If you want to read your Twitter timeline from FriendFeed, you can do so utilizing what FriendFeed calls an Imaginary Friend. Simply set your “friend” up with a custom RSS feed that you’ll get from Yahoo! Pipes and you’re set. Here’s the setup for your pipe:
Make sure you add your password into the private string box in the upper right. Once you get the URL for this feed, go to the Imaginary Friend settings and create a new friend. Give your friend a name, then set up the RSS feed as a Custom RSS Feed. Browse to your new friend and view your feed. Simple as that.
In case you hadn’t noticed – and I’m assuming you have – it’s been a couple months since I’ve written anything here. I’ve taken another opportunity over at Microblink (check for links on the homepage) so if you’re at all interested in microblogging or social networks, head over there and learn more. In the meantime, I’ve started a Tumblr account to catch my miscellaneous thoughts.
WordPress 2.7 was officially released yesterday. There are a number of pretty dramatic (yet exciting) changes on the admin side. Here are my favorites:
Upgrading becomes much easier
Threaded comments, and better comment layout in general
This was really just a test post to make sure mu still works. I performed the upgrade here in about 10 minutes and it seems like nothing was adversely affected.
Sirius has a web client you can use to stream their music to your computer, but it’s pretty lame (or it was last time I checked). Enter NiceMac LLC, creators of StarPlayr for Windows [alpha, download], Mac [download], and soon on the iPhone.
StarPlayr’s features include setting presets, choosing a high or low bitrate, tracking what songs are playing on stations, and a one-click button to Amazon’s product page for the CD of the song that’s playing. It’s somewhat tricky to figure out at first without looking at the documentation, but once you figure out what the buttons do, it’s easy to navigate and use. It doesn’t look like it’s synced with the new channels, but a new version of the software is expected in early 2009.
There’s also a lighter version of StarPlayr called StarLight (Mac only) that’s worth checking out.
I was stumbling around recently when I came across this gem someone created on Dipity, a way to put events on a horizontal scrolling timeline. The service itself is a pretty good idea and there are surely other great timelines out there. For now, enjoy this one.
The very first Ames Tweetup went down last night at Olde Main Brewing Co in Ames. Due credit is given to @mrdallasjmoore, @jkeyla and others who were involved with planning the event. It’s been a long time coming to have a tweetup in Ames. I haven’t seen an exact head count, but I estimate that at least 20 people showed up at one time or another.
One of the benefits of going was to throw your business card into a hat (or a pitcher) and be eligible for a 6-pack of Olde Main’s brews. Here’s the card I threw in the mix.
Ever have an hour to waste but nothing to fill it with? Do you love flash games? Boy, do I have a treat for you!
It’s called The Casual Collective, which is a group of eight addictive and fun games you can play right in your web browser. They’re pretty fun to play and can be played in multiplayer mode. The site is centered around social gaming and networking, so you should invite your friends to play along.
Not much to say about this but I thought it was worthy of sharing… anyone want to donate a Roomba to see if my cat will do this? Anyone who actually has a cat will know why this is funny – most cats hate vacuum cleaners more than baths.
I’ve used a lot of Twitter applications. I’ve reviewedatleastfour on this site. I generally don’t stick with a single application for more than a week or two. TweetDeck has become the only exception to that rule – it has changed the way I use Twitter. I started using it back when it was somewhere around version 0.15. Since then, it’s evolved into an extremely powerful tool.
If you haven’t used TweetDeck, you really don’t know what you’re missing. Users of Tweenky will find a number of similarities with TweetDeck, but I think TweetDeck is still the best Twitter client. It puts a ridiculous amount of information right at your fingertips, but does it in a way that’s easy to manage and use. It takes a columnar approach to tweet display and allows you to create columns for a multitude of categories including replies, searches, direct messages, favorites, groups, TwitScoop, and 12seconds.tv.
The latest release of TweetDeck (v 0.20b) came out today and implements a stunning number of fixes and new features. One of my favorite features is the ability to filter a stream based on keywords. You can choose to include or exclude a keyword to refine what’s displayed in that column. Oh, how handy this could have been during the election.
Some of TweetDeck’s most prominent appeal comes from its ability to usefully display a wealth of information. While some argue that there’s too much of a need for desktop real estate, I feel that TweetDeck’s implementation of columns is a perfect approach to enabling multiple streams without having to switch views. You can literally just watch the tweets go by without lifting a finger. Naturally, your experience will vary based on the amount of screen space you let it have, but it’s much better served for use with a widescreen monitor.
A single feature does not make a good Twitter client. Many great features, a solid user base, and listening to user requests has made TweetDeck the best Twitter client on the market today. It is a true power user’s tool, which may ultimately make Twitter noobs shy away from it. Trust me when I say once you’ve learned how to use TweetDeck effectively, you’ll probably never use another desktop Twitter client.
