Fathom this!

Twitter clients for S60 devices

noemail@noemail.org (Ilya) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 01:37:51 +0200

I was going to write up a comparison of various Twitter clients available for S60 mobile phones, but since I haven’t gotten around to it, here’s a list of various apps and approaches. S60 native I generally prefer native apps over Java applets, but in many cases, this means you have to pay for the quality.

Twittix (4,95€)
Gravity (7,72€)
WirelessIRC (15,48€)
TwitS60 (free)

I tried Gravity’s free demo, but the demo’s limitation of not being able to post tweets made it hard to get a day to day feel for the app. Still, it seems quite good, and I’d definitely buy it were I not about to switch phones. (Gravity is bound to the device’s IMEI code.) NokiaExperts compares Gravity and Twittix, and while they declare a draw, Gravity seems to come out on top. WirelessIRC is from the same maker as Gravity, but has a wider set of features. An interesting project to follow is TwitS60, an open source Twitter app in the works. Originally slated for a release in July–August 2009, it seems there hasn’t been much going on since early spring. Java As I said above, I generally prefer native apps over Java software, but with Twitter clients, if you don’t want to pay, then Java’s what you get.

Twibble is clearly the front-runner of these apps. The app itself works well, but the settings interface and tweet actions contextual menu are quite jarring. I haven’t used all of these, but based on their sites, screenshots and feature lists, Twibble and Twim stand out. Web

Twitter’s own mobile interface if fairly good, but it lacks some basic features, such as deleting tweets — and considering how error-prone typing is on mobile phones, it’s a feature that I’ve sorely lacked. I haven’t used Dabr or Slandr, but they both describe themselves as more full-featured versions of Twitter Mobile. Others Finally, there are the strange ones. Via Twitter’s IM and email posting API, there are many other possibilities of using Twitter. The usually impressive Fring claims Twitter support, though in the first version, it definitely was an underwhelming experience. Fring basically slopped bunches of tweets as chat messages. Another mongrel of an app is Jargong. There are, of course, more apps and web interfaces out there. Final notes If you want the best client available, I recommend Gravity. Out of the free apps, I recommend Twibble. Casual use is served perfectly well by the web interfaces. All in all, the apps available for S60 devices aren’t nearly as nice as those for the iPhone. But then again, the same goes for the apps for a Mac versus the ones for Windows.

Understanding Pre's appeal

noemail@noemail.org (Ilya) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 17:39:36 +0200

Justin Blanton has a nice write-up of Palm Pre. I’ve been having a hard time understanding the excitement the Pre’s generated. Justin cleared up a lot. Also, John Gruber’s point that only QWERTY-phone owners (I’m a happy one) will find touchscreen keyboards difficult, resonates with me. Still, I can’t help wonder if maybe part of the appeal is that the US has a big history of PDAs.

The Rumpus long interview with Dave Eggers

noemail@noemail.org (Ilya) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 08:44:28 +0200

The Rumpus long interview with Dave Eggers.

Daniel's Daily Monster

noemail@noemail.org (Ilya) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:25:21 +0200

Daniel's Daily Monster. Jon Hicks draws his son a monster on a post-it for his lunch every day.

HTML5 enabling javascript

noemail@noemail.org (Ilya) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:57:30 +0200

HTML5 enabling javascript. Useful for experimenting with HTML5 while still remaining usable in IE.

Ze on Time

noemail@noemail.org (Ilya) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 19:39:24 +0200

Yay, Ze’s back! And doing The Show style videos for Time. Via Daring Fireball.

Telegraph: 'Immortal' jellyfish swarming across the world

noemail@noemail.org (Ilya) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:04:23 +0200

Telegraph: 'Immortal' jellyfish swarming across the world.

Friends don’t let friends use Comic Sans

noemail@noemail.org (Ilya) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:33:31 +0200

Friends don’t let friends use Comic Sans. Alternatives for the dreaded one.

A fortuitous hypertext trail

noemail@noemail.org (Ilya) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:35:06 +0200

Following trails of hyperlinks can be fun. When looking up some javascript type comparison details, I had the good fortune of stumbling onto another, unrelated trail of links; one that I thought I’d share with you. It all started with an entry in Eric Lippert’s Fabulous Adventures In Coding blog. The fun part (at least for me, I have a penchant for reading semi-diaristic details of complete strangers’ lives) came in the end, filed under “other news”. Follow the link, read the entry. Eric’s funny — which is to say that he writes nicely and elicits laughter. But not only that (another link, here), he’s an internationally recognized expert on getting boys to like you, and, as the entry clearly shows, a nice guy to beat. Do note that in the end of this third entry, there are links to parts two and three of his answers for searchers.

Oh prolix garbled supercilious perfidy

noemail@noemail.org (Ilya) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:43:28 +0200

Or, excerpts of some spam I’ve recently received. From: Sylvia
Date: Sat, Jun 27, 2009 at 3:06 AM do trap varied jujube!
borne trowel papal varied. From: Clio
Date: Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 9:11 PM Nor for your golden crown
Which they ate with a runcible spoon From: Gonzalo
Date: Mon, Jun 22, 2009 at 2:05 PM pule pore shay.
botch sally quota who!
cong echo pule who.
ilk sloe inker mushy. From: Pablo
Date: Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 3:10 AM mumps vizor airy.
newel fluff after safe.
froze itch elfin for?
kino sprig hoof. From: Fletcher
Date: Wed, Jun 17, 2009 at 4:16 PM me curl airy inky!
wise hoof faith bogy?
wooer rogue kilo froze!
crux cleg frizz ashen.
lieu rogue.
huso kino tray.
mage rep.
curl trow comet kino.
orbed mage.
trace bogy.
tray crick its froze!
itch comet huso elfin.
nick wooer faith rogue!
elfin sprig rimy rep?
relic itch crowd nance!
talon curb vizor kino?
rape crowd hoof.
huso rape ashen orbed?
tray elfin mumps peel!
tyke curb.
tray fugle spunk itch?
wooer tummy wrung sexy!
motif steed inky motif?
stale soup death swain? From: Louella
Date: Wed, Jun 17, 2009 at 8:33 AM cooker bingo brazil ingle.
oakery alb.
coatee luting graft bled!
rococo pray fetid pawn!
arise chump acuity give?
pray voter grouch nimbus!
hubby grouch peso tandem?
hubby gooey lives zoic.
wen fiber feel flood!
valuer chalk ape warble.
hubby bingo. From: Kennith
Date: Wed, Jun 17, 2009 at 3:19 AM sleety hubby bingo gasper!
glover tempi ingle public?
fully how attic renew?
pawn aerate.
flood lipped mix rococo.
lipped blase sleety sin.
baboo peso mix.
lumper warble sell gird!
emir arise chump.
sap shrink sap. From: Lottie
Date: Tue, Jun 16, 2009 at 2:08 PM large find fetid.
pray brazil cooker fiber!
cue how pray pawn.
renew wen keeker public?
bay wen thyme gasper!
pray module pawn. From: Archie
Date: Tue, Jun 16, 2009 at 12:16 PM wen fiber estop.
sleety foci sell farad.
alb tandem keeker.
gasper large gooey how?
fully cashew hubby nibble.
feed attic ape attic?
chump rococo coatee pant!

An epitaph

noemail@noemail.org (Ilya) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:35:00 +0200

Don’t try.

Feed analyzer Fever looks sharp

noemail@noemail.org (Ilya) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:18:48 +0200

Shaun Inman’s Fever looks sharp. According to Inman: “Fever is a self-hosted [PHP/MySQL] recommendation engine for content you’re already subscribed to built atop a full-featured feed reader.”

TED: Clay Shirky: How Twitter can make history

noemail@noemail.org (Ilya) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 10:26:13 +0200

TED: Clay Shirky: How Twitter can make history.

How to make the perfect omelette

noemail@noemail.org (Ilya) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 06:17:49 +0200

How to make the perfect omelette. I use a bit different technique, but will keep practicing this one. Attempt #1 ended in a lump.

Typeface: Dobra

noemail@noemail.org (Ilya) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:25:59 +0200

The Dobra typeface has some nice distinctive features and a hefty collection of weights.

Plugin: jQuery Address

noemail@noemail.org (Ilya) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:17:36 +0200

jQuery Address is a deep linking plugin.

NY Times Op-ed: A supreme leader loses his aura as Iranians flock to the streets

noemail@noemail.org (Ilya) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 09:16:47 +0200

NY Times Op-ed: A supreme leader loses his aura as Iranians flock to the streets.

Sports Illustrated: The two and only

noemail@noemail.org (Ilya) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 06:20:45 +0200

Sports Illustrated: The two and only. During their glorious 13-year rivalry, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson measured themselves by one standard: each other.

jQWidon’t

noemail@noemail.org (Ilya) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:11:32 +0200

jQWidon’t. A Jquery plugin to prevent the single-word rows in headlines (called widows).

Juice Analytics: Tufte charts in Excel

noemail@noemail.org (Ilya) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 07:52:41 +0200

Juice Analytics: Tufte charts in Excel.

Sitepoint: 16 PHP frameworks

noemail@noemail.org (Ilya) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 11:49:43 +0200

Sitepoint: 16 PHP frameworks. Sheesh, there’s a lot of ‘em. And a bunch of interesting ones in the comments, as well (such as Pluf, a PHP port of Django).

Scott Aaronson: Who can name the bigger number?

noemail@noemail.org (Ilya) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 10:53:52 +0200

Scott Aaronson: Who can name the bigger number?. A fascinating article on big numbers and why they matter. I especially enjoyed the Busy Beaver conjectures. Via Kottke.

Salon: The Learjet repo man

noemail@noemail.org (Ilya) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:47:20 +0200

Salon: The Learjet repo man. Via Kottke.

Zed Shaw: The ACL is Dead

noemail@noemail.org (Ilya) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 11:32:30 +0200

Zed Shaw: The ACL is Dead. An interesting and funny presentation from CUSEC 2008.

Inc.: The start-up guru -- Y Combinator's Paul Graham

noemail@noemail.org (Ilya) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 08:36:56 +0200

Inc.: The start-up guru -- Y Combinator's Paul Graham.