by Michelle Lentz

So, on the heels of Nambu and then Seesmic Desktop, Tweetdeck has released some updates.

Of course. I would have too, if I were Tweetdeck. Here are the changes I’ve seen announced:

• Memory Drain. According to the email, memory usage will be capped so you can have your Tweetdeck always on. Apparently Tweetdeck is working with Adobe to fix the problem of the constant drain on memory. From the Tweetdeck blog:

We know that many of our users have been experiencing problems with TweetDeck gobbling up memory and not releasing it.  The memory leak issue has forced some users to re-start TweetDeck regularly and we’re really sorry about that.  We’ve been listening and working hard, together with Adobe, making improvements to TweetDeck to fix the memory leak. Today we’re delighted to be able to tell you that the memory leak has been plugged and now the latest version of TweetDeck will peak at a certain level and won’t go any higher.  So you can leave your TweetDeck running all day, all night, or forever if you really want to.

• Inclusion of the new Digg URL shortener and in-app preview of shortened URLs
• Support for Spotify URLs (open the Spotify player to play music from a tweeted link)
• In-app preview of Twitpic images
• Facebook integration for Facebook status updates (but no commenting or “like” options)
• Integration with 12seconds to record and share 12-second video clips from within Tweetdeck
• Option to have usernames auto-complete in the tweet box.
• Option to automatically include hashtags when replying to messages.
• Removing unread counter at top of each column.

I’m going to hang in there with Seesmic Desktop – I’m already pretty attached to it – but I wasn’t a Tweetdeck user to begin with. This is a smart move on Tweetdeck’s part and should successfully keep their users from migrating to Seesmic out of curiosity.

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Contact Michelle with news, stories, events, and more.
Email: michelle[at]writetech[dot]net
Twitter: @writetechnology, Friendfeed: michellel
Blogs: Write Technology, Wine-Girl.net

by Michelle Lentz

Today I discovered Nambu for Twitter and I really like it. I’ve been an avid user of Twhirl because it let me manage multiple accounts so easily. I was just never a Tweetdeck fan. Most of my friends are rabid Tweetdeck users though, and I think Nambu nicely provides advantages of both. Nambu is a Mac only tool though, so those of you on a PC will have to stick with Tweetdeck.

Still in beta, Nambu allows you to set up multiple Twitter accounts and then have different views. Like in Tweetdeck, you have the option for Groups for filtering, as well as for self-selected Columns (home, direct messages, mentions, sent). If you have more than one account, you can intersperse the columns as well.

Personally, I’m not a column fan – it takes up too much space on my desktop. But Nambu gives me an option that takes up as much room as two Twhirl windows, but still gives me access to all the great stuff available in columns – it’s a single column plus a list.

I can easily see when there are new tweets, new mentions, or new direct messages to either account. I also like the option to view all the links that have come through recently. Just like on Twitter.com, you can create and save your own searches as well as view the latest trends. One of the neatest features is threaded replies. I can finally follow a bit of a conversation.

Nambu supports Twitter, Friendfeed, Identica and is working on Ping.fm support.

From my limited use of the beta today, I have a few requests. I’d love to be able to turn off the notification pop-ups except for replies and direct messages. On that same thought, I’d love if replies and direct messages had a sound option. Finally, support for Facebook, somehow, would also be great.

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Contact Michelle with news, stories, events, and more.
Email: michelle[at]writetech[dot]net
Twitter: @writetechnology, Friendfeed: michellel
Blogs: Write Technology, Wine-Girl.net

by Michelle Lentz

I saw this over on TechCrunch, where Robin posted about it, and decided the word should be spread. Twitter has made a tiny UI change that makes a definite (and rather immediate) impact on your, um, Google juice. (As an aside, where on earth did that term originate?)

If you look at your profile page in Twitter, you’ll see that the title in the browser no longer reads Twitter / username. It now reads Your Name (username).  Title tags are Google-gimmes and Twitter has just done that for you.

Now, in Google, my Twitter page has never popped up on the front page. That’s all fine and good considering that my LinkedIn, my Wine Blog, and another Michelle Lentz (a rather talented artist) are all there. But now, immediately following my LinkedIn page, is the Twitter page. It’s also worth noting that my private (locked) Twitter account does not show up at all in Google, which makes me rather happy.

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Contact Michelle with news, stories, events, and more.
Email: michelle[at]writetech[dot]net
Twitter: @writetechnology, Friendfeed: michellel
Blogs: Write Technology, Wine-Girl.net

by Michelle Lentz

Updated.

Last week I saw a post on TechCrunch for Topify, a new app in private beta. I grabbed one of the  beta invites and started using it. I’m hooked. Topify makes Twitter user management better by doing all the things you wish Twitter did already.

When you log into Topify, you’re given a special Topify email address. You’ll pop that email address into your Twitter account. Now when someone follows you on Twitter, you get a detailed email. The follow notice has run through Topify, which is then emailing you all information you wished you had previously. That boring Twitter email (John is now following you on Twitter) has been vastly improved.

The Topify email gives you their avatar, number of followers/following, last tweet, bio, and when they last updated their Twitter account. You can decide, quickly, how to proceed. In some cases, you’ll know instantly it’s a spam twitter account and you can go out and block them. But perhaps you want to follow them back. All you need to do is hit reply and send in your email program. That’s it. Topify will take care of your follow-back.

Additionally, if you want to send a direct message to the person after you follow them, you can again hit reply. It’s so simple, but very elegant.

The TechCrunch invites have all been taken, but you can still request a Topify beta invite. but now we have invites of our own! The first 20 folks to follow this link can sign up for Topify.

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Contact Michelle with news, stories, events, and more.
Email: michelle[at]writetech[dot]net
Twitter: @writetechnology, Friendfeed: michellel
Blogs: Write Technology, Wine-Girl.net

by Michelle Lentz

How many people do you know who are laid off? I know several. About two weeks ago, I sat in my living room and coached my sister-in-law on LinkedIn, blogging, and Twitter – all necessary tools for the now in-transition worker.

Now Twitter can help in more ways than just getting your name out there. Brian Solis, in conjunction with Christopher Peri, have taken your job search one step further. Thanks to some graphic design help from Jeremy Bogdan, Microjobs lets you know who is hiring.

You may remember Brian and Christopher’s MicroPR, which they launched (with Stowe Boyd) back in November. MicroPR uses Twitter to connect bloggers and PR folks. Think of Microjobs as an extension.

Microjobs (http://www.twitter.com/microjobs) requires a give and take from companies and those in transition. Here’s how it works:

Hiring

• Companies tweet to Microjobs making sure to start the tweet with @microjobs and including contact information.
• If you have room, add relevant tags, such as #socialmedia, #developer, #SAP, etc.
• Example: @microjobs X is hiring for X. Contact us via X. #jobtype #jobtype

Looking

• Follow @microjobs on Twitter.
• If the position is relevant, follow up. Don’t follow up through Microjobs. Instead, use the contact information the company provided.

I was surprised at how many people are already posting jobs. They’re out there – you just need to know where to look. Microjobs is making that easier.

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Contact Michelle with news, stories, events, and more.
Email: michelle[at]writetech[dot]net
Twitter: @writetechnology, Friendfeed: michellel
Blogs: Write Technology, Wine-Girl.net

by Michelle Lentz

We’ve got eVite and MyPunchbowl, among others, to invite our friends to official gatherings. But what about Tweetups? One of my girlfriends organized a tweetup recently, tweeted it dozens of times, and still had no idea how many people were attending.

Twtvite is eVite for your Tweetups. You can actually have people respond and manage the responses / RSVPs. Twtvite is basically a simple event planner for use on Twitter. You can create a tweetup, invite your twitter followers, and manage RSVPs. There’s even an embeddable widget and the ability to share via Facebook and even share via the old standby of email.

Twtvite is the brainchild of twtapps, run by  Felipe Coimbra. Felipe has created all sorts of fun, and even useful, Twitter apps, including TwtTrip, twtpoll, the rather nifty twtQpon, and many more little apps.

Simple but effective – it’s the best kind of Twitter app.

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Contact Michelle with news, stories, events, and more.
Email: michelle[at]writetech[dot]net, Twitter: @writetechnology, Friendfeed: michellel, Blogs: Write Technology, Wine-Girl.net

Nominee for City Beat’s Best of the City: Vote for My Wine Education under Public Eye > Blog:
http://www.bestofcincinnati.com/

by Michelle Lentz

It’s not unusual for me to turn to Twitter for technical support. When Parallels on my Mac wasn’t working correctly, I was able to troubleshoot using Twitter. When I was trying to get my Mac and my PCs to “speak” to each other, I got it working with aid from my Twitter friends. Non-technical? When I needed to write my first press release, I recieved tons of tips via Twitter, and several kind folks even edited the document for me.

So Lazy Tweet seems like a brilliant idea to me. In it’s own way, it’s a combination of Metafilter and Yahoo! Answers. If you have a question, you can tweet it to your own followers and friends. Use lazytweet or lazyweb (with or without hashtags or @) and the tweet will be picked up by @lazytweet and display on the Lazy Tweet page. You can watch for your answer,subscribe to their feed, or they’ll @ reply your answer to you on Twitter.

The advantage to Lazy Tweet is two-fold: your question is exposed to a wider audience than your immediate friends and followers, and you can play “expert” by answering questions to which you might know the answer.

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Contact Michelle with your news, apps, and events via email, Twitter, Pownce, or FriendFeed. Visit Michelle at Wine-Girl.net and Write Technology.

by Michelle Lentz

Tweetake was launched a few days ago by Alfred Armstrong and Nikki Pilkington. The concept behind Tweetake is that you might want to back up your Twitter data. This includes your friends, followers, favorites, and even your Tweets.

Enter your Twitter user name and password into fields and select what you want to back up. It quickly downloads everything and creates a CSV file. I did notice that my Tweets only went back to June 20 on this account and July 16 on my slightly more verbose personal account. I’m not sure what limits they have, or how far back Twitter retains our Tweets. (I just noticed I no longer have Twitter favorites before May on twitter.com.)

You may notice the note regarding Tweetdeck. Due to the process in which Twitter limits calls, there is an odd little conflict with Tweetake and Tweetdeck and similar apps (explained here). The workaround is easy. Shut down Tweetdeck, wait a minute or so, and then run Tweetake. I had no problem at all running Tweetake with Twhirl running as well.

This is a nifty tool. If you want to retain your Twitter data ,just run Tweetake once every other month or so and you should be fine.

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Contact Michelle with your news, apps, and events via email, Twitter, Pownce, or FriendFeed. Visit Michelle at Wine-Girl.net and Write Technology.