When I read that you could use Quicksilver with Twitter, I felt as excited as Jack Bauer in an interrogation room full of terror suspects. It all started with Twitter Fan Wiki. And then I lost myself in hours of troubleshooting as I tried to force hack after hack to work the way I wanted them to. As these things are, it wasn’t nearly as hard in the end as all the work that led up to the final result.
The first AppleScript I found for the job was here. But as best as I can tell, the Keychain Access was a major bottleneck. Then I found an option that uses the Twitter Rubygem, but you’ve got to be pretty serious to install Rubygems on your Mac. I couldn’t make it happen. I’m not that serious. Then I found another way to avoid Keychain scripting, but it was still too geeky for me to get working with my limited know-how. I even found iChat support and word count with Growl notification.
I was about to give up. But I said I would give myself the length of the entire Purple Rain album to make it happen. (I hadn’t listened to it in a long time and it was my favorite album as a dirty minded pubescent teen. He said “masturbating!”) About an hour of pop/funk later, this is what I had hacked together.
Features:
- Counts characters and notifies you by Growl if you exceed 140.
- Notifies you by Growl when your tweet is sent.
- Twitter username/password is hard coded to avoid Keychain Access and reduce delays.
- Checks to see if iChat is running and then sets your status message as the current tweet.
- Checks to see if Skype is running and then sets your mood text message as the current tweet. Note: If you want to integrate Skype mood text updates, open the script in Script Editor and uncomment (remove “–”) the Skype tell.
- Growl will use the icon of Twitterific if installed.
How to install:
- Download the script, unzip, and put it here:
~/Library/Application Support/Quicksilver/Actions - Using Script Editor, modify these lines of the script to your Twitter username and password:
set twitter_key_account to "your@email.com"
set twitter_key_pass to "your_password" - Restart Quicksilver.
How to use:
- Invoke Quicksilver.
- Enter text mode (hit period) and type your message.
- Tab to the Action Pane and type “Tweet” (or as much of the word as you need).
- Enter.
I hope you find this script useful. I’m no programmer, so I can’t support it. If you have addons or variations, please post them. Don’t forget to add me to your Twitter friends list. And thanks to all the coders that came before me and made this possible.
Update 4-21-07: Integrated Skype mood text updates as an option. See instructions for details.
Update 8-11-07: Integrated Facebook updates as an option. See this post: Update Twitter, Facebook, iChat, Adium, And Skype With Quicksilver
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(2 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
Loading ...Top 10 Twitter DOs and DON’Ts
April 5, 2007
2 CommentsYou’ve got a blog. You’ve got email, SMS, and IM. These are great tools for communication. Email and text messaging are two-way conversations. Blogging is mostly a one-to-many conversation. But what about something in-between? Twitter is part micro-blog, part instant message, and can fill the need for short public and personal broadcasts.
If you’ve been thinking about trying Twitter out, you may find the 140 character maximum a limitation or a useful restriction. But like many who’ve joined, you might develop an addiction to the simplicity of telling people what you’re doing right now.
So I thought it would be useful to give you some loose guidelines and help make your Twitter initiation go smoothly. Here are my top 10 Twitter dos and don’ts.
Do…
- Share distinctions
If you just learned something or made a useful distinction, share it with the rest of us. Twitter is a lifehacker’s dream come true. - Share your accomplishments
We all have magic moments. And if you’re actively looking for them, you’ll find them more often. So when you notice something you’ve done and want to take a couple of sentences to brag, go for it. It will feel good and inspire the rest of us. - Share your feelings
Cyberspace can be a cold and disconnected place. 140 characters is a great frame to share how you are feeling. And if you go deeper than happy/sad, you might even increase your emotional intelligence. - Get help
Need an Apple genius? I’ve watched users post Mac questions and get answers in minutes. - Spread the ideavirus
Find something cool? Share it. - Pimp your blog
If you’re on WordPress, Twitter Tools will integrate your blog with Twitter. Check the Twitter Fan Wiki for hours of Twitter-hacking fun. - Check SMS restrictions
If you plan on using your phone to interact with Twitter, get to know your cellphone service plan. You can turn SMS off within Twitter’s settings to save you from a shocking phone bill. You can even set it to text you only when you receive direct messages so there’s some flexibility under Twitter’s hood. - Utilize features and addons
Twitter support gives you the basics of messaging and searching for friends. But if you want serious customization, dig around the Twitter Fan Wiki. I was able to hack Twitter, Quicksilver, iChat, and Growl into a perfect workflow for me. It was fun and I learned a lot doing it. - Share jokes
Who doesn’t need a laugh? If you can make someone smile in 140 characters or less, it’s your duty to do so. - Invite people
Don’t be shy. Add your friends. Add me. If they don’t get it, it’s their loss.
Don’t…
- Twit your to-do list
There may be times when you need to micro-log your daily activities. Like when a group of friends are trying to keep track of each other on a weekend night on the town. But most people don’t care or need to know if you are now folding your laundry. - Get too personal
This is where Twitter is more like a blog than IM. It’s not a good place to have intimate cybersex. - Leave out context
Read Dave Winer a little while and you’ll know what I’m talking about. Dave can get away with it as an A-list technology pundit. But you and me? We should still try to communicate something that’s complete and makes sense. - Twit if you need more than 140 characters
That’s what your blog is for. If you need to split your Tweet into multiple posts, you run the risk of leaving out context and confusing the reader. Just blog it. - Make it a distraction
Twitter isn’t totally frivolous. It’s a great networking tool, both professionally and personally. It’s part journal, part time tracker. It’s bound to be used for SEO and marketing. But like email, manage it wisely. - Use too many features and addons
Pimp it, hack it, mash it up, just don’t go to far. If you listen to music like I do, it probably doesn’t make sense to auto-post every 3 minutes my latest iTunes track. And it doesn’t make sense to make each Tweet a separate blog post. Keep your addons useful to your followers. - Force it
If Twitter’s not for you, that’s fine. Sometimes I wish I had never started using email. But if you decide to make Twitter a consistent practice, don’t feel forced to post. Your followers will give you a nudge if they miss you. - Expect followers to read everything
On the hierarchy of communication priority, Twitter is probably pretty low. Don’t expect to break up with your girlfriend via Twitter. Text messaging is best for that. - Twit and drive
I know you’ll ignore this one but I wanted to add it just so that I can assume no responsibility to any vehicular mishaps that may occur as a result. - Twit at your brother’s engagement party during dinner under the table with your Blackberry
Seems obvious, right? Yeah, well not to me.
There you have it, my list of Twitter best practices. I’m sure you can think of something that I forgot. Please contribute.
(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5) Loading ...Join Me On Twitter!
March 23, 2007
0 CommentsAre you on Twitter yet? Join me, won’t you?
If you don’t know what Twitter is, it’s basically a social micro-blog to update your friends on what you’re doing right now. What makes it different from a blog you might already publish is the use of text messaging to update your personal Twitter page while you’re out in the real world.
I signed up when it first came out but didn’t get around to using it until today. Not only is it a great way to keep people updated about you at a micro-level, it’s makes a great meta self-awareness tool. Because if you’re not living a life that you want to share with others, then what are you actually doing with your time, right?
Here’s what Graham’s doing right now…
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...I’m Practically Speechless Over The iPhone
January 9, 2007
2 Comments
The future is here. I’ve never been so excited over a piece of technology other than maybe my Kurzweil K2600. Hell, I practically started this blog talking about the iPhone. It will be mine. Oh yes, it will be mine.
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...How To Track The Senate Races Through Technology
November 5, 2006
0 CommentsElectoral-Vote.com is tracking the Senate races. Here’s a technology voting guide for 2006 US elections.
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