Wanted: Tweetie Groups
The new Mac desktop Twitter client, Tweetie for Mac, is great but has some missing features (it’s only v1.x you know). One feature that I would like to see is the inclusion of groups. As the number of Tweeters you follow grows so does your timeline, and keeping up with the various conversations gets harder and harder. That’s where groups come into the story.
With groups, you can assign users to defined groups to better segment and track conversations. Natively, Twitter doesn’t support groups so third party Twitter clients like TweetDeck have implemented their own groups solution (though Ginx.com has developed a groups solution within the confines of the Twitter API).
Typically, groups in Twitter clients are handled with another column or window for each group. From an UI perspective, I wonder how Tweetie would address groups. The Tweetie interface is single column focused though you can open more windows with tear off searches. Right now, Tweetie color highlights conversations, and I wonder if this technique could apply to groups? Assign users to groups and assign a color to that group. Any conversation from grouped users would be highlighted in your normal timeline.
To augment this color coding, there should be a keyboard shortcut to toggle between only tweets from a group and all tweets in your timeline. Maybe there would be a tiny image graphic in user’s “speech bubble” when double clicked would show only tweets of that group.
Hmmm… what if users belonged to more than one group? Drats, back to the drawing board.
Nearing 3000 Posts!
Just saw some stats and if accurate, I’m coming up on 3000 pulpy blog posts! WordPress is saying I have 2978 published posts which should include all the imported posts from the original Blogger-powered Pulpconnection blog.
22 more to 3K!
Burger King Likes Square Buns
Saw this funny Burger King commercial taking a cue from Sir Mix A Lot’s Baby Got Back.
Gotta like the moves of the King!
Harsh Reality: Ain’t Going to Make Money by Blogging
In her latest blog post, Penelope Trunk lays it out clearly – you’re not going to make money from your blog.
Shazbat! Back to the real job that does pay money.
Rejected by Urban Dictionary: Ashton’s Orphans
My latest submission to Urban Dictionary was rejected so instead of letting it waste away, I figured I’d post it here. Here is my proposed definition for Ashton’s Orphans (or maybe it shoulda been Ashton’s Tworphans for some Twitterese):
All those unloved, unused, and now orphaned Twitter accounts spawned by fans of Ashton Kutcher (@aplusk) in his race against CNN to reach one million Twitter followers.
Example: My IRL friends only joined Twitter to help Ashton Kutcher reach one million followers before CNN, but now they’re just one of Ashton’s Orphans.
I made a few small changes to the original submission, but oh well… There’s always twuat and Twitter MILF. 😉
Extra DWTS Videos
Normally, I post only my favorite Dancing with the Stars performance in my weekly recap. This week though, there were several solid performances, so I had to add bonus material.
Here’s Mark Ballas and Shawn Johnson doing a cha cha cha to Michael Jackson’s PYT.
Later on, I’ll post Melissa and Tony’s intricate Argentine Tango. As promised, here is “Maneater” Melissa with an almost perfect routine.
Average Ain’t Good Enough on Dancing with the Stars
With the great talent on Season 8 of Dancing with the Stars, average scores simply ain’t good enough. Even scores of 8 are grounds for elimination. Week 7 of DWTS showcased some serious talent and routines. Let’s begin!
Melissa Rycroft and Tony Dovolani started the show with a bar raising Argentine Tango. After a score of 29, I thought the rest of the competition would falter, but not so. LT’s waltz, though okay, was much better than his previous outings.
Yeah, Lil’ Kim and Derek Hough were too conservative this week and need to heed Bruno’s advice of bringing the raunch back.
My favorite performance for this week goes to Chuck Wicks and Julianne Hough. Not just because Chuck copped a feel on national television, but because he actually had a dancing breakthrough with a score of 27.
At about the 0:12 mark, check out the squeezy squeezy action.
Even though Ty Murray made a ballroom comeback, I think his appeal is running its course. He scored higher than LT, but I’m thinking Ty’s getting sacked first.
A close favorite is Shawn Johnson’s cha cha cha to Michael Jackson’s PYT. She was definitely in her element with this performance.
Gilles Marini and Cheryl Burke closed out the individual dances, but I didn’t care too much for their Viennese Waltz.
So there you have it, another great week of Dancing with the Stars.
My 15-Minute Review of Tweetie for the Mac
After using the just released Twitter desktop client, Tweetie for the Mac, for 15 minutes, here is my review.
Tweetie for the Mac has a default single column layout with different “tabs” that slide you to your Twitter Timeline, mentions, and DM messages much like Twhirl. It’s not a multicolumn beast like Tweetdeck though you can fill your screen with tear away search screens.
As a desktop app, Tweetie for the Mac feels fast. Faster than the Adobe AIR-based Twhirl or Tweetdeck, on par with Nambu, another desktop client.
Tweetie for the Mac supports multiple Twitter account (which Tweetdeck does not do) and again uses various sidebar “tabs” to switch between Twitter accounts. However, different accounts are distinguished primarily by their Twitter avatars. This more or less forces you to customize your avatar (which you’ve done already right?). Otherwise, you’ll only see the default o_O icon which won’t help you figure out which account you’re using. Although when you are composing a tweet, there is a drop down menu letting you pick by name and avatar which account you’re tweeting with.
Some of the additional services supported.
URL Shortening:
- bit.ly
- TinyURL
- is.gd
- tr.im
- Diggbar
Image Service:
- Twitpic
- yFrog
- Twitgoo
- Posterous
So far, a “hidden” feature I stumbled upon is the inclusion of Twitlonger. If your tweet is longer than the standard 140 characters, Tweetie for the Mac asks if you want to use Twitlonger for your longer tweet. Here’s an example of a Twitlonger tweet. That’s a nice addition.
I also like the behavior of new tweets. Instead of automatically pushing my Timeline location around, Tweetie for the Mac stays put. With Nambu, new tweets would push my Timeline down, making me lose track of where I was – confusing.
Some of the not so good? I can’t find a way of viewing only my tweets. I guess I can search for my own Twitter name, but it would seem easier if there were a “tab” for my tweets. Favorites too, I don’t see an intuitive way to see what tweets I’ve faved. [Update: Ryan Ozawa, aka @hawaii, points out that double clicking your avatar shows your tweets, mentions, faves, and info.]
One minor UI thing I don’t like is the colorless scroll bar. For whatever reason, I have a hard time seeing the handle to scroll up and down my Timeline. I don’t know if it’s the lack of contrast or what, but a few times already, I’ve kinda lost the scroll bar handle and had to look for it. It just didn’t pop out visually.
And oh yeah, I don’t care for the purplish hued icon for Tweetie for the Mac. It’s kinda blasé.
I’m sure there are all kinds of other things to explore and discover with Tweetie for the Mac, and like I said, I only played around with it for 15 minutes. But that’s what is appealing. This app seems simple since it masks the complexity and functionality that is actually there.
Cost is free for a version that includes advertisements. The ad-free version costs $19.95 with a special introductory price of $14.95 until May 4th.
Tweetie for the Mac Now Available
The Twitter desktop client market just got another contender with the introduction of Tweetie for the Mac. Tweetie is already a killer iPhone app, and it’s making a jump to your desktop.
So far so good with version 1.0. It’s one of those simple but powerful applications. You just need to find that feature that’s actually there. One small complaint is the color of the scrollbar, or should I say the lack of color. It’s kinda hard to see the scroll bar since the colors match the rest of the window. Yes, it’s a small thing, but twice already, I had to “hunt” for where I was in the scroll bar
Could I yet again be jumping to a different Twitter client? First Tweetdeck, then Twhirl, some Nambu, and now Tweetie?
The ad-free version costs $14.95 until May 4, 2009.
Twitter’s Ashton Effect?
So the much publicized contest between Ashton Kutcher and CNN for one million Twitter followers is an all win situation for the microblogging service. Getting The Oprah on to Twitter is merely a secondary effect of @aplusk taking on “the establishment.”
All of Ashton’s campaigning and publicity are paying off with even more users singing up to Tweet. Just now, I’ve found new IRL friends on Twitter following very few except of aplusk. Kind of an indicator, no? Is this the “Ashton Effect?”