Sometimes I just want the digital world to mimic the analog world. Exactly. It’s rare, but there are times that I don’t want an “vast improvement.” And I don’t want innovation. I just want to continue doing what I’ve always done, without having to change my behavior. I just want to do the same thing, only digitally. And this is the hope I have for the iPad for one specific task – my to do lists.

I have tried to migrate my paper to do lists to a digital format for years. It never works for me. Things begin to fall through the cracks and before I know it, I’m back to pen and paper. I’ve been keeping paper lists on and off since the early 80′s. I have files filled with old to do lists. They’ve come in handy when I want to remember a detail about a transaction. And, they work for me.

Every digital solution I’ve tried has failed. And it’s not really their fault. I simply have not been able to make the changes necessary to adopt the new methods of creating and managing to do list. So, the question I always end up asking is, “if my old way works, why change?”

Enter the iPad.

I’ve really enjoyed reading Russ Leseberg’s “Countdown To iPad” series. His use cases have sometimes been genius and sometimes humorous. They all make you think a bit. And almost from the moment I saw Steve Job’s initial presentation, the notion of creating an iPad application that exactly duplicated how I use my paper to do list has been on my mind. And why not? I can’t be the only person in the world who’s having a hard time giving up the paper to do list. What I’d like to do is keep the feel and mimic the process while adding some digital functionality.

There’s no reason why my process can’t be replicated exactly. Part of the reason my process works for ME is that when a page get’s full, I move the unfinished items to a new page and save the old list. The process of looking at all of my unfinished tasks spurs me to finish more of them. I also like the look of a page with a lot of items crossed off. Yeah, I’m a bit mental. But it works.

The iPad version of my to do list will give me the benefit of typing the to do item in, but the pleasure of swiping my finger across it to mark it as done. I like that feeling. And since I like seeing that I’ve actually finished something, I’ll be able to  leave the finished items visible. Of course, I could still opt to have them removed the moment I swipe, if I wanted. The beauty of an app is preferences. Finished items would be saved and I would have the ability to search them. Only I wouldn’t have to go through my pile of papers. When I fill the page, I can start a new page and move my unfinished items in mass, or choose which ones to move forward one by one, as punishment for not finishing. If I want to change the order, I’ll just drag an item to the top of the list. Simple. Easy.  It should feel just like a paper to do list. And I think Zeek should build it and sell it for a buck.

Anyone else want a to do list app that just works like a paper to do list? Raise your hand.

The recent surge in Twitter spam has people feeling sketchy about giving anyone their password, so we decided to go ahead and implement this more secure way of accessing your Twitter account. We will never see your password.  This is a good thing.

Convert your existing Twitter accounts inside Twext.me

You may convert your existing Twitter accounts by logging into Twext.me and clicking on the “Manage Twitter Accounts” tab. This will take you to a page that will look like this:

Click on Re-Authorize with Twitter. You will then be taken to twitter to give Twext.me authorization to access your data. We use this access to get a better look at the data inside your account. We will never send any messages out via your account. Ever. The authorization on the Twitter side will look like this:

When you set up a new account, the process is similar, but the page will look slightly different. The username field is required so we can help you easily keep track of multiple Twitter accounts, should you choose to do so.

Many have requested this in the past, so we’re happy it’s now live. Hopefully this will encourage more to use this free service. And remember, if you want your text messages to come via standard SMS, once you’ve set up your accounts, just text TWEXTME to 41411.

If you recieved a lot of mentions, the Twext.me updates would dominate your text message screen and require you to delete each one individually. This was annoying at best.

Many of the newest smart phones “thread”  SMS messages that come in under one SMS short code. But getting a short code for Twext.me would have been cost prohibitive. And since this is a free service… that wasn’t an option.

Enter TextMarks.com.

Yesterday we used the TextMarks.com api and can now offer a standard SMS option without going through email. This will allow smart phones to thread the Twext.me updates, like this:

All of the individual Twext.me updates will be shown under the single 41411 short code and can be easily cleared if needed. This method requires one additional step in the sign up process.

To take advantage of this option, you must send TWEXTME to 41411 to initiate your subscription. This gives us permission to send SMS to your phone. Once you’ve done that, you’re ready to go.

Personally, I had switched from individual messages sent via SMS to a summary message being sent to me on Twitter via DM. With this new option, I have switched back to the individual SMS messages and it works like a charm. Of course, for this to remain free, we all have to put up with the advertising messages, but we think the threading ability is worth it.

Let us know your thoughts.

Twext.me demo from Ben Martin on Vimeo.

Derek suggested that we provide an option to only track true replies, instead of an static default to a universal mention. So, we’ve added that capability. This will be presented when you set up a new Twitter account or when you’re editing an existing Twitter account. Each Twitter account your tracking can be set differently. The default setting is for both “true replies” and “mentions” to be tracked. See below.

You’ll notice that there is also an option to have the alerts sent in “digest” form. This is an option I requested because I often have many mentions in a short period of time. The individual alerts was simply annoying. I have set my updates to come to me in digest form. A digest alert tells you how many mentions you received and who mentioned you. It will look something like this:

Finally, you can now “pause” you alerts with a simple direct message (DM) to Twextme. What was as annoying as the number of updates, was getting updates while I was sitting at my computer actively engaged with Twitter. So, to pause the alerts, simply send a DM to Twextme with the word “off.” Turn turn updates back on, send a DM to Twextme with the word “on.” (no quotation marks)

We have a few more changes coming tomorrow. Let us know your thoughts.

Ben Martin, the Zen Master of Association Social Networking, approached me a few weeks ago about a need he was filling with a mashup of several different online services. The need was simple. Ben wanted to be notified via SMS Text message anytime there was a mention of @bkmcae on Twitter. Since this is a seemingly logical function not supported on Twitter, I was surprised something like this didn’t exist in the wild. After some research, we determined there was really only one service similar, Tweettrak. The difference, Tweettrack sends your notice via direct message to your twitter account.

As a heavy user of Twitter, I know having mentions sent to me via direct message is not an optimal solution. I want my private direct messages to be distinct from my mentions. So, on Wednesday, April 15 we began to build Twext.me and two days later we have it up for testing.

I’ve had it running since this afternoon and I can already tell some major changes are going to be required to make this a service that heaver twitter users might find valueable. My phone was bombarded by text messages today. I did a quick look and in the last 24 hours, Ben has had 42 mentions on Twitter. In that same time period, I ( @respres ) have 90 mentions. I haven’t talked to Ben yet, but each mention coming in as an individual SMS Text was a bit overwhelming for me. So, right off the bat, we have a few changes to make.

Here are two things we’ll need to do pretty quick:

• A pause button. Twext.me needs a pause button or a way to schedule when you want the updates to occur. For example, I don’t want to get updates while I’m at my computer and able to engage directly with Twitter.
• A digest option. If 6 people retweet the same information, I don’t need six differnt text messages. Even if the information is different, I’m really only looking for an alert that indicates that I should go take a look.

I know the service will be a lot more valuable to me when those two items are incorporated into the site. Stay tuned. More to come.

Zeek Interactive designed and developed every aspect of this custom social network. Prolebrity is built entirely on the WordPress platform with a custom theme and custom plugins.