Batch Scripting Tickler File
Heres a bit of batch script for creating a text file named the current date and/or for opening it if it already exists. Works great for keeping a journal or just for general note-taking for anyone who is perpetually in notepad.
@echo off
set YYMMDD=%date:~12,4%-%date:~4,2%-%date:~7,2%
if exist .\%YYMMDD%.txt goto exists
:exists
start NOTEPAD .\%YYMMDD%.txt
:end
Open notepad, paste it in, save the file as TICKLER.bat and give it a whirl. Make sure you place it in the directory you want the text files kept. Integrate this with Windows Live Mesh if you're on Windows, or Evernote, or even Dropbox for cross-platform synchronization.
Do this!
Windows 7 on the Dell Mini 9
Archiving All of Your Twitter Followers Tweets via OPML, Google Reader, and Friendfeed
The other day Dave Winer posted a new tool he created to make OPML (essentially, blog roll files, or friends lists) files of one's Twitter followers. Great tool. He described its usefulness as:
You could use this format to import your subscription list into another app, if one existed. As far as I know none does exist. However, this is an essential step in a bootstrap to create new ways of consuming Twitter data.
I took it one step further. I wanted an easy way to archive all of my Twitter-followers tweets, whether they are directed to me or not. I'm already an active user on Friendfeed, so integrating this whole bootstrap solution in to that service was only natural. Here's how I did it.
- Generate the OPML file, follow Winer's instructions to get it syndicating on Google Reader.
- In Google Reader, under Settings > Folders and Tags, click the small RSS syndication-looking icon next to "Private" for the Folder that contains your Twitter followers (probably named "Twitter-username subscriptions")
- Click "view public page"
- On the public page for the folder, you should see an "Atom feed" link on the far right, get the URL for that feed. (mine looks like "http://www.google.com/reader/public/atom/user%2F02004925579012804412%2Flabel%2FTwitter-leahey%20subscriptions")
- Now on Friendfeed, you're going to want to create a group (http://www.friendfeed.com/groups), name it whatever you like, but I suggest you make it private.
- Once created, add the Custom RSS/Atom feed from above, and voila. All of your Twitter-followers tweets are archived and (!) very searchable.
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