All a ‘Twitter

by | Feb 25, 2014 | Mac, Technology

Last time out I noted that I was contemplating joining the Twitterverse, and perhaps even Tweeting–on a limited basis, of course. I’ve always believed, as Polonius expressed so eloquently to Hamlet’s mom, that brevity is indeed the soul of wit, something that to me applies not to the length of each Tweet–which Twitter already restricts to a scant 140 characters–but to the number of Tweets issued on a given day as well.

But before I get around to tossing out a Tweet or three, I want to make a case for why I feel Twitter is worthy of your attention in the first place, and–should you find yourself in agreement with me–how to go about getting your Tweet wet with Twitter on your Mac.

I’ve been part of the Twitterverse for only the last couple of weeks, but my brief experience has already shown that if one limits time spent with the service, and follows the appropriate people (the @s)/or topics (the #s), value can indeed be gleaned from this particular flavor of social media.

One long-standing criticism of social media services like Twitter and Facebook–and I have certainly voiced this myself–is that the information put forth seems at best trivial and at worst hurtful, or just plain mean. So I am happy to report that I have, in a fairly brief period of time, identified not less than a baker’s dozen individuals who, at least in my humble opinion, contribute information of indispensable value to the Twitterverse.

To illustrate, those whom I’ve elected to follow have graciously provided the following insights, images, info, and indisputably insightful non-sequiturs over the course of the past few days:

  • Why are all the “House of Cards” journalists so bad at journalism?
    Andrew Kaczynski | @BuzzFeedAndrew | Reporter for @BuzzFeed Politics
  • ‘Chuffed’ was used in the last moments of Liam Neeson’s interview & last scene of Downton on the same evening. Coincidence for a Brit term!
  • ‘Mongrel’ spiking at http://m-w.com after Ted Nugent referred to @BarackObama as a “subhuman mongrel”
  • TGIF is correctly pronounced TEE-JIFF. You’re welcome.
    Peter Sokolowski | @PeterSokolowski | Lexicographer, Merriam-Webster
  • The “eat” of battle – how the world’s armies get fed (skip to the pix)
  • Is That Sausage Worth This?  (Spoiler: gross.)
    Mark Bittman | @bittman | Food writer for NY Times; author of How to Cook Everything
  • Insomnia. A simultaneously useful and destructive state.
  • I’ve just installed WhatsApp and hate myself as a result.
    Emily Bell | @emilybell | Director of Tow Centre for Digital Journalism at Columbia
  • Over the past two weeks, Putin’s face has shown as great a range of expressions as Lenin’s (in his current condition).
  • Olympic opening and closing ceremonies remind of of the influence of HDTV. Nothing this ambitious would have been done in analog TV days.
  • Warning to non-tech media: I’m THIS close to using my authority to force you all to stop using the word “selfie.” Just FYI.
    Andy Ihnatko | @Ihnatko | Chicago Sun-Times technology columnist and Internationally Beloved Industry Figure™
  • “The Lego Movie” is still number one at the box office. How dare they make a film about plastic people and not call me!
    Joan Rivers | @Joan_Rivers | A simple girl with a dream…

Sure beats hateful Tweets about gay athletes, or a FaceBook posting featuring pics of what your niece had for breakfast. So in the event this brief taste of Twitter has whetted your appetite for more, all you need do is head over to twitter.com and create an account. You don’t have to Tweet anything yourself at the outset; besides, until you can coerce a few others to follow you, you’ll be Tweeting to an empty room, so to speak–er, Tweet, that is…

Once you’ve got your Twitter identity established, simply select a few individuals to follow, and revel in your new-found wisdom! To help get you started, I’ve taken the liberty of including the Twitter handle of each contributor noted above.

Point of clarification (#1 of 2): Twitter members are designated by the @ symbol; Twitter topics/keywords are indicated by a hashtag (#). Click on any keyword in a Tweet to see all Tweets which include that keyword; you can also search Twitter for a specific keyword; #SochiProblems has been particularly amusing as of late.

By way of example, my (and presumably everyone’s) favorite 320-lb,. ex-N.Y. Giants quarterback Jared Lorenzen issues Tweets as @jaredlorenzen22; keyword #heftylefty also exists for anyone to include when they Tweet about Jared himself, or anything they deem Jared-related.

Therefore, were I to Tweet regarding Jared, I might compose something like the following:

Latest on @jaredlorenzen22: The #heftylefty suffered a broken leg in the Feb. 9 game but is on the mend. Hang in there J.Load!

So if you follow @jaredlorenzen22 you’ll get all of his Tweets; if you explore the keyword #heftylefty, you’ll discover what everyone else Tweets about regarding the “Pillsbury Throwboy.” If you’re not into sports, my sincerest apologies. Simply substitute @tim_cook and #Apple respectively for their counterparts above 😉

Point of clarification (#2 of 2): You may have noticed that, in your iDevice(s) Settings and in your Mac’s Mail, Contacts & Calendars preference pane, you are provided with the option to enter your Twitter account credentials. This simply stores your Twitter handle and password so you are able to Tweet images, Web links, etc. expeditiously; it does not provide a means for you to follow others on Twitter.

Therefore, you need to download Twitter’s app for iPhone/iPad to use Twitter on any of your iDevices. On your Mac, you can simply follow all your Twitter feeds in a browser window, or download Twitter for Mac from the App Store.

Here, there and everywhere

by | Feb 5, 2014 | Mac, Medical, Technology

I’ve been accumulating a bunch of Mac-specific topics about which to blog, none of which seemed to merit an entire posting. So I’ll devote a paragraph or two to each here, and even toss in the latest on my post-transplant cGVHD status, since I’ve always believed that a blog post without mention of hemoglobin levels or corticosteroid tapers hardly merits your valuable time or attention.

Remote excess

FYI for those of you with whom I engage in periodic remote support sessions: I’ve transitioned completely now from the Schnitz Remote Lite app, my former remote assistance tool of choice, to the TeamViewer Quick Support app. So… if you still have Schnitz in your Applications folder or in your Dock, you can trash it, and if you don’t yet have the TeamViewer Quick Support app, you can download it from my “cloud” here:

http://media.altimac.com/TeamViewerQS9.dmg

In fact, even if you do have it, those of you who haven’t used it within the last few months should download this one and replace your current one, since this is a more recent version.

Maver-icky?

By now most of you have been prompted via Apple’s Software Update to download and install “Mavericks” (aka Mac OS X 10.9). If you haven’t already done so, my advice is to continue to hold off for a bit. My experience to date has been that the issues resulting from the update, particularly with the Apple Mail program and with user directory and file permissions make it not worth doing at this point. The new feature set overall is arguably useful yet pretty underwhelming (a dedicated Maps app like on the iPhone, a tabbed Finder, tags for documents) so I’d have to say the pain is not worth the gain–yet. Figure on maybe dipping your toe in the water when Apple releases the 10.9.4 version; they are currently about to release 10.9.2, so we’re talking somewhere in the late spring or so in terms of a timeframe for when it would be reasonably safe to upgrade.

Pro no, you don’t

While we’re on the subject of Apple stuff to avoid, I’ve got to put the new Mac Pro into that category. Not that there’s anything really wrong with it, it’s just that it’s so danged expensive even in its base configuration, which offers a mere 256GB of storage (even iMacs start you off with a full terabyte [1000GB]). That means you’re already into another grand or two to step up to a roomier option. Granted, the 256GB solid-state drive that comes in the Pro is wicked fast, but that speed doesn’t help you too much if you’ve already got 400GB of stuff on your current Mac. The Pro is a speed demon, it’s quiet, it’s portable (unlike the previous Pro models which one can barely lift), it’s got stunningly good looks, six Thunderbolt ports and Turbo Boost, but still… given the ~$5,500 price tag for a model with adequate storage, I’d rather get me, oh, two iMacs and a Mac mini and still have some cash to spare.

Taking my shots

Dropped in on RWJ/CINJ last Tuesday for the usual (blood work, a parking nightmare and still more immunizations) and my numbers were pretty much OK; my hemoglobin has remained in the 14.x range, ensuring that I have the requisite get up and go to create further blog postings and show up at your door when circumstances require a personal visit. I got three more of the seven vaccines I got last month, and need to undergo the remaining four again next week. And again in four months, yeesh. As far as the steroid regimen goes, my docs do want me to continue the taper but at the rate of only 10mg each month. So I’m not exactly thrilled about the pace, as it means it will be sometime this summer before I am tapered off completely ;-( Better late than never, of course…

Going (anti)viral

As irresponsible as it may seem–especially given that I’ve been voluntarily undergoing the battery of inoculations noted above–I still can’t comfortably recommend installing anti-virus software on a Mac. If you’re using Mac OS X 10.6 “Snow Leopard” or newer, the operating system automatically updates itself to deal with the most recent and severe threats, and more often than not, third-party antivirus utilities seem to cause more problems than they prevent.

CNET just reported on an evaluation of the most popular AV programs on the Mac side conducted by security researcher and analyst Thomas Reed, which found that neither the McAfee nor the Symantec products made it into the “top tier” of antivirus options for the Mac. ClamXav, which is open source and has a minimal footprint in terms of intrusiveness and performance issues, was not one of the best options either. ClamXav has heretofore been my “go-to” recommendation to anyone who feels compelled to install some form of protection on their Mac, so I may have to rethink my position on that one ;-(

The CNET article pretty much mirrors my own position, for what it’s worth, on AV software:

“Whether or not antivirus tools are recommended for OS X is a question that is still in a bit of flux. Hard-core Mac users often claim malware scanners offer more potential harm than good, especially given the relative lack of malware for OS X. However, this mentality butts heads with those who may not trust, or have, the abilities to avoid all potential avenues of attack on their systems.”

Tweet, tweet

It’s been a long time coming, but I’ve finally arrived at the conclusion that it might not be a complete and utter waste of time on my part to create a Twitter username, and perhaps even toss out an occasional tweet here and there. In spite of being an incredible time-suck, and disregarding the volume of mean-spirited and even hurtful tweets that are posted on an hourly basis, Twitter does indeed have some redeeming qualities–if you are discriminating in terms of which Twitterers you elect to follow.

I am neither suggesting nor recommending that you run out and create a Twitter account just to receive an occasional Mac-related tidbit from yours truly, but I’d like to get your feedback on whether you would find tweets from me interesting and/or useful enough to contemplate joining the Twitterverse. If you happen to be in the “I’ve always been curious about Twitter but don’t really understand it and have no clue as to how to get started” camp, I’ll be more than happy to dedicate my next blog post to that very subject.

Never fear–no matter how my position on social media sites may evolve, I’m still not joining Facebook.

Note: In the event this is not painfully obvious, you can follow anyone on Twitter without creating an account just by visiting their profile page. Example: Chicago Sun-Times technology columnist and Internationally Beloved Industry Figure™ Andy Ihnatko, or my favorite 320-lb, ex-N.Y. Giant and current North Kentucky River Monsters starting QB Jared Lorenzen, aka The Pillsbury Throwboy/The Round Mound of Touchdown/J. Load/<insert appropriate weight-related nickname here>.