Monday, November 10, 2008 4:19 PM by Michael Paladino
I have used Twitter now for a few months and have really enjoyed the experience. If you don't know what Twitter is, check out the wikipedia entry or this short YouTube video for more information before reading the rest of this post. During the time I've used Twitter, I've tried quite a few clients including Twhirl, Digsby, and Witty, but my favorite by far has been TweetDeck. I've mentioned to others how much I've enjoyed using it so often that I thought I'd go ahead and write a blog post about it.
Below, I've listed the top 5 reasons I love TweetDeck with an explanation of each. Enjoy!
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Groups
Of the Twitter clients I've seen, TweetDeck is the only one with the concept of "Groups". I follow over 100 people, some of whom are friends I've actually met in person, and others whom I may not personally know but "tweet" about things that I'm interested in. I don't mind missing tweets from those in the latter group, but I like to monitor those of my personal friends more closely. With the concept of groups, TweetDeck allows me to setup a group (I call it "Personal Friends") and choose the people whom I choose to keep up with the most. Then I can more closely monitor that group while paying less attention to the "All Tweets" group.
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Local Search
Any tweets downloaded by TweetDeck within the last 48 hours get cached locally. TweetDeck offers a "Local" search that allows you to search through those cached tweets. This comes in handy if I remember someone tweeting about something but can't remember who or when.
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Global Search - Topics of Interest - Long Term
TweetDeck also has a "Global" search that will create a column of all tweets matching the typed-in search term. It will update every time the rest of your tweets update. This feature allows me to track tweets on topics that I am deeply interested in. For example, I have global searches for SubSonic and INETA to keep up with anything that is being said about those topics.
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Global Search - Topics of Interest - Short Term
I also use the global search feature to track certain events like conferences. For example during Microsoft's Professional Developers Conference (PDC), I had a global search setup for "PDC" that allowed me to keep up with what folks were talking about surrounding that event. Once the event is over, I delete that search.
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Global Search - My Twitter Name
Finally, one of the issues that bugged me prior to TweetDeck was that I had a hard time seeing my own tweets and replies in context. I might see a reply that I sent to a tweet from a couple of hours before, but that tweet might be way down the list and difficult to find. With TweetDeck, I've created a global search of my twitter name (mpaladino). TweetDeck then creates a column showing all of my tweets as well as any replies directed at me. This really makes it easier to see the context of an entire conversation.
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Tuesday, November 4, 2008 10:28 AM by Michael Paladino
As a .NET developer in the south central portion of the United States, I am very fortunate to have access to a large number of high quality but free or low cost community events. I wanted to make sure that people are aware of a couple of these events in November and a couple more in January.
I am planning on attending the We Are Microsoft Charity Weekend and am hoping to put together a team of five from Fort Smith. In fact, Tim Rayburn has graciously offered to give us 2 copies of Windows Vista if we can get a team together. We've already got a couple of people committed with some others who are still thinking it over. Please let me know soon if you're interested as the deadline to register is November 28.
If you're interested in keeping up-to-date on these types of events in the area, the blogs of Chris Koenig and Zain Naboulsi would be great places to start. They are both developer evangelists for Microsoft for the South Central District (Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Arkansas) and often post about local events.
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AgileDotNet Conference 2008
Dallas, TX
November 14, 2008 (Friday)
Cost: Free
Improving Enterprises in conjunction with Microsoft and the
Dallas C# SIG invite you to an exciting one-day event to bring together the world of Microsoft .NET development with the world of Agile methods. Designed for both those experienced with Agile techniques and for those new to them, attendees can expect interesting presentations based on real-world experience from some of the industry’s leading Project Managers, Developers, and Business Analysts who have embraced Agile principles within .NET development environments.
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TechDays 2008
Dallas, TX
November 18-20 (Tuesday-Thursday)
Cost: Free
If technology is the backbone of your business, you won't want to miss out on the TechDays '08 event in Dallas. Filled with exclusive product information presented by insider experts, TechDays '08 will show developers, IT professionals, IT executives, and partners how Microsoft technology can take their business to the next level.
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We Are Microsoft Charity Challenge Weekend
Dallas, TX
January 16-19 (Friday-Sunday)
Cost: Free
The We Are Microsoft - Charity Challenge Weekend is a software development competition for a good cause. This 3-day event matches developers with charities to develop applications for those charities. At the end of the 3 days, all of the participants will vote and the winners will be proclaimed champion coders.
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MSDN Developer Conference
Dallas, TX
Friday, January 26 (Monday)
Cost: Free
Prepare yourself for a demanding future. Attend the MSDN Developer Conference. Experience Microsoft’s Cloud Computing Platform. Create applications that seamlessly bridge the gaps between PC, Web, and phone. Be among the first to see Windows 7. See the latest advances in Multi-Touch Application Development. Take your .NET skills to the next level. See sessions on WPF 4.0, Silverlight 2, ASP.NET 4.0, Parallel Programming, Live Mesh and more.