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A while back, I wrote about this new web-based Twitter client called HootSuite. They were doing some cool things that really got me back into Twitter. There was also an article about whether desktop Twitter clients were better than web-based Twitter clients and HootSuite really sealed the deal for web-based Twitter clients in my book.

Well, HootSuite’s at it again!  Who knew what kind of changes they had up there proverbial sleeves this time? The word is out and the gig is up because the news about their HTML 5 interface has hit the street. What’s the big deal? Now that they are using HTML 5, the new features will most definitely turn your head. Let’s go through the 4 new features that got my attention and will probably do the same for you.

1. HootSuite now has themes

Who doesn’t like customization? Well, sometimes my lazy side hinders me from getting off my backside to customize something but even I would customize something if it were easy enough. Well, HootSuite makes changing the color theme so simple that even I gave ‘er a whirl. Sure, there’s only three choices now, but who knows, maybe the future will bring us a HootSuite where we can choose our own colors.

2. “Baked in” Google Analytics to keep an eye on those trends

A few months ago, I sat through a free webinar that HootSuite organized and one of their announcements was about Google Analytics integration. As it turns out, I missed a few minutes of the training and the whole Google Analytics thing was kind of cryptic to me. Now, it seems that the “baked in” nature of it all seems like it has made the integration a whole lot simpler. All I really had to do was click a button to connect HootSuite to my Google Analytics account, approve the interaction…

…and viola! Now I can analyze clicks made on links tweeted and even view my own website analytics from within HootSuite.

HootSuite did have Twitter analytics before but the new part is how well integrate Google Analytics is.

3. GeoSearch for tweets in your area

Have you ever wondered who’s tweeting in your area? Now Hootsuite can know your location (if you let it) and it will let you search the tweets in your locale. Basically, type a search word into the search box in the upper right hand corner of the site.  Now if you hit “enter” it will run the search Twitter-wide.  If instead you choose to search tweets near you, just click on the circular-shaped “Geo” icon in the right side of the box.

Then you can scroll through the results:

The first time you run a “Geo” search, HootSuite will ask permission to use your location. Knowing that it is only a general location, permission granted.

4. New and improved retweeting

Now not only is retweeting in HootSuite integrated with Twitters retweeting tool, but you can also set up stream in order to follow retweets to you, by you and by your followers. Let me explain.

Retweeting in HootSuite used to be that it would add the old school “RT” before the message being retweeted.  Even while Twitter moved into a new way of doing it, HootSuite still got things done old school. Now retweeting in HootSuite is actually utilizing Twitter’s retweeting tool.

My only beef is that I haven’t figured out how to add my “two cents worth” at the end of the new retweets. Hey, HootSuite, am I missing something?

You can also keep an eye on the retweeting action by following retweets sent to you, by you and your followers.  All I did in order to do this was added a tab and added the three columns containing the retweeting streams.

HootSuite has also improved overall and has added a few more features I have not mentioned. I am impressed with the better response time of the site in general brought on by the HTML 5 enhancement. If you haven’t tried HootSuite in a while, giver another try. Maybe some of the new implementations will change your mind.

Two questions for the comments: What’s your favorite HootSuite enhancement?  And do you think the changes will bring people to begin using HootSuite?

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If you spend a lot of time looking at your computer – and if you read this blog I’m betting you do – you might notice that after a while your eyes start to hurt, and that you have trouble going to sleep at night. There’s a good reason for this: your computer screen is essentially a lightbulb, and you’re looking straight into it for hours at a time.

It’s for this reason that devices like the Kindle and the Nook are fast gaining popularity. Rather than utilizing the backlit screens we know from computers and cell phones, these devices mimic paper. The result is easier to read in the sun, and is in general easier on the eyes than a screen.

It’s not practical to give up traditional screens on conventional computers, however. Windows and Mac users have the option of using F.lux to offset this, and Varun wrote about last year in an article called Get Better Monitor Lighting That Feels Good To Your Eyes and Jackson followed up with an article called Use F.lux To Sleep Better After Late-Night Computer Activities.

Linux users, it seems, were left out of the fun: F.lux does not work on Linux. That’s where Redshift comes in. The program is currently in development, and currently requires the user to have no fear of the command line, but don’t worry: it’s not too hard to use.

What It Does

If you’re not familiar with F.lux you probably don’t know what Redshift does. Essentially this application will, as it gets darker outside, alter your computer’s display and give everything a red tinge. There’s a reason for that. The type of lighting that is around you changes as it gets darker outside. Sunlight is very white, but artificial lighting tends to be more red. As such, if you read something on a piece of paper it will look white to your eyes during the day and reddish at night.

You don’t notice this because your brain automatically balances the difference. Your computer monitor, being backlit, is constantly white. Because of this, looking at your computer at night can hurt your eyes and cause you to lose sleep. Redshift helps offset this.

Installation

You’ll find really simple instructions for installing this amazing software over at Ubuntu blog OMG Ubuntu, which recently featured Redshift.

If you’re not a Ubuntu user you can find generic instructions over at the official Redshift page. Heck, you’ll even find instructions for installing Redshift in Windows (but I’d advise Windows users to stick with F.lux for now).

Set Up Your Gnome Clock

Once you’ve got Redshift installed you’re going to want to set up your Gnome clock so it knows your location. Why? Because it might simplify using Redshift for you.

Click the clock in your tray and you’ll see your calendar. You’ll also see your “Locations” at the bottom of this pop-up. If you’ve already configured your location this way congratulations: you can skip this step. If not go ahead and add your location. The dialogue is simple enough, as you can see.

Once you’ve done this you can launch Redshift.

Using Redshift

The first time you use Redshift, it’s a good idea to do so in a terminal – this will tell you about any errors the program may encounter. Open your terminal and type “gtk-redshift“. Assuming all is well, you should find this new notification applet in your system tray:

If not, you’ll probably see a request for you to manually input your latitude and longitude. Yeah, this program has a few bugs still, but don’t worry too much: doing this is easy. Go back to the configuration screen you used to set your location above and write down your latitude and longitude. Then type a new command that consists of “gtk-redshift” followed by “-l” followed by your latitude and longitude separated only by a colon.

For example, if you live in Copenhagen, Denmark, type this command:

gtk-redshift -l 55.7:12.6

Redshift will now launch Redshift, forcing your location onto it.

Do you want an indicator applet to run in the background without the indicator applet? Easy. Just use the command “redshift” instead of “gtk-redshift” and voila: trayless redshift.

At Boot

Want Redshift to start when your computer does? Easy enough. Just copy whatever command you managed to type to get Redshift working, then click “System,” then “Preferences,” then “Startup Programs.” Add a new program, using your command in the “Command” box and whatever you like for the rest.

Conclusion

I love reading articles from The Economist before going to bed. I do this using Readability, the service I described last week as being Safari’s “Reader” for Chrome and Firefox. I do find that I sleep better after this using Redshift than I do without, so try it out for yourself.

And if you do try it out for yourself please do share with us how it worked out for you. Also share any tips you might have for using Redshift, because it’s always great to learn.

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I have been using Twitter for a little while now and I really enjoy it. But like any other free web service there is always the possibility of losing your data or in this case tweets.

Twitter can crash and they can restore from backup losing your recent tweets. Or perhaps they will one day start to purge older tweets. Well if this worries you then I have the perfect application for you.

Twitter Backup is a small 423KB Java (.jar) file. What it does is effectively grab all your tweets from the Twitter website and save them on your local machine as an XML file. This means you will have your own data in your own hands. You can reference your data locally instead of online or use it to create an outline for a manuscript.

After you have downloaded Twitter Backup (and have Java installed on your machine), you will be able to launch the application. When you do you will see the main user interface.

Go ahead and fill in your username and password in the correct fields. The password will be displayed in clear, plain text so be wary of anyone around you that you would not want to have your Twitter password.

Then you will tell Twitter Backup the file’s name and path where you want to store your outputted tweets. You can also fill in your proxy server if you have one. If you do not know what this is, chances are you do not need it.

When you are finished filling in your data, the start button will light up and you can go ahead and hit it. You will start to see the output in the log window like so:

The way the application retrieves the data from Twitter (via the Twitter API) requires it to wait 1 minute in between requests. This slows the process down horribly but if left overnight, when you come back, it will be done with all your tweets. If you have millions of tweets than this might not be the best solution for you but, for me it completed in about two hours (or maybe less – I did walk away).

When I came back I saw that Twitter Backup was finished.

I went to go check out the auto generated XML file with all my tweets in it. I navigated to the directory I gave in the file name field of the settings and opened the application in notepad ++.  I was then able to see everything I have ever tweeted and I can even visually recreate my timeline and show what I was doing at certain points in time. It is very cool.

Do you have another application that will allow me to back up my tweets – maybe a little quicker than Twitter Backup? If so and it is free drop me a line or leave a comment below.

You can also check out TweetBackup if you want something a little more automated.

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America’s Library of Congress recently announced it intends to index the entirety of Twitter’s archive. This is a massive undertaking, as every day there are in excess of 20 million messages sent out on Twitter.

Even if you never intend to send out a message of 140 characters or less you have to admit Twitter is a powerful cultural phenomenon. It’s already fueled at least one revolution.

Having said that, it’s understandable that many don’t understand what all the fuss is about: isn’t it just another social network?

Yes and no.

Twitter can be used as a social network, but there are also other creative uses for Twitter – such as a search engine, a local event planner or a newspaper. And you don’t need an active Twitter account to take advantage of those uses.

Let’s take a look at a few creative uses for Twitter for those who think Twitter is useless.

Real-Time Search Engine

In the summer of 2006 I worked as a carpet cleaner at Calvin College, where I attended university. The school has a different vibe during the summer, as it’s mostly international students who stay behind and work while American students go home to their families. I mention this only because on Thursday, June 26 a curious thing happened just outside my window: every single Ghanaian I knew was sprinting across the yard of the apartment complex with a flag behind them.

Why? As it turns out, the Ghanaian football team had just defeated team USA in the World Cup. I found out about this a day later when I asked my friends why they were celebrating. Were this to happen today however, I’d simply do a quick Twitter search for Ghana and immediately find out what happened.

Which brings me to perhaps the biggest use Twitter has for people who think Twitter is useless: real-time search. If something is happening somewhere in the world, you can be sure someone is talking about it on Twitter. This power cannot be underestimated.

For example, this year the World Cup is set to take place in South Africa. A quick search for “worldcup” on Twitter reveals all sorts of conversation happening:

This can be very useful if there’s a certain subject you like to keep up on, and you do not need a Twitter account to run a search. Simply go to Twitter Search and enter any subject you like.

If you want a little more depth on this subject, check out Nancy’s recent article about websites that show you the hottest Twitter topics now.

What’s Happening In Your Town?

On a related note, Twitter is a great way to find out what’s happening in your town right now. I regularly search for my home – Boulder, Colorado – and usually find out a lot about what’s going on around town.

Twitter is particularly active in Boulder, because of the university here in town and the sheer number of tech startups, so there’s always something new to discover in this way. But I’m sure if you search for your town, wherever you are, you’ll find at least a few fun and interesting things.

You’ll also find a lot of spam, sadly, but you will get used to skimming over that and finding the good stuff.

RSS Feeds

I’m by far your favorite writer on this site. I’m smart, attractive and extremely humble. As such, you want to know about every article I write. You can do that by watching my Twitter page.

My own vanity aside, Twitter RSS feeds are a great way to follow an individual writer’s work regardless of the site they post it on. Just head over to anyone’s Twitter page where you’ll find an RSS icon in the right column:

Do this and you’ll be able to watch the online activities of anyone without ever creating a Twitter account. RSS feeds can plug into Firefox, Google Reader and an endless number of other apps!

Boxee

I try to mention Boxee whenever possible, and it just so happens that it recently integrated Twitter feeds. Create a Twitter account, follow your favorite video creators and any new videos they make will show up in the left column of your Boxee homepage.

I started following Autotune The News specifically so I’d find out about new videos in Boxee; recommend any feeds worth following in the comments below.

Conclusion

There you have it: four uses for Twitter for people who think Twitter is useless. I’m by no means the definitive expert on the topic, and I’m sure you all can think of many more ideas for making use of Twitter. Inform your fellow readers about these uses in the comments below!

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