Twitter at work with SpreadTweet

Make your Twitter client look like Microsoft Excel

If you work in a big corporate office and you crave Twitter salvation, but it's been banned by the small-minded IT department, then I've got the solution for you. Spreadtweet. It's an interface for Twitter that looks just like Microsoft Excel.

It comes in several flavours - OSX Office, Office 2003 and Office 2007, and it uses Adobe Air for the backend, but it's relatively speedy and fully operational as a Twitter client. The developer admits that it's "probably not" legal, so grab it while you can.

SpreadTweet (via @bryonyb)

Zune phone ad campaign coming?

It appears that Microsoft's getting ready to launch Zune for mobile phones around the same time.

According to AdWeek, Microsoft is currently staging a run-off between three advertising agencies--its longstanding advertising partner, McCann Erickson, Crispin Porter + Bogusky (which is overseeing the Windows brand campaign that's making lots of news), and JWT (which recently took over Microsoft's People Ready campaign)--for a product referred to as "Pink."

The article says only that Pink is a mobile service. But according to ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley and other sources, Pink is a code name for the Zune software and services running on mobile phones.

Microsoft is due to pick an agency for the campaign by the end of May, which could mean we'll start seeing ads for Zune on mobile phones by the middle of the summer.

Via: CNET

NYC cabbies could have cellphone use blocked while driving... but probably not

The Taxi and Limousine Commission of New York City (also known as the TLC) is considering some changes to the way that taxis and their drivers will operate in the future as part of its "Taxicab Passenger Enhancement Program." Among the wild ideas being floated is one that would "block" anyone in the front seat from using a cellphone -- most notably, of course -- the driver. Driving while using a handset is already illegal in New York, but this measure would apparently kill the ability to use a hands-free device as well. The TLC is trying to have an open discussion with New Yorkers on its website about other possible ways to make taxi rides more... enjoyable "in the future." We're betting this one will never happen but hey -- you never know. Our suggestion? Stop acting like we asked you to cart us to the gates of hell when we tell you we need to go to Brooklyn.

Via: WCBS

Twitter Fight! Larry King To Kutcher: CNN Will Bury You

“Do you know how big we are? Do you know what CNN is?!” Them fightin’ words — from longtime CNN host Larry King to Ashton Kutcher. King sent out the YouTube video (below) responding to the challenge Kutcher laid out yesterday to beat CNN to become the first Twitter user with a million followers.

So far, it’s not working all that well for Kutcher. He is gaining followers at a remarkable rate — he now has over 870,000 followers — yesterday he had under 850,000. But CNN is gaining them just as quickly. Yesterday they stood just above 900,000 and now they’re just under 930,000. So Kutcher has stepped up his game slightly, offering Guitar Hero to the person who is his millionth follower. Come on Ashton, you can do better than that.

King, meanwhile, promises to take on any challenge Kutcher throws his way. He notes, “I’ll go on your…Twitter — or whatever it is you do.” But he corrects Kutcher that Ted Turner (the subject of Kutcher’s throw down yesterday) doesn’t actually run CNN anymore. But, he notes that Turner is likely to accept an offer to meet Kutcher face to face on Larry King’s show to discuss the feud.

So what does everyone think — has Twitter officially jumped the shark now? Larry King is offering to devote a show to a fake race to a million followers — a good majority of which are probably spammers or fake accounts — on a service that sends 140 character messages. It’s nice to see all these big time names using the same services we all use, but come on guys, surely there’s some real news going on out there (which I fully expect will be echoed about us in the comments of this post — beat you to it!).

More/Video at: Tech Crunch

Ashton Kutcher Promises To Punk Ted Turner If He Beats CNN To A Million Twitter Followers

Apparently, actor Ashton Kutcher woke up today and realized he has a whole hell of a lot of Twitter followers. How many? Just shy of 850,000 now. Even more impressive to him though is that he’s near the number of Twitter followers that the No. 1 Twitter “user” CNN has (just over 900,000).

So Kutcher is throwing down the gauntlet. In a video released on YouTube today (embedded below), he’s promising to “ding dong ditch” billionaire Ted Tuner (founder of CNN) if he beats CNN to a million Twitter followers. What is a ding dong ditch you may ask? Well, it’s when you go up to a person’s house, ring their doorbell, them run away and watch as they look around to see who’s there. Yes, it’s kind of a wussy version of stuff they used to do on Kutcher’s hit MTV show “Punk’d.”

In releasing this to the Internet and tweeting it out, it’s pretty clear that Kutcher wants to be the first Twitter user with a million followers. That should be enough to put him over the top, but he may need a little more help as singer Britney Spears also remains ahead of him (though slightly with just over 870,000 followers).

Via: Tech Crunch

It’s Official: Twitter Is More Popular Than Britney

Not a day goes by without hundreds of mentions of Twitter on blogs and TV (we’re as guilty as anyone), which naturally leads those still puzzled by the service or simply curious to learn more to search for it in Google. Those searches have been growing at a faster rate than even the service itself. In fact, the term “Twitter” seems to be one of the fastest growing search terms of all these days.

How popular is it? More popular than “britney.” Twitter surpassed “Britney” a few months ago, and has even caught up to “Obama” (actually it is slightly ahead right now), according to Google Trends. That is remarkable, given that Britney was one of the most searched for words of all last year. Still, maybe the switch says more about her than about Twitter. (Obama’s popularity as a search term has come down to more reasonable levels after huge spikes last November and during the inauguration).

Via: Tech Crunch

UK Motorists Using Twitter While Driving

­The increasing functionality of mobile phone technology and growing addiction to social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook are driving motorists to distraction now more than ever before, with motorists openly admitting to breaking the law by 'tweeting' whilst driving.

According to research from UK based car insurance company, esure, nearly one in ten (nine per cent) motorists questioned are using mobile internet services and social networks whilst driving - to tweet, text and update their Facebook profiles.

Analysis of Twitter from esure found that an average of 52 motorists per day are even flaunting their dangerous use of social media behind the wheel with one person even stating, "(I'm) driving with my knees and peeling an orange…Probably not the safest thing to be doing." The use of any mobile internet services and social networks whilst driving can have potentially fatal consequences as drivers are distracted from the road ahead.

A selection of driving 'Tweets' from the past week:

1. Tweet - "Driving with my knees and peeling an orange…Probably not the safest thing to be doing."
2. Tweet - "Driving school bus"
3. Tweet - "Irresponsible twitter driving woo!"
4. Tweet - "Driving up to Newcastle while we Tweet!"
5. Tweet - "Driving home in the rain…almost crashed!"
6. Tweet - "Trying my best to stay awake while driving"
7. Tweet - "Awake, hungover, and driving"
8. Tweet - "Is it wise to use Twitter while driving? Probably not"
9. Tweet - "Intoxicated driving. Let's hope this works out"
10. Tweet - "Twittering and driving…" (too many examples to be sure which was used!)

Whilst the research shows 92 per cent of UK motorists know it is illegal to use their hand-held phone while driving, 45 per cent of motorists openly admit to breaking the law by texting and making calls while driving and, with tens of thousands of mobile phone applications widely available, it seems that motorists are finding it increasingly difficult to resist the urge to reach for their mobile devices whilst driving.

More Here: Cellular News