Archive for: micro-blogging
Right about now I can honestly say it would be nice to be Loren Brichter. Why? Loren is the person behind Tweetie, a widly popular (and downright sexy) Twitter app for both OS X and iPhone. After countless favorable reviews and rewards, all that hard work is paying off. Earlier this evening, Twitter announced that they bought Tweetie, are going to rename it “Twitter for iPhone” — the official Twitter app — and knock the price down from $2.99, to free. That’s quite a bit to take in, and believe me, I was pretty shocked when I read it.
It shouldn’t be too surprising though. Twitter has made it’s case well know that it seeks to “fill the holes” 3rd party apps have been filling so far. Purchasing Tweetie and re-branding it as their own is just the start. Any excited for a now “official” Twitter iPhone app, one that is free to boot?
9to5Mac
Since Twitter’s inception, the main profile page hasn’t really changed. Conversely, other aspects of the popular micro-blogging site like the login page have. On top of physical looks, numerous actual features have been added, with the more recent (and prominent) one being geo-tagging.
A new posting on Dribble by Twitter’s lead designer, Doug Bowman, shows what is a fairly revamped UI — and a nice one at that I will add. It has that typical Mac-like styling I think. You know, the muted colors, matte finish, and rounded, soft on the eyes corners free from harsh jagged edges. I think it looks awesome.
Any official announcements as to a global rollout are no closer to us than Pluto is to being reclassified as a planet. *sigh* Don’t fret. It gives us something to look forward to.
Along with the revamped UI, Twitter is also hard at work upping the feature set. It’s no secret that they are challenging 3rd party Twitter app developers as the founders want Twitter.com to be the defacto standard, doing away with the need for individual desktop clients. Anyway you look at it, a great web portal is universal and carries over to any platform or OS unlike dedicated apps.
Needless to say, the next 12-18 months for Twitter will be some of the most interesting yet for the company and end users alike — 3rd party developers, perhaps not so much.
What are your thoughts on the new direction the styling and the company overall is going?
Switched > AlleyInsider > Mashable
- January 28, 2010 12:58 pm
After Google’s whole humanitarian/free speech move a couple weeks ago, the tech world and world at large has been divided. Some have applauded Google for “doing the right thing” finally coming to their senses — that is, censorship in any form sucks and shouldn’t be supported. Others however have had a less favorable view with many people labeling Google as a bunch of hypocrites with false motives. Personal opinions aside, someone as large as Google standing up for “the good guys” was bound to bring other companies out of the pro-free speech woodwork. Companies such as Twitter.
During a recent event at the World Economic Forum in is Switzerland, Twitter co-founder Evan Williams spoke on how Twitter is actively exploring 3rd party channels for ways to circumvent and overcome oppressive internet filters — such filters that are most widely used in China and Iran. Being able to stick it to the man if you will would allow free and unfettered speech from inside some of the more turbulent areas of the world and give outsiders a true, real-time window into the lives of the people that live them half a planet away.
Now, compare that to Microsoft’s stance. What do you see? While Microsoft is obviously jumping for joy at the possibility of a new and cash filled market in China, especially now that Google’s gone, do the underlying humans rights issues and big bad censorship thing overshadow any monetary benefit? For Google, Twitter, and a growing number of other companies, the answer is yes.
The Chinese government maintains that there isn’t any “Great Firewall” and that they have a free and open internet. If you believe that, *insert expletive laden comment here*. In the truest sense, their internet may be “open” in a kind of distorted way, though China strictly enforces their laws and regulations on ISP’s. The punishments and fines are so great that no one dare let something through that shouldn’t. And so, the “Great Firewall” does stand tall.
Google probably won’t be the last to leave China. Twitter will have others join their cause, trying to “hack” their way around any false boundary, firewall, or net nanny. Nor will Microsoft be the only company to potentially cash in on everyone else’s moral trip. For the end user, it’s nothing more than a drama unfolding before our eyes. Except this time, instead of a few characters being pulled around in life, entire countries and whole companies are involved in this love/hate game.
After that rather lengthy side note, Do Twitter and Google’s actions seem to be a growing trend or is it more of a simple “moral trip” by two companies that happen to be in the same business? Do you think they’re making a bad decision pulling out of China or trying to evade censorship laws and policies? The real question is however, does Google and Twitters’ voiced opinions and stance make Microsoft’s depict them as communist loving, oppression supporting greedy bastards?
Inquirer
[Image Source]
- December 22, 2009 3:05 pm
While the tweeting Kegerator is a clever, geeky way to interact with a chilled brew, other even more interactive possibilities exist for Twitter. Moving away from actual consumption, how about controlling something via Twitter? I bring you the “Tweet Tree”.
This clever combination of old and new employs Twitter as the means to let ordinary citizens such as you and I to control a Christmas tree’s lights from anywhere in the world. Built upon a relatively cheap $35 web platform, making your own version of the Tweet Tree or any socially interactive object won’t bankrupt you. Interacting with the Tweet Tree goes as follows:
To choose the color of our tree, just send a color to @tweet_tree on Twitter.
@tweet_tree red, green, purple, green, p, g, r, b
@tweet_tree understands red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Send one color, or combination of colors to morph through. Separate multiple colors with a comma. Only the first letter of the color matters, r,o,y,g,b, & p, are acceptable color commands.
@tweet_tree red, *ff0000, green, *00ff00, blue, *0000ff
It’s simple and again, pretty cool. For some actual *live* action, head on over to the official Tweet Tree uStream channel.
Zedomax > Instructables
Interested in genealogy and observing how traits and characteristics are passed down from generation to generation? Things such as build, eye color, skin tone, etc. are the most obvious shared traits. As the world becomes increasingly digital however, we should start noticing within the next couple of decades “digital traits” passed along. Not sure what I mean? A perfect example of “building” such traits into your children and starting your kids young so that they’re technologically fluent by the time they are potty trained can be seen in the “Twoddler”. No it’s not some invented age category to make children in between younger ages feel better about themselves. Instead, it is a unique social networking toy for toddlers and younger children.
Operation is simple being, a device targeted for those of an age who can’t read and have the attention span of the dogs in Pixar’s “Up” (Squirrel!), I would hope that using it wouldn’t cause toddlers to pull out what little hair they have. When your toddler pushes the various buttons and plays with the multitude of turney things and noise makers, Arduino sensors on board capture the data and transmit it wirelessly (via ZiggBee)to a computer which does all of the heavy lifting. The data from the toy is then turned into random yet tactful tweets that mom and dad can follow. To give you a taste, a couple examples of the tweets the Twoddler can send — when say, pressing a picture of mom — include:
- @mommy_bobby Bobby misses mommy and looks forward playing with her this evening
- @mommy_bobby Bobby is having a temper tantrum and wants mommy home now.
Is the whole concept and idea corny? Eh, a little. But at the same time I’m left thinking: “Where was the twoddler when I was a kid?” It’s a cool device that should at least keep baby entertained for months and mom and dad for at least a few days — after which the constant @mom’s will drive you insane. Still, you have to appreciate the attempt at reaching an untapped market. What other geeky gadgets do you think would benefit those under 5?
Neatorama > Wired — GadgetLab > Twoddler
- October 15, 2009 11:42 am
Since the U.S. can officially be claimed “conquered”, Twitter is setting it’s sites on a larger, more global scale. Even though other U.S. based social networking giants such as Facebook and MySpace have failed to gain any real following in the east, Twitter is pushing onward in hopes it can do something different. Part of that “different” approach is new measures that aren’t employed inside the U.S. For example, banner ads can be seen on the mobile Japanese version of Twitter. Such ads are still unseen here in states. Whatever Twitter is doing appears to be working as January – June alone saw user numbers rise to 783,000! Sure it pales in comparison to the millions upon millions of U.S. users, but, Twitter was born here. They aren’t just expanding outside of the company however as recent months have even seen the hiring of a Japan country manager and several other tools to further their reach into the distant land.
Future growth should be rather unhampered as Japan’s largest social networking site, Mixi, is more of a full fledged Facebook-type experience, not a short, 140 character messaging service like Twitter. It will be interesting to see if Twitter can sustain the early growth they’ve enjoyed so far as well as what new things they will try. Just maybe, some of those new treats will creep back over to us.
Cellular-News > AP News
Image Source
- September 15, 2009 7:02 am
In an off the record interview with CNBC, an ABC reporter, Terry Moran tweeted:”Pres. Obama just called Kanye West a “jackass” for his outburst at VMAs when Taylor Swift won. Now THAT’S presidential.” The tweet was quickly deleted. However, Twitter caches all tweets and doesn’t delete deleted tweets from said cache immediately. Now, many will look at the issue on the surface — that is, that a tweet supposedly quoting the President of the United States was yanked probably due to decency concerns or whatnot. However, it goes much deeper. The interview that this tweet was supposedly stemming from was an “off the record…behind closed doors” type of ordeal. The tweet made public a very private event. This isn’t the first time tweeting individuals have found themselves in hot water or situations because of potentially sensitive information becoming public. Of course, Kanye West is a jackass and completely talentless, though that’s besides the point. The real point is the fact that whether by force from ABC, CNBC, or some government branch, the tweet was taken down.
Why? Was any harm done? A talentless “musician” was called out for a complete lack of judgement a night earlier. Hardly an affront to national security if you ask me. Still, another instance of apparent censoring shows its face. From NFL players and referees to various other areas of professional careers, Twitter is quickly becoming a problem. And now, Presidential reporters could be the latest to come under fire for using the popular micro-blogging service. ABC has since apologized though it puzzles me as to why or what. Ok, an apology for tweeting a quote taken from an off the record, behind closed doors interview is grounds for an apology and against many rules set in place. But for any other reason I fail to see the need. In fact, having a person as important as the President of the United States calling you a “jackass” certainly carries some weight.
The crackdown on tweeting and spreading “inside” information is setting a very unsettling view of what the future holds. Again, while more serious consequences can come forth from such tweets, something as trivial as Obama calling a “musician” a jackass is hardly significant. Is censorship gaining a silent traction or is it just another instance of an extreme case getting blown out of proportion?
**Update**
Audio now up:
Obama’s Kanye West Jackass remark
Source: Mashable
Twitter like it or not has exploaded in the last year. Celebrity usage as well as what seems like daily media attention has helped propel Twitter into the mainstream. With that fame comes many people who want to be able to access said accounds and converse with said users. Since using the name Twitter in Twitter apps is heavily frowned upon, Tweet was the next best option. Just take a look at some of the mroe popular Twitter apps: TweetDeck, TweetMeme, and Tweetie just to name a few. Tech Crunch was lucky enough to get a look inside Twitter HQ thanks to a forwarded email. The message has some potential scary implications.
Geeks and nerds love new shiny shinies to get all excited over. It seems that the more a gadget has crammed under the hood or the sleeker it looks directly rrepresents a “likability” factor and that all things that appear old, that is, gadgets with blocky, ancient looking features, are undesirable and ready for the trash bin. However, the trusty ‘ol Commodore 64 has one more trick up its sleeve, which thanks to Johan Van den Brande, a Belgian engineer, new things are again possible on old hardware. What is mashup of choice? Why Twitter on a Commodore 64 of course. The program that he has created to give Commodore users Tweeting ability comes by way of his program, Breadbox 64. Thankfully, Johan nicely documents and lays out the process needed to transform your stock Commodore into a Tweeting machine. This is but one example of the things that truly talented minds can create. Stop on by his site, vandenbrande.com , in order to get the full rundown as well as the free download of Breadbox 64. More pictures and even a motion picture avialable inside detailing all of the old school nerdiness!
