Ollie, now for sale.
New microsyntax for Twitter
Chris Messina, father of the hashtag, suggests three “pointers” to differentiate the provenance, and specify the destination, of tweets. It’s a small change that adds all-important clarity, and might save a character or two in the process. I hope this takes off. (via Loren Brichter)
Typography on Twitter
Jon Phillips of Spyre Studios has compiled a list of more than 80 Twitter accounts related to typography in its many forms. My thanks to him for including my Nice Type account! Here’s the ready-to-follow version using Twitter’s new Lists feature.
Hey kids, the Nice Type channel I curate is now on Tumblr! And Twitter, what the hell. The channel showcases the best of Vimeo’s motion and kinetic type animations; both of these are automated feeds in case you’d care to follow here, or there.
Sidenotes: I’m using the Nice Type theme (and my own Tumblr) to test Typekit (more on the results of that later). The Nice Type tumblelog imports posts as links (Tumblr doesn’t have an option to auto-import video feeds) and then retrieves likes, views and owner data via Vimeo’s JSONP API. A side-effect is that reblogging of these posts won’t work so well, but hey, I was 90% done when I realised this flaw in my plan.
Been trying to start a Windows 7 Party for 2 hours. It’s saying I need more RAM, Celebration SP 2 Enterprise, and a new Designated Driver.
— Merlin Mann on Twitter. (via Andrew Wilkinson)
Birdhouse is a wonderful ‘notepad for Twitter’, but I’ve included it in this screenshot mainly because Adam Lisagor is a sensitive young man and I know his feelings would be damaged if it weren’t there.
— John Gruber writing about his iPhone home screen at First & 20.
Doug Bowman’s influence arrives on Twitter’s new home page, with an improved palette and realtime display of popular topics. Biz Stone:
We’re eager to see if encouraging a sense of wonder and discovery leads to a better first impression of Twitter.
Birdbrain for iPhone is on sale in the App Store. It tracks changes in and provides stats over time for your Twitter friends and followers, and is designed to be complementary to your favourite mobile Twitter client. I helped out on the UI design, and the app’s icon was created by the estimable Andrew Archer. Introductory pricing of US$1.99 for launch. If you’re a fan of Garrett Murray’s Ego and obsessed with all things Twitter, Birdbrain might be for you.
The closest thing I have to a superpower is being invisible to bartenders.
— Paraphrased from Demetri Martin, NYC comedian.
