iTweet featured in "The Best Web Apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch"
There's no shortage of Twitter clients out there that will work well on your iPhone. Twitter even offers its own: m.twitter.com. But iTweet takes the cake for us. The client offers a great UI, and most importantly, the ability to download only new tweets each time you refresh, saving a lot of time and bandwidth if you're using AT&T's snail-slow EDGE data network.
I just saw this really nice mention of iTweet, my Twitter UI and iPhone web app, here on Wired.com's Epicenter blog. Thanks guys!
(This article contains a voting system for "best app". If you enjoy using iTweet, please visit this page and click the green "UP" arrow to vote for iTweet!)
I've also received a few requests now for a BlackBerry version of iTweet. I have never made a BlackBerry app before but how hard can it be, right? I will try to create a BB iTweet as soon as possible for those of you who don't have iPhones yet. ;)
In other iTweet news, I'm working on a complete rewrite of the desktop app (and the iPhone app pending a review of the upcoming iPhone SDK). It's lean, mean, and Ajaxy. My favorite new feature: Speed Tweet mode! It's so much fun I can't stop Twittering lately.
Reminder again: please give iTweet an "UP" vote here. Thanks!
Use swfObject to "hide" accessible content behind your site's Flash pieces.
I recently had a client ask me to adjust her site to be iPhone-compatible. The navigation of this site uses Flash to apply a cosmetic animation on the text, so her site wasn't navigable via iPhone or any other non-Flash equipped device.
At first I thought I would advise her to forget about the slight effect that the Flash provided and change to a non-animated, but fully accessible navigation system. But I knew she really liked this small detail of the site, so I thought I would try another way.
...are you using swfObject to embed your Flash content, anyway? Because you probably should be. swfObject is an XHTML-valid javascript method of displaying Flash content without using unwieldy <embed> tags. The script will fill any old <div> with your Flash, and changing the layout is as simple as adjusting the <div> with your style sheet. It detects Flash player versions and will help a user upgrade or install the Flash player "in-window" if necessary. It is a fantastic workaround for the annoying IE "Eolas patent dispute" requirement to "activate" Flash content by clicking it once before any buttons are active.
And -- thanks to the way that it degrades gracefully -- swfObject lets you "hide" accessible content behind your Flash. I often use text describing the Flash content to boost a page's search engine indexability. Though this text is visually replaced by swfobject.js, it remains in the source code when the page renders.
In the case of the iPhone, the Flash is simply not displayed, and whatever originally was in the swfObject-specified <div> shows through. This is where you put a static but more-accessible version of the Flash image. You can include any kind of xhtml, links, images, or even embedded swfs.
In this case I simply made an html-friendly version of the client's site navigation, placed it in the navigation <div> and specified that swfObject would replace that content with the Flash nav where possible. Voila! The client sees her subtle Flash nav effect on her home computer, and can use her site from her iPhone as well (with minimal visible difference, as the Flash effect was a rollover effect anyway).
I have also used this trick to "hide" a jpg of a site's logo or header behind a Flash version... this way when viewing on the iPhone, that most important piece of your site (your identity) isn't lost!
swfObject was created by Geoff Stearns.
Click here to download the project from Google Code.
Twittory: An "Exquisite Corpse" story - Twitter style!
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!
Firefighters, models in flaming pasties and blowtorch antlers, hot contortionists, and geisha stiltwalkers all gathered for a fire-themed fashion show at The Crucible in Oakland. Xeni was there, and brings back this report.
My friend Megan Murray was interviewed (as Peekaboo VonStilt) by Xeni Jardin for BoingBoing TV! Her stilt walking troupe, the VonStilt Family, have been entertaining the masses for a while now and they deserve some attention. Go BoingBoing! This "Hot Couture" fire and fashion show at The Crucible in Oakland looks like it was amazing. I was not able to go and it looks like I really missed out!
Click here to watch the original on boingboing.
There are also some great pictures here on Flickr.Leave comments on this blog, or let's talk on Twitter or Facebook.
The iPhone version of iTweet.net now offers search and #hashtag support.
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.
I just saw this really nice mention of iTweet, my Twitter UI and iPhone web app, here on Wired.com's Epicenter blog. Thanks guys!
(This article contains a voting system for "best app". If you enjoy using iTweet, please visit this page and click the green "UP" arrow to vote for iTweet!)
I've also received a few requests now for a BlackBerry version of iTweet. I have never made a BlackBerry app before but how hard can it be, right? I will try to create a BB iTweet as soon as possible for those of you who don't have iPhones yet. ;)
In other iTweet news, I'm working on a complete rewrite of the desktop app (and the iPhone app pending a review of the upcoming iPhone SDK). It's lean, mean, and Ajaxy. My favorite new feature: Speed Tweet mode! It's so much fun I can't stop Twittering lately.
Reminder again: please give iTweet an "UP" vote here. Thanks!
I've added Twitter search and #hashtag search to 
I started tracking "macworld" that morning and my IM sounded like I'd 