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Get Email alerts while monitoring keywords in Twitter Lists
What’s good and bad about the Retweet feature in Twitter?
Google’s Image Swirl borrows a lot from Wonder Wheel

Get Email alerts while monitoring keywords in Twitter Lists

Posted: 18 Nov 2009 09:00 AM PST

If you are an avid Twitter user, you are probably following a few Lists on Twitter. It is not possible to read each and every tweet in a list. I came across Listiti which allows me to set keywords while monitoring a particular Twitter List. If there is a tweet within the list containing the keyword, Listiti sends me an email alert.

Set alerts with Listiti

The best thing about Listiti is that there was no need for me to register to their website. I could simply enter the details and the alert was created.
I did not need to enter the URL of the List but just enter it’s name. For example I used a list of all accounts on Twitter we have at rtBlogs.
Then I entered the keywords to be monitored. If you leave this field blank you will receive alerts for all the tweets from this list.
Finally enter your email address and click on ‘Create the Alert‘

That’s all you need to do and you are set to monitor Twitter Lists for certain keywords which will ensure that you do not miss out reading the important tweets.

Follow us on Twitter: @devils_workshop | @bombaypirate

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Get Email alerts while monitoring keywords in Twitter Lists

What’s good and bad about the Retweet feature in Twitter?

Posted: 18 Nov 2009 07:06 AM PST

Twitter has released the Retweet feature on its website albeit the feature is still in BETA. I have written previously about it, but my Twitter account is now part of the beta experiment, hence I was able to experiment a bit with Twitter’s ReTweet feature. I liked a few things but I think there is room for improvements. If you see the below image after logging into your Twitter account, your account is also part of the experiment.

retweet_func1

The Good

There is no need to copy-paste or use the various desktop applications to send a Retweet. Click on the Retweet button on the tweet you are reading and it is sent to all your followers as Retweet.
There was a way for me to keep track of all the Retweet activity by checking on details like Retweets by others, Retweets by you and Your tweets, retweeted.
I liked the feature where I could undo the Retweet. This is great option if you have inadvertently done a Retweet to a spurious link by someone.

retweet_func2

The Bad

The Retweet option does not show up when you look up tweets in a list. This means if I am looking up tweets in my list I need to visit the profile page to send a Retweet.
I guess this is because it it not integrated with Twitter Lists. I hope this is a temporary thing, as I would find it quite cumbersome to visit the profile of someone I am following every time just for sending a Retweet.

Follow us on Twitter: @devils_workshop | @bombaypirate

Win $100 Every Month in "Blogger of The Month" Award

Writing for Devils Workshop and other blogs in our network is just got better!
Now you be "Blogger of The Month" and win $100 cash prize, in addition to direct ad-revnue from your post.
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What’s good and bad about the Retweet feature in Twitter?

Google’s Image Swirl borrows a lot from Wonder Wheel

Posted: 18 Nov 2009 01:41 AM PST

Google has announced a a new web tool called Image Swirl. It allows a user to search for similar images with the functionalities of Wonder Wheel. We had reviewed Wonder Wheel over two months ago and found it quite useful especially if while searching for something, one search leads to another and you want to backtrack to what you were originally looking up.

With Image Swirl I think Google is making their image search look cooler and also has raised the bar for their competition which is Bing’s image search.

Google’s Image Swirl

Google_imageswirl

As you can see in the image above, I searched for ‘Taj Mahal‘. First it pulled up a host of images for the monument. I liked a sketch of the Taj Mahal and clicked on it.
This opened another circle which had more sketches. I clicked on another one which shows similar yet different types of sketches.
Image Swirl is useful for looking up similar images the same way users might look for similar information or links while using search features like Wonder Wheel. A simple click to the previous circle means I am back to where I began in the first place.

The Bing Effect

bing_similar_images

I used Bing’s image search and it also has a option to look for similar images (see image above). If I needed to compare these two, I would say Bing search was far more complete and comprehensive when it came to looking for similar images. But then Google’s Image Swirl is still quite new and it should be much improved over the days.

Try out Google Image Swirl and let me know your opinions through your comments.

Win $100 Every Month in "Blogger of The Month" Award

Writing for Devils Workshop and other blogs in our network is just got better!
Now you be "Blogger of The Month" and win $100 cash prize, in addition to direct ad-revnue from your post.
Read More...

Google’s Image Swirl borrows a lot from Wonder Wheel