Jankowski Double-Dips Collie for Title Lucasi Hybrid All-American Tour / Port Charlotte, FL by InsidePOOL Staff Trey Jankowski took down the February 13 stop of the Lucasi Hybrid All-American Tour, double-dipping Shawn Collie in the final set. Hosted by Q’s Sports Bar & Girl in Port Charlotte, FL, this $500-added “Pre-Valentine’s Day Massacre” showcased 14 players from both [...]

Sylver Takes Gold at 2010 Lone Star Premier Lone Star Billiards Tour / Houston, TX by InsidePOOL Staff The Lone Star Billiards Tour kicked off its first event of the year February 13-14 at Bogies Billiards and Games in Houston, TX. Even though it was Valentine’s Day weekend, 54 players turned out for the open event, which was [...]

Parica Takes Down 14th Annual Jay Swanson Memorial Jay Swanson Memorial / Hollywood, CA by Lea Andrews Jose “Amang” Parica showed the crowd at Hollywood Billiards in Hollywood, CA, that he was the man to beat as he shot his way into the hot seat of the 14th Annual Jay Swanson Memorial 9-Ball Tournament, and when he met [...]

Lapadula and McCloud Split Tri-State Billiards Purse Tri-State Tour / East Rutherford, NJ by InsidePOOL Staff Castle Billiards in East Rutherford, NJ, hosted the February 13 stop of the Tri-State Tour, which brought in a field of 54 people. The $500-added, B-D event saw Ted Lapadula and Tom McCloud split the prize purse. McCloud was the one who went [...]

Patricia Newlin, 63, and Mike Mannix, 65, made a love connection on eharmony.com. After Mannix sent his first e-mail to Newlin, they talked incessantly before meeting. Newlin recently moved from Texas to Carmichael to be with Mannix, and they plan to marry this year.

She'd had it with the whole online dating scene. So had he. What was online dating, he liked to say, but a high-tech version of the proverbial meat market? But hope springs eternal, and last fall, he thought he'd give it another go.

And so on Nov. 4, courtesy of eharmony.com, a grandfather from Carmichael sent his first e-mail to a grandmother from Texas. Then they talked, day after day, for hours on end. They met, first in Phoenix, then in Northern California.

And the rest is a sweet chapter in the love story taking place between people past 50 and online dating sites.

"It's been amazing," said Mike Mannix, 65, a Carmichael businessman.

"It's been magical," said Patricia Newlin, 63, a marketing veteran who recently moved from Texas to Carmichael.

Happy Valentine's Day to the romance-minded seniors who make hearts at online matchmaking sites go pitterpat with joy over soaring user statistics. At match.com, for example, the number of registrants 50 and older increased by 69 percent from 2005 to 2009, said match.com's Jaklin Kaden.

"I have a 71-year-old client who met a woman on the Internet," said David Wygant, a Southern California-based dating coach and blogger. "It's so different today. You can literally shop from the comfort of your own home – you can shop, click and date."

Spark Networks, the country's top online personals aggregator and home of 30 niche dating sites, has seen growing interest among seniors, with the 50-plus demographic now representing 19 percent of christianmingle.com users, 12 percent of blacksingles.com members and 18 percent of jdate.com users.

"The online community is growing up," said Spark Networks' Arielle Wolin. "It's only natural. It goes along with dating in real life. People re-enter the dating world after a hiatus, and online dating is such a part of that culture now."

Remember when there was a stigma attached to personal ads, divorce, widowhood and, in general, life after age 50? Really, how 20th century. The world has moved beyond, into the realm of energetic and technologically hip aging. Smart seniors embrace the new.

Joe Comisky is trying. The 61-year-old south Sacramento resident has what sounds like a love-hate relationship with online dating sites. On the one hand, look at all the online possibilities, these pages and pages of appropriately aged women waiting for the right guy to click.

On the other, he said: "Dating now is like filling out a job application. It's not what I enjoy. I remember seeing that girl across the room who just made your heart skip a beat, but you were scared to death to talk to her. I miss that.

"That seems like a more natural way of meeting somebody. But we're in such a busy world."

Excuses, excuses. Who said you can't meet someone the old-fashioned way, through shameless flirting with a total stranger? A word from the dating expert: Get over the fear of rejection, and go for it.

"I constantly see people 50 and 60 out on first dates," said Wygant. "You can tell from their body language. You go to the market, and you see older guys flirting with women. When you see someone you're attracted to, smile and say hello."

Wygant suggests a similarly proactive approach to online dating.

"Write a profile that's positive, not about being lonely and being a loser," he said. "Online dating is so common. Have an open attitude. Realize there are a lot of great people to meet who are just like you."

At 50 and older, everyone has emotional baggage. So here's another rule: Don't pretend otherwise. (And don't complain about your ex.)

"The thing about online dating is that it gives you the opportunity to bare your soul on the phone," said Newlin. "By the time Mike and I met, we knew more about each other than people who'd been dating for months."

He makes her laugh. She makes him happy.

"This is it," said Mannix. "I'm done. She's the one. I'd bet my life on it."

Even though Newlin admits her grown daughters think the romance has moved a little too quickly, the two plan to be married later this year.

"We're kind of crazy, but we're crazy about each other," she said.

Awwww.

Elena Hight

Celebrities do it, candidates do it, you do it (or at least have heard of it). And athletes do it, with Vancouver 2010 set to become the first "Twitter Olympics," an experiment in crossing the world's greatest sporting event with a blizzard of information swept up by social media platforms.

Anybody with Internet access can enhance the Olympics watching – or better, following – experience. Tonight NBC (7:30 p.m. on Channel 3) unfurls the traditional opening ceremonies coverage for the XXI Olympic Winter Games, and accompanying those images and commentary are athletes and fans posting photos and tweeting.

Athletic excellence on snow and ice and more will be captured by many for all. Sure, you can watch Apolo Ohno speedskate in his third Olympics. But who doesn't want to see the view from the "Dancing With the Stars" champion's suite?

"There's so much more than what people see on NBC or on the morning show," said freestyle skier Shannon Bahrke, who grew up in Tahoe City. "I blog about getting up in the morning, having cereal … it's my everyday life, but it helps other people understand what it takes to be an Olympic athlete."

The tweets have already started to flow from the Olympic Village.

"Checked in and chilling at the Vancouver house, personal cheff [sic] is a nice touch," tweeted snowboarder Nate Holland late Wednesday night. Holland (twitter ID: N8Holland), of Squaw Valley, has more than 500 followers.

And the Facebook posts:

"US team family time in the living room … twittering, facebooking, pool, spinning," snowboarder Elena Hight, 20, of South Lake Tahoe, wrote on her Facebook fan page last week.

Hight, who will compete in the halfpipe competition, said she'll tweet multiple times daily from her iPhone, and upload photos. Her 600-plus Facebook fans flood her page with support.

"I've gotten so many congratulations and good lucks, and it's been awesome to have that connection with fans," she said.

This year, public appetite, technology and looser rules came together to create "perfect storm" conditions for a Twitter Olympics, said Robert Scales, who runs the Web site Vancouveraccess2010.com.

In Turin 2006, blogging was frowned upon and athletes were subject to media blackout periods, he said. In Beijing 2008, blogging was allowed but the government's "great firewall of China" put a damper on social media users, Scales said.

Joining the Twitter party are spectators documenting their stories. Sacramento's Karl Alexander and Jeremiah Mayhew are competing to be the best social-media "Olympians" through Samsung's Mobile Explorer competition, found on Facebook.

The duo have been taking requests, for example promising a local Russian family they would find the Russian ice skating team. They are also interested in the Vancouver night life and music scene.

"We're going to uncover the cultural side of the Olympics from the ground level," said Mayhew, 26.

The more traditional journalists use Twitter to add to reporting. Channel 3's Deidre Fitzpatrick and Brian Hickey, for example, will report live and contribute to the "Olympic Zone" show each night before the events start. In addition, they are blogging and tweeting (IDs: fitztweeter, 3bhickey).

NBC, which paid $820 million for Vancouver 2010's TV rights, has stamped its brand on cable, Web and mobile delivery. NBC actively polices blogger videos, said U.S. Olympic Committee spokesman Bob Condron.

Rights and rules of the Twitter Olympics have caused confusion among athletes. American skier Lindsey Vonn posted, then retracted, on her Facebook that she would be under an Internet "blackout."

Bahrke said athletes were told they can publish first-person accounts, but cannot take photos of the sporting action or ceremonies, post videos, or refer to any non-official Olympics sponsors.

"There are a bunch of rules we have to follow, but it's kind of gray and I don't think they've got everything quite figured out," she said.

Olympic athletes also have their own sites. Ohno (apoloantonohno.com) suggests keeping up with him on Youtube or Flickr. Or click on the "FollowApolo" link.

Social media updates will probably reach a small, younger percentage of the population. Nearly half of adults use some kind of social network, but only 19 percent use Twitter or another status updating service, the PEW Internet and American Life Project reported late last year. However, 37 percent of 18-to-24- year-olds used a Twitter-like service.

Who cares enough about such minutiae is also unclear. A good half of the local athletes' Twitter followers are businesses using it for marketing. The rest seem to be diehard fans and other competitors.

Chris Martinez of Sacramento has a 15-year-old daughter who figure skates competitively. Martinez follows several figure skating Olympians and organizations on Twitter.

He logged onto his account Thursday (ID: Airman747), and discovered Alissa Czisny, the 2009 U.S. ladies figure skating champion, had parted ways with her coach.

"I care because my daughter skates, so I know how difficult of a sport it is, and I appreciate how minor, minor changes on hand positions can make a jump go from a success to a failure," he said.

Also Thursday he found an interactive map of the Olympic village. Just so you know, he tweeted it was "Very cool."

Twitter users rave over the real-time information network of which they're a part, 140 characters at a time. But there's one thing their "what's happening now" news doesn't deliver – face-to-face contact.

Enter the tweetup: an in-person gathering of two or more people who know each other through Twitter.

How retro.

SacTweetUp, which holds events once a month, is celebrating its one-year anniversary Tuesday at Mikuni restaurant.

About 150 people wearing tags that include their real names as well as Twitter IDs are expected to hobnob and drink cocktails while a projector displays live tweets being written at the event.

"The truth of the matter is real relationships happen when you shake people's hands," said Alejandro Reyes, 29, a social marketing consultant who co-founded the group.

Created in 2006, Twitter is a phenomenon lauded in some circles for its marketing abilities and denounced in others as pointless blather.

Reyes started tweeting in 2007 and has found it invaluable in connecting with clients, industry experts and friends. He now follows about 7,500 people and has about 15,000 followers.

"Twitter's kind of like the biggest social cocktail party on the planet," Reyes said. "But you don't get caught with someone talking your ear off about something that is irrelevant to your life."

Reyes said he likes the simplicity – there aren't photos, boxes and notes to sort through like on Facebook, and everything has to be done in those short increments.

SacTweetUp – which is marketed as two parts social and one part business – began last February with events about once a month attended by an average of 130 people, Reyes said. Many of them are ages 25 to 44 and savvy early adopters of technology.

That is why Suzanne Hopkins, 43, of Sacramento finds the group invaluable.

Hopkins, a marketing communications consultant, moved from San Jose five years ago. She has created a community of business associates and friends in Sacramento because of social networking and tweetup events, which naturally attract people with similar interests.

"You can take those online relationships you've established with people and take it offline," Hopkins said.

Of the 1,000 people Hopkins is connected to through Twitter, she would call about 75 of them in-person friends, she said.

For Steven Bloom, the events are about 80 percent business and 20 percent social. The 53-year-old founder of SacramentoComedy.com, a portal to the local comedy scene, says he's made many connections through the people he's met.

"Twitter just starts the conversation," Bloom said. "Real business partnerships or collaborations don't get done without face to face."

THE ANNOUNCEMENT

Here's how word got out on Twitter about the event:

Thanks for all your Tweets about the #SacTweetup Almost 75 ppl registered in under a day!! http://bit.ly/91juzW You Coming?

Web page: http://twitter.com/sactweetup

IF YOU GO

What: The SacTweetUp one-year anniversary

Where: Upstairs mezzanine of Mikuni, 1530 J St.

When: 6-8 p.m. Tuesday

Highlights: $5 drink specials and complimentary appetizers. A Mardi Gras masquerade party will follow.

More information: http://sactweetupanniversary.eventbrite.com

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed an executive order establishing a new position of chief information officer for all state agencies and departments.

Schwarzenegger issued his order Tuesday, the same day The Bee reported that the state's Employment Development Department is spending tens of millions of dollars on information technology projects while falling behind on assisting the unemployed.

The order also gives the state's chief information officer authority over all IT infrastructure and shared services, including:

• Data and telecommunications networks.

• Data center services, including all equipment necessary to operate servers, storage, switches, security devices and mainframes.

• Hosting of what the executive order called "mission-critical and public-facing applications."

• E-mail and other shared services.

Sacramento's technology companies gained ground during the third quarter of 2009, according to an index that measures the health of the region's tech sector.

The SARTA Tech Index rose by 8.8 percent, thanks to an uptick in hiring and strong gains in the share prices of its public companies.

The index increased to 266.1, its highest level since the fourth quarter of 2007. It was the second straight quarterly increase.

The index debuted in 2003 with an initial reading of 100.

It was developed by the Sacramento Area Regional Technology Alliance to evaluate whether the area's tech companies are advancing or retreating. It measures companies according to employment, share price and new equity investments.

During the quarter, companies reported a net increase of 84 jobs. Public companies' stock values rose 26.7 percent.

Venture capital investments for the year to date came to $29.1 million.

"These are extremely encouraging results," said SARTA Chief Executive Meg Arnold in a news release. "Not only did our region's public companies enjoy a rebound in valuation, in line with the broader public markets, but, equally importantly, our smaller private companies had the confidence to re-engage in hiring, and investors supported that confidence with new equity funding."