First, a salute to some heroes.  Did you see the video of the emergency landing of Delta flight 4951 on Saturday night?  Due to the skill of the pilot, there were no injuries and a narrowly avoided disaster.

For real disasters, however, the role of social media has become vital for spreading information. The recent wildfires in Boulder and the explosion in San Bruno, California have made Twitter and Facebook central sources for up to date information from loved ones and eyewitnesses.

Some very recent stories also spotlight the use of social media for the good of human kind, namely the nonprofit sector.  From building awareness around diseases like malaria to the catastrophe in Darfur, burgeoning technological advances have changed the landscape for many different causes.  Have you gotten involved with a cause on social networking sites?

Did you feel less stressed last week? According to a survey from Harrisburg University of Science and Technology, always being connected through social media can increase stress, weaken personal relationships, and even cause sleep loss.  If this is the case, Facebook’s outages last week could have been stress relievers, had it not been for the major chain reaction of venting on Twitter.

Media, media, media. According to a recent survey, people are now spending one-half of their waking days interacting with media — more than sleeping or working.  Some ask, should social networking should be banned at work? Of course, I believe social networking is a part of work, so I support appropriate use at the office.

Bike much?  Perhaps you do if you live in Washington DC, home of the largest public bike-sharing program in the country.  Bikeshare now has 1,100 bikes available for rent.  Some say the closer the bike path, the higher the property value.  Do you value such things when you are considering a new community?

If you are a wine enthusiast or just want to seem like one to your friends, check out Snooth’s app which allows users to scan wine labels to learn more about or purchase a particular wine of interest. Salut!