A Year Later, Twitter

One year and 2,605 tweets later..

I didn't realize it has been one year since I jumped at the microblogging bandwagon. A tweet was directed to me earlier this afternoon by @jak_twop_1000,  which I thought at first to be a machine, but turned out to be conversational. My foray at the Twitter world turned out to be fun (aside from the occasional "floods"), and very useful. I have been using Twitter mostly as news aggregator just like Google Reader or similar RSS aggregators, that's why I didn't tweet that much (you think 2,605 is a lot? well, wait until you see my 10,000+ tweets of my friends, yeah those in just a year).

The way the aggregator thing works is that I follow several Twitter accounts belonging to news station and field experts. Therefore, all I need to do in mid-afternoon at work or night at home is just look at their tweets to get the latest updates and links. I can then follow the link to a more comprehensive writing. For this purpose, I use a software application instead of directly read them from Twitter. This is because Twitter has limited showings and it takes a bit long to show more tweets. Plus, the app I used allows me to flag the tweets I like but rather read it some other time. The software I used is Socialite by Realmac, which was EventBox before they got bought by Realmac. Honestly, I kinda like EventBox better because it had less bugs and caused less stress.

Second, I also use Twitter as bookmark, like del.icio.us. The way it works is that I put a favorite star on those tweets I like to bookmark or tweets those articles I found on the web myself. This is why my tweets are dominated by finance and investment related news and websites.

What's for the next one year? Well, more or less the same I think, unless I got the sudden urge to post more of my original writings. Until next year...

Twitter Badge

I found out this neat Twitter widget which allow me to link my tweets (yes, that's a new word thanks to Twitter, meaning my posts on Twitter) to my blog here in Blogspot. First, I tried to put it on the sidebar, just as it recommended. But, it is likely to be missed if it was on the side, and it can lengthen the page for individual blog post, making wasted layout.

So, I decided to put it on the top. Yes, it will show on individual blog post as well. However, it won't mess out with the layout, plus individual blog post reader will be aware of the tweets as well. It didn't take long for the whole process. And the colors can be adjusted to Blogger's easily.

I also linked my tweets to my Facebook. Since I don't want to flood my Facebook status with my tweets, I put the badge on Facebook's Boxes tab. Because I think those that want to be flooded by my tweets will follow me, instead of being "pushed" by Facebook's status. I put it on the Boxes tab so just people will know of its existence.

Microblogger of Choice, Twitter

So, after several of my friends jumping into the microblogging bandwagon, I followed suit. Since most of them are on Twitter, therefore it is the logical choice for me to choose the same. Remember? network effect?

It was four months ago since I contemplating about the move. I haven't got any idea yet what to write so it'll probably gonna be some daily activities for the first few posts or so, until I figured out what and how can I best use it for my needs.

In case you want to follow me, my Twitter address is http://twitter.com/indrayudha. See you there.

The Creation (Microsoft Style)

[This is just too funny, so I got to post it. Dedicated for the geek inside all of us.]

The Creation (Microsoft Style)

1. In the beginning GOD created the Bit and the Byte. And from those He created the Word.
2. And there were two Bytes in the Word; and nothing else existed. And God separated the One from the Zero; and He saw it was good.
3. And God said - Let the Data be; And so it happened. And God said - Let the Data go to their proper places. And He created floppy disks and hard disks and compact disks.
4. And God said - Let the computers be, so there would be a place to put floppy disks and hard disks and compact disks. Thus God created computers and called them hardware.
5. And there was no Software yet. But God created programs; small and big. And told them - Go and multiply yourselves and fill all the Memory.
6. And God said - I will create the Programmer; And the Programmer will make new programs and govern over the computers and programs and Data.
7. And God created the Programmer; and put him at Data Center; And God showed the Programmer the Catalog Tree and said - you can use all the volumes and sub-volumes but DO NOT USE Windows.
8. And God said - It is not Good for the programmer to be alone. He took a bone from the Programmer's body and created a creature that would look up at the Programmer; and admire the Programmer; and love the things the Programmer does; And God called the creature: the User.
9. And the Programmer and the User were left under the naked DOS and it was Good.
10. But Bill was smarter than all the other creatures of God. And Bill said to the User - Did God really tell you not to run any programs?
11. And the User answered - God told us that we can use every program and every piece of Data but told us not to run Windows or we will die.
12. And Bill said to the User - How can you talk about something you did not even try. The moment you run Windows you will become equal to God. You will be able to create anything you like by a simple click of your mouse.
13. And the User saw that the fruits of the Windows were nicer and easier to use. And the User saw that any knowledge was useless - since Windows could replace it.
14. So the User installed the Windows on his computer; and said to the Programmers that it was good.
15. And the Programmer immediately started to look for new drivers. And God asked him - What are you looking for? And the Programmer answered - I am looking for new drivers because I can not find them in the DOS. And God said - Who said you need drivers? Did you run Windows? And the Programmer said - It was Bill who told us to!
16. And God said to Bill - Because of what you did you will be hated by all the creatures. And the User will always be unhappy with you. And you will always sell Windows.
17. And God said to the User - Because of what you did, the Windows will disappoint you and eat up all your Resources; and you will have to use lousy programs; and you will always rely on the Programmer's help.
18. And God said to the Programmer - Because you listened to the User you will never be happy. All your programs will have errors and you will have to fix them and fix them to the end of time.
19. And God threw them out of the Data Center and locked the door and secured it with a password.
    

Curse the devil Bill!!

Be Careful on How You List Contacts in Your Cell Phone

[I got a forwarded email warning me regarding stolen cell phone. I think the scenario presented is very plausible, though I'm not sure if it actually occurred. I guess it's a bit of common sense when you read it, but like I did, you'd probably unaware of the potential fraud that can occur from simple stuff like naming your contact lists.]

Be careful when you list names on your cell phone! Be Safe!

This lady has changed her habit on how she lists her contacts on her mobile phone after her handbag was stolen. Her handbag, which contained her mobile phone, credit card, purse, etc., was stolen and 20 minutes later she managed to call her hubby from a pay phone to tell him what had happened. Her hubby says, "I've just received your SMS text asking about our PIN number. I replied a little while ago." They rushed down to the bank and the bank staff told them all the money was already withdrawn. The pickpocket had actually used the stolen cell phone to text 'hubby' in the contact list and got hold of the PIN number. Within 20 minutes, he had withdrawn all the money from the bank account.

The lesson:

• Do not disclose the relationship between you and the people in your contact list.
• Avoid using names like Home, Honey, Hubby, Sweetheart, Dad, Mum, etc.
• And very importantly, when sensitive info is being asked through texts, CONFIRM by calling back.
• Also, when you're being texted by friends or family to meet them somewhere, be sure to call back to confirm that the message came from them. If you don't reach them, be very careful about going places to meet 'family and friends' who text you.
  

[I think the story was a bit off since there is a limit on how much money can be withdrawn from ATM on any given day. So, unless the couple had little in their account or they had special higher withdrawal limit, it'd not be possible to fully withdraw the account in just 20 minutes. Further, a very much likely scenario to occur would be for your phone to be temporarily 'stolen', most likely by someone you knew. And then, that person can do 'harmless' stuff (like peeping through your text messages) to something criminal (like searching for important data such as PIN numbers) before 'returning' the phone back to you. I guess that phone lock is not just for securing keypad.]