Four Twitter tools you should be using right now
To maximize your Twitter output you should be using these four tools today. Right now. Immediately. (Can you sense the urgency?)
1. A Twitter client – a client takes the place of having to go to twitter.com. Most often it’s a program that runs on your computer that lets you send updates to Twitter. You can get a great list by going to http://twitter.com/downloads . A client makes it extremely easy and convenient to send updates to Twitter (also known as tweeting). Most of them are free so give them a try until you find one you like!
2. TwitApps – Twitter has gone beyond just telling people what you’re doing. It’s a true social network, meaning you’re expected to interact with other Twitter users (lovingly referred to as Tweeps or Twits). Therefore, if someone mentions you in a tweet you need to be sure you know about it (and follow up by mentioning or replying to them, if appropriate). To be sure you don’t miss any mentions you’ll want to use TwitApps. TwitApps will monitor Twitter for mentions of your username (meaning someone’s probably talking about you or to you) and email you when someone mentions you. This helps to ensure you can keep interesting conversations going. TwitApps can also give you a report when someone follows you or stops following you.
3. TwitPic – to heighten the Twitter experience for others consider using TwitPic. TwitPic lets you post a picture and a tweet at the same time. You can post a picture from either your computer or your mobile phone. Why use TwitPic? Simple: tweets with pictures are much more interesting!
4. Friends – am I calling your Twitter friends tools? I know my real friends are tools so, yeah, maybe I am. (just kidding!) Twitter works best when you follow plenty of people and chat them up when they post an interesting tweet. Using a Twitter client (mentioned in point one above) makes it super easy to reply to other Twitter users. The more you use Twitter to talk to others (rather than just about yourself), the more it becomes a true social network.
Maybe you’re not part of Twitter yet? Why wait? Go to Twitter and sign up for a free account. Then, be sure to follow me (@shawnw) and I’ll be sure to follow you back!
Already part of Twitter? Drop a comment with a link to your Twitter profile so we (we being everyone reading this article) can follow you.
You think Twitter’s a fad?
Think Twitter’s a fad? Think again. @buchanan23 tweet’s this earlier today:
So, I drop him an email to get the skinny and to let him know I’m praying. Here’s the deal:
It’s my 4yr old boy. We are in the hospital right now. They are going to take a swab to test and start the meds that are supposed to stop it before it gets too bad. there is only enough mess in our city to treat 40 people for this… Well 39 now. It’s not officially swine flu until we see the results from the swab test & not sure when we’re getting those back yet. Thanks so much for the prayers.
Then, later, he tweets this:
Twitter, a fad? You decide. In the meantime, go follow @buchanan23 and keep praying for Cru.
Windows 7: an experiment
This is a full-on techie/nerd blog post so if you’re neither a techie or nerd, please watch the funny video below. Techie/nerd readers, watch the funny video then read on.
I was chatting with my friend Matt the other day about backup services like Mozy versus file sync services like Syncplicity, Sugarsync and Zumodrive.
We were also talking about Windows 7 and I mentioned I’d use the beta as my full time OS but I knew it expired in August. He flippantly said, “keep all your stuff in the cloud via sync.”
I nodded and we moved on with our conversation.
Then, last night, I logged into Windows 7 (I’m currently dual booting Vista and Win7) and was again amazed at just how awesome Win7 is.
So I’m going to do what Matt suggested. Consider it an experiment.
Captain Jack Sparrow speed painting
So, essentially, someone records their computer as they draw Captain Jack Sparrow, freehand, in what looks like Adobe Photoshop. Amazing.
Learn How to draw at 5min.com
iPhone 3G announced
Pricing is $199 for the 8GB model, $299 for the 16GB model (which will also come in white). What does it do?
Introducing iPhone 3G. With fast 3G wireless technology, GPS, support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, and the new App Store, iPhone 3G puts even more amazing features in your hands. And just like the original iPhone, it combines three products in one —a revolutionary phone, a widescreen iPod, and a breakthrough Internet device.