The Four-eyed Journal » Twitter

Twitter client: Switching from Gwibber to Turpial

jhay — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 00:00:40 +0000

Turpial is a free and open-source Twitter client for Ubuntu Linux. It's light, fully functional and simply works.

One of the things I looked forward in Ubuntu 11.10 is the new version of Gwibber with it’s overhauled UI which is way better than the previous incarnation.

However, ever since the upgrade to Ubuntu 11.10, I’ve always had a hard time using Gwibber because for some strange reason it just moves like a glacier on my notebook. Often times, it just crashes.

I know the open-source community can help fix this, but I have hardly the time to get it done so for a quick fix I downloaded and installed a different Twitter client – Turpial.

It’s written in Python, light, fully functional and it simply works. It’s full features are the following:

Support single column view and multicolumn view (if you are using Multicolumn view it’s look like tweetdeck).
Colored tweets according to their status (yellow when read. blue when unread, etc).
Support for identi.ca
Enhanced Notifications (with further options).
Autoscrolling
Customizable image hosting place for uploaded images.
Customizable preferred service for shorten url service.

You can install Turpial on your Ubuntu machine by using these commands in Terminal:

sudo apt-add-ppa repository: effie-jayx/turpial sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install turpial

Sorry Gwibber, I really looked forward to sending out tweets with you but you just won’t work with me.

Assess Social Media Performance with Wildfire Monitor

jhay — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 00:00:24 +0000

The increase in social media usage has gone along with a rise in the number of tools to monitor and track that usage. Web users have plenty of choice here, but one tool that’s worth watching is WildFire Monitor. This is one of a range of useful tools from Wildfire Interactive, a technology company that aims to help organizations engage their social media communities. The key question that Wildfire Monitor asks is ‘who’s winning in social?’

Check Facebook and Twitter

The main WildFire Monitor page allows you to type in three Facebook page URLs and three Twitter usernames. Then you hit the compare button to compare how those pages and profiles have performed over time. One of the nicest things about WildFire Monitor is the easy stats view via a color coded chart. You can track weekly, monthly, quarterly or all stats, checking the number of fans or followers. This could be particularly useful for organizations who are trying to see how their social media efforts match up against those of their competitors, measured in simple numbers. If you want to know whether your fan base is increasing or whether your competitors are gaining the edge, then this is the perfect tool.

Get Social Media Alerts

What’s more the daily trend tracking can be combined with weekly alerts which allow you to receive these key metrics in your inbox and WildFire soon plans to add another feature, providing customized social media guidance based on your key metrics. This will be a great feature for those just starting out in social media, and even for those who want to refine the techniques they are using to gain fans and followers.

Build Social Media Campaigns

Signup for this tool is free at the moment, but you’ll have to pay to use WildFire’s other award winning tool, the campaign builder. This is how you can attract and engage your customers. This tool allows you to create branded campaigns such as contests, giveaways, sweepstakes, surveys and so on and publish them both on your website and on your chosen social networks. Interactivity will draw your customers in and keep them loyal – and you’ll be able to track the growth in your fanbase with WildFire Monitor.

Other Users

Who else could use the monitoring tool? Well, it’s not just corporations who can benefit from this type of campaign and monitoring. All kinds of organizations can improve their social media performance this way – non-profits, small businesses, agencies – and even individual bloggers looking to gain some social media traction. Only you can decide whether to use WildFire Monitor as a stand alone tool – and peek on what your fellow bloggers are doing – or to go for the full suite of tools and launch an interactive campaign. Pricing for the campaigns starts at $5 apiece plus $0.99 per day and goes all the way up to customized white label solutions.

WildFire Monitor is a nice addition to the range of social media monitoring tools already available – check it out!

This post is written by Lior Levine, a marketing consultant for a web hosting company that lists the top 10 website hosting companies. Lior also advises for a company that specializes in personalized oncology services.

Finally, integrated Facebook & Twitter Login to WordPress comments

jhay — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 04:13:31 +0000

Some view it as WordPress’ challenge to the Facebook Comment Box I on the other hand see it as a positive response to a need of WordPress users; allowing readers to easily add comments using their Facebook or Twitter credentials without the need for a third-party plugin.

Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against those third-party plugins that do just that, but seeing how this feature has become so common nowadays, it has become a de facto must-have for blogs. So it makes perfect sense that Facebook and Twitter login options be integrated into the WordPress comment widget.

It saves us bloggers from the hassle of finding the right plugin that does this job, it saves us from the trouble of resolving plugin conflicts if it arises, it saves us from the other trouble of messing around with theme files in order to make the plugin work the way we want it. Ultimately, one less plugin running under the hood makes a WordPress blog more secure and stable.

For now this feature is available to WordPress.com users and would soon be released for those self-hosted WordPress users like me via a plugin or as part of a future version of Jetpack.

Kudos to the WordPress team for this wonderful update!

Sony launches Internet TV in the Philippines

jhay — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 07:00:03 +0000

Just got word a few days back about SONY Philippines’ launch of its new line of Internet TV that range from the 32″ models up to 60″ models featuring Full HD 1080p display.

Some units in the new Bravia Internet TV 2011 line are also 3D TV like the KDL-HX925, KDL-NX720 and KDL-EX720.

Just as the name says, these Bravia Internet TVs come with widgets that allows you to connect to popular social networking sites like Facebook, YouTube and update your Twitter account right from the TV via a WiFi connection.

Some models like the KDL-CX520 even support Skype right out-of-the-box. Check out the prices of some models below:

KDL-CX520 (Full HD 1080 TV)
46” – Php99,999
40” – Php66,999
32” – Php39,999

KDL-EX520 (Full HD 1080 TV)
46” – Php133,999
40” – Php81,999
32” – Php52,999

Sony Philippines also released new connected Blu-ray Disc players, the BDP-S380 and BDP-S485 and a new Sony 3D Blu-Ray Disc Home Theater optimized for 2D or 3D entertainment experiences.

If you’re looking for a new HD TV with Internet capabalities, these new Sony Internet TV models are worth taking a serious look at.

Official Twitter App for Windows Phone - Pivots allow you to swipe left or right to view different pages of the app

jhay — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 03:56:17 +0000

While users of the iPhone, BlackBerry and even Android-powered smartphones had to wait for months before an official Twitter apps was released for their platform, Windows Phone users just had to wait for weeks for it.

Twitter has just announced the official Twitter App for Windows Phone:

Twitter for Windows Phone includes all of the features that you’d expect from Twitter – your timeline, suggested users, messages, lists, and a great way to explore Twitter without even logging in. You can sign up for an account right from the app as well. The app is really fast, and we think you’ll enjoy the experience.

Looks sexy doesn’t it? Twitter worked with IdentityMine and used the open source REST API library, Tweet Sharp, as the foundation for the app.

The neat thing about this app is the Pivots feature which will allow users to swipe to the left or right on their Windows Phone units in order to view other ‘pages’ of the app like lists or replies.

The official Windows Phone Twitter App is now available for users. Anyone who has tried the app? What are your thoughts about it?