John at myITforum.com

I get a lot of questions (and see a lot of questions) for Windows Mobile Twitter apps, or the best Windows Mobile Twitter app. The bottom line is, there are A LOT of Windows Mobile Twitter apps, most of them free.  Which one is the best?  For me right now it’s PockeTwit and CETwit.  You should try a few of them to determine what works for you.  I’ve listed the most popular apps.

These are in no particular order.

By the way, if your looking for a Windows Mobile Facebook client, that’s available too.

Facebook for your Windows Mobile 6 phone

Want a quicker way to search Twitter rather than going to http://search.twitter.com?  How about this.

Go to search.twitter.com:

Click the Install Search Plugin.  Once you add it, it will show up in your default list of search providers:

Now you can search directly from Internet Explorer and include Twitter with your research.

Below highlights the upcoming Microsoft Webcasts:

TechNet Webcast: Deploying Mobile Device Manager 2008 is easier (and cheaper) than you think (Level 300)

System Center Mobile Device Manager (SCMDM) is a complex product with a lot of dependencies which must all be in place in order for it to work correctly. This session, which takes almost 2 years of hands-on experience of deploying implementing SCMDM in the field, steps through how to successfully (and cost effectively) implement this product in the enterprise. The objective of this session is to address the misconception that SCMDM is hard to implement while showing how MDM eliminates almost all of the overhead associated with Blackberrys while retaining and elevating both manageability and security.   

Presenter: Patrick Salmon, Mobility Architect, Enterprise Mobile  

4/17/2009 11:30 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)- 4/17/2009 1:00 PM | Duration:90 Minutes

MSDN Webcast: 24 Hours of Windows Mobile Application Development: WCF Development and Mobile Devices (Level 300)

Communicating with the server-side and the rest of your corporate network infrastructure is a key aspect of any mobile smart client application that lives within a distributed enterprise architecture. However, mobile devices aren't always on the Web or docked into the corporate network.  Therefore your applications have to handle a range of scenarios for transferring data to and from the home office during times when a connection is available and storing information locally when a connection is not available. Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) provides a unified programming model for building connected applications with managed code on the desktop and the server. Thanks to the WCF extensible channel architecture, mobile devices can also participate and leverage WCF, but only a subset of the full WCF model is supported. This session explores the similarities and the differences in building mobile communications infrastructures using Microsoft .NET Compact Framework 3.5 and WCF. Through live demos using Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 and other mobile tools, we’ll cover the WCF programming model and available layers, the supported channels, integrating with the desktop and server-side, see how to cover the lack of device addressability, the role of Microsoft Exchange 2007, e-mail and AirSync, extensibility points, security and more. If you think you know everything about WCF, think again…mobile devices are also part of the enterprise equation and you need to learn how to reach out to them.

Presenter: Nickolas Landry, MVP and Principal Architect, Infusion Development, New York City

4/22/2009 10:00 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)- 4/22/2009 11:00 AM | Duration:60 Minutes

MSDN Webcast: Overview of Developing Windows Mobile Applications using Visual Studio 2008 (Level 200)

With Visual Studio 2008, Device Developers have a very powerful development environment at their hands. In this sample filled Webcast you will learn how to develop applications in managed code for Windows Mobile Devices and you will learn how to configure and make use of Device Emulator to test your applications. You will also learn how to write unit tests for your applications and how to make use of the .NET Compact Framework 3.5 Power Toys to analyze performance of your running applications. Of course you will also learn how to deal with data on your device, making use of SQL Compact CE. This webcast is your perfect preparation to get the most out of all Windows Mobile sessions during Tech-Ed 2009.

Presenter: Maarten Struys, Embedded Evangelist, PTS Netherlands

4/23/2009 11:00 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)- 4/23/2009 12:30 PM | Duration:90 Minutes

MSDN Webcast: Hiding the Key: Practical Security for Windows Mobile Applications (Level 300)

Enterprise mobile applications usually require that sensitive data is stored on a mobile device. This session shows you how to store data securely in encrypted form and, most importantly, how to store encryption keys securely so that an attacker can't get access to them. You'll also learn how to encrypt configuration files to hide sensitive data, and how to implement a working password-based access control system for your mobile apps. We'll also look at how to use client certificates to control access to server resources.

Presenter: Andy Wigley, Mobile Application Development MVP

4/27/2009 10:00 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)- 4/27/2009 11:00 AM | Duration:60 Minutes

MSDN Webcast: 24 Hours of Windows Mobile Application Development: The Embedded Database for Building Mobile Line of Business Applications (Level 200)

This presentation will provide a great introduction into using Microsoft .NET Compact Framework and Microsoft SQL Server CE database development to create line of business applications, with a focus on database techniques for occasionally connected scenarios. Windows Mobile computing has started to extend past the reach of the office out into the field. Developing for this environment requires a new set of tools for .NET developers. There will be a strong focus on data driven applications and data synchronization techniques.

Presenter: Chris Craft, Senior Software Architect, ACS Technologies

4/29/2009 10:00 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)- 4/29/2009 11:00 AM | Duration:60 Minutes

MSDN Webcast: BenkoTips Live & On Demand: Building Windows Mobile Applications (Level 200)

With the rapid growth in the mobile industry see what it takes to build applications and systems that take advantage of skills and tools you already know. In this session we use Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 and the Windows Mobile 6 Refresh SDK to create a data aware application and deploy it to a real device. BenkoTips Live & On Demand brings events to you. This webcast series is dedicated to helping developers explore the possible. Join us each week as we take a look at what is new for developers, and see how to take advantage of the tools that developers use. From Microsoft Silverlight to Windows SharePoint Services, from the Microsoft .NET Framework to Microsoft Visual Studio, from Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.0 to membership, we explore it all.

Presenter: Mike Benkovich, MSDN Developer Evangelist, Microsoft Corporation

5/13/2009 9:00 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)- 5/13/2009 10:00 AM | Duration:60 Minutes

And in case you missed them, there are now a couple more webcasts on demand:

TechNet Webcast: Windows Mobile Digital Certificate Management (Level 300)

Digital Certificates and public/private key technology is core to Windows Mobile platform security.  In this session, you’ll learn how certificates are used to provide authentication, access control and encryption for the OS, applications and networking.  You’ll also learn best practices and “gotchas” for managing certificates on the device.   The speaker is an expert on Windows Mobile Certificate management and certificate-related features in the OS.  Come ready to ask any questions you may have:  enrollment, import, SSL, root certificates, email security, application security, etc.   

Presenter: David Field, Software Architect and Development Manager, Enterprise Mobile 

TechNet Webcast: Windows Mobile 6.1 and Mobile Device Manager 2008: The Gateway to Your Corporate Network(Level 200)

So, you are using Microsoft System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008 and Windows Mobile 6.1. Now what? You probably know that Mobile Device Manager can manage, secure, and install software on your phones. But did you know Mobile Device Manager also gives your users the potential to control the PC at their desk and access everything they need on the corporate network, including file shares, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server, instant messaging, and internal Web pages. In this webcast, we present the best practices for a Mobile Device Manager installation that provides users with access to everything they need in the corporate network through their phone and (just as important) denies access to resources mobile users don't need. We review the basics of Mobile Device Manager and IP security (IPsec) virtual private networks (VPNs), and we discuss the tools that users can take advantage of so they can work wherever they would like using their phone. Discover how Mobile Device Manager eliminates the need to expose your organization's Microsoft Exchange Server to the Internet.       

Presenter: Anthony Spencer, Mobility Consultant, Enterprise Mobile

From Information Week:

Developers are more interested in porting applications to Android, iPhone, and BlackBerry, according to a survey by Skyhook Wireless.

Developers looking at making location-based applications aren't very interested in Palm's Pre or Symbian, according to a survey from Skyhook Wireless.

Skyhook developed a hybrid location system that determines where a user is located by using Wi-Fi, GPS, and cell phone towers. The technology has been integrated into multiple mobile platforms, including Android and Symbian.

The company surveyed developers and found that nearly half think integrating location will set their apps apart or add value. These developers want their apps to be able to have exact location data, and 73% said very fast location results are important to the apps' performance. As more and more handsets utilize GPS, Wi-Fi, cell towers, and Bluetooth to determine location, the market for location-based services and applications is expected to swell to $13.3 billion by 2013.

The developers surveyed worked with iPhone, Android, Windows Mobile, and other development environments, and more than half planned to port their apps to another mobile platform. Google (NSDQ: GOOG)'s Android operating system fared well, as 58% of non-Android developers were planning to port to that platform.

Further in the article

The developers didn't show much interest in Symbian or Palm's upcoming webOS, as only 9% and 8%, respectively, planned to port apps to those platforms. The news may not be that bad for Symbian, as it will be capable of running many apps that are written in J2ME. But the lack of interest in webOS might put a dent in Palm's plans, as the company will be relying on mobile apps to help it make a comeback.

While I can understand the survey and the results, I would interpret it as a wait and see attitude from developers, not that “this might put a dent in Palm’s plans.  How can you interpret the results that way when most haven’t had the opportunity to even see the device or OS yet? 

Full article here.

Microsoft has launched a new beta version of Windows Live Hotmail available through a mobile Web browser. The release includes a new and improved user interface, navigation enhancements for touch-screen devices, the ability to see full HTML pages within e-mail messages and a new search feature that enables people to find important e-mail messages more easily.

The beta version is available at http://m.mail.live.com. Get it now.

Microsoft has announced that Windows Live for Mobile will be available for free download this week for customers in 25 languages. Windows Live for Mobile is the company’s mobile suite of Internet services designed specifically to take advantage of the Windows Mobile platform. It includes mobile versions of Windows Live Hotmail, Windows Live Messenger, Windows Live Contacts, Windows Live Spaces, Microsoft Live Search and enhanced photo upload capabilities.

Customers who have Windows Mobile 6.x phones can visit http://wl.windowsmobile.com to download the suite.

Interesting post on CNNMoney.

Microsoft (MSFT) raised the stakes in its anti-Apple (AAPL) PR offensive Thursday by issuing a 10-page “white paper” that puts a price tag on what it calls the “Apple tax” — the premium paid by consumers who choose Apple computers over those that run Microsoft Windows.

It’s a theme that was first raised last month by CEO Steve Ballmer, who told a Business Week-sponsored forum last month that Mac customers were paying an extra $500 to get the Apple logo on what is essentially the same hardware. And it has been repeated with slightly more subtlety every week since in a series of 60-second TV mini-dramas in which ordinary price-conscious Americans choose PCs over Macs. (The third is pasted below the fold; for more on the first two, see here and here.)

But the white paper, written by Endpoint Technologies Associates‘ Roger L. Kay and entitled “What Price Cool,” goes a few steps further. Not only does it slap a considerably higher tax on that Apple logo — $3,367 for two computers over five years — but it turns up the rhetorical temperature to something approaching the boiling point.

Full article here, and you can download the actual whitepaper here (yes, sorry, it’s in pdf format).  It’s an interesting read, and Brandon LeBlanc gives his take on the Windows Experience Blog.  See if you can do the math and come up with the difference. 

Follow stats, scores, fantasy leagues and more with Sporting News Baseball from Zumobi.(PRNewsFoto/Zumobi)
SEATTLE AND CHARLOTTE, WA AND NC UNITED STATES

Free App Enables Mobile Access to Scores, Stats, News and More; On-the-Go Fantasy League Players Can Track Their Rosters and News Through 'Favorite' Team Builder Feature

SEATTLE and CHARLOTTE, N.C. April 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Zumobi and SportingNews.com today announced the availability of Sporting News Baseball, a free mobile application for iPhone and iPod touch users that provides real-time updates and exclusive fantasy content on all teams and players in the MLB. With exclusive content from SportingNews.com, this new app gives fans instant access to scores, full standings, stats, MLB league and team news, player details, in-game updates, post-game recaps, and much more. Sporting News Baseball provides player rankings and projections for the upcoming season as well as access to exclusive news and Sporting News blog content.

Source via IntoMobile

“We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”

- Walt Disney

Well worth remembering.  Keep opening new doors and doing new things.

I know…I know…another Twitter post.  I’ll return to regular programming soon, I promise.  I just thought I’d share another great way I discovered to find the posts I’m after quickly. 

I’m a news junkie.  After checking email, my next check is my RSS feeds.  Once I’ve cleared email and my news feeds, I can move on to other business.  I’ve been experimenting with Twitter’s search site, http://search.twitter.com.  I use OutTwit regularly and it helps find the posts I need, but this is actually a pretty neat way to find things.  

Let’s say I want to find posts from certain folks to make sure I didn’t miss any.  By this I mean, yes, I use OutTwit but if I exit OutTwit or Outlook, stay disconnected for a few hours, say for a flight, then log back in, it doesn’t catch me up like email.  It only pulls the most recent, and certainly not all posts for the last two or three hours.  So, search.twitter.com to the rescue.

Back to my example.  In this case, let’s say I want to find all of Rod’s posts or Reed’s posts.  Using Twitter’s search terms, I enter below:

Once I click the Search button, it will display all of the posts from Reed or from Rod.  But, here’s the neat trick:

Once I’ve completed the search, notice the links in the right hand column.  One of the links is “Feed for this query”.  What will this do?  That’s right, it will create an RSS feed for the search query just created that can be inserted in to your news reader.  It’s just a matter of copying and pasting the shortcut in to the news reader.  As I’ve posted before, Twitter has some great advanced search features, and after each search, you can create feeds for your news reader.  When you launch your newsreader the next time, it will read the RSS feed and display the posts.  Since I’ve started doing this for posts I don’t want to miss, I catch them since I’m already checking RSS feeds.  So, if I want to stay caught up with what @lancearmstrong, or @levarburton, or @jerryrice have been up to, yep, I create a search and drop it in to my newsfeeds. 

Once they’ve downloaded to my news reader, there’s an option obviously to view the link.  Once you click the link, you’re taken to the actual post to reply, retweet, view, and all of the other options.  Some readers, like Snarfer, actually have a Twitter add-in that allow you to post directly from the news reader.  It’s not pretty, no, but it’s a great way to stay caught up with folks, even if you don’t have your favorite Twitter client loaded all the time.

I’ve been watching the stats for Twitter clients posting to Twitter.  Tweetdeck is making a run up the charts for the most popular Twitter client:

Using the web and sending text messages also remain popular, and those using Twitterfeed and Twitterrific round out the top five clients.  Clearly 72% of Twitter users prefer to post to Twitter with the methods listed in the top five.

Out of curiosity, I scanned the clients for where OutTwit may be lurking in the polls.  The results?

You can see for yourself…315 posts were made to Twitter from 143 users.  Much lower than I expected.

One of the draws to Twitter is seeing the avatars of those that you follow.  Some are real pictures, some are funny, others just express the mood the person happens to be in.  One thing I see a lot of in the twitter stream though is that OutTwit doesn’t display the avatars and that’s part of what they miss.  To answer the question, yes, OutTwit displays the avatars, and now with the latest release, you even get avatars in the tweet preview:

The avatar of the preview toolbar now displays the avatar for quick glance.  But what about while your reading?  Yes, looking at the Twitter stream as the posts hit it appears there’s no avatar:

From the above snapshot, yes, it appears that avatars are not there but that is at the folder level.  It looks like an icon from posts to a newsgroup or SharePoint site, but if you select the message itself, which is how I read (using my up/down arrow keys on my keyboard or the scroll wheel on my mouse), you can see the avatar:

Does it have a slick GUI and look pretty on the surface?  No, it doesn’t.  Can you see all the pretty avatars at the top level?  No, it doesn’t.  Do I care?  No.  Why?  One, I don’t need to load Adobe Air to make anything work (or blame Adobe Air when there are problems).  Two, does it actually work and keep the posts organized to make Twitter use efficient?  Yes, it does.  By that I mean, a lot of the popular clients (like Tweetdeck) have a tendency to error out due to too many API calls.  I can honestly say that I have not seen a single error since starting to use OutTwit, and using Tweetdeck and Twhirl caused issues for me.  And I can honestly say that I monitor the Twitter API website for resets/too many API calls and OutTwit has figured out how to be efficient, even checking for new tweets every minute or two.

To answer the question, yes, OutTwit does display the avatars.

For those that follow my blog for my comments on mobility, standby.  I have several posts in draft mode for the phones I’ve been testing on all the carriers (and yes…I know I OWE some folks a phone or two…I know…I know…).  I’m trying to get caught back up.  Honestly I am.  Holidays are always tough to find time, I’m tied up with some major projects, and I’m addicted to Twitter.  There, I said it. 

There’s certainly a balance between being social with all your new online friends you find on Twitter (and Facebook…and MySpace…and…), and remaining social with not only your blog, but those you come in to direct contact with.  Yes, I said being social with your blog.  Those of you that manage a blog among other things know what I mean.  And yes, I said those you come in direct contact with.  I find myself twittering my current status while neglecting those standing right next to me.  I find it hard sometimes to answer folks that ask “what are you doing?”  Why?  I’ve tried answering regarding Twitter, but unless you really experience it, you don’t know how to answer “what’s twitter?”  I can’t tell you how many times I still hear “twitter?  never heard of it”. 

Look for phone reviews and comments on mobile industry in general (including the Palm Pre) shortly, and more posts to the blog.

I’ve discussed OutTwit (from @techhit) in previous posts.  Over the last several weeks, I’ve really expanded my Search/Track Keywords and finding some really interesting folks, and really interesting topics, all by using OutTwit’s Search/Track Keyword functionality.

By this I mean, I’ve mentioned previously that Twitter has a 100 per hour pull limit from remote Twitter tools.  Understandable given the number of users and the number of Tweets.  In any event, Search/Track Keywords dramatically increases your ability to find things quickly.  Yes, Following a bunch of people and using Search Folders as I’ve mentioned does the same thing, but again, requires API usage where Search/Track Keywords does not.  For the last several weeks, I’ve been using Search/Track Keywords and it’s pulling faster than Following.

A couple of examples of how I’m using Search/Track Keywords:

I’m a fan of mobility so I like to follow conversations on mobility in general.  So, I created a Search Track Keyword for Windows Mobile that’s going to a Windows Mobile folder.  This search will find any posts made to Twitter where the user uses the words Windows Mobile.

I also want to follow certain trade shows, and those attending trade shows, so obviously creating searches for things like CES or CTIA will work:

I’m also a Cub Scout Den Leader, so want to find others on Twitter that are in to scouting (and obviously also find those who aren’t), so I’ve created a search for Scouts.  This will find any posts made to Twitter where the users uses the words  Scouts,  however the term is used.  I’ve meet some other great den leaders in the process.

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, you can obviously search for users and “follow” them without adding to your following count.  So, searches can be made to follow people (and those that reply to them) by searching for the twitter username, such as levarburton or lancearmstrong or michael_phelps or jerryrice or the_real_shaq (yes, they all use twitter).  Or, I can refine the search further by finding any posts just from them, and weed out those replying to them, or trying to get their attention.  For this, I use the from: in my search term:

This will only pull posts made from user lancearmstrong, and weed out all replies.  If I wanted to follow the entire conversations, I’d leave off the from: and pull any referring to that username.  There are many powerful search terms that can be used.  You can find a few of them by clicking the underline:

Again, Search/Track Keyword does not utilize or take your API so you can create as many as you want, or use them as often as you want, without fear of running in to the dreaded API limit issue.  I won’t tell you how many I’ve created, but there are a lot, and it’s greatly improved my twitter experience.

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Dec. 18, 2008 -- Palm, Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM) today reported that total revenue in the second quarter of fiscal year 2009, which ended Nov. 28, 2008, was $191.6 million. Smartphone sell-through for the quarter was 599,000 units, down 13 percent year over year. Smartphone revenue was $171.0 million, down 39 percent from the year-ago period.

“We’re working through an undeniably difficult period,” said Ed Colligan, Palm president and chief executive officer, “but near-term challenges shouldn’t overshadow the fact that we are on track to deliver a breakthrough new platform and products that will bring a truly differentiated smartphone experience to our customers and reestablish Palm as a leading innovator in the mobile industry.”

The second quarter of fiscal year 2009 net loss applicable to common shareholders included a non-cash charge with a net impact of $396.7 million to the tax provision pertaining to the increase of the valuation allowance for the Company’s U.S. deferred tax assets. This non-cash charge was the primary driver of a net loss applicable to common shareholders for the second quarter of fiscal year 2009 of $(508.6) million, or $(4.64) per diluted common share on a GAAP basis. The increase in the valuation allowance does not reflect a change in the company’s outlook, nor does it alter the company’s ability to utilize the underlying net operating loss carry forwards. “We have reserved against these assets in accordance with GAAP, however we still expect to utilize our net operating loss to offset future U.S. cash taxes once we become profitable,” said Andy Brown, chief financial officer.

Ok, so I’ve described how I search the incoming messages from Twitter to find the stuff I want to read first quickly.  But having said that, do you really need to follow everyone just because they may have mentioned something your interested in once?  That being the case, how do you find subjects or keywords of things your interested in so you don’t miss any posts, or following thousands of folks (like I started to do)?

OutTwit makes it easy to search/track keywords:

The primary difference between search folders and search/track keywords is that the search folders search only the messages from those you follow, or those in your timeline and being downloaded.  Search/Track Keywords actually searches the entire Twitter public timeline to find messages you may be interested in, from all users who haven’t protected their updates.  As a side note, I haven’t really figured out the whole protected update thing.  Why use Twitter if you protect your updates when you can email or text, or join an email distribution list?  Isn’t that really defeating the purpose of Twitter?  In any event…

  So, how does it work?

If you select Search/Track Keywords…, you’ll be presented with the option to create new searches, edit existing searches, or delete searches you may have wanted to follow at the time, but no longer want to track.  Selecting New:

For instance, if I wanted to search the entire Twitter public timeline for Windows Mobile:

You’ll see there is a hyperlink above that will take you directly to http://search.twitter.com/operators.  This will give you some idea of the search functions that are supported and can be used.  You can either then select Save, in which case all search results will be dropped in your main OutTwit folder, or you can select a different folder.  For my searches, I have a separate folder for each search so that I can find them faster.  My folders are typically named for the searches.  Again, keep in mind this is different in that it is searching the entire public timeline, not just people you follow.  This is also a great way to find others you want to follow, finding folks who have similar interests.

The search options are actually pretty unlimited.  For instance, if you want to follow someone’s posts (including replies, and what others send them) without following them, build a search for their username, and all of their posts will show up without following.  This will allow you to find out whether to follow, so that you don’t have to go back and unfollow.

Note the “OR” is in caps, and must be in caps for the search operator to work.  The default search operator is “and”, so two or more words and search will interpret as “and”, as in windows and mobile.

An interesting phenomenon for some on Twitter.  It’s an interesting experiment in social media.  Some folks will follow you on Twitter hoping to be followed back, or get an autofollow which some utilize.  These are folks who have no real desire to engage or read anything you post, just looking for followers.  Then, those same folks will unfollow you a few days later so that they can build their “Followers” while keeping their “Following” ratio down.  They never engage or @ reply to anything you post, then several days later, after you follow them back, drop you.  It can be quite funny at times to watch folks do this.  Twitter by default doesn’t track folks who unfollow, only those that follow.  You can get email notification of any new followers, but you don’t get email notifications for folks who quit following you.  Applications like Qwitter though lets you see it in full action.   A little misleading and dishonest if you ask me, but again an interesting experiment in social media, and more of the “I want to be popular” mentality, “look at all my followers”.  There are also those who follow you, then unfollow because you don’t follow them back.  Again a little cheesy if you ask me.  Granted, some legitimately unfollow after reading some posts, but there are those trying to build their following.  Follow folks you want to follow, folks you want to learn from, folks that make you laugh (honestly most of the time they are the same people) and try to engage.  But I digress.  OutTwit gives you the ability to follow someone for awhile, perhaps engage a little, without actually following, and also helps find spammers (yes, spammers are in Twitter too).  It’s a great way to separate the wheat from the chaff.  You never really have to follow to keep up, which can be a good thing.

Try Search/Track Keywords in OutTwit.  I’m sure you’ll appreciate the functionality and is yet another great tool from OutTwit to make your Twitter interaction a little more manageable.

There may be times when you just need to unplug, particularly this time of the year to stay caught up with other things.  Or you just may be in one of those “I can’t be bothered” moods.  There’s an easy way to do this with OutTwit.  As a side note, you should also do this if you plan on being away from your computer and checking Twitter from a mobile client at the same time (unless it’s the mobile website), otherwise you’ll probably bump against hourly account limits. 

Just uncheck the box in OutTwit, Options, Receiving.  This will easily stop checking for new posts.  Once you’re ready to start receiving again, go back to the same place and recheck the box. 

The most popular way to post to Twitter seems to be via the web as indicated by stats of clients posting updates.  Almost all other clients, whether desktop or mobile/PDA generally rely on calls to a Twitter API to pull updates.  When clients go haywire, it usually means the Twitter API is having issues and until resolved, you’ll need to post and read updates from the website only. 

So, what about other mobile clients?  For the iPhone, Twinkle appears to be the client of choice.  For Blackberry’s, Twitterberry seams to be the client of choice.  For Windows Mobile, there are several good choices available, including TinyTwitter and CETwit.

For mobile clients, you can also access m.twitter.com from your web browser.

Getting errors posting from a mobile client?  Check your API usage and make sure you haven’t reached your limit, and also find out when the next API reset will be.  Twitter limits you to 100 per hour.  You can check your current stats here:

http://twitter.com/account/rate_limit_status.xml

Use the username and password you log in to Twitter with to access these pages.  You’ll see reset time that will appear something like the following:

<reset-time type="datetime">2008-12-07T18:59:43+00:00</reset-time>

You’ll also see remaining hits similar to this format:

<remaining-hits type="integer">92</remaining-hits>

Interpreting the above means I have 92 remaining hits to the API left in the hour, and it will reset at the top of the hour (59:43).

Keep in mind that almost all clients, including Twhirl, Tweetdeck, Twinkle, Twitterberry, CETwit, etc., utilize the API.  Watch your mobile usage or you’ll be locked until reset and stuck with the web client.

I probably should have posted this one earlier, but how do I manage my Twitter folder itself?

Well, there’s a couple of way.  First, I create a search folder (using previous tips), and the only criteria I have is to show my unread posts (found on the More Choices tab):

This search folder is then added to my search folder which shows me all posts I have yet to scan and read.  That’s my first tip.

The second tip is to set default Archive properties for this folder.  The settings are really up to you.  Right-click on the folder storing all your posts (not a search folder):

The AutoArchive lets you choose what you want the posts to do.  You can choose not to archive at all, use default settings, or set specific settings for that particular folder.  In the example above, I’m instructing Outlook to permanently delete posts after 1 week, but obviously you can set it for any number of days, weeks, or months.

This will keep the overall folder manageable.  Using these tips and others I’ve posted, I keep the folder itself manageable while not missing the good stuff.  Yes, one of the other benefits of using OutTwit is that it does in fact store locally all posts coming from Twitter allowing me to utilize the full search capabilities of Outlook.  I can’t begin to tell you how many times I knew I read a post, couldn’t remember where or when, and searched on keywords:

This quickly pulls up all posts matching my search criteria to quickly find that link or post I’m looking for.

Have you ever followed someone in Twitter, only to discover you probably shouldn’t have?  There could be many reasons for it, including personality mismatches, or not as much in common as you’d hoped.  Yes, in Twitter you can go to your Followers list and click remove, and therefore prune your list down.  But, what if your not certain you want to unfollow? 

Or, what if you’ve had a REALLY BUSY DAY, and you check your posts folder, realize you’re way behind?  How do you catch up without missing some posts you want to read?

My answer in OutTwit makes this one simple.  Create a custom search folder, add the usernames in the From line (similar to my post on peeps or news service), and call the folder whatever you want (I’ve called mine Skippers).

Now, all the posts from your skippers will be pushed to a separate search folder.  You can quickly scan, or just right click and mark them all read, and not have to worry about them.  If your skippers stay on the list for too long, or you find you just really aren’t reading them, well, you’re choice, but at least you now have options.

You may have read a recent posting from Rod that there is a function with Twitter called “retweeting”.  Retweeting allows you to acknowledge someone else’s post within Twitter, and help spread the word to other followers utilizing Twitter.  In my opinion, it’s the same courtesy and respect you should show while blogging to acknowledge that the information you are blogging about didn’t originate with you and you shouldn’t be taking credit for it.  If you like it, copy it, but acknowledge the source.  In Twitter speak, it can be shown as RT or Retweet.

There are many ways to retweet.  Some just retweet and send.  Others retweet, and add their own comments to let folks know why they are retweeting. 

OutTwit makes it easy to retweet.  In the dropdown list in the OutTwit toolbar, you’ll see Retweet…

It’s simple.  Just highlight the post you want to push through twitterverse, and hit Retweet:

Up pops the OutTwit dialog box that populates the post with Retweeting, followed by the post.  In the above example, you can see that after hitting Retweet, I have 43 additional characters in which to add my own comments.  Again, this is a great way to acknowledge that you found someone else’s post interesting.  Of course, just like anything, I could very easily remove any reference to @rodtrent above, or retweeting, and just send the link again with my comments.  That may be ok in some instances depending on the context, but if you truly want to acknowledge the post, retweeting is the best way.  This gives the original poster the credit, and also allows them to see you are retweeting (because the @rodtrent is there and will show in his timeline) and found it interesting.  This keeps them posting as well.

Happy retweeting. 

I won’t go in to all the details on Search Folders in this post.  If you need further information, go here and read the first part.  So, additional searches I use are below.  The options are unlimited due to Outlook’s search capabilities.

One of the many searches I’ve created I’ve tagged “Twitter Peeps”.  You know what I’m talking about here.

Create a new search folder, and in the From…line, add the usernames of all of your “peeps”.  Then as in previous posts, select the search folder, add it to Favorites, and as new messages arrive from Twitter, the peeps will show up in a separate search folder for easy tracking.

Another search folder I’ve created is the news service searches.  I’ve tagged this Twitter News, and in the From field, added all of the news services I’m following:

Just select the search folder after it’s created, and all of the news services will be within easy reach.  Another quick tip.  If you fall behind, right-click the search folder (only the messages you can pass on), and select mark all messages read.  This will clear only those meeting your search criteria leaving the other messages marked unread. 

Again, hopefully you get the picture.  The searches you create can be unlimited only by the amount of segregation you want, and notice, I’m not creating rules which can occasionally cause duplicate messages or other issues if not crafted properly.  These are done utilizing only the search folder capabilities. 

There is a big difference between these special search folders and using OutTwit’s Search/Track Keywords…  Utilizing OutTwit’s Search/Track Keywords…will allow you to never actually have to “Follow” anyone again, unless they have protected updates.  That is, unless you want to let them know you are following them.  I’ll post on Search/Track Keywords in another tip.

Do you use Twitter?  Do you ever have one of those days that you need extra reminders to do something, like get milk at the grocery, call someone, important dates (you know what those are already)?  Have Twitter direct message you to remind you to do something. 

Remember the Milk can be found at http://www.rememberthemilk.com and @rtm on Twitter.  Just add @rtm to your Following members on Twitter, then go to the website, create an account, and go to Settings, Reminders:

Then, all you need to do is start filing your tasks which can be done directly from your phone or from email.  The full Getting Started Guide can be found here: http://www.rememberthemilk.com/help/guide/

For use with Twitter, the guide is here: http://www.rememberthemilk.com/services/twitter/

To use with Twitter (once you are following), all you have to do is send a direct message to rtm, and you’ll be reminded.  For instance, d rtm pick up the milk will create a new task with that name, or d rtm call rod at 5pm tomorrow will set up a reminder tomorrow at 5 PM.  d rtm buy tickets in two weeks will set up a reminder two weeks from today.  Need to mark the task complete? d rtm !complete call rod will mark the task complete. d rtm !postpone call rod will postpone the task.  If your mobile a lot, this is a great way to remind yourself while out.  Just don’t forget the “d rtm” or it could turn embarrassing. 

There’s a full listing of the commands on the twitter services page at rtm noted above.  Give it a go.  Just another great way to utilize Twitter and stay organized at the same time.

There are several ways you can send messages from OutTwit.  One is to use the text box in the dialog box:

Just type directly in the text box, then hit enter.  A word of caution.  If you click anywhere outside this text box while typing, the text box will clear.  If you’ve typed a lot of text, this can be very frustrating. 

The second way is to hit the drop down box next to OutTwit, and use Post a New Update…

This will open up a separate window with the countdown (currently at 140).  As you type, the number will decrease to let you know when your about to hit the character limit.  If you’re sending web address, particularly long web addresses, make sure you hit the TinyUrl button which will convert the http addresses to smaller entries.  Once you’ve typed what you want to post, just hit Update, or Cancel to return to what you were doing.

Another way to reply or direct message another user is to use the Reply or Reply All function.

While the users message is highlighted, if you hit the Reply button, it will preface your post with d username to send a direct message.  If you hit Reply to All, it will preface the post with @username.  This can speed up the direct message or reply entries.

What else can be done from these text entry blocks?

As I’ve mentioned previously, you can reply or direct message directly from these windows.  To reply (or to make sure the recipient doesn’t miss a post), just use @username preceding the text entry.  To direct message someone (so others can’t see them), just use d username.

follow username from the command line will add the user to your list of Following.  Please be aware that under normal circumstances, the user will receive notification that you are now following them.  Have a user you no longer want to follow?  leave username from the command line will remove the user from your list of Following.  Please be aware that under normal circumstances, the user will never know you are no longer following them however, with applications like Qwitter, the user may get notification that you are no longer following them.

I’ve been experimenting with other command lines but at this point am not certain what works through OutTwits text entry box.  Note that all of these command lines can also be sent from your mobile phone by texting the entries to 40404 as long as your mobile phone is entered in the Settings, Devices in your account settings.  A few others worth noting.  nudge username encourages someone to update their timeline, so if you haven’t heard from someone in awhile, try sending them a nudge. If you’d like to get someone’s last update, send get username.  This will get the person’s last update.

One last comment to close this one.  Be careful what you send.  You can’t delete, and the posts will be visible to all (unless of course you d username).

More tips and tricks coming.

I just had to share this one:

First up, how do I find replies and DMs quickly using OutTwit?  The method to my madness begins with Outlook’s Search Folders.  To speed up the process, if you created a new pst for receiving messages from Twitter, make sure to add them to your search index.  In Outlook, Tools, Instant Search, Search Options.  At the top of the dialog box that just opened, put a check mark next to the pst you just created.  This will tell Outlook to index the messages for quickly finding them later.

Now, in the pst that you created, right click on the Search Folders, and select New Search Folder:

In the dialog box that opens, scroll all the way to the bottom and select Create a custom Search Folder:

This will open up a dialog box to create your search:

You can name the search query anything you’d like, I’ve named mine Twitter Replies.  Hit the Criteria…button:

In the Search for the word(s):, I’ve entered my @jgormlyjr (Twitter speak for replies) and jgormlyjr (Twitter speak for DM) in the search criteria.  Hit OK (verifying the In: line says subject field. 

You should be taken back to the customize dialog box, click Browse, and ensure that the only folder checked is the folder your messages from Twitter are being sent to.  No other check boxes.  This will speed the search greatly.

Once you’ve verified the folder, click OK again, and the search will build. You don’t have to stay in this folder while it builds the search, you can click anywhere else, but once it completes, anyone who has replied to your messages, or sent you a direct message, will be available in this search folder.  Just click the search folder (or do as I did, right click on the search folder, select Add to Favorites Folder, and only those messages that match your search criteria will be displayed.

This search will allow to to quickly find all messages that folks have sent directly to you.  You’ll notice the “Importance” flag is also listed (red exclamation point).  This will also allow you to quickly find them.  @username are replies that show up in the public timeline (anyone on Twitter can see).  username (in the form of d username) are direct messages and are private, sent only to you that others on Twitter can’t see, even if following you.

More tips and tricks later.

Installation and setup of OutTwit couldn’t be simpler.  With the latest release, they have added a quick start guide.

After accepting the licensing agreement and accepting the default install directory, if you have Outlook running, you’ll be reminded to shut down before continuing:

Once Outlook is shut down, installation should complete:

The quick start guide will launch and take you to this web page to continue setup instructions:

http://www.techhit.com/OutTwit/quickstart.html

Note:  The Quick Start guide has not been updated for the new release, so you it as an example only.

The steps:

Step 1 - Enter your Twitter user name and password.

Step 2 - Create and select a new Outlook folder for new Twitter messages, so that they do not clutter your Inbox.

Note:  As detailed before, I’ve actually taken this a step further and created a separate pst file to capture and organize twitter updates.

Step 3 (Recommended) - Enable new tweet preview on the OutTwit Outlook toolbar.

Step 4 (Optional) - Check out some of the other options, such as playing a sounds for new tweets, sorting tweets into subfolders based on the sender, playing a sounds when new tweets arrive, etc.

Step 5 (Optional) - Do not forget to checkout the "Search/Track Keywords" feature.

Step 6 (Optional) - Look through the FAQ to learn about some of OutTwit's "hidden" features.

Step 7 (Mandatory) - Have fun!

Once OutTwit is installed and Outlook is launched, you’ll have a new toolbar:

This is where you’ll do some text entry, and configure the OutTwit settings.  Before you click the OutTwit menu and start setting the options, this is where you can create a completely separate pst file to store your data.  Before we go further, I should probably state I’m running Outlook 2007, so some settings may be different.

On the Account tab, you’ll need your Twitter User Name and Twitter Password, the same username and password used to log in to Twitter.  In Outlook, select File, New, Outlook data file.  I’ve called mine twitter.pst so I know what and where.

On the Receiving tab, this is where you control where the new messages go.  In my case you can see that I have a folder called Twitter. Just click the select Folder option, then New, and find the pst you want to put them in, then create the Twitter folder.  Note that if you don’t do this, all your messages from Twitter will be dropped in your Inbox.  You can also assign categories (I don’t use them), and set your receiving options, which tells OutTwit how often to check Twitter, and what to fetch when it checks.  I’ll left the default to pull friends (following), replies, and direct messages.

On the Sending tab, you can set options to use tinyurl (more on this later), warn if you exceed 140 characters (Twitter is limited to 140 characters + username because SMS is limited to 160 characters), and a very interesting feature, save sent messages (they will show up anyway but if you want copies that can be found easily, select the folder and check the box to save sent messages).

On the UI tab, you can select to be notified by sound (I don’t), display previews of new tweets , and assign shortcuts for the new tweet window.  I’ll go in to this later.

Click OK, and that’s it.  In come the tweets (messages) from Twitter.

The next series will cover how I use it to filter, find, and reply quickly to those I’m following. 

As I’ve written previously, I’ve become a Twitterholic.  As a result, I’ve been trying to keep up with folks over the last few weeks.  Twitter can be read and replied to on the web, but in my opinion to get the full benefit out of it, you need a third party app that allows you to get to the tweets you need quickly. 

I’ve tried several different apps with Twitter, including Twhirl (works like an IM chat client) and Tweetdeck (a full featured “deck” to monitor Twitter).  Twhirl and Tweetdeck require Adobe Air to function, so to me it was another app to install and another Adobe app that keeps prompting me to update (had to post a couple of updates to Adobe Air over a short few week period).   I also tried to use the web version which seems the popular way to post, but it’s too hard to track tweets, and with Twhirl and Tweetdeck, I found myself missing tweets from folks I didn’t want to miss.  Don’t get me wrong now.  I follow interesting folks but some are posting some really good stuff.  So, I needed something a little more functional that kept me from missing the tweets of folks I didn’t want to miss.  When I set Tweetdeck up the way I wanted it (it allows Grouping, and separate tracking of replies and direct messages), I noticed that it was taking up about 150 MB of memory and growing quickly.  I don’t need apps that hog that much memory with as many apps as I use.  I’m assuming it’s due to Adobe’s bloatware, so can’t really blame the folks at Tweetdeck.  And besides, I get tired of the Adobe prompts to update my apps.  So, what did I do?

I spend an awful lot of time in Outlook, and feel comfortable with it’s interface and functionality.  I was thrilled to find a client that integrates with Outlook (thanks to @jedimole and @rodtrent).  Over the last several weeks, I’ve installed it and used it and now I’ll be summarizing my results of using it and describe how I use it, including installation, how to quickly find friends posts, how to quickly find replies and DM’s, and how to sort.

What are some of the features of OutTwit?  You can:

• Update your Twitter status directly from Outlook.
• Receive your friend updates as Outlook messages.
• Archive, manage and search your tweets the same way you manage your email (details).
• Track keywords. OutTwit will automatically download ALL tweets matching the keywords you specify, even if you are not following the tweet sender. This feature is perfect for keeping up to date with the Twitter buzz on your name, brand, interests, etc.
• See new tweets at a glance (details).
• Assign custom folder and categories to new messages.
• Use Outlook's "Reply" and "ReplyAll" commands to send twitter direct messages and @replies.
• Automatically sort new tweets into per-sender folders.
• Shorten URLs with tinyurl.
• See graphs of your Twitter usage statistics.
• Tweets sent to you (@replies and direct) are marked with high importance, so you can see them at a glance.

The latest version of OutTwit is 5.3.38.  You can pick it up here.  I’ll be covering installation and setup in later posts, and covering some of the cool features that have been added.  TechHit has been extremely responsive to suggestions, better than a lot of other vendors I’ve worked with, and is also on Twitter and responds there as well (@TechHit) so if you use OutTwit, or try it out, make sure you drop them a note if you find something you wish it did.

http://www.techhit.com/contact.html

Needless to say, OutTwit has made managing my tweets much easier.

OK, a couple of clarifications.  Why don’t I like Blogmailr?  Here goes.

One, it took over 30 minutes from the time I hit send to the time it hit the blog.  Windows Live Writer posts near real-time as soon as I hit publish.

Two, it didn’t display at all like it looked when I hit send.  I barely have enough time to post, let alone the time to go back and fix the text once it’s posted.  It showed up like you know what when it hit the blog.

Three, putting in links and pictures, well, ouch.  It shouldn’t be that hard. 

For those of you digging it (you know who you are), more power to you.  I’ll post a couple more today just to see if it’s user error, but I think I’ll be sticking to Windows Live Writer.