Filed under computers

Imagination is never the limit

From Cisco’s infographic about IPv6 a month or two ago:

When billions of things are connected, talking and learning, the only limitation left will be our own imaginations.

Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize our imaginations were so restrictive. I could have sworn money was the limiting factor in situations like this — money for development, money to build infrastructure, money for content and intellectual property use, etc.

I could be mistaken. Perhaps there was no possible way for Cisco to imagine a better Flip player, so they had to kill off the product.

Oh, wait.

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Trowl 0.7 Preview – Update!

Just a quick post to provide an update on the next version of Trowl.

Preview builds are now available. I waited until things seemed relatively stable, so if you want to give 0.7 a whirl, you shouldn’t experience too many problems. Of course, if you do, I’d love to hear about it. Then I can fix it and everything will be happy again. :)

While 0.7 is mostly finished, there are still a few small features that I’d like to add. I didn’t want the preview builds to get held up by these last few changes, but you can expect a couple more goodies to slip through before things are finalized.

So, what are those features? Thank you for asking, imaginary commenter!

* New "Event" notification. (NOW AVAILABLE in build 002) The user stream sends more than just tweets — it also sends notifications about new followers, retweets and favorites. So it only seemed appropriate to pass those notifications on to Growl. As new notifications get sent to the stream, I’ll integrate them into this notification type.

* Complete t.co integration. (NOW AVAILABLE in build 003) Twitter is finally starting to push ahead with implementing its t.co URL "shortening" service to the rest of its ecosystem. To that end, Trowl will behave slightly differently when posting a tweet with URLs. Each URL will automatically deduct ~19 characters from your tweet, no matter how long the URL is. My current plan is to keep the built-in is.gd shortening available for those who like to use that, but it’ll probably become less important as t.co becomes more widespread.

* Photo uploads. (NOW AVAILABLE in build 004) I think everyone knows what this is now that Twitter has rolled it out to everyone on the Twitter website. It is not yet (officially) part of the API, though, and currently Twitter has no date planned for a roll out. (So much for late June.) Like mentioned above, this may or may not make it into 0.7 depending on how long this takes.

* Higher resolution profile pictures. (NOW AVAILABLE in build 005) Profile pictures will now be 200 by 200 pixels, if possible. A lot of profile pictures aren’t that large when pulled from Twitter, so some changes were made to how the retweet profile pictures are composed. Overall, though, you shouldn’t notice too much of a difference unless you are using a Growl display that shows large images, or you forward notifications to another device, like Howl on iPhone. Metro Display was changed to show a larger version of the profile picture if you hover your mouse over the profile picture.

Thoughts, questions, suggestions? Feel free to comment. :)

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Why I Use Dropbox

Paul Thurrott recently (well, “recently”; I’m a bit delayed on this due to moving) posted an article about Dropbox — specifically, why anyone who uses Windows would use it over Live Mesh.

Well, I use Windows, Live Mesh AND Dropbox. If you’re at all interested in cross-device synchronization, then neither Dropbox or Live Mesh should be so quickly dismissed. This is true, even in light of Dropbox’s recent (“recent”) security issues.

First, let me just say that everything Paul says about Windows Live Mesh is entirely true, and the reasons he gives for using it — more storage, flexible folder syncing, peer-to-peer syncing, remote desktop access, application settings syncing — are valid. These are all reasons why I use Windows Live Mesh, too.

Okay, so what about Dropbox?
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Trowl 0.7 Preview

Now that my experimental project is out there in the wild (have you tried it yet? please try it!), it’s time to move on to something a bit more stable and mainstream: Trowl.

I feel a little bad that it has been almost a year since the last big release, Trowl 0.6. Between other projects that I have been working on, and Twitter’s announcement (“read our tweets, no new clients!”), Trowl has been put on the back burner. The good thing about that, though, is that it has given me time to think of ways to improve the program, and collect feedback about what others would like to see too.

Today, I’d like to give you a preview of all the new shinies in Trowl 0.7.

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Sociable Wallpaper

All right, so I’ve been teasing this guy for a little while. I think it’s time I let the cat out of the bag.

secret_project

So what is it? Put simply, it searches Twitter for desktop wallpaper, adds what it finds to your library, and then randomly sets your computer’s wallpaper to one of the images at regular intervals.

I forget what, exactly, prompted me to start working on this project. I think it had something to do with the fact that there are a lot of images out there that make excellent wallpapers – but they’re a bit hard to find. A few websites have popped up recently that have helped with this task, but it’s usually pages upon pages of images that takes a lot of time to sift through.

But Twitter is a great natural filter – people usually don’t tweet something unless it warrants it. (Excluding things like spam or commercial accounts, of course.) So, I started working on this little program.

At this point, it’s a proof of concept. It’s not in any sort of polished, final form. All the features work in a “this is alpha code and may break” sort of way. It searches Twitter for tweets with the “#wallpaper” hashtag, and then looks for any URLs. If one of the URLs points to an image, it pulls it down and adds it to a temporary list – the lower “Twitter” section in the screenshot above.

Selecting a wallpaper shows who tweeted it, and what the original text of the tweet was. When you mouse over a wallpaper, you also get three options:

secret_project_buttons

The top button removes an image from your library. Because you may sometimes come across images that you don’t particularly like, the program asks if you want to exclude this picture from ever showing up again. If you say yes, then it’ll be added to an exclusion list that will stop it from showing up again – regardless of who tweets it.

The middle button pins the wallpaper. Pinned wallpapers are images you want to keep in your library. They appear in the section on top, as seen in the screenshot above, and won’t disappear if you restart the application. If you ever decide you don’t want to keep a wallpaper, you can unpin it. (To indicate that it is pinned, the wallpaper will keep showing the pinned icon, even after you mouse away from it.)

The bottom button magnifies the wallpaper. In this view, it fills the entire upper portion of the program. You can click anywhere on the zoomed version to dismiss it. Keep in mind that you can resize the main window (or fully maximize it) – which will also expand the size of the magnified image.

There is also a small settings screen that you can access by clicking the button with the gear on it, in the lower right. From this screen, you can control how often Twitter is searched, how often your wallpaper should change, and what the minimum size an image should be in order to be included in the library.

And speaking of changing the wallpaper – it will randomly choose an image, either from your pinned list, or the images it has found on Twitter. So if you don’t want an image to show as a wallpaper, it is best to remove it.

A few last points: by default, a wallpaper image is named the URL it was pulled from. But you can rename it to anything you want – selecting the thumbnail lets you change the text below it. You can close the main window any time – it will sit in your system tray. Double click the icon to re-open the window, or right click to Exit. When you first start the program, it won’t check Twitter right away. It will start at the next scheduled interval. You will know it’s checking Twitter, as there will be a green progress bar in the “Twitter” header bar.

I think that’s it as far as features go. I’m offering this proof of concept version as a way to gauge what people think of it. I have a lot of interesting ideas for where this could go – but with both Trowl and Project Nom being actively developed, I don’t want to spend a lot of time on this unless it’s something people would actually use and enjoy.

So if you like it, let me know! And if you don’t like it, let me know that too – but let me know what could be done to improve it.

In any case, I hope you like playing with this as much as I have. You’ll notice that there aren’t too many #wallpaper tweets that actually link directly to an image, so if you have any wallpapers you can share with a #wallpaper tag on Twitter, please do! And I’ll do the same.

Enjoy!

TweetWallpaper
Proof of concept. Requires .NET Framework 4. 505KB.

Update: Something like this doesn’t really work unless lots of people contribute their favorite wallpapers. So, to that end: you can now upload your own wallpapers and tweet them!

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Trowl: Re-Authorize for DM Permissions

settings_add_accountTwitter recently announced that they’re adjusting application permissions such that DMs require a new level of access. To ensure that users know exactly what is being accessed by the programs they use, Twitter wants users to re-authorize applications that require DM access.

If you use Trowl to view DMs, or you use the DM remote feature, you will need to re-authorize Trowl to access your DMs. otherwise you will start getting errors at the end of June.

Luckily, it’s pretty easy to do this. The first step is to go to the settings screen and click on ‘Add Account’, like the screenshot at the right shows. This will take you to the usual authorize screen, as if you were adding a brand new account. Click the link, and you will be taken to the Twitter website to authorize your account. The screenshot below shows the important part – that you will be allowing Trowl to access your direct messages.

After you enter your username and password, you will get the pin to enter back in Trowl. After you do this, Trowl will realize you authorized an account you already have set up, and will simply update your existing account with the new authorization. You will need to repeat this process for all accounts you use with Trowl. Click ‘Save’ to confirm the new authorizations and you’re done.

(One other minor thing to note: I run Trowl on several computers, and each instance is authorized for the same Twitter accounts. One thing I noticed is that as soon as I re-authorized one instance of Trowl with the new access permissions, the access permissions used by the other instances of Trowl instantly became invalid. So, if you have a similar situation, you will need to update every instance of Trowl. I imagine this isn’t a common situation, but wanted to mention it just in case.)twitter_authorize

What if I don’t want Trowl to access my DMs?
If you actually don’t want Trowl touching your DMs for whatever reason, then you can either refuse to re-authorize Trowl – in which case you will get errors whenever Trowl attempts to access them – or you can change your settings to not Growl DMs or use remote DM commands.

This is a bit of a nuisance, so thank you for taking a minute to do this. I understand Twitter’s motivations, but I can’t help but think there must have been a more streamlined way to implement this.

Anyway, that’s it. As always, if you have any problems, send me a tweet!

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Microsoft: Drowning in a Sea of Partners

As I type these words on my Macbook Pro, there is an iPhone 4 in my pocket and an iPad 2 propped up on its Smart Cover in front of me. If you had told me a couple of years ago that I would be using three Apple devices at the same time, I would have laughed at you. (In a nice way; I don’t like hurting anyone’s feelings.) So I couldn’t help but ask myself recently: what happened? Why have I turned to Apple when, traditionally, Microsoft has been the one to satisfy my geeky gadget needs?

The answer doesn’t lie with Microsoft alone. Microsoft is predominantly a software company. They write
the OS, the productivity software, the games, or the utilities that run on your device. They provide a solid platform that anyone can use in any capacity that they desire. This is something that has always appealed to me: if you want something in a small form factor, then you can build it that way — and you can be sure that the OS of your choice will run on it.

But what happens when your beautiful software gets put on ugly, underperforming hardware?

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Apple Announces the i_______, Available Immediately

Earlier today, at their Cupertino headquarters, Apple announced the latest entry in their “i” product line. Named the i_______ (pronounced “eye blank”), it allows customers to take their ideas for an iDevice, and make them official. “For years, we’ve been creating lustworthy gadgets that make friends, coworkers and complete strangers envious,” Steve Jobs explained in a press release. “Today, we are giving customers the ability to keep the people in their lives constantly envious, driving home the power of Apple’s innovation.”

The i_______ contains no electronics, and isn’t an actual working version of a customer’s idea. Instead, it is a sturdy, laminated piece of cardboard mounted on a solid aluminum back. The front features typical Apple minimalism, showing only your chosen i-product name, what it does, and when your idea was officially recognized by Apple. An idea plus three features is priced at $299. Additional features can be added for $49 each.

Only a few media representatives were allowed into the unveiling at Apple’s headquarters, ensuring they were the first to lay eyes on the product. Initial responses were positive.

"I’ve actually had an i_______ for a week now," admitted The Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg, much to the envious glances of other nearby journalists. "While it looks simple — just a sheet of cardboard declaring your official i-product concept — it takes on a whole new meaning when it’s in your hands. It becomes personal."

Surprisingly, the i_______ was available for purchase today, and lines have already started forming at Apple Stores across the United States. While select members of the media got the first look, it wasn’t long before everyone else got their chance to see Apple’s latest innovation.

Paul Thurrott, who runs the Windows SuperSite, offered a more measured response. “Quite simply, the i_______ is an evolution, not a revolution. It was only a matter of time before Apple moved beyond material objects, and into the realm of ideas, dreams and vaporware.” While Thurrott generally seemed impressed after buying an i_______ of his own, he found it difficult to ignore several shortcomings. In particular, Thurrott noted that, “…. Apple still hasn’t learned anything from the iPad. The i_______’s glossy, laminated front made it impossible to read in direct sunlight.”

Many happy customers were leaving Apple’s stores, even hours after they initially went on sale. Unlike the iPad 2, there appears to be plenty of stock. Customers were showing off their concepts for iAlarms, iCars and even iSpoons.

Marcel Jones, from Nashua, NH, was one of the early adopters. “It’s amazing! No other company lets you turn your ideas into something physical and real, in such an easy and innovative way. But Apple does, and it’s going to change the game forever!”

Mr. Jones did realize one possible issue with the i_______, however. “While obsolescence is always a problem, it seems particularly bad when your imagination is in charge. For example, for my iToaster, it would be perfect if there was a WiFi module that could send real time updates about your toasting adventure straight to your computer.”

Realizing he had just made his own newly-purchased i_______ obsolete, Mr. Jones’ smile quickly faded.

“S#!t.”

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Metro Display / Twitter Display Updates & Response to Twitter’s Developer Announcement

Today, I’m releasing a minor update to Metro Display and Twitter Display. For Metro Display, it will now properly display twitpic/yfrog images if the links were shortened by t.co. For both displays, they will now properly link mentions/hashtags/URLs if they appear more than once in the tweet. They can both be downloaded from the usual location. You may need to delete your current versions of the displays before installing the new versions.

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Introducing Project Nom

A long time ago, back when the internet was still assembling itself, there was a service called Prodigy. I used Prodigy more than I’d like to admit, usually for things that weren’t especially productive. One of the few exceptions to this was when I wanted to find a new recipe for an appetizer.

There were distinct silos of information on the Prodigy service, similar to AOL’s keywords. If I remember correctly, the food section had a small selection of recipes, but nothing terribly impressive. The main draw were the message boards, where people were actively swapping their favorite appetizers, entrees and desserts.

After creating a new topic on the board, someone replied with a recipe that sounded perfect, so I printed it out. There was no other way to save it, really — besides, it was the only practical way to cook the recipe. I didn’t want to run between the kitchen and study whenever I needed to refer to the instructions.

Many years later, technology has improved considerably. Message boards are no longer the focus, but, if you have the time, you can find just about any recipe you want. But one thing remains the same: if you want to preserve your recipe, the best method is to print it out.

Oh, sure, there are websites that let you bookmark your favorite recipes in a virtual recipe box. Food Network has one. Epicurious has one. I’m sure there are others, too. But since when was it a good idea to have three recipe boxes in your kitchen, with recipes randomly distributed between them?

And what about cooking them? Are you supposed to drag your laptop into the kitchen while you cook? I’ve tried that, and it’s not practical — if for no other reason than it takes up a lot of counter space.

There have been some software solutions over the years. The best right now are locked onto Apple’s OS X/iOS platforms. That’s fine and dandy if you’ve bought into that ecosystem, but most people haven’t.

No, the best solution for an omnipresent need ("what do I want to eat?") is an omnipresent platform. All that time ago, Prodigy had the right idea. But now that technology has evolved, it’s time to evolve those original ideas.

That is the goal of Project Nom.

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