity and not the government, and the company could reasonably argue it’s like a publisher.

“Their whole smorgasbord of apps is the equivalent of a magazine’s selection of the articles it wants to print and, therefore, it’s entitled to be as biased as it wants to be frankly,” he said.

Republican congressional candidate Ari David of California documented a tiff with Apple over his app on his campaign website. Apple initially rejected the app last month, saying it defamed the Democratic incumbent, longtime congressman Henry Waxman. David wound up losing the GOP primary.

Apple refuses to disclose the specifics of its vetting process. But the company did say a political app needs to come directly from the campaign, and its primary purpose cannot be to attack another candidate.

David argued that his app fell within Apple’s guidelines because it was critical of Waxman’s policy and actions as an elected official, not of the congressman himself. Apple subsequently reversed its decision.

“When this issue was brought to our attention, we reviewed it further and realized we made a mistake,” Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller told The Associated Press. “While we don’t approve apps that attack individuals, that is not what this app is primarily about.”

Previously, Apple had rejected an app from a political cartoonist under its no defamation policy. The company later changed that policy to exempt political cartoons.

At a technology conference organized by The Wall Street Journal earlier this month, Apple CEO Steve Jobs admitted that the company has made some mistakes when it comes to dealing with political content.

“We’re changing the rules when it makes sense, but we think it made sense to have a rule that said you can’t defame people,” he said.

At Apple’s annual conference for software developers June 7, Jobs said about 15,000 apps are submitted for approval each week in up to 30 languages, and 95 percent of them are approved within seven days.

He said apps are rejected for three main reasons: because it doesn’t do what the developer says it does; because it might not work with upgrades to the iPhone’s operating system; and because it crashes.

DLNHS hosts the junior league (13-14 yrs old) and senior league (14-16).

The authority granted for these student-players was timely as they are facing many problems for their participation in the said regional softball tournaments after topping the Little League Philippine Series held after the Palarong Pambansa in Daet, Camarines Norte last April 19-27, 2010.

“This is a breakthrough for Ba-Neg softball teams to move forward, despite being beset with financial problems worth nearly a million, just to give honor to the city and the province as well as the country in this international softball competition,” multi-awarded coach Antonio J. Oquindo said.

The 15-time Palarong Pambansa champion, DLNHS, and the reigning Palaro champion in elementary girls, Educational Training Center School, badly need $9,000 registration ($3,000 for each team) and airfares going to Indonesia and back home.

The teams had appealed for financial assistance from Bacolod City Mayor Evelio R. Leonardia and newly-elected Bacolod Lone District Congressman Dr. Anthony Golez, as well as governor-elect Alfredo G. Marañon, Jr.

The teams are set to leave on July 6 from Bacolod City and schedule to fly to Indonesia the next day. The tournament proper will start July 9 to 15 and the teams will go home July 16.

The senior and junior teams will be mentored by multi-awarded coach Antonio J. Oquindo, Jr., while the Major League by Tess Himpolaran.

The senior league is composed of catcher Clariz Palma, pitchers Michelle Lentija, Glesyl Opjer, Shareen May Garcia, Rhea Sevilla, Rachel Ann Secor, Cristine Sebuan, Herjea Faye Sinogbuhan, Charmaine Joy, Lovely Mae Monsanto, Ma. Dianne Treyes and Jonalie Almonia.

Meanwhile, the junior league is composed of Lorie Mae Lisbo, Edna Mae Severino, Vanessa Zaragoza, Nancy Benjamen, Gelyn Lamata, Judy Ann Cauntoy, Arlene Francis Areglado, Twiddle Gee Samson, Geialyn Dechosa, Queeny Sabobo and Babylyn Hermoso.

Thai ace Pornthip Santrong took charge of Lyceum’s offense in the final set to finish with a game-high 35 points as the Lady Pirates beat the Tigresses for the first time in 15 meetings since the league’s inaugural season in 2004.

Nica Guliman, who recorded six blocks, and Joy Cases helped the Lady Pirates recover their bearing in the last two frames to wind up with 17 points each.

The Lady Pirates’ breakthrough win—which pushed the back-to-back champion Tigresses on the brink of elimination—came three days after the death of Cayetano “Tanny” Gonzales, Lyceum’s team manager and athletic director.

“We were all surprised [with Gonzales’ death] and we’re all hurting,” coach Emil Lontoc said in Filipino. “But I reminded the players that it shouldn’t be a reason for us not to play well.”

San Sebastian College pounded out a straight-set victory, 25-21, 25-18, 25-18, against an Ateneo de Manila University squad playing minus team star Charo Soriano in the other semifinal match.

Thai import Jaroensri Bualee fired 20 points and Joy Benito delivered the match point to finish with 18 points for the Lady Stags.

“We know they’re psychologically down; they’re affected by the absence of Charo,” said San Sebastian coach Roger Gorayeb.

Soriano watched from the Ateneo sidelines in crutches after tearing her right anterior cruciate (knee) ligament in Thursday’s game.

Lyceum and San Sebastian will shoot for finals berths in Game 2 on Tuesday.

The Lady Pirates wore black wristbands as a tribute to Gonzales, a constant bench figure who died last Thursday due to a heart attack. He was 58.

But the Lady Pirates kept their emotions in check as Pornthip, Cases and Guliman spearheaded a Lyceum breakaway from a 6-6 deadlock in the deciding set.

Pornthip, who registered seven service aces, rattled four consecutive kills to wrap up the grueling two-hour match.

A pair of Pornthip kills also sandwiched a Syvie Artates hit to cap the fourth set, 25-23, and forge a decider.

Aiza Maizo, the reigning MVP, led the Tigresses with 26 points.

“I had Federer against the ropes,” Falla would say later.

Eventually, the unheralded Falla succumbed to some jitters, and six-time Wimbledon champion Federer called upon his experience, summoned his customary excellence, overcame the daunting deficit and pulled away to win 5-7, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (1), 6-0 in the event’s opening Centre Court match.

“You definitely feel, you know, uncomfortable, because if you’re used to being down the whole time, your whole life, it’s something that’s kind of normal. For me, it’s not normal to be down two-sets-to-love, especially at Wimbledon and early on in Grand Slams. It’s something I’m not quite used to,” said the top-seeded Federer, who hampered himself with seven double-faults. “But still, I was able to find a way. That’s most important right now. Doesn’t matter how I felt out there. Didn’t feel great, that’s for sure.”

Had Falla finished off Federer, it would have been one of the most stunning upsets in the history of tennis — perhaps THE most stunning, taking into account the participants, the setting and the round.

Not sure? Consider the players’ resumes entering the day:

_Federer was 92-13 for his career on grass, including 76-2 since 2003; Falla was 7-11.

_Federer was 51-5 for his career at Wimbledon, with those six championships and a record seven consecutive final appearances; Falla was 3-5 and never got past the second round at the All England Club.

_Federer was 199-28 with a record 16 titles in Grand Slam action and reached the final at 18 of the past 20 major tournaments; Falla was 11-14, only once making it as far as the third round at a Slam.

All of that is why this match was the talk of Day 1 at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament, with players gathering around televisions in the locker rooms to catch a glimpse.

“I don’t think anyone expected it,” said No. 5 Andy Roddick, a three-time Wimbledon runner-up who beat Rajeev Ram of Carmel, Ind., 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 later Monday. “Everyone was pretty surprised, especially when it became very, very real there in the latter stages.”

Indeed, Falla’s near-defeat of Federer generated much more buzz than any of the upsets that actually occurred.

The seeded men who exited were No. 11 Marin Cilic, No. 17 Ivan Ljubicic, No. 20 Stanislas Wawrinka and No. 30 Tommy Robredo. No. 3 Novak Djokovic, the 2008 Australian Open champion, appeared on his way to joining them, but he came back to beat Olivier Rochus of Belgium 4-6, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 in a match that finished at about 11 p.m., with the Centre Court roof closed and the lights on.

There was one surprise of significance in the women’s draw: No. 5-seeded Francesca Schiavone lost 6-7 (0), 7-5, 6-1 to 47th-ranked Vera Dushevina of Russia, making Schiavone only the second reigning French Open women’s champion to lose in the first round at Wimbledon in the 42-year Open era.

“I didn’t have a lot of energy today,” said Schiavone, who became Italy’s first female Grand Slam champion two weeks and two days ago. “It was very close, but she took advantage of her chances, and I didn’t.”

The only other time a French Open champ bowed out in her opening Wimbledon match was in 2005, when it happened to Justine Henin. The Belgian began a 20-month hiatus from tennis in 2008, and returned to Wimbledon for the first time in three years Monday, advancing with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia.

Also returning: Kim Clijsters, who hadn’t played at the All England Club since 2006. The two-time US Open champion, away from the tour entirely for 2 1/2 years while getting married and having a daughter, had no problems in beating Maria Elena Camerin of Italy 6-0, 6-3.
Not surprisingly, Henin and Clijsters — neither of whom has won Wimbledon — were thrilled to be back.

“We breathe tennis, we live tennis, over here. You feel the tradition of the game,” Henin said, then added: “Playing in white is a good feeling.”

Venus Williams adhered to Wimbledon’s strict dress code Monday, switching from the black lace outfit that drew so much attention at the French Open to more traditional attire.

“Here it’s all about white,” Williams said after eliminating Rossana de los Rios of Paraguay 6-3, 6-2. “There is no illusion this time. My dress was inspired by Tina Turner. … It’s just a fun, elegant dress.”

Her bid for a sixth Wimbledon championship got off to a much more straightforward start than Federer’s quest for a record-tying seventh.

Only twice in the Open era has the defending Wimbledon champion lost in the first round, but Federer appeared to be heading in that direction against the left-handed Falla. Here’s one additional reason why the tightness of their match caught everyone off-guard: These guys met four times previously, and Federer won each time, taking all 11 sets.

Thanks to the luck — or, from Falla’s perspective, the bad luck — of the draw, they were playing each other for the third time in the past four weeks.

“Everybody wants to play Federer,” Falla said, then broke into a wide grin before delivering the laugh line: “But three times in one month is a lot.”

In this case, familiarity did not breed contempt, but rather confidence. Falla felt he had a pretty good idea of what to expect, even sketching out something of a game plan for success against Federer, saying it was vital to go for it on returns, particularly on second serves, and to be aggressive by moving to the net whenever possible. Falla did all of that quite well for long stretches, backing up his strong serving and booming groundstrokes off both wings.

Also, Falla realized he was having a hard time dealing with Federer’s sliced backhands in their recent encounters. To better prepare for that, Falla practiced with Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine, who won a grass-court tuneup event in the Netherlands last week and often slices the ball.

Asked if all of the recent time on court together might have helped Falla on Monday, Federer grinned and joked, “It shouldn’t have. … He should have known that I was going to beat him. But he forgot.”

There were two pivotal moments Monday.

Serving at 4-4, love-40 in the third set, Federer faced three consecutive break points — had Falla won any of those, he would have served for the match in the next game. Instead, Federer won all three, erased a fourth break point later en route to holding serve, then broke in the next game for the first time all match to take the set.

And then, at 5-4 in the fourth, Falla served for the match.

“A big chance,” said Falla, whose left leg was massaged by a trainer during third-set changeovers.

So close to a breakthrough result, the 26-year-old Falla admitted he doubted himself a bit, and he could get no closer than three points from victory — at 15-30 and 30-40. On the last, Federer ripped a big forehand that forced an error by Falla to make it 5-all. Federer roared, as did the crowd, and that pretty much was that.

When Federer delivered a groundstroke winner to end the tiebreaker, then broke Falla’s serve to open the fifth set, order was restored.

Officials from African Football Confederation president Issa Hayatou down and former stars like Abedi Pele and George Weah expected at least one of the sextet to make the semi-finals.

That seems a distant dream as even powerful contenders Ghana and Ivory Coast face elimination while 1990 quarter-finalists Cameroon suffered the humiliation of being the first country eliminated from the month-long tournament.

Here is the state of play with one group match left for each African team in a competition where the best performances have been last-eight places for Cameroon and Senegal 12 years later.

Algeria

Only victory over the United States on Wednesday will offer a chance of second round action for the Anther Yahia-skippered ‘Desert Foxes’, who held England goalless after losing 1-0 to lesser force Slovenia.

The sight of the Three Lions shirt was always going to be a massive motivator and they were rarely troubled by far higher-profile opponents, but the failure to get anything from Slovenia could return to haunt them.

Cameroon

Clashes over team selection and tactics between French coach Paul le Guen and senior players spelt trouble and so it proved with losses to Japan and Denmark rendering the last game against The Netherlands on Thursday meaningless.

Le Guen started well with Indomitable Lions, salvaging a sinking qualifying campaign, but a tame quarter-finals exit from 2010 African Cup of Nations proved a taste of things to come.

Ghana

A draw against three-time champions Germany on Wednesday and the Black Stars go through, but that is easier said than done against proud rivals fighting for survival.

Have not set Highveld on fire despite leading standings with both goals coming from Asamoah Gyan-converted penalties against Serbian and Australian teams that had a player sent off.

Ivory Coast

Must defeat North Korea on Friday to have chance of surviving ‘Group of Death’ after holding Portugal in a dour Port Elizabeth duel before falling 3-1 to Brazil with inspirational captain Didier Drogba back in starting line-up.

They often matched Brazil, whose striker Luis Fabiano handled the ball twice while scoring second goal, but at other times were made to look ordinary as the South Americans carved openings with slick passing.

Nigeria

Although bottom of the table and pointless after losses to Argentina and Greece, Super Eagles can squeeze through on Tuesday by defeating the Asians if Greece suffer an anticipated loss to the group leaders.

Like Algeria, the Nigerians seem to perform better when facing stronger rivals with a good showing against Argentina followed by Sani Kaita losing his head and getting sent off when leading the Greeks.

South Africa

Goal-shy team must win handsomely on Tuesday against fellow strugglers France to have any hope and even a 10-goal victory will count for nought if leaders Uruguay and Mexico draw.

After a good second-half showing against Mexico, were brutally exposed by Uruguay in a 3-0 Pretoria drubbing with two-goal Diego Forlan granted the freedom of the park and South Africa took 70 minutes to get a shot on target.

Santos, who will succeed popular two-term President Alvaro Uribe, defeated Green Party rival Antanas Mockus, a former Bogota mayor who drew 27.4 percent of the vote, the board added.

Albert Ho, a prominent lawmaker, had to be escorted by police from Victoria Park, where he had attended a forum on an electoral reform package that will be debated in Hong Kong’s Legislative Assembly on Wednesday.

Ho, who was unharmed, left in his car under a police escort. One officer was pushed to the ground during the chaotic scene, while a 19-year-old man was arrested for disorderly behavior and later released, police said.

“It was no big deal—just angry youths who expressed a lot of dissatisfaction and anger over my political position,” the veteran lawmaker told AFP after the incident.

“But this is a way for us to break the deadlock (on political reform) and move forward,” he added.

Ho had angered the youths by supporting a plan to raise the number of directly elected representatives in the legislative assembly, where half the number of seats are currently filled by Beijing-approved candidates.

The city’s government will unveil a reform plan on Monday, and it was reported Sunday that a compromise, approved by both Beijing and most of the assembly’s pro-democrats, had made likely its approval on Wednesday.

At present, only half of Hong Kong’s 60 legislative seats are directly elected by voters. The rest are picked by so-called “functional constituencies” which consist mostly of pro-Beijing professional elites.

The new plan, proposed by Ho’s Democratic Party, which has nine seats in the assembly, will allow a further five lawmakers to be directly elected to the functional constituency seats, according to the Sunday Morning Post.

Critics lambasted Tsang’s original plan because it stopped short of one-person, one-vote and proposed only an increase in the size of the assembly and the Beijing-appointed committee that chooses the city’s chief executive.

Democracy figurehead Martin Lee said the revised plan is a “huge improvement” on the government’s original blueprint, but warned that it did nothing to clarify how Hong Kong would achieve universal suffrage.

“This is a huge improvement on the government’s plan—there’s no doubt about that,” he told AFP. “But we must be careful and look to the future.”

Beijing has said that, at the earliest, universal suffrage can be ushered in for the election of Hong Kong’s chief executive in 2017 and the legislative assembly in 2020.

That timetable has been criticized by the pro-democracy camp in Hong Kong, which was returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1997 amid assurances from Beijing of broad autonomy for the territory.