Why Twitter is a Helpful Tool if You Are or Are Going to Be in IT

If you don't know what Twitter is, here is a link to the Wikipedia article on the service.

If you haven't been living in a cave for the past six months, you've probably noticed that Twitter (http://www.twitter.com) has become the newest Internet application star. Twitter is a way for people to send updates via the web, a mobile phone, or an application on a PC or Mac. I use Twitter, and I find it to be a very useful tool in my line of work. By streamlining how one uses twitter, it can be a useful tool for all IT professionals and aspiring IT professionals. Here's how:

• Twitter is a way to expand your technical knowledge.
  
  I follow a number of tweeple (people who use Twitter) who make informative posts about what's on in IT. Not only do I get instant technology news, but I also get posts containing: links to technology how-tos and tips; links to training and webinars; and career tips. It saves me a lot of time from sifting through websites and search engines to find information.
  


• Twitter is a way to get assistance with your IT issue.
  
  Most forums are good tools to use to post questions. Twitter is another tool that you can use to post questions. Based on my experience, I've posted questions to the Twitter community, and more often than not, I got an answer to my question relatively quickly.
  
  If you've already asked a question in a forum, and your question is not getting a response, you can use Twitter to post a link to the question. If the regular readers of the forum can't answer your questions, perhaps someone in the Twitter community can.
  


• Twitter is a way to get publicity for your professional work.
  
  If you're looking to expand your audience, Twitter is a good tool to use. I've recently started to use Twitter to publish links to my tutorial posts on this blog, and I've noticed a slight increase in my traffic. Other things that I've seen other tweeple post: links to custom applications and SharePoint web parts that they have written; links to web sites that they have designed; and podcasts and videos in which they were involved.
  


• Twitter is a way to expand your professional social network, as well as assist with your job search.
  
  There are a number of IT professionals who use Twitter, and a large number of those tweeple post IT-related content 95% of the time. You can build your network by re-tweeting informative posts, as well as answer questions that other tweeple have posted.
  
  I've also noticed that a number of small business owners and IT job recruiters use Twitter to post job openings. You can use Twitter to keep abreast of new opportunities.
  

Do you use Twitter? Do you like Twitter? Can you see a use for Twitter for your profession? Please feel free to post any comments or questions that you have.

P.S. If you use Twitter, and if you are interested, you can follow me on Twitter

Raketu - the next big thing?

For More Information

 Raketu Web Site
 From VoIP News: Making A Raketu About Peer-to-Peer Voice and Everything Else

I've been reading in a few VoIP journals about how Raketu may give VoIP (particularly Skype) a run for it's money. I decided to take a look at the product myself.

Summary

• Raketu is a peer-to-peer service that provides voice calling, messaging and other services over the Internet


• Unlike other P2P software, Raketu does not install additional spyware, malware, or adware


• Unlike other P2P software, Raketu does not use supernodes in their architecture (Raketu's documentation on their architecture)


• Raketu is looking to be an all-in-one media center. It either provides or is planning on providing the following services:
  
  
  
  • Podcasts
  
  
  • Video player
  
  
  • SMS text messaging
  
  
  • Social networking services
  
  
  • Free setup of your own radio show (best way I can explain it is YouTube for radio)
  
  
  
  

System Requirements

• Microsoft Windows 98/ME/2000/XP - Note that RakOut does not work for Windows 98. Raketu may work on Windows 2003, but there is nothing in their documentation that indicates that they support that platform.


• Install file is 3.4MB; Installed product is 11.5MB


• If you have an Intel-based Mac, you can use Raketu if you are running the BOOTCAMP software on your machine


• Raketu is not supported on Linux, although according to their site, they are working on a Linux version of the software

Things I Liked

• No supernodes and no additional software installed on your machine.


• Interfaces will all the major IMs. One of the things that I liked about this product is it integrated my IMs into Raketu, so I don't need to run all my IMs while I'm running Raketu. It lets me know whether I received any messages from my other IMs.


• Free calls to anywhere in the US and up to 40 countries with limitations. You need to have at least $0.01 in your account.


• The "all-in-one" package is a good concept. I, personally, don't like to have a ton of applications open when I'm trying to do my work. Keeping everything in an "all in one" package makes it easy for me.


• I can send SMS text messages without having my phone with me. However, I do have issues with how it works (see the "needs improvement" section).


• Good tutorial movies to explain how to use the software.

Things that Need Improvement

• According to their published rates, they charge you approximately $0.61/minute when you make a call to a toll-free number. I didn't see anything in their support pages nor do I know of any FCC regulations to explain why they charge for toll-free calls.


• I had trouble playing podcasts using Raketu. Raketu reads the RSS file and lists the podcasts from the service to which I subscribed, but when I try to play the podcasts, it doesn't play because the URL is malformed (it drops the address). In Raketu's defense, this could be a "bug" in the RSS feed they received from StationCaster (the provider) rather than their parser. I reported this to Raketu support.


• The SMS interface needs work. Before you start using the SMS messaging services, you have to set up the address in your contact list. You can't just enter the destination when you send a message like you can when you are using rakOut.

Additional Notes

• Raketu is not intended to replace your existing phone service. You can only make outbound calls, and you cannot make emergency calls (ex: calling 911 in the US) in this system.


• If the destination number (the number your calling to) has caller ID, the number that appears in the caller ID is 555-555-5555.


• When you are talking on the telephone using rakOut, there is about a 1-2 second communication delay


• For their phone service, when you pre-pay, the balance expires after 180 days.


• I'm really excited about their "free radio show" service.

Analysis

Raketu has a lot of potential. The "all in one" process integration concept and the P2P architecture that they use is very good.

However, I think that they tried to release too much too soon, and it shows in the product. The interface is clunky and inconsistent (some functions stay within Raketu, while other functions open your web browser or your e-mail software), and some of the additional features that are there, like the picture viewer, are too basic to be considered as a valuable substitute for other packages.

Do I think that it's a viable competitor to VoIP? Not yet, because you can only make outgoing calls, but you cannot receive incoming calls. Do I think that it's a good product? This is a brand-new product, and there are going to be some growing pains, but I do think that it is a good product overall, and it does have the potential to be amazing.

Google Docs & Spreadsheets - a review

This post has been updated with some corrections

Introduction

When I first read the article in the Associated Press (October 15th) about Google releasing its word processing and spreadsheet programs for free on their web site, it piqued my interest. I was happy that there would be a free tool for students to use to write their research papers and resumes. Even with the student discount programs, Microsoft Office is still expensive for cash-strapped students. While OpenOffice is a very good option for free word processors, it can be a task to download (except for Linux users, sinc OpenOffice comes with most distros of Linux). I was also happy that there was an easy tool to allow teams to easily collaborate on one document. On the other hand, I was concerned about security since this package was on the Web, and the documents are initially published on the Web. Plus, certain people, such as professors and future employers, demand that the documents that they receive are in Microsoft Word format.

So I decided to try Google Docs and Spreadsheets for myself.

The Test

In order to use Google Docs & Spreadsheets, you have to sign up for Google services, which is free to do. Sign-up is very easy - it took me about 5 minutes to do.

I focused my test with the word processor. It was very easy to use. If you are used to using Web text editors when you are publishing blogs or writing messages to a board, you will be able to use the word processor easily. It took me about 10 seconds (yes - 10 seconds) to get used to the interface. It was very intuitive.

One of my concerns was that future employers, as well as professors, usually accept documents in Word format only. No worries - Google Docs and Spreadsheets has added capability to download your document to your local machine in Word, OpenOffice, or RTF format! Plus, you can upload your own OpenOffice or Word documents to Google Docs and Spreadsheets.

Another concern that I had was security, since with Google Docs and Spreadsheets, you are working on the Internet. The good news is that Google Docs and Spreadsheets has features to allow you to control who can view and modify your documents.

I had two "cons" with this package:

• If I wanted to develop a graphically robust document with fancy layouts, I couldn't do it with Google Docs and Spreadsheets.


• There is no way to download the document in PDF format - I have to download the document to my machine in Word format, and use my Adobe Acrobat plug-in to convert the document from Word to PDF. Note: I understand that there may be some "hoops" that Google may need to jump in order to be able to convert the documents to PDF.
  
  Correction: I have just noticed that the Google Docs and Spreadsheets package does allow you to download to PDF format - hooray!
  

However, these are very small "cons" that won't prevent me from using this package.

The Verdict

Based on what I've tried, I really liked the package. It was very easy to use. The package gives me the ability to download my work to my local machine in case I needed my document in Word or OpenOffice format. I also like the portability of the tool. If I'm working on a paper, I don't need to haul my laptop or my flash stick everywhere. However, this tool won't cause me to get rid of Word or Acrobat yet. I still need Word for more complex (fancier) publications, and I need Acrobat to publish my tutorial documents in PDF format. (Not anymore! Google Docs and Spreadsheets package does allow you to download to PDF format.)


If you need a word processor to write papers and create resumes, give this package a try.