Over a few evenings last week and over the weekend I wrote a twitter bot. It's not a client or a mashup. It simply looks for you to say certain things and replies later. It's basically a glorified alarm clock — one that you can set and receive via text message (if you have twitter setup for mobile updates).
The syntax is pretty simple:
@twitmeback in 15 time to make the donuts
or
@twitmeback in 1:45 check parking meter
You can specify the duration until you're reminded in either [hours]:[minutes] or just in a count of minutes.
Where I think this really gets useful is that it can do direct messages, too. Personally I prefer to keep mobile updates to directs only, so if I want a text message reminder, it needs to be in the form of a direct message. The bot will automatically follow you back if you follow it (it checks every half hour). Then, you can set reminders via direct message, like so:
d twitmeback in 30 don't forget to submit your time sheet
or
d twitmeback in 4:00 lunch time!
If your reminder is received via DM, it will remind you via DM. This way, your reminders can be totally private (if that's what you want), or work totally from text message.
Lastly, you can also specify a DM reminder by starting your message with "d", like so:
@twitmeback d in 90 is the pizza here yet?
Now go forth, and be reminded.
Posted in
My projects
| 2 Responses
September 28 2008
Everyone agrees that Microsoft is not the really best when it comes to usability, right?
We've probably all looked at this dialogue at some point during our lives and said, "How about a No to All button, Microsoft?"
But did you know it's possible? Hold the shift key while you click the "No" button, and Windows will act as if there were a "No to All" button and you clicked it.
You're welcome.
Posted in
Misc
| 4 Responses
September 20 2008
Hey, everyone else is doing it. Why not me?
Mark asks,
I have been getting a lot of comment spam on one of my mango installs. I took a look and the captcha is not showing up anymore. The plug in's page says it's deactivated, however trying to activate it says it's already active? Have you see this before?
In fact, I have seen this before. I'm not sure what causes it, but what happens is somehow one of Mango's preferences files gets out of sync. Luckily, it's fairly easy to fix.
Open up the file pluginprefs.cfm, which should be in the root of your Mango install. Look (or search) for:
…and take a look at the value. There, you'll find the plugin listed that you're having difficulty activating. Remove it from the list, save the file, and try again to activate the plugin. In this case, the value to remove is "LylaCaptcha", as this is the plugin that can't be activated.
Posted in
Ask a Grokker |
Mango
| No Responses Yet
September 15 2008
Along with the long awaited 1.2 release of ColdSpring, the worlds best CFC IoC/AOP framework has a brand spanking new website, which looks great; and includes a total overhaul of the online documentation.
Congratulations to Chris Scott — manager of the Philadelphia CFUG, and project lead for ColdSpring — and the rest of the ColdSpring team. Looks like a job well done!
Posted in
Frameworks
| No Responses Yet
September 12 2008