Posts tagged with: twitter

This morning marked the official deprecation of Twitter's basic authentication system. I had been working toward the changeover, and at about 8 am I switched iTweet.net over to OAuth-based authentication. Things went pretty smoothly, I hope. Most people seem to have been able to refresh, authenticate with Twitter, and start tweeting again right away. Even aside from the improved security, the nicest immediate benefit is the API rate limit of 350 calls per hour instead of the 150/hour available through basic authentication. This will allow me to do some fun stuff that wasn't possible before. The people who were most affected by this change were those who use iTweet because twitter.com is blocked due to a company firewall/filter or censorship. These folks are not able to sign in via OAuth, just due to the nature of what OAuth is. I'm bummed that this is the case, but don't immediately see a way around it - however I am open to ideas from any direction. For the time being I've put a basic-authentication version of iTweet up at: http://itweet.net/basic/- and you can use it at that address for the next two weeks. However, please note that Twitter is...

Ahh, it reminds of olden days when Twitter was down more than it was up.  ;-P



iTweet.net has been down since yesterday morning (with a few short reprieves) due to the DoS attacks that are happening.  I'm keeping an eye on it and will update this post when service is restored.



Adding to the confusion, I am not able to post any tweets from Twitter.com or even via SMS, so I am unable to respond to those of you who have asked me what is happening.  Sorry! I hope you've subscribed to my blog's RSS feed.



Twitter has confirmed that the downtime is only affecting some clients, also that SMS is unavailable for some users, and that they are working on the issue.  I guess I'm just lucky enough to fall into both categories!



Update: iTweet.net is back online, after some changes from Twitter and some refactoring on my end to accommodate those changes. Yippeee!

(August 7 2009, 4:30pm PST)

I just noticed in my web app iTweet that Twitter is reporting a maximum of 150 API requests per hour now! Hurray!  This is great news for Twitter clients, as the API limit is a constant challenge in user interaction.



Twitter had mentioned that this was in the works, but so far I haven't heard mention of them actually launching this upgrade.  I hope it is here to stay!



They have also recently fixed a long-standing bug that caused followers/following methods to report incorrect data. Along with this fix came some new API methods for managing follow relationships - I will be updating iTweet with a new follow/unfollow UI just as soon as I can get to it!



There are some really great improvements coming soon to iTweet.net - stay tuned for much much more.

A nasty worm is sweeping through Twitter this weekend. Up till now iTweet.net has been immune to the attacks, but a newer, trickier version was causing browsers to redirect to the spammer's website.



In response I've temporarily disabled the site while I work on a fix.  Thank goodness I seem to have caught it within minutes of the new version spreading through the Twitterverse.



IMPORTANT:  The worm was not able to spread via iTweet, nor was any data compromised (usernames and passwords are well-encrypted). The worm was exploiting actions specific only to twitter.com and causing people to automatically tweet deceptive links which caused itself to spread as others clicked those links. This didn't work with iTweet's different structure, it simply caused the page to redirect to their script where it stopped. I do recommend clearing your browser cache and cookies as a safety measure, and avoid using web-based Twitter clients until this worm is dealt with.



Please check back here on my blog for updates about iTweet, and check the Twitter status blog as well as their main blog for up-to-date information about the worm.

Twitter made an alteration to their API for "in reply to" statuses this week that I felt required a change in the way that iTweet.net handles sending @replies.



One of my personal favorite iTweet features is the "in reply to" links that show what tweet a person was @replying to inline - so you can follow conversations without leaving the page you're on.



Previously if no particular status was specified, Twitter assigned the "in reply to" link to the last tweet of the person who was replied to.  As of this week, they are only assigning that link if a particular tweet was specified - otherwise there will be no "in reply to" tweet marked.  This will help make conversation threading much more clear, but it also required that Twitter API clients get on board with the new method to ensure that threads are clearly designated.



(In case you're wondering, @replies to you will still show up in your Replies tab if no tweet was specified - but there will not be a particular thread attached.)



Here's how I've decided to handle this change - when you click the @ button to send a reply, a small box above the...

Here's a bookmarklet to help you tweet links to Web pages from your iPhone using iTweet.net and bit.ly:



Post Link via iTweet



Adding and using this bookmarklet is simple.  Just drag the above link into your Safari bookmarks and sync your iPhone to transfer the bookmarklet to your iPhone.



Then, from any Web page that you would like to post on Twitter, just go to your Bookmarks, locate the "Post via iTweet" bookmarklet and select it.  A new web page will be opened to http://itweet.net, the link will be shortened using bit.ly, and placed in the Post field ready for tweeting.



I thought about putting the original page's title into the tweet as well, but then I realized I would usually rather make up my own caption. However if the general consensus is that adding the page title to the tweet would be more useful, I can make that change - leave your opinion in the comments here, or email me, or contact me on Twitter.



Thanks to Matt Teske for providing the motivation to make this bookmarklet - I will definitely find it useful and I hope you will too.  :-)

itweet twitter bitly link...

Twitter made an alteration to their API for "in reply to" statuses this week that I felt required a change in the way that iTweet.net handles sending @replies.



One of my personal favorite iTweet features is the "in reply to" links that show what tweet a person was @replying to inline - so you can follow conversations without leaving the page you're on.



Previously if no particular status was specified, Twitter assigned the "in reply to" link to the last tweet of the person who was replied to.  As of this week, they are only assigning that link if a particular tweet was specified - otherwise there will be no "in reply to" tweet marked.  This will help make conversation threading much more clear, but it also required that Twitter API clients get on board with the new method to ensure that threads are clearly designated.



(In case you're wondering, @replies to you will still show up in your Replies tab if no tweet was specified - but there will not be a particular thread attached.)



Here's how I've decided to handle this change - when you click the @ button to send a reply, a small box above the...

I saw a lot of discussion going on in the Twitterverse recently about standard conventions for "retweeting" - the increasingly popular habit of repeating someone else's tweet verbatim with a credit to their username (or as close to verbatim as possible inside of the 140-character limit).



I personally don't retweet often, but I see it happening more and more every day. (Whether or not this increases the quality of Twitter conversations is a debate for another post.) Enough users of iTweet.net, the Twitter client for the Web and iPhone that I make, requested a retweet button so I went ahead and added one several weeks ago.



Several weeks ago, savvy iTweet.net user David Simmons had written me to ask if iTweet could use the Unicode "recycle" symbol ♺ as a standard for retweeting.  I immediately liked the idea - it's expressive, cool-looking and best of all it's only one character long, conserving space for more tweet.



Unfortunately I looked into it and found that the symbol doesn't render in SMS messages or on the iPhone.  Since iTweet.netis an iPhone web app, and since a large number of Twitter users rely on SMS, IMO this makes it a no-go for...

iTweet.net user John Haydon made this fantastic "How To" video called Setting Up And Using iTweet.Net and posted it on his blog, CorporateDollar.org.  Nice work John!





The response to iTweet 2's web interface has been truly extraordinary and now WAY surpasses usage of the original iPhone interface.  It is so wonderful to see a larger user community developing and producing great stuff like this video.  Thanks everyone!

Leave comments on this blog, or let's talk on Twitter or Facebook.

Technorati tags: itweet, twitter, video, iphone, howto, diy, web app

I've made a couple additions and modifications to iTweet this week, they are lots of fun and add some great functionality!



In the Web interface I've added Statistics to your profile in the top right - so you can see at a glance your number of updates, favorites, following and followers. This updates itself as you tweet, fave and follow.  There is also an "Appearance" preference in the Settings menu - you can keep the default iTweet look OR import your Twitter profile's appearance - background image, font colors, sidebar color and everything!



If you are wondering "where did the nifty follow/notifications/block buttons go?", I have moved them all to the Profile pages to make better use of the API and make these methods more intuitive.  The old method assumed whether you were following a person or not based on the timeline they were found in; this was a little confusing and inconvenient, so I've moved it to the Profile page.  Here the page can tell (via the Twitter API call) whether you are following that person or not, and present the correct options depending on that status.



There's also an "is so-and-so following me?" button so you can see...

Twitter just made a great addition to their Search API: Twitter Trends!



This method allows you to see the hot topics of discussion across the entire Twitterverse.  This is a neat way to keep up on breaking news, technology trends, political sentiments, or the latest Internet meme that everyone's tweeting about.



When I hear about some fresh news or tech rumor, I do a quick Twitter search before I go to any news website; it's a great way to find a wealth of links to pertinent content across the Web.



I've added the Twitter Trends method to both the iPhone and the Web version of iTweet.net.  I think it will become a fun way to keep up on current events, and to entertain myself when I'm stuck in line at the bank.  ;)   Enjoy!

Leave comments on this blog, or let's talk on Twitter or Facebook.

Technorati Tags: itweet, itweet.net, twitter, iphone, trends, api, colby palmer

Today I'm releasing a major upgrade to iTweet, an interface for Twitter that is one of my pet projects.  This is a double release: a hugely improved iPhone Web app, and an all-new interface for any Web browser.



Click here to give the new iTweet a try!



Beginning with the iPhone app, there are some key features to note:

• Tap user pictures to toggle bio information. This section allows you to see a user's location, bio, and URL.  There are quick links to send a DM, view extended profile, turn notifications on/off, block, and follow/unfollow.
• "In reply to" links allow you to see the tweet a person was replying to, without loading a new page.
  
  
• Built-in search and hashtags via the Twitter Search API.
  
  
• Monitor your remaining API requests using the number in the "refresh" button.
  
  
• Update (and check) your location from the Settings menu.
  
  
• Change your notifications device, get more detailed API usage info, set hashtags preferences, and more from the Settings menu.
  
  
• Vastly improved speed in loading all timelines.
  
  

As before, a basic rule of thumb with iTweet goes: tap the avatar to see a person's profile, tap the username to see a person's tweets.



There...

The "tracking" feature in Twitter had become a staple of my communication. I used it to catch @colbypalmer, @itweet or @colbyworld replies, and to find out what people were saying about iTweet, my Twitter client, or my other projects. It's also a great way of monitoring your competition! It was recently disabled as a part of the Twitter downgrades, and I found that I was missing replies (checking the Replies tab for all three of my accounts is something I just can't keep up with) and feeling "out of the loop" as far as my product's relationship to its users.



Enter Tweetbeep.com: "Like Google Alerts for Twitter". This tool was created by Michael Jensen, @mdjensen on Twitter. Tweetbeep scans Twitter for terms or usernames (they use the excellent Summize for this) and emails you with your results.



It's not as real-time as the original tracking, but that's kind of a nice thing as you can opt to check for your updates hourly or daily, and you don't get a million text messages all day long. You can also add links to your search, which are gathered in real-time; Tweetbeep will even find links that have...

Twitter sent some downtime notices today via a regular friends_timeline JSON request. Even though the downtime is a bummer, this kind of error reporting is really nice, as you aren't left with that "should I keep refreshing the page?" feeling. Often Twitter crashes return full XHTML pages to API calls, like the "Too many tweets!" page with the whale that we've been seeing lately. These aren't parsed into a Twitter feed like this error message was (API rate limit notices and other errors are returned as valid JSON though). This can be worked around by looking at the HTTP code that is returned, but I wish there was some way for the app to return valid JSON error messages to API requests instead of the default XHTML crash pages. Leave comments on this blog, or let's talk on Twitter or Facebook.

Tags: twitter, downtime, maintenance, error reporting, itweet

Twitter has decided to remove a certain call from their API that the iTweet 2 private beta relied on to create the "ticker" effect that kept it updating at nearly real-time speeds.  The rate limit for API calls also remains handicapped, cut to 30 per hour from the usual 70.  This makes using Twitter API tools extremely inconvenient, and developing them is also quite frustrating. For now I have removed the "ticker" feature and the friends timeline will refresh every 140 seconds, though this number may be adjusted slightly as I attempt to keep the page open and in use today.  (Big thanks to all my helpful beta testers for your excellent feedback on the last iTweet 2 development cycle!)  Further development on the beta will continue when the API rate limit returns to normal.  Until then, Twitter API development is a waste of time as most people seem to be ditching API apps for the non-limited Web site. This is actually a good thing for me, as I am working hard on developing some other tools for The Illusion Factorythat I will be posting more about soon. Apologies for the lack of updates recently, I've been...

There's a great new Twitter service called Tweet Clouds, that will make a word cloud out of your Twitter timeline.  Here's mine: It's neat to see which words jump out. Some are obvious (iTweet, iPhone) but I am surprised at the weight of a couple words ("new" is one of the biggest words, I don't know what that's all about).  It also shows the people that I converse with the most and that's kind of cool to see. I also like that "love" and "lt3" are right next to each other - "lt3" being how Tweet Clouds reads "less-than-three" <3 hearts. This is an inventive and useful way of analyzing the content of your Twitter posts.  Kudos to John Krutsch for the scripting and Jared Stein for the design. You can see my full-size Tweet Cloud here. You can follow my Twitter updates here, my Twitter handle is @colbypalmer.

Tags: twitter, tweetcloud, colbypalmer

Internal mechanisms began making adjustments. Muscle relaxants, serotonin. What to calm her mind? Focus...her son, where had they taken him?

This was my 140-character contribution to Twittory #1, "The Darkness Inside".  This is a Twitter-based Exquisite Corpse story written in 140 sentences of 140 characters or less (this is the amount of space allotted to a tweet). Fun idea! The story so far has elements of mystery, action, science fiction, humor and romance.  Also blood, swearing, kissing, treachery, and time travel.  And Lou Reed. Twittories are a production of The Podcast Network, and the game was begun by Cameron Reilly of the "G'Day World" podcast. My sentence is number 54, which I entered sometime around December 22. Right now the game is up to number 86...so check back in March or April to read the final product!

Tags: twitter, twittories, twittory, writing, exquisitecorpse

I've added Twitter search and #hashtag search to iTweet.net's iPhone interface.  I did it before I took off for Macworld last week, so I could see who was talking about what.  Unfortunately, this didn't quite work out as apparently we Twitterbugs got a little excited with Macworld fever and crashed Twitter right down.  The API didn't become usable till about 24 hours later! I started tracking "macworld" that morning and my IM sounded like I'd won a jackpot! I had to turn it off 'cause it was way too distracting. Anyway, #hashtag support is in as well, #hashtagged words are green.  Click them to see an archive of words with that tag.  For now I've decided to strip the preceding # off of the tagged word to make the system totally legible. I made the search button in the menu BRIGHT RED just to beat you over the head with it for now. ;) Search is provided by the Terraminds Twitter Search API.

Tags: itweet, twitter, iphone, hashtags, terraminds, twittersearch, colby palmer

Enough people have expressed interest in a desktop browser version of iTweet (examples: one, two, three) that I started putting one together tonight. Twitter's recent dropping of the hyperlinks in @replies is fixed by just a few lines of code in iTweet... so if you like using @replies, here you go. A lot of iTweet's functions are built around convenience for the iPhone, so expect this version to change a lot as I modify it for the desktop browser. Eliminating the constraints of bandwidth and Mobile Safari's funkiness, lots more is possible. On the other hand, without Safari's wonderful CSS3 support, this version doesn't have all the lovely rounded corners of the iPhone version. Anyways, it's a work in progress, but seeing how everyone misses the linked @replies I thought I'd just publish this early so people can use it. Enjoy. Click here to give it a try.So far I have only clicked around this version a bit in Firefox and Safari on the Mac before I blew through the API limit on both my accounts. I will test and debug it for other browsers soon. I welcome your opinions and feature requests for the desktop...

Twitter just introduced a new method of "tracking" keywords - enter "track keyword" in SMS or IM and you will receive notifications whenever someone uses that keyword in a tweet. Right now it's only available via IM or SMS notifications, but they say it will eventually come to the API etc. I've been using it for a couple days and I think it's a very cool addition. I've also been very interested in Chris Messina's suggestions for using #hashmark tag channels similar to what you can find in Jaiku (and IRC I think). The "tracking" feature provides a similar service but they are slightly different and I can see a great reason for both to exist. Here is my take on the difference between the two:

Twitter Tracking:

• involuntary
• results are broader and less contextual
• great for customer service, marketing, vanity
• automatically removes anonymity (can't opt out of tracking searches)
• no "on-board" archiving
• present tense only (cannot track past tweets)

#Hashtags:

• voluntary
• items are intentionally tagged so results are higher quality
• great for networking, community, research
• anonymity is removed by knowing participation
• creates public archive
• can search Twitterstream into the past

While Twitter's new tracking feature is very cool...

My use of Twitter has changed over time, as has my enjoyment of it. I had idly been making some notes about it, inspired by a thoughtful post from A Bite Of Sanity, and then today a Twitter question from Chris Brogan made me decide to post it. Examples here are real tweets from my timeline: 1. Newbie - figuring out if it's OK to jump in and follow people I don't know. Will they yell at me? 2. Stalker - You mean I can hear what John Gruber and Eric Meyer are saying? And I don't have to come up with something intelligent to say back? Sweet! In this stage I didn't make many tweets, just followed a ton of people and watched the tweets roll by. 3. Shy Kid At The Party - making awkward observational statements, hoping someone will start a conversation. It didn't work, as I wasn't really offering much of real value. Example: "Going to see Spiderman 3" 4. Self-Promoter - talking endlessly about the projects I'm working on, attempt at self-marketing I guess ... But this doesn't invite 2-way communication, and it didn't improve my Twitter experience at all. Example: "Back to...

I had to vent a bit on Twitter the other day; I am so fed up with hearing the Web 2.0 elite waste their time on petty arguments, that i abruptly jumped into a one-way conversation of Dave Winer's. IMHO Dave is a visionary (albeit sometimes a bit cranky) that I respect very much, and even though I tried to make that clear, I still should have separated the issue that was bothering me from the conversation that set me off. The conversation, unfortunately, was picked up by some site called Eye on Winerand published. Apparently they are like Dave Winer's personal Valleywag. If I were Dave I would be flattered; they obviously put a lot of energy into this site. I attempted to comment on their post, even registered and tried to post my own comments, but for whatever reason the site refuses to approve my post. OMG really? If you're going to publish my tweets out of context, at least give me the opportunity to express my perspective...right? If not, I felt it needed to be said...so here we are. So...this needs more than 140 characters so I decided it's time to start my own blog. Yes,...