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X3F is now on Twitter!
You kicked, you screamed, you demanded and after an all night discussion among team X3F, we gave in. Your wish has been granted, your dreams have com true, because Xbox 360 Fanboy is now on Twitter.Go ahead, check us out, watch for each and every tweet and be sure to stalk follow us. Oh, and don't worry about getting X3F spammed. We'll only tweet the most interesting and self promoting 360 goods.With your Twitter powers combined, we are X3F!
Tweetie: Twitter client with "oomph"
Yesterday, Dave published an awesome gift guide for the Twitter addict. It wasn't meant to be an all-encompassing list, nonetheless, the omission of Tweetie [iTunes link] -- one of the newest Twitter clients to hit the iPhone -- generated a ton of response via the comments, our inbox and of course, via Twitter. Because Twitter is my crack, I decided to take Tweetie out for a spin. Developer Loren Brichter was even nice enough to get me in on the Tweetie beta so I could take a sneak peek at some of the features coming in future releases.My initial thoughts are very, very positive; I now know why so many of you were so vocal about your Tweetie love. No sooner did I crown Tweetsville the current champion in the Twitter for iPhone Battle Royale, Tweetie shows up with some serious moves. At this point, I don't even know if I can adequately name a "champion." Another Twitter client?As I've said before, Twitter and the iPhone are a perfect combination -- they just go together. That said, Dave makes a solid point: the number of available Twitter clients for the iPhone is getting a tad ridiculous. I have tried almost every Twitter application available for the iPhone/iPod touch (see below) and they can tend to blur together. And these are just the apps I've purchased or downloaded for free Twitter's brilliance is in its simplicity. Twitterrific is my favorite desktop Twitter client, in large part because of its commitment to that simplicity. Having said that, Twitterrific for the iPhone is starting to strike me as too simple. I love the interface, I just often want to be able to do more. A simple interface coupled with lots of features is what makes a great mobile Twitter client. This is where Tweetie really stands out. On the features front, it is pretty similar to what Twitterlator Pro, Tweestville and Twitterfon offer, but its interface is extremely clean and unobscured. In fact, it took me a little while to figure out where some of the more advanced settings for the app are. They are actually in the main "Settings" panel, rather than inline the app itself. That makes sense, and is apparently something Apple recommends, but it's worth noting because otherwise you might miss where some of the features actually are.%Gallery-39588%
Gift Guide for the Twitter addict
From applications to new friends, finding the right gift for the Twitter addict isn't as easy as it sounds. They're just so busy with all that "tweeting" nonsense. Here are plenty of ideas at a variety of price points that should make your job as the gift-giver a little more pleasant.How do you know if you've got one on your list? Just answer a few simple questions. Does s/he Check Twitter immediately before going to bed? Possibly while in bed? From multiple devices? Have a stagnant blog, but a bulging Twitter stream? Stare at the display for hours at a time so as not to miss a landmark follower or tweet (like #500)? Added his or her Twitter handle to business cards, web sites, etc? If so, you've got yourself an addict, my friend. Here's how you can be their #1 enabler.AppsThis one goes without saying. No self-respecting Twitter addict is going to want to load twitter.com every time the blue-winged muse strikes. There are several options. Twitterrific and TweetDeck are nice for the desktop, while Tweetsville , Twinkle and mobile Twitterrific are great for the iPhone and iPod touch. Twitterrific (Desktop) - Free ad-supported version, $14.95US premium version Twitterrific (iPhone/iPod touch) - Free ad-supported version, $9.95US premium version TweetDeck - Free Tweetsville - $3.99US Twinkle - Free Additionally, TwitterFox is a (free) Firefox plug-in that lets you send and receive messages from within Firefox.Update: Several of you suggested I consider Tweetie ($2.99US) as a Twitter client for the iPhone and iPod touch, which I did. It's very snappy indeed with lots of nice features, like trend monitoring, support for several accounts and more. It's really quite nice. Of course, this isn't a reivew of Twitter clients, but I'm still happy to add another to the list.ReferenceThe Dictionary of Concise Writing will help you shorten those lengthy sentences. While you're at it, grab a copy of Webster's New World Thesaurus. Dictionary of Concise Writing - $14.95US at Amazon Webster's New World Thesaurus - $14.95US at Amazon Read on for more!
@kickbee OMG, this Twitter / baby-tracking hack is so great. Keep on kicking mommy! http://snipr.com/81153
Everything goes down on Twitter these days, (memes happen, people, memes!) and now there's another kid on the scene, literally. Lil' @kickbee is hitting us from the womb, thanks to his / her nerdy father. Kickbee Sr. wrapped his expecting wife's belly with some piezo sensors to detect baby kicks, with an Arduino Mini transmitting the info via Bluetooth to a MacBook Pro, which beams the info on up to Twitter, making him officially the dorkiest dad since Wayne Szalinski. Next step for this little A-lister? Gadget blogging.[Via Gadget Review]Read - Kickbee project pageRead - Kickbee's twitter feed
Ziibii floats updates to your iPhone
Do you like keeping up with friends on social networks? Do you have an iPhone? If so, you might be interested in a new social networking application for the iPhone called Ziibii. Ziibii [iTunes link] brings an innovative approach to viewing your social networking sites and RSS feeds -- without ever leaving this one app. Ziibii allows you to see friend updates, videos, and photos from Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, and YouTube.Ziibii's killer feature is its "River" feature, which depicts friend updates, photos, videos, and RSS feed headlines "floating" down a river on tiny rafts. You can interact with the river and rafts with gestures. Moving too fast? Move your finger left or right on the screen. You can even make the river flow in the opposite direction by swiping your finger against flow. Rafts too close together? Pick it up and move it. If you tap on a raft, you will be presented with a full screen view of the update and get the option to share that update via email or Twitter. If you get sea sick with River view, you can also give list view a try, which stacks updates on top of each other; swiping right to left loads more updates.Ziibii comes pre-loaded with some good blogs (TUAW is listed under the "iPhone Stuff" section), and you can also add your own RSS feeds via the "My Feeds" setting.Ziibii has a very nice user interface, and allows you to quickly see all of your friend updates in a unique fashion. However, we would like to see an option to post updates and photos to Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr. We would also like to see support for Pownce and Digg, among others. With the price of free, Ziibii is a must-have application for anyone that uses social networks. You can download Ziibii from the iTunes App Store. %Gallery-37595%
First Look: Tweetsville brings pro features to Twitter on iPhone
There are a number of Twitter apps available for the iPhone and iPod Touch -- and why not? Much like peanut butter and jelly, Twitter and the iPhone are a classic combination. Tweetsville [iTunes Link] from Tapulous is the newest Twitter client available from the App Store, and it offers up an interface and feature set that really gives the competition a run for its money. But wait, doesn't Tapulous already make a Twitter application? They do, and Twinkle [iTunes Link] is a neat app. Although the two applications share some interface similarities, the scope and focus are actually very different. Twinkle's real user hook is in its geo-location features, whereas Tweetsville is a full-fledged Twitter application. I'm a pretty addicted to Twitter, and have been searching for an app for my iPod touch that could help me monitor and manage my stream with ease. Tweetsville appears to be that app. I follow a lot of users and my biggest problem with some of the other Twitter applications (and with the m.twitter.com interface) is that I can't view a large number of tweets at one time. With Tweetsville, not only does it grab the last 200 tweets for me, if I leave the application and come back an hour later, it will pull up what I've missed. That means I can access 532 tweets at once, rather than just the last ten minutes or so. That's extremely handy. %Gallery-36828% Read on for more...
Two attendees already in line at NYC Best Buy event
Whether you're attending the midnight release event at Best Buy in New York City or not, you might be interested in the fact that they've set up their own Twitter account to document the event. It looks like it's getting some use earlier than expected, too. It's currently a little after 3 PM in New York, and the first two attendees have already been waiting in line for at least two hours!I think it's beyond cool that they took the time to set up this feed. Liveblogs are some of the funnest things to read on days like today, and Twitter is the perfect venue for it if you don't have your own dedicated site set up for something like that. And those early attendees? Okay, they're a little crazy, but I'll go ahead and give them props for it. Events like this don't happen every day, so you might as well make a story out of it. When The Burning Crusade launched, I walked three hours in a Wisconsin winter while it was snowing to pick up my copy. Was it insane? Yes. Was it fun? Yes! If you don't have a story to tell after an event like this, you missing half of the fun. Go out and make the best of today!If you plan on following this feed and you're new to Twitter, don't forget to follow WoW Insider's very own twitter account where you'll see alerts and anecdotes from our team. You might also be interested in some silly fun and want to follow a few Warcraft characters as they tweet.
Ask WoW Insider: The joy of ganking
I was going to ask a question today about dual-heading (that is, using more than one monitor to play the game), but Amanda has already covered that topic very well. So instead, we went to Twitter for a question, where sw0rdfish came up with paydirt:Hey WoW Insider. What's the joy in ganking lowbies over and over?-sw0rdfishI agree, great topic for you readers to break down for us today. What's with all the ganking? It's just a standby on PvP servers -- you're going to get ganked, and at least once, you're going to get camped again and again and again. I play mostly on PvE servers, so I've never had to worry about this stuff, but if you've ever done it, what exactly is it that drives you to camp lowbies? Are you doing it just for fun, are you just completing the circle of ganking because you were ganked while a lowbie, or are you just doing your part and grabbing your sword to fight the Horde?Good question. And there are definitely certain times when a fragile truce arises -- usually when new content shows up (expect a PvP truce in early Northrend later this week). What say you, readers?And if you have a question for the readers of WoW Insider (we need as many as you've got -- the buffers are low!), drop us an email at ASK at WoW Insider dot com, and you might see it here next week.Previously on Ask WoW Insider...
The Lich King is Twittering
Fake Twitterers are all the rage these days -- you can sign up on the microblogging service Twitter.com as just about anyone and shoot out some parodic little "tweets," as they're called, for the instant amusement of anyone who wishes to follow you (I'm personally a big fan of the Mad Men characters tweeting). But now, the WoW community has its own fake twitter personality -- apparently the Lich King has found some time in between knighting Death Knights and plaguing the world to start up his own Twitter account.No idea who's behind it, but I know a few WoW bloggers who twitter pretty often, including a few WoW Insider contributors. Whoever's tweeting for Arthas, they're doing a nice job, promising "cold deaths" to everyone, and steadily counting down the days until his Wrath is upon us.I'm kind of surprised this is the first fake NPC twitterer we've seen -- sure, you'd think Thrall or Jaina would have tons of time to Twitter, and Kael'thas, assuming he's not quite dead yet, seems made for such an enterprise. If you are on Twitter, don't forget to follow our own WoW Insider account as well -- we won't offer you a cold death, but we will occasionally tweet about important posts and our own experiences with the game.
Vote Report helps poll the polls on Election Day
I love this idea -- if there's one thing our voting system here in the US could use, it's a little more transparency, both in how the votes are counted and weighed, and in how the polling itself takes place. And now there's an iPhone app aimed at making sure that on next month's Election Day, we get exactly that. Vote Report is currently submitted to the App Store -- all you do is download the app, punch in your Twitter information (although the site says you don't have to, but I'm not sure how it makes the report otherwise), and then when you're done voting, you can fill out a quick form that will send information on how it went straight to Twitter itself (you can see all the reports collected on this page as well).Of course, the Internet (including Twitter) will be awash with reports from polling places on November 4th, but if you're bringing your iPhone along, this will be a quick and easy way to get the word out if something went right or wrong. And Vote Report has teamed up with Election Protection, so if something does go really wrong at the polls, they'll hopefully be standing by to get the word out.If you are in the US, no matter what your political leaning or affiliation, do make sure to vote on November 4th -- the wheels of democracy only turn when we all get out and push. Let's exercise those rights while we've got them.
Star Wars: The Old Republic goes Web 2.0
It's never been easier for an MMO to promote itself with the growing prevalence of social networking plaforms. Star Wars: The Old Republic, only officially announced this week, has already established a following on Facebook. It's also on the usual suspect MySpace, and you can follow BioWare's frequent Twitter updates on the game. Star Wars: The Old Republic also has a Flickr photostream up and running. BioWare has stated that even more is on the way, with plans for a YouTube Channel as well as Digg and Delicious integration. It seems that most in-development MMOs are seizing onto the fact that Web 2.0 and all that it brings are crucial to making gamers aware of what they're doing. Is it overkill? You decide. But it should be interesting to see how MMOs leverage social networks as time goes on. A good example of what's possible may very well be what's happening right now in Superstruct, a multiplayer game played out almost entirely over social networks and the web. Interesting times. BioWare has finally unveiled Star Wars: The Old Republic, their new MMO! Massively's got you covered on all the details -- from liveblogging the announcement to screenshot galleries and more. Join us in the Galaxy far, far away!
Eye-Fi Manager update adds support for Twitter and RSS
Late last month, Eye-Fi announced that its wares were finally supporting photo uploads to Apple's MobileMe and the AdoramaPix service, and now, we're seeing that its WiFi-enabled SD cards have a few more tricks up their sleeves. An Eye-Fi Manager update has opened up support for RSS feeds along with Twitter integration, enabling users to let their posse know when they've uploaded new photos for perusal. Additionally, the RSS support allows customers to "publish photos in a live real-time feed via RSS to the aggregator of their choice." Hope you're not a fan of post-processing.
The bluebird of happiness
Our friends over at the Iconfactory have a devil of a time protecting one of their more popular icons: David Lanham's blue bird that adorns their Twitterrific software. Turns out there are plenty of people that think the icon is free for the taking, and have used it in all kinds of projects and web sites. Of course, this means more work for Ged Maheux, tracking down each person and letting them know that, no, they can't use the icon, because it's for a piece of commercial software. The good news is that there are, however, plenty of design alternatives to the Iconfactory's copyrighted artwork. Lots of friendly, smiling flyers have come out of the woodwork/birdhouse -- and they're free to use for your website or other non-commercial project. Read on for a rhapsody in bluebirds.
First Look: Summizer, Twitter trends on your iPhone
Summizer (iTunes link) is an app for following trends on Twitter. Similar to a few web apps, it searches Twitter for keywords and allows you to save searches to watch for updates. It's small, simple and elegant. Use it to find out who's talking about what, or even who's talking about you. If you've ever used Twitter's tracking feature (currently disabled), you already know how this works. The startup screen shows any trends you've added as saved searches, with a blue dot signifying new updates with those words. The first item in the list is always "Trending Topics," which shows the most common topics on Twitter at the moment. When you click a saved search or any "trending" word, you get a list of tweets containing that word or phrase. Touching a tweet reveals options for that tweet: you can always go to the user who created the tweet and see what else they're talking about, but if the tweet contains an @reply or a link, you get additional options for viewing either (links open in the built-in browser). As with most of my favorite apps, Summizer is well-crafted and serves a single purpose with finesse. The $2.99USD pricetag might be at the high-end of the price range for a single-shot utility, but if you're a trend-watcher, it's a small price to pay; having a finger on the pulse of Twitter can be a great way to stay a step ahead of the game. As Devil's advocate, I have to mention that some other apps, such as the Pro version of Twittelator ($4.99USD - iTunes link) can store searches and handle actual Twitter usage as well; often at the expense of the aforementioned elegance. Looking for the iPhone-optimized TUAW page? Bookmark http://i.tuaw.com/ in Mobile Safari for the best iPhone experience.
eeeMac runs OS X on an even smaller portable than the Air
I've heard some great things about the tiny little eeePC, but this is the best thing I've heard so far: it can be a Mac. Twitterer Gregory Cohen has pictures on Picasa of his completed eeeMac, an eeePC transformed (perhaps in similar fashion to this previous attempt -- details please, Gregory) into an OS X-running ultraportable, complete with a tiny little lit Apple logo on the back.Pretty hot. As slim as the MacBook Air is, Asus' unit is even smaller. And it's super cheap, too -- we haven't heard how much this little transformation cost, but considering the eeePC sells at retail for 1/3 of the Air's price, odds are that even tons of modding won't set you back as much as a kitted-out Air. Apple wouldn't be thrilled with it, but you have to admit, that's one good-looking little ultraportable.
Yahoo releases oneConnect preview for iPhone
Yahoo has released a preview of an iPhone client (iTunes link) for their oneConnect service. Basically, it integrates your Yahoo and iPhone address books with a variety of social networking sites like Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, Flickr, etc. (see here for the full list). You're then able to use Yahoo Messenger or SMS to communicate with contacts, or see their status updates, etc. from the various services.The idea behind oneConnect is to aggregate your different social networking sites into one interface so you don't have to keep switching between, say, Twitterrific and the Facebook application to keep on top of what's going on with your various friends. It looks like it could definitely be handy if you have friends spread across different networks.[via MacNN]
Iconfactory releases Twitterrific 1.1 for iPhone
The Iconfactory and its chief typist, Craig Hockenberry, have been hard at work on Twitterrific 1.1, a substantial update to their mobile Twitter client for the iPhone and iPod touch. The update features much smoother scrolling, larger tweet capacity, the ability to save pictures to the camera roll before uploading them to TwitPic, and secure HTTPS server communication. It also squashes a large number of bugs. A full accounting of the changes is available on Twitterrific's app store page and on the Iconfactory's website. The app was included in both Mike's and Steve's list of favorite apps for their respective iPhones. Twitterrific is still available in two flavors. Twitterrific (the free version) periodically shows ads via The Deck, similar to its free counterpart for the desktop. Twitterrific Premium is $9.99, and omits the advertising.
Twitter comes to Nintendo's DS, difficulty in tow
There's no two ways about it -- getting Twitter functionality on your Nintendo DS is pretty difficult. In all seriousness, you should probably remain content with sending tweets from your handset and / or computer, but those who just can't turn a blind eye to a hack won't be able to look beyond this one. For starters, the Twitter for DS application is based entirely in Spanish, so unless you're halfway fluent in the language (or are just really good at deciphering Google's translations), you'll likely be baffled. Still, a great reward awaits you if you're able to pull it off -- sending a message to all your devout followers that you just tweeted from a DS.[Via PMPToday]
Linden Lab staff gagged? Unable to post to official blog
If you've noticed a distinct dearth of postings on the Second Life blog lately, it's with good cause. There has been hardly anything on this most visible of Linden Lab communication channels. Even a recent announcement by Katt Linden, Linden Lab's communications manager had to go sideways. A post on the Second Life wiki, and a note in the message-of-the-day to go search for it in there -- by yesterday, it was also posted to the Second Life education blog. Torley Linden in turn apparently was not able to get his Video Tip of the Week onto the official blog either, instead posting it to his personal blog, with an apology for both it and the Knowledge Base Article of the Week. 'Linden Lab,' he says, 'is undergoing changes in communication policy', but is unable to say what, when, why or how long. Time-critical announcements, innocuous routine customer-oriented tutorials and information, and changed policies regarding gambling -- all not being posted as they normally would. Are you a part of the most widely-known collaborative virtual environment or keeping a close eye on it? Massively's Second Life coverage keeps you in the loop.
Video: Ganzbot reads Twitter feeds aloud, looks fashionably low-rate
We've seen methods for hooking house plants up with their own Twitter account, but there's hardly anything more satisfying that building a robot to read back all those feeds from the thousands of people you're undoubtedly following. Ganzbot is a decidedly low-budget robot that relies on an Arduino Decima to control the head actions and a USB cable to receive up-to-date status information. Have a look at the innards as well as a few words being spoken just after the jump.[Via MAKE]
