Geek of the Week: Twhirl

Looking to get more out of twitter? Try twhirl.

twhirl is a cool "desktop twitter client," which means, in Lauren-speak, that you don't have to go to the twitter website to tweet or see tweets from your friends. It "sits" on your desktop, and has an interface like google talk.

Other cool stuff? twhirl will shorten urls for you on the spot (like tinyurl, but it's a part of the client), and let you post pictures in twitter via twitpic. It makes using twitter a total breeze.

Also cool? I can send a direct message to my personal assistant, Sandy, without opening up my browser. By the way, Sandy is really awesome.

Geek of the Week: Sandy

Need a personal assistant? How about a free one? Meet Sandy.

Sandy is a "remote command line app (I have no idea what that means)," or, in my mind, a nice lady you tell stuff, she remembers it for you, and reminds you about it in a timely fashion. It's cool.

Check this out. I e-mail her this:



It appears in my Sandy account like this:




I also receive a daily digest of the day's activities. Here is an example from someone who is much busier and more important than I:



Sandy synchs with my Google calendar (and with my husband's, or whomever I choose), so I can just send her a quick e-mail with a list of appointments, and she calendars it for me. I can also create lists, set shared reminders (via text or e-mail), organize my contacts, and many other cool features that I have yet to discover.

Favorite thing: I can communicate with Sandy via my Twitter, my Jott, or g-talk accounts. That's right! I can send her a tweet, call her, or send her an IM. SO convenient.

Least favorite thing: Communicating with Sandy is relatively straightforward, but there is a definite learning curve to do more complex things. Right now, I'm struggling to add something to a grocery list I've already created.

Overall? It's PERFECT for adding appointments and to-dos to my calendar, and might be cool for all of my GTD lists, especially once I'm back 2 skool and life becomes much more of a juggling act.