SquatCrunch

Updates added to the end of this post.

I have used Twitter at three different times over the last two years. I definitely was and am a fair weather fan, occasionally updating in test-driven mode during my first two ventures. With update/status services like Twitter, I really enjoy the journey of testing and hammering the application more than actually using it.

During the Democratic primaries I used the service a bit more, but found access to the application was very slow or down during key moments of the campaign. It was very frustrating.

With some of its core functionality off-line for days, weeks, and months it is no longer the same application that many had become so addicted to. IM and Track, two key features in my opinion, have been off-line for weeks. The @Replies tab is currently disabled, and pagination for archives is off for most users. Slow access and failed server connections are experienced daily. Update: @Replies tab is back on line.

I have dipped into and out of Pownce, Plurk, and Friendfeed twice. I am using Friendfeed more these days, but not sipping the kool-aid just yet.

So if it is not Twitter, or not Friendfeed, or not Jaiku, or not Pownce, or not Plurk, or not Kwippy, or not Twoorl, where is a test-driven techie to go to feed on fountains of information and have some fun?

I am here, waiting patiently for that next new shiny application to come along so I can bash on it until it hollers, “I give up”. I shouldn’t have to wait too long.

Update: July 2, 2008
See, did not have to wait long at all. Identi.ca, a micro-blogging service you can use to write short notices about yourself, where you are, and what you’re doing, launched today. Now, what did I do with my hammer?

Update 2: July 3, 2008
The Identi.ca web site launched yesterday with a limited feature set, but still experienced intermittent slow access and server connection failures. Hammering away, and keeping an eye out.

Update 3: July 5, 2008
I like that the Identi.ca service is based on the Free/Open source software tool Laconica. The response time for ID-ing and fixing anomalies the last couple of days has been very impressive. It is a community on the move and growing daily. More web servers were added - very fast web access now. Congrats and Kudos @evan.

Update 4: July 7, 2008
The Identi.ca community is growing pretty quickly. So far anomalies have been addressed with lightning speed, and new features are being added almost daily. See the FAQ for more information and “Where is Feature X?” Open source, OpenID, SMS, IM, Federated servers. I am getting excited!

Update 5: July 8, 2008
Additional new features are coming online at Identi.ca. I am excited about the open community that is developing, and I am finding plenty of techie users and open source/free software evangelists to share information with. Suits me to an I.T. There is a list of bugs and features. “New ideas or complaints are very welcome.” Developers, help if you wish, and/or get the Laconica source code and install on your own server. Got ideas or need help? Send a status to @evan.

Update 6: July 9, 2008
The list of servers using the Open Source µ-blogging tool Laconica is steadily growing.

Update 7: July 11, 2008
New features and feature updates continue to come online rapidly. A Version 0 API was just added. Approximately 14k users and growing.

Identi-fresh, clean, crisp, elegant zen. I am developing a soft spot for Identi.ca.

I would like to see the twitter and identi.ca services both succeed. One size does not fit all and these two may result in slightly different shades of community. A little something for everyone, and a win/win for the growing number of users.

Via - Gigaom

SwitchABit, a Betaworks standalone company will merge with Twittergram, a service created by Dave Winer.

Congrats, Dave. Best wishes for success!

Q. Is there any way to get twitter @replies from people I don’t follow?

* Yes. Track your username on your phone or IM by sending: TRACK username. All updates containing your user name will come to your device when Twitter notifications are ON.

@ replies Default Setting is:

* Default: @ replies to the people I’m following
Thus:
I receive @replies from people I follow under the condition that I also follow the person they are replying to.

Via - How to change your Twitter @reply settings.

Finally, a new notice from the catz in the servers on twitter/home:

Via - Twitter.com

Due to some cache changes we made Friday, you may not be seeing all updates in your timeline (don’t worry, they’re still there!). Thank you for your patience while we fix this issue.

Fortunately I am not following many on my recently re-opened account. I added those I follow back into my rss reader. When the fix is in I will return to using the with_friends feed.

Not getting tweets from the people you follow on Twitter? @twitter_status is 1 day old.

Via GetSatisfaction.com

goldtoe, Official Rep, replied 1 day ago
Hey everybody -

This is a result of some of the caching changes we made during last night’s (Friday) maintenance window. While those changes have made the service more stable over all, there have been some unintended effects.

We’re aware of the problem and are working through it. It may take a bit to resolve but we are on it.

BeTwittered, a Twitter client has a Google gadget version, and a Mobile device version.

Twitlinks, yet another top 100 tech news list of the web elite. We know who these people are, their views, their rants, their self-promotions, and we know how to find them in a thousand different ways. Yawn.

Why not do a tech news bottom 100 or middle 100 list? Help us find the unknown gems outside the echo chamber. Someone, anyone, please.

NOW with extra added Pownce.

If you use Twitter, or Pownce, & Flickr, “you can show people where you are, not just tell them”.

Where, how can I do that? At Twittergram flickToTwitter.

Brought to you by the Technopeasant at Scripting News, AKA TechnoDaddy Dave

Nice proof of concept Dave did for his TwitterGram idea of Twitter meets Podcasting. Some API documentation here.

And Garrick Van Buren has done a web service AppleScript client for Audio Hijack Pro already.

It will be interesting to see how the TwitterGram idea develops. For now, you can create your mini-podcast mp3 (less than 200k), then load it to Twitter at Dave’s experimental Web UI. You can follow the stream of TwitterGrams at Twitter.

Alex King’s Twitter Tools plugin was written for and requires Wordpress version 2.1.

• Tested with Wordpress v2.1.3: Works as expected. Nice application.
• Tested with Wordpress v2.0.10: Easy work-around while keeping most of the functionality.

Comment out the if statement at lines 611-612 in twitter-tools.php to get it to work in a WP 2.0 version. The wp_enqueue_script function was introduced in Wordpress v2.1. You will not be able to create a tweet from the sidebar, but everything else should be ok.

if (is_admin() || $aktt->tweet_from_sidebar) {
wp_enqueue_script(’prototype’);
}

• Linking to Twitter Tools plugin for Wordpress: http://squatcrunch.webclipz.net/?p=204

Powered by Twitter Tools.

Update: The twitter account was deleted after testing. Edited to remove broken twitter status links.

Alex King released version 1.0 of Twitter Tools, a WordPress plugin that does a complete integration between your WordPress blog and your Twitter account.

Features include:

* Archive your Twitter tweets (downloaded every 15 minutes)
* Create a blog post from each of your tweets
* Create a daily digest post of your tweets
* Create a tweet on Twitter whenever you post in your blog, with a link to the blog post
* Post a tweet from your sidebar
* Post a tweet from the WP Admin screens
* Pass your tweets along to another service (via API hook)