19 Apr 08 Twitter + ChaCha = the new Magic 8-Ball

It seems that Twitter has coupled with mobile answer service ChaCha to bring your…TwitterChas! OK, maybe not.

But, Twitter users can now follow ChaCha and, when they send a question @ChaCha, a few minutes later you get an answer back. Interesting, to say the least. I tested it out with these gems.

ME: Who is the governor of Florida?

ChaCha (about 20 seconds later): Florida’s 44th Governor is Republican Charlie Crist.

ME: What is the capital of Wisconsin?

ChaCha (it took a while longer, no one cares about Wisconsin): The capital of Wisconsin is Madison pop. 208054 (2000 US census). — And it pointed me here, which gives additional info and their source site.

Then I tried to get a little tricky on the Mr. ChaCha and his Latin-dancing ways with this question.

ME: Who won the best actor oscar in 1988?

ChaCha (processing…processing…processing…): Dustin Hoffman won the Best Actor Oscar for Rain Man (1988). — It returned this about a minute later.

So, what use would this have to the intrepid mobile journalist? Well, if you set your cellphone up to send and receive Twitter updates, you could easily check simple facts or get an answer to simple questions while out in the field, even if you are sans laptop and/or Wi-Fi connection. Seems pretty useful as long as you can sift through ChaCha’s possibly ambiguous answers.

Or, you could just use it to cheat at Trivial Pursuit, it’s your choice. I think it’s pretty cool though, so check it out.

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Tags: journalism, technology