Free BlackBerry Twitter Apps Roundup

from WebWorkerDaily by Meryl Evans

If you own a BlackBerry and use Twitter as much as I do, you're more than likely frustrated with the experience of using the Twitter web site via your phone's browser. With more Twitter applications available for the device, do any succeed in turning the BlackBerry into a great Twittering tool?

I compiled a list of the current free BlackBerry Twitter apps and tested them out to find the strengths and weaknesses of each. All of the apps have the basic features (timelines, replies and direct messages), with some standing out more than others due to speed, ease of use, or additional functionality.

All of these apps underwent an obstacle course on my BlackBerry Curve 8310 to test their strength, agility and durability in order to find the better-performing apps.

Blackbird: Easy to use text-based interface that works with older BlackBerrys

What Blackbird lacks in looks and features, it makes up for in speed and usability: BlackBird performs fastest out of all the apps tested here. It only includes the basic features: timelines, replies and direct messages.

Pros: Fast. Easy to use.

Cons: Fewer features. Unclear error messages.

TinyTwitter: Works with any device that can run Java apps

TinyTwitter has a smooth timeline that scrolls fast, even with avatars. It can pull latest trends, do searches, copy/ paste tweets for easy retweeting in one move, as well as handling the basic Twitter functions. However, even with shortcuts, some of the actions take two clicks when one would do, a problem with many BlackBerry Twitter apps.

Pros: Efficient timeline. Runs on any Java-compatible device. Shortcuts. More than the basic features.

Cons: Too many steps to get where you want to go.

Twibble: Tweet photos from your BlackBerry camera

My first impression of Twibble was soured by the troublesome login screen. The app kept capitalizing the first letter of my username and password, causing the login to fail. Once past that, though, the rest of the experience wass Tribble-free. You can save time with shortcuts and by entering and saving often-used words as text templates to use in search or tweets. Screen shots are available from the Twibble site.

Pros: Runs on any Java-compatible device. Text templates. Share photos.

Cons: Not user-friendly. Location tool doesn't work well. Sluggish.

TwitterBerry: Attractive interface with average features

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TwitterBerry looks easy on the eyes, but sacrifices load time for looks. Features include the basics that you find in most Twitter mobile applications, without any extras. If you go to Pictures, you can select a picture to send to TwitterBerry, but this option may not appear if you have other Twitter apps loaded on your BlackBerry. With few extras, you'd think the application would run faster than it does.

Pros: Sharp look-and-feel. Easy to use.

Cons: Slow. Lacks search and unique features.

Ubertwitter: Wealth of features

If you have multiple IDs, you'll have to go through the wizard to change the login credentials, something that should take fewer steps (Tip: after you change the ID, hit the BlackBerry button to the left of the scroll wheel to save changes and exit rather than finishing the wizard). Despite this, most features take fewer steps to access compared to other apps and you can use shortcuts. You can take a picture from within UberTwitter. A map of your location appears with the photo. You can find people near you and view them on a roadmap, satellite map or hybrid map.

Pros: Take pictures within update. Control location options. Feature rich.

Cons: Time-consuming to change IDs and options. Sometimes dawdles.

Viigo: Add a new channel for every Twitter ID and search word

You can use Viigo to get news, local information and other customizable content. The Twitter app lives in the Social Networks tab, where you can create a channel for each of your Twitter IDs and frequently-used search terms. For example, if you participate in a weekly chat, you can create a search for the chat hashtag. Its performance is notably slower than its competition. Viigo has neat features, but the sluggishness tested my patience.

Pros: Set up multiple Twitter IDs and search words. All-in-one app.

Cons: Slow. More steps to reach Twitter channel.

The Verdict

UberTwitter offers the most features, while BlackBird has the best performance. But none of the free tools tested here really stand out; I'd still rather use a Twitter client on my PC or laptop.

Three Ways For Unemployed Folks To Earn Some Cash

Original Post: Three Ways For Unemployed Folks To Earn Some Cash

The good thing about being unemployed, if there is such a thing, is that you have plenty of time. While you should be using the bulk of your time putting forth the effort to land another job, there are some opportunities to make some cash while you have some extra time. Take advantage of the time you have.

Sell Your Junk

While this doesn’t usually equate to a sustainable income stream, this is a good way to pay the bills for a month or two. I’m currently in the process of a de-clutter / moving some things around phase and as a result, I’ve decided to sell a bunch of stuff online. With minimal effort I’ve made over $300 in a few weeks selling stuff online and I still have a bunch of stuff that is still yet to be sold (I detailed this effort here [July 28, 2009])

Sell Your Friends Junk

If you get good at selling your own stuff, why not sell your friends’ stuff? I imagine some of your friends are too lazy to take care of this and probably, like you, have a bunch of stuff they’d be willing to get rid of especially if they didn’t have to do anything. Offer to split the money with them and do all the work: putting item for sale online, shipping, etc. If you’re selling a few books a week on Amazon, it doesn’t require any additional effort to sell a few more (you’re already going to the post office).

Create A Website

While this one isn’t likely to make you much money; it’s very hard to make money online. It could be the start of something big, and what better time to launch the website you’ve been meaning to launch?

If you decide to go this route, I’d recommend either focusing on building your personal brand (through demonstrating your expertise in a specific field), or simply providing valuable, unique information in a field. Just make sure that the topic is something you’re interested in because otherwise you won’t keep it up.

Use the opportunity to develop some new skills, build a potential lasting website, and possibly earn a few bucks.

The Future Of Work: Portfolio Careers

Original Post The Future Of Work: Portfolio Careers

Last week I explored the concept Noded working. “Noded” is really a subset of a much wider phenomenon emerging in the world of work — the notion of “portfolio careers.”

In her blog on the subject, Katie Ledger — co-author of the forthcoming book “And What Do You Do?: 10 Steps to Creating a Portfolio Career” — describes portfolio careers as work that “uses all your skills and passions…doing two or more jobs for different employers.”

The turbulence and insecurity of a globalized job market means that many people are, in essence, temporary workers with little assurance of a permanent job. As such, people are seeking security by establishing control over who they work with and what they work on.

The title of Ledger’s book is telling. Like many others, I find myself being asked,  “And what do you do?” frequently. But even after almost three years of self-employment, I struggle to find a concise response without rambling through a range of consultancy projects, advisory board roles, startup investments, writing gigs and conference development. Perhaps “a portfolio of digital technology projects” should suffice as an answer?

Though each of my activities and roles requires a different range of skills and attitudes, sometimes with no overlap between them, somehow it adds up to a cohesive career. Although outwardly it might seem unfocused and fragmented, I can now deploy “portfolio working” as a useful umbrella term.

Most significantly, people discussing portfolio careers often underline motivation as the key element in this mode of working — people use a portfolio of options when seeking a better work/life balance, to learn new skills, to extract themselves from office politics or simply for fulfillment.

Career coach Marianne Cantwell defines portfolio careerists as “free-range humans“ who are not “penned into an unhappy job-cage.” Contrast this with Cantwell’s “battery-cage humans” who see limited options for their careers, forced only to seek out particular types of jobs. It’s perhaps an unfair contrast, but fundamentally, it’s about choosing who you work for and what you do, as opposed to being imprisoned by rigidly defined roles.

Elsewhere, Ledger suggests there are common qualities shared by successful practitioners of portfolio careers and helps readers evaluate whether they’re suitable for such a mode of work.

Read more at “Portfolio Careers: Creating a Career of Multiple Part-Time Jobs” and subscribe to the Portfolio Careers blog.

8 Reasons To Avoid Making A Video Resume

Original Post 8 Reasons To Avoid Making A Video Resume: "

The other day, I was reading an article discussing the pros and cons of making a video resume. Although it covered the basics well enough, there are a few things that it did not cover (and some that it did) that you should know about. A video resume, if used correctly, can be a powerful tool in the job applicant’s arsenal. But if made without proper awareness or preparation, can lead to disaster.

1. You will be judged on quality. Unlike a standard online application (or even a paper resume), simply having a video resume is not necessarily a good thing. You will have to make sure the picture, sound and overall quality are high, as well as finding unique and interesting ways of presenting yourself. A bad video resume can hurt you more than help you.
2. You probably shouldn’t email it. Many employers will scan through the bodies of emails, but due to a fear of viruses or other digital nasties, might not open attachments. And given the size of a video file, it might take too long on both ends to send and receive the file.
3. It can’t go up online. Most online applications do not have an option for you to upload a large file, such as a video resume (if you are permitted to upload anything at all). And despite the allure of doing so, it’s not a good idea to put your video resume up on YouTube or other video hosting sites.
4. They might not want to watch it. Whereas a resume can be scanned into a program to search for key words and phrases, a video resume must be watched. And since they are usually at least several minutes long, an employer may not have the time or inclination to sit through the video.
5. They might not be able to legally watch it. Many companies are equal opportunity employers, meaning that they do not employ people with a bias towards race, gender, age and so on. By showing yourself in your video resume, you will be showing them what you look like, which could open the door to legal problems for the company.
6. It’s not always worth what you put into it. Unless you’re sending in the video resume because it actually pertains to the job you’re applying for (video production or TV commercial development, for example), having a video resume might not make that much of a difference in employers’ decision-making processes. And given the time it would take to plan, shoot and edit the video, you might be getting a lot less back from all of your efforts.
7. It might cost more than you care to spend. The monetary costs for the camera, editing software and storage (like CD-Rs, DVDs and flash drives) might be more than you can afford.
8. You might get the opposite response from what you had hoped. See exhibit A.

But then again, you could have a masterpiece like this. So if you plan to make a video resume, plan carefully!

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/canhasjob/~3/O3T3SMQk2Ws/

Building a Credible Image When You Work in Multiple Fields

from WebWorkerDaily by Pamela Poole

How do you sell yourself and your services online, when you work in two or more fields? Won't a potential client's first impression be that you lack focus, and perhaps don't excel at any of the things you do? Freelancers don't always have the luxury of concentrating on just one field. We have to be flexible. We have to be creative with our talents. We have to pay the rent.

I was dealing with this a few months ago, when I was thinking of putting together a portfolio site. I was feeling like my presence on the Internet was scattered all over the place, and wanted a single site to which I could send professional contacts who wanted more info. I was tired of providing links to multiple profiles and blogs that didn't tell the whole story, and I'm not wild about any of the "identity aggregation" services that are out there.

Given all the different things I do, my primary dilemma was to make a non-static professional site that gave a good overall impression of what I'm about, professionally speaking. Below are some of the issues and approaches I pondered. Maybe they will be useful to you if you're in this position.

3 More Cool Twitter Tools To Do Your Tweeting With

from MakeUseOf.com by Wez Pyke

Over the last few years Twitter has became very popular with users but also popular for developers, and a lot of Twitter tools have been developed as a result. The easy to use API makes it incredibly fast to develop applications and that's why there are so many – some good and some not so good.

Here I will discuss 3 of my favorite latest discoveries.

Twi.tt

Twi.tt is a service that allows you to create and share pictures, videos, documents, audio and even polls. When you go onto Twi.tt you firstly need to sign into your Twitter account. Twi.tt uses the OAuth method for logging users in so it is secure and Twi.tt do not store your Twitter username and password.

If you have never logged into a Twitter service using OAuth before it is as simple as two clicks. First click the Sign in with Twitter button and then click Allow when you have been taken to Twitter.

Twi.tt allows you to upload pictures, videos, documents and audio from your computer, link to it via a URL or capture pictures, videos and audio straight from your computer. They are also planning on adding support for emails in a few days.

When creating a poll you have 112 characters for the poll question and there is no limit for the number of poll answers. You also have the option of disallowing repeated votes and not posting your poll to Twitter.

When your poll has been created you will be given a link to it and a link to it will also be posted on your Twitter feed if you did not select the option to not post there.

The profile page that Twi.tt creates for you is almost identical to your Twitter account as it has your background image and your profile image. People also have the option to comment on content that you have posted.

Tweepler

Tweepler is a service that was created by @coryschop that lets you organize people (also known as tweeple) that are following you and who you are following.

To login in to Tweepler you must enter your Twitter username and password at the top of the site. When you hover over Why? next to the login form you will see that they state your details are encrypted and not stored.

When you log in you are shown a list of people that are following you but you are not following back. These are listed as Unprocessed Followers. If you do not want to add a person you can move them to the ignore bucket by pressing the arrow to the right. If you want to follow a person back you click the arrow to the right of their name.

You will be able to see everyone's username, name, website, location and their bio. But if you click on more details you will get

• Information on the average number of tweets they post per day.
• The total number of tweets they have posted.
• Information on the number of followers they have
• The number of people they are following along with a ratio of following:followers. Their three latest tweets are also displayed.

It is possible to sort users by newest followers, oldest followers, name and username. If you don't want to bother going through all of the Unprocessed followers you can click the Follow All or Ignore All button at the bottom of the page.

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Tweetboard

Tweetboard is one of the most unique Twitter tools I have came across to date. What Tweetboard allows you to do is add a Twitter conversation for your site so that viewers can post messages and others can reply all in an easy to follow nested view.

Tweetboard is still in alpha but you can grab an invite by requesting one on the Tweetboard website by clicking the "Request a free alpha invite!" button. When you click the button it will take you to Twitter where you must send the message that is entered upon load.

When your account has been set up you will be notified. From the Tweetboard you can then grab the javascript snippet of code that will be placed on your website for Tweetboard to function. On certain content management systems and blogs the code may not work as intended to so some tweaking may be needed.

Tweetboard is a really good way of increasing traffic to your website and also a great solution of getting to know what your visitors think of your website.

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If you have a favorite Twitter tool or service then post a comment below and share it with us.

Reputation Accounts For 30-70% Of Your Value

Reputation Accounts For 30-70% Of Your Value: "

Branding on the right attributes is the difference between a leader and loser.

Before we called it personal branding, the overarching term for what society thought about you was simply your “reputation.” Of course, that society may have been your middle school classmates who always picked you last for dodge ball teams. Even if you’d practiced over the summer or entered high school one half foot taller, the stain of your poor ball handling (and evasion) skills remained.

Who you are and how you show up

It’s the reason why changing schools is not always a bad thing. You can upgrade your style, inveigle yourself with a better crowd and play on your parent’s guilt by squeezing them for a cooler phone. At that age, we’re acutely aware of what makes up our reputation: looks, friends and possessions.

Per BusinessWeek’s report on reputations of publically traded corporations, branding is responsible for the often-vast difference between book value and market capitalization. “Reputation for being able to deliver growth, attract top talent, and avoid ethical mishaps can account for much of the 30%-to-70% gap (between) … Proctor & Gamble versus Unilever, and Johnson & Johnson versus Pfizer … as seen in price-earnings ratio.”

On a granular and personal branding level, only certain elements of what is collectively called your reputation or brand, matter to people who will pay you, invest in your company or trade for a stake in either. Your actual skill or core competency – what you think your being hired or contracted to do – may be less important than your outside interests or personal creed.

United Technologies Corp (UTX) provides a teachable moment. After Communications Consulting Worldwide expertly dug into UTX’s reputation, the researchers found UTX didn’t need to do a better job communicating about its products or markets. The jump in value would come from messaging about the company’s environmental responsibility, innovation, and employee training.

Hence, a complete overhaul of your personal brand will probably be a waste of time, maybe impossible and come close to clipping a hangnail with a buzz saw. Just pick the three or so qualities that matter most to your market.

If you’re a big head of technology, your communications skills may need work. If you’re a writer, you’re mastery of technology may need work. Everyone needs clear evidence they play well with others, and most of us need to demonstrate empathy, trustworthiness and the ability to get a hard thing done. Almost everyone needs to use the right hair product.

In my business, appearances matter. See if you can discern how I weave that element of my personal brand in the Op-Ed piece I wrote for Marketing Daily last Friday, where I cut into Lane Bryant’s new social community.

Incorporating elements that matter

How do you incorporate the elements that matter into your personal branding or re-branding?

1. Pick a philanthropy or cause that allows you to develop the personal characteristics that make you more valuable than your years or skills.
2. Get mentored by someone who demonstrates the qualities that make people great in your industry.
3. Use the space you take in social media to reveal dimensions about your brand that go unseen by people who just work with you.

Author:

Nance Rosen is the author of Speak Up! & Succeed. She speaks to business audiences around the world and is a resource for press, including print, broadcast and online journalists and bloggers covering social media and careers. Read more at NanceRosenBlog. Twitter name: nancerosen.

http://www.personalbrandingblog.com/reputation-accounts-for-30-70-of-your-value/

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