Digital Streets

A few weeks ago, I blogged about putting Twitter in Firefox’s Sidebar, using the mobile version of the microblogging site. I have since changed to a much better Twitter client for my sidebar, namely Hahlo, a Twitter client designed for the iPhone.

Hahlo is superior in functionality to the mobile version of Twitter, its biggest strength is that it automatically refreshes to reveal new tweets. Along with that, it is much nicer to look at.

To add Hahlo to your Firefox Sidebar, drag the following link to your Bookmark Toolbar.

Hahlo

Right-click on the newly created bookmark. Select Properties. Check the Load this bookmark in the sidebar checkbox. Click the Save Changes button.

Launch Hahlo from the bookmark. Login using your Twitter username and password and you’re good to go.

Firefox’s sidebar is a perfect tool for accessing mobile sites. By using these sites in the sidebar, you can utilize various web apps and sites without having to leave the page you are on. In fact, you can create your own personal Flock-type browser if you take the time to find the necessary sites. I have used both Twitter and del.icio.us in my sidebar and have been quite pleased with the results.

Here’s what Twitter looks like in the Firefox Sidebar:

And here’s del.icio.us in the sidebar:

Other sites with great potential for Sidebar usage:

To add the desired mobile site to your Firefox sidebar:

1. Open Firefox.

2. Go to the menu, click Bookmarks and select Organize Bookmarks.

3. In the right pane, select Bookmarks Menu.

4. Click the Organize button at the top of the window, and select New Bookmark.

5. In the Name textbox, input the name of the mobile site.

6. In the Location textbox, input the url.

7. Check the Load this bookmark in the sidebar checkbox.

8. Click the Add button.

9. Close the Library window.

Now go select your newly created bookmark. When the page loads in the sidebar, login to your account and your ready to go.

I use Twitter quite a bit to keep up with the rest of the Tech-Recipes crew. Since I always have my Firefox browser open, it is beneficial to run Twitter in my browser’s sidebar. That way I post a quick tweet without having to leave the page that I am on. Placing Twitter in Firefox’s sidebar is simple, just follow these steps:

1. Open Firefox.

2. Go to the menu, click Bookmarks and select Organize Bookmarks.

3. In the right pane, select Bookmarks Menu.

4. Click the Organize button at the top of the window, and select New Bookmark.

5. In the Name textbox, input Twitter.

6. In the Location textbox, input http://m.twitter.com/home.

7. Check the Load this bookmark in the sidebar checkbox.

8. Click the Add button.

9. Close the Library window.

Now go select your newly created bookmark. When the page loads in the sidebar, login to your account and your ready to go. Twitter’s page for mobile browsers is an excellent fit in Firefox’s sidebar.

This one is for the command line junkies out there. By using cURL ( a client for getting files from servers), you can easily post your tweets to Twitter from the terminal window.

To install cURL:

1. Open a terminal window.

2. Execute the following Terminal command:
   

   sudo apt-get install curl

3. Input the administrative password.

With cURL installed, you can post to Twitter from the terminal window by using the following syntax:

You will receive a response containing the XML coding for your post which acts as a confirmation that your post was submitted.

You can now follow the Tech-Recipes community on the popular microblog Twitter.  If you are already registered with Twitter, just go to http://twitter.com/techrecipes and click the Follow button.  By following us on Twitter, you will be kept updated of all new tutorials as well as any new articles on the Tech-Recipes blogs.  Big thanks to Davak for getting this up and going for us.

You can also follow these Tech-Recipe members:

• davak - Editor and uber tutorial writer.   
  http://www.twitter.com/davak
  
• qmchenry - Editor and promoter of all things that are Apple.  http://www.twitter.com/qmchenry
  
• seamonkey420 - tutorial writer and gadget freak. http://www.twitter.com/seamonkey420
  
• and little old me.
  http://www.twitter.com/shamanstears 

If you are a Twitter user and Firefox is your web browser of choice, then you might want to check out the TwitterFox extension.  This add-on makes reading and posting tweets easy to do without ever going to the Twitter site.  It adds a small Twitter icon to your Firefox status bar and notifies you when your friends have updated Twitter.

To install the TwitterFox Extension, go here and click on the green Install TwitterFox button.  A software installation window will appear, click the Install Now button.

The Add-Ons window will appear, click the Restart Firefox button.

After Firefox comes back up, go to the menu bar, click Tools and select Add-ons.

When the Add-ons window appears, scroll down to TwitterFox and select it.  Click the Options button.

The TwitterFox preferences window will appear.  Input your Twitter login information.  Also set the interval for it to get tweets and the popup interval.

Click OK.

Now click the Twitter icon in your status bar to view and submit tweets whenever you want.

If you are using Microsoft Outlook 2003 or 2007 as your email client, you are but a download and an install away from making it your Twitter client as well.  TechHit.com, a maker of utilites and add-ons for Outlook, has produced OutTwit to perform your Twitter needs. 

First, download the OutTwit Setup executable from TechHit.com.  Install the add-on.

Now, open up Outlook and you will find a Twitter addition to your menu bar.  To configure the settings, click the OutTwit button and select Options.

Input your Twitter user name and password in the designated textboxes.   Then set how often you want to check for new Twitter messages.  Next, select the folder that you want the Tweets delivered to (I recommend that you create a new folder that is to be strictly used for your incoming tweets).  You can also assign an Outlook category to the tweets.  Click OK when you have finished.

Once your Twitter messages start arriving, they will show up in the same fashion as incoming email messages:

Opening the messages will display something like this:

For the time being, the search capability within Twitter itself is quite limited as     you can only search for users.  However, I came across a couple of sites that allow you to perform searches on the tweets.

The first one I came across is Terraminds micro search.  This is a great search application for performing search queries on Twitter updates.  Simply input a term to search for and click the search in updates button.

You will presented with a result set of all tweets over the last month that contain the term you are searching for.  That term will be bolded in each tweet:

By modifying our search to @username (in this example @shamanstears), we can pull up replies to a particular user. 

After you have found the result set you are looking for, click the rss link and you will get the address to add to your feedreader.  This way you can stay updated on all tweets that match your search criteria.

The other site that caught my attention is buzztter.  This site focuses on searching for buzzwords or phrases.  Simply input the term or phrase you are searching for and click the search button.

The result set will look something like this:

A couple of days ago, I came across a posting at Download Squad on a potentially useful tool called RSS Mixer.  RSS Mixer is an online tool for combining different RSS feeds into a single feed.  I wondered what RSS feeds would I like to combine and immediately realized that using it to unify my microblog feeds would be a great way to start.  After further examination, I found that it could be used to combine the feeds from Twitter, Pownce, and Jaiku.  Since all of these microblogs were created as a way for you to keep others updated on what you are up to, unifying them makes perfect since.  That way, no matter which service you are using at the time, anyone who subscribes to the unified feed will be kept updated on what you are up to.  To create a unified theme for your Twitter, Jaiku,  and Pownce accounts, follow these steps:

1.  Go to RSS Mixer.

2. Title your unified feed in the Title Your Mix textbox.

3. Now we need to start entering the feeds that are to be combined.  You will need to open a new tab (or window) in your browser because we’ll be doing some copying and pasting back to the RSS Mixer.  You will paste the address to each of your feeds in the Enter a Feed textbox and click the + button to add it.

Twitter - Go to your Twitter page (http://twitter.com/yourusername).  Scroll to the bottom of the page, and find the RSS Feed link on the left side.

Right-click the link and select Copy Shortcut (IE7) or Copy Link Location (Firefox).  Now go back to RSS Mixer and paste the feed location into the Enter a Feed textbox.  Click the + button.

Pownce - Go to your Pownce page (http://pownce.com/yourusername).   Go to the right of the page.  Find the Public Profile section and click the public profile link.  Go to the Public Notes section and locate the    icon.

Right-click the   icon and select Copy Shortcut (IE7) or Copy Link Location (Firefox).  Now go back to RSS Mixer and paste the feed location into the Enter a Feed textbox.  Click the + button.

Jaiku - Go to your Jaiku page (http://yourusername.jaiku.com).   Scroll to the bottom of Your Jaikus.  Find the  Latest from yourusername (RSS) link.

Right-click the link and select Copy Shortcut (IE7) or Copy Link Location (Firefox).  Now go back to RSS Mixer and paste the feed location into the Enter a Feed textbox.  Click the + button.

4.   Now click the Mix it button on RSS Mixer.

5.  The resulting page will show you what your new feed looks like on the left side of the page.  On the right side, you will see the Downloads and Special Formats section.  This will give you the links to your new feed.

If you have a data plan on your cell phone, you can utilize EQO Mobile to post to Twitter instead of relying on SMS and possibly racking up some unnecessary charges for texting.

First, you’ll need to set things up so that you can use the Google Talk protocol with Twitter, see the tutorial for doing this here.

Once that is done, fire up EQO Mobile.  After you have added your Google Talk account, you will see the user twitter@twitter.com.

Start a chat session with twitter@twitter.com so you can create your Twitter posting.

Once you have finished typing your post, click Send.  The message will show up in the message window.

Now go to Twitter and you will see your post in all of its glory.