Here’s my main TweetDeck screen:

I have 5 columns displayed: All Friends, The A-List, The B-List, Replies, and Direct Messages. Let’s take a look at each column and how I use them.

All Friends: This is my complete Twitter stream. All 21,540 of the people I follow show up in this column. About every hour or so, I scroll through this column and look for any interesting links or conversations to join in.

The A-List: The A-list is a TweetDeck Group Column. I use this group to pull a stream of people that I follow very closely. These are people that I work with, people that I have an established relationship with, or people that I find the most interesting to follow. I try to keep this group limited to no more than 25 people at any given time. Beyond that, I find it difficult to keep up with Tweets on a regular basis. Whenever TweetDeck detects a post to my A-List, I get a visual and audible alert. Unless I’m seriously engrossed in my work, or coaching a team, I usually check my A-List when my alerts go off. The visible alerts are small popup windows that look like this:

The B-List: The B-List is another TweetDeck Group Column. This is a group of people that I follow closely, but not in a critical way. This is a mixed group of people I’d like to get to know better, people who are top Tweeters (like Guy Kawasaki, Arleen Anderson (Aloha Arleen) and GaryVee), brands and companies that I’m observing to understand how they use Twitter, people that I find interesting or funny, and other friends. I get visual and audible alerts when Tweets are posted in this group as well. However, they’re usually not critical Tweets, so I read them whenever I have some free time. I try to check this stream about every half-hour or so.

The Replies Column: This is a standard TweetDeck column that searches Twitter’s public timeline for any @replies to your username. This is really useful to keep track of who is talking about you or with you. It allows you to quickly respond to any conversations directed toward or about you. I have visual and audible alerts set for this column and usually check these as they come in (unless I’m busy). It let’s me interact with the Twitterati effectively and I try to respond to anyone who @replies to me (unless it’s really Spammy).

The Direct Messages Column: Another standard TweetDeck column. This keeps track of all of the Direct Messages sent to you and those sent by you. I really like this functionality. The only problem is, I autofollow anyone who follows me. So, if those people have automatic direct messages sent whenever someone follows them, you guessed it, they end up in this column. Unfortunately, that means that some important DM’s get buried in an avalanche of DM’s that say “Hey, thanks for the follow. And check out my website at http://IAmDesparateForSubscribers.com!” or “Great to meet you @<username>. If you’re looking for real estate in the Tri-State area, check out http://I’mALameRealEstateAgent.com!”. (BTW: Have you noticed that real estate agents seem to outnumber everybody else on Twitter these days?). Now, I have nothing against auto-DM’s, it’s nice to at least get some confirmation when you follow someone. Just don’t make them pushy, I hate that. OK, sorry for the mini-rant.

So, that’s my main TweetDeck setup. You can order these columns however you want to by sliding them left or right. I keep these 5 columns visible all the time on the left of my TweetDeck screen. I also have several other columns to the right of these that I can scroll to when I want to check them. So, here’s the other half of my TweetDeck screen:

On this side, I have a few search columns, another group column, a favorites column, and a TweetScoop column. Here’s what’s in each one:

Search EdgeHopper: This is a TweetDeck Search Column. It allows you to specify a search term and then scours Twitter’s public timeline for that term. It displays all Tweets containing that term to the search column. I use this search column to see who is Tweeting about my blog called EdgeHopper. It let’s me monitor the public timeline for people including, but not limited to, my followers who are discussing or commenting on my blog. It’s very useful and allows me to interact with people very quickly.

Search Chris Spagnuolo: This is another Search Column. This one searches for my name: Chris Spagnuolo. Unfortunately, after the NY Giants were eliminated from the NFL playoffs and their defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo was shopping for a new job, a lot of people were talking about him…and they all showed up in my search column. And before you ask, no, we are not related.

Cycling Column: I’m seriously into cycling and am a cycling fan-atic. This is a TweetDeck Group Column that I use to keep track of several professional cyclists who Twitter (including Ivan Basso and Lance Armstrong who is a great Tweeter and TwitPic user). I also follow several cycling coaches, some bike shops, a few cycling news streams, and a couple of cycling political action groups. Very handy for keeping track of a special interest without doing broad search term columns.

Favorites: A standard TweetDeck column that keeps track of Tweets that I’ve favorited. Very nice feature as it let’s me go back to these Tweets whenever I want to re-read them or use a favorite link that was posted.

TwitScoop: This is a standard TweetDeck column based on an integration with TwitScoop. TwitScoop crawls hundreds of tweets every minute and extracts the words which are mentionned more often than usual. The result is displayed in a Tag Cloud in the TwitScoop column. It’s a really cool way to stay on top of what’s buzzing in the Twitterverse at any given time. It also has a Trending Topics section that shows emerging trends in Tweets.

The one column type I haven’t been using (but probably will) is TweetDeck’s 12 Seconds TV column. This keeps track of your 12 Seconds TV stream if you have one. Nice feature, I just haven’t done much in 12 Seconds TV yet.

In addition to breaking your Tweets into topic or group specific columns, you can filter the stream within a column based on one of several attributes including keywords in the Tweet text, Twitter user name, source, or even time frame. This gives you complete control over what you see in your TweetDeck columns.

In addition to the filter tool, there are several other tools at the base of each column. They enable you to slide the column left or right, mark all the Tweets in the column as seen, clear all of the seen Tweets, and clear all Tweets in the column.

Also, from any Tweet, you can click on the user name of the Tweeter and TweetDeck will display that user’s profile and Tweet stream as well as a follow button in case you’re not already following them. Here’s my buddy Bert Decker’s profile à la TweetDeck:

Other Cool Tools in TweetDeck

So, that’s the basic set up for columns and separating your Twitter stream. But, beyond breaking your information into easily digestible bites, TweetDeck has a great collection of tools built in to help you Tweet better, smarter, and faster. First, there is the nice Tweet Window:

Easy Tweet entry in the Tweet Window. It even has a spell checker built in. It also keeps track of your remaining character limit and turns the entire Tweet Window red if you’ve exceeded your Tweet character limit:

The Tweet Window also includes some cool tools for URL shortening. Just enter the URL in the Shorten URL window below the main Tweet Window and click the Shorten URL button. And, voila, a nice, short URL. You can also select from several different URL shortening services if you have a particular preference:

If that’s not enough, there’s a great little TwitPic integration. Just click the TwitPic button while your writing a Tweet and it opens a dialog box to select a picture from your desktop. After you select a picture, it automatically uploads it to TwitPic for you and adds the URL to the picture into your Tweet automatically:

There is also another nice integration with TweetShrink. TweetShrink tries its best to fit your text within the 140 character limit of a tweet by replacing common phrases and words with shorter representations. Kind of like running your new text through the dryer or sending it to fat camp. I don’t use this much, but if you’re from the cell-phone-texting generation like my 20-year-old niece, my guess is this works for you. In any case, with one click on the TweetShrink button you can go from this:

to this:

Another nice feature is the Twitter API Limit Tracker. The API Tracker allows you to see how much of your Twitter API limit you’ve used and at what time your API limit will reset to 100%.

And speaking of your API limit, you have complete control over how TweetDeck is using your API limit for each type of function. Within the TweetDeck settings dialog you can control what percentage of your API limit is dedicated to your entire Twitter stream, your Replies and your Direct Messages. This essentially controls how often TweetDeck updates each category:

And since we’re in the TweetDeck settings panel, you can control where you want your Tweet window, how you want update notifications to occur and your column widths from the General settings tab.

And finally, you can manage the appearance of TweetDeck to suit your personal style through the Colors/Font tab in the settings panel:

So, that’s my guided tour of TweetDeck. If you’re looking for a great client for Twitter, look no further. This is the only Twitter client. But don’t take my word for it, Guy Kawasaki says ” I swear by Tweetdeck and Tweetie.” You can’t get a better endorsement than that. And no, I didn’t build TweetDeck or have anything to gain by sharing this except to help you find an awesome client for managing your Twitter stream. Have fun and keep Tweeting!

UPDATE February 12, 2009: TweetDeck v0.21.5

From the TweetDeck Blog: Since this is a point release, rather than a full new version, it contains mainly minor functionality updates and bug fixes but there are one or two interesting new features:

TweetDeck v0.21.5 from Iain Dodsworth on Vimeo.

Update:March 16, 2009: TweetDeck v0.24 Pre-Release

TweetDeck v0.24 Pre-Release is out today for downloading. Key feature: Facebook Integration http://is.gd/nz1V

Update: April 8, 2009: TweetDeck v0.25 Release

TweetDeck v0.25 is out today.  Key features/improvements:

• Major memory leak fixed
• FaceBook integration
• Short URL preview in TweetDeck
• TwitPic preview in TweetDeck
• Record 12seconds Videos direct from Tweetdeck
• Option to have usernames auto-complete in the tweet box.
• Option to automatically include hashtags when replying to messages.
• Removing the ability to DM yourself, and in so doing stopping many of you from feeling foolish.
• Updating the list of URL shortening services to the top 5 only and adding the Digg URL shortener.
• Making it easier to tab between the tweet box and the shorten box.
• Removing unread counter at top of each column.

The update will automatically be pushed out to everyone using TweetDeck today or it can be downloaded direct from http://tweetdeck.com.

Funny…yes. Poignant…yes. Making a good point…definitely. Now, I’m sure the folks over in Redmond are trying very hard to fix their problems with Vista. And of course they have plenty of cash to throw around on advertising without impacting their development budget. As a disclaimer, I use both a Mac and a PC. But, I’d have to say I use my Mac way more because it is so simple and intuitive to use Mac OS X. Plus OS X is infinitely more stable than my Vista machine. Everything I want and need is on my Mac. Way more than what I need is on my Vista machine. It always seems to me that Apple listens and builds what its’ users want and need. And they build it well. Microsoft on the hand seems like it wants to tell its users what they need. And Microsoft applications are usually way overloaded and overcomplicated. Quite simply, Apple’s products work and work well. I can’t say the same for Microsoft.

So, back to fixing Vista and these ads. Microsoft has worked itself into a corner by not providing a fast enough fix or replacement for Vista. And they’ve shown a fundamental lack of confidence in Vista by continuing to offer Windows XP as a downgrade on new machines that are bundled with Vista. And most people are exercising the downgrade option or just not buying Vista. Many CIO’s decided to skip Vista entirely and are waiting for Windows 7 to come out. In fact, as of September 2008, Vista has only managed to capture just over 18% of the OS market according to Market Share.

So, I’m thinking the Mac ads are right on. They’re simply amplifying Microsoft’s own lack of confidence in Vista. They ask a very legitimate question: Why is Microsoft spending millions to essentially do a redirect? Instead of fixing Vista quickly or releasing Windows 7 faster, they’re asking the public to look the other way while they toil away on Windows 7. And, if you do you look away and wait for Windows 7 (not due out until 2010), will it be worthwhile? Windows 7 will be based on the same kernel and code base as Vista was. Is Windows 7 just going to be Vista SP4? Who knows? But I would agree with these ads from Apple. Microsoft needs to stop trying to use a big ad campaign to make it’s users feel better and get to work on delivering something their users can stand behind. Unfortunately if they ever did that, we’d be deprived of some really funny ads from Apple.

Our recent work with National Geographic, the MetaLens Virtual Earth Viewer also got some good use and some press in the Coloradoan newspaper.  David Wright, National Geographic’s Director of Professional Products, used the site we created to post a photo journal of the recent effects of a tornado that hit nearby Windsor, Colorado.  It was a great use of the site in raising local awareness of the devastation the tornado left in its wake.  If you’d like to donate to the Windsor Relief Fund, visit the City of Windsor website to find out how you can help those in need.

“As babies smash on the keyboard, colored shapes, letters and numbers appear on the screen. Baby Smash will lock out the Windows Key, as well as Ctrl-Esc and Alt-Tab so your baby can’t get out of the application.  I wrote BabySmash! for my 2 year old and 5 month old so they could bang on the keyboards of my Windows machines without hurting anything.”

srdny76 I just learned I was steps away from a vegan ice cream parlor yesterday! Yay! There’s a vegan ice cream parlor!

caseypatton ate some sweet, sweet moe’s bbq tonight.

CheesecakeBree Tired… but I have a few things I need to do before bed. (It’s not late enough for me to fall asleep anyway.)

girliegeek if your friends won’t tell ya you got spinach in your teeth, WHO WILL?

Truly scintillating, I know.  But, I’m trying to figure out how useful Twitter can be beyond reporting the mundane details of your life for all the world to see.  At first I thought, maybe this is a good replacement for instant messaging.  You can type something in and instantly message, well…everyone else on Twitter (or at least those who want to follow your life).  Is this effective communication?  Not sure.  Maybe, just maybe Twitter can be put to good use after all.  Good meaning: productive, useful, not wasting your time, not tying you to technology when you can be doing something else with your time (work or dare I say, even fun stuff like going outdoors!).  Here’s my list of potentially good uses for Twitter:

1. Emergency response: People can use the relatively low bandwidth messaging of Twitter to send messages to entire response teams instantaneously.  No mixed messages.  No dropped calls. Everyone on the team gets the Tweets (it’s what Twitter posts are called).  Very effective, and they can be tagged with locations as well.
2. Conference back-channels: OK, so maybe not super productive, but if you’re at a conference, you can provide live commentary about the speakers, their lame PowerPoints, their incorrect statements, bad haircuts…you name it.  Not only are you sharing with other conference attendees, you’re sharing your commentary on the conference with others who may not have been able to attend.  Plus, it’s great for adding some fun and excitement during really bad PowerPoints (it worked really well at Where 2.0 recently).
3. Task tracking: OK, not exciting, but useful…use it track your daily work tasks.  “Started working on foo functionality”…”Finished working on foo functionality”. Boring to the world, useful to you.  Plus, if you’re team is all following, it provides instant status updates on your tasks…and you thought daily stand ups gave good visibility into task status!!!
4. IN/OUT of office: OK, another not real sexy use, but it’s good for in/out of office status with location info.  Especially good when you’re on the road.
5. Promoting you blog posts: Slightly self serving, but effective.  You can let people know when you have a new blog post up.  Hopefully, you’re blog is compelling enough to have established a good subscriber base and you don’t need to resort to this tactic…but worth a try if you’re trying to build your blog base.  Probably good for directing traffic to a website too. I’ll test this out and let you know how many people visit this blog and our website after posting the addresses on Twitter.
6. News Reader: Some online news sources now issue Tweets.  Good for those people who like their news items short and sweet…can you say Short Attention Span Theater? Check out CNN, BBC and many others.
7. Quick feedback: On project teams, use it to do voting.  Post an idea and ask your followers or team members to vote on it or comment on it.  Really good for geographically dispersed teams.
8. Live coverage: For real time events or for folks who do field work, provide live coverage of what’s going on to your followers (OK, a lot like #2, but I’m trying to get to 10 here to make this whole argument worthwhile).
9. Release/Build notifications: Notify team members or customers/clients of current software releases or builds.
10. Job candidate backgrounds: Alright, this one may be borderline, but if someone is interviewing with you for a job, check to see if they Twitter.  If they do, check their Twitter feed to find out a little bit more about them.  You may not want to know that they are part of the Society for Creative Anachronism…but hey, it could be useful.

Whew, made it to 10…didn’t think I’d get there.  I’m sure there are plenty of other good uses for Twitter and I’d like to hear them if you have some ideas.  Hopefully, Twitter works out better than instant messaging.  When I think about IM’ing, I think about people taking longer to say less (just pick up the phone and talk to me).  I think Twitter is potentially more useful than IM but we’ll have to see where it all goes.  However, if I have to constantly wade through Tweets like these:

PhilippaJane trim milk hot chocolate and marshmellows- helps me through today

I might be more inclined to spend my time checking out I Can Has Cheezburger…it’s much more entertaining.  BTW, if you want to follow me on Twitter, check me out at http://twitter.com/ChrisSpagnuolo…but I’m not promising anything!!!

more cat pictures

UPDATE: So, a few people wanted to know my high score. Here it is:

While I was checking out one on of my favorite blogs/websites (Guy Kawasaki’s How to Change the World) I noticed  a button on his site that linked to Guy’s Visual CV.  It was way cool.  Visual CV is a new online Visual Resume site.  Not only can you include the usual resume fodder, but you can add portfolios, videos, writing samples, audio clips, code samples, links to your websites…you name it..for FREE.  So, if you’re out looking for a job consider using this instead sending a paper resume.  As a hiring manager, I’d much rather get rich content like this than a lame Word resume.  And if you’re not looking for a job, it’s a great way to promote yourself to your customers and clients.

According to a recent article in Smithsonian Magazine, a research team captured a group of adult and juvenile these birds in Washington State and flew them to New Jersey.  After placing radio collars on their backs, the birds were released.  The adults headed straight toward their usual wintering grounds in the American southwest.  The juveniles, who were making their very first migration, head due south toward Florida.

How did the adults know where to fly?  The researchers say that the sparrows instinctively fly due south on their first migration and along the way, they build a mental map of their wintering grounds that allows them to return there from any other location.  The adults had a mental map of their flyway and were able to follow it to return their wintering grounds.  So, how’s that for an avian cartographer (that’s a bird map maker to the rest of us)?

1. Map My Ride:Combines my two favorite passions, Maps and Cycling.  If you’re into running, check out Map My Run as well.
2. Runstoppable:Combines my two second favorite passions, Maps and Running
3. WikiMapia: The user community can enter info about different places.  I love the whole Wiki concept.  Combining it with geography is awesome
4. FlickrVision: Combines two of my favorite sites, Flickr and Google Maps
5. AP News: Recent AP News headlines on a map showing where the story is from.  Maybe Miss Teen South Carolina could find out where “The Iraq” is now.
6. Wines and Times: Find wineries and wine events anywhere in the U.S.  Great, easy to use interface.  If you prefer beer, check out Beer Coastr.
7. Platial: A great social mapping site
8. Flight Tracker: Real time flight status and location of any commercial flight.  Geeky…not sure how useful it is.  But cool.
9. The Great Whale Trail Map: Follows the migration of humpback whales.  Nothing too gee-whiz about the site, but I love humpback whales and think this site helps raise public awareness about the unfortunate whaling that still occurs in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.
10. MapleCroft Maps:  Awareness building via visual data representation. What is really cool about their maps, besides the tremendous breadth of issues they cover, are the additional resources linked to the map.  Includes more than 30 topical maps on various issues such as carbon resources, climate change, corporate governance, greenhouse gas emissions, natural disasters, pandemics, renewable energy use, aid, child labour, digital inclusion, displacement, education, HIV/AIDS, landmine risk, malaria, military expenditure, political risk, poverty, tuberculosis and water.  Simply amazing!  (Saved the best for last).

If you have a favorite Google mashup (or any web mapping site) I’d love to hear about it.