http://EmpowermentZone.com/mtsetup.exe I have now developed a GUI version of McTwit. The initial, command line version is still included in the distribution. I am seeking feedback on this public beta. To help you decide whether to try it, pasted below are sections of the documentation. Jamal McTwit Beta 0.9 April 22, 2009 Copyright 2009 by Jamal Mazrui GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) Contents Description Installation Overview Getting Messages Sending Messages Managing Users Navigating Items Miscellaneous Commands Summary of Commands Development Notes MT Client twyt Twyt - A Twitter client for the easily distracted twyt - Command line twitter client Usage: mctwit COMMAND [options] [args] Bits of the twitter API that have been implemented and bits that need implementing in twitter.py How to install twyt How to use the twyt Python module Help on module twyt.twitter in twyt: Blog of Andrew Price Twyt Licence ---------- Description McTwit is a Windows client for the social networking site called Twitter.com. It is designed for productivity by keyboard users. Additionally, if the JAWS, System Access, or Window-Eyes screen reader is active, select information is conveyed through direct speech messages. Such messages are also displayed on the status line for visual users. ---------- Installation The installer for McTwit is called mtsetup.exe. The default location for the program is C:\Program Files\McTwit The installer also creates a desktop shortcut and a program group within the Windows Start Menu, with options to launch the program, read documentation, or uninstall. The default shortcutkey is Alt+Control+M. ---------- Overview The McTwit program is a single dialog with a listbox, multi-line edit box, and many buttons. The listbox shows multiple message or user items from Twitter. The edit box -- also called the viewing area -- shows additional information about the current item in the list, e.g., the time of a message and full name of a user who posted it. Each button performs an action, often to fill the list with a particular type of item. All controls in the dialog may be accessed with a unique, mnemonic keystroke. For example, Alt+I focuses on items in the list, Alt+V focuses on the viewing area, and Alt+N invokes the New button, which filles the list with new messages by those you are following. This button is also the default, so it can be invoked by pressing Enter unless another button has focus. Buttons after New are in an alphabetical sequence until the Help and Close buttons at the end. A description of each control is available on the status line when the control has focus. A screen reader has a hotkey to read the status line. Several commands operate relative to a particular user, which McTwit calls the base user. If no items are in the list, the base user is yourself. Otherwise, it is obtained from the current item in the list. If the type of item is a message, the base user is the sender of the message. To re-establish yourself as the base user, press Alt+0 for the 0Items command, which clears the list. To specify a base user by typing a scree name rather than pointing to a list item, press Alt+1 for the 1Other command, which prompts you for the other user to be referenced by subsequent commands. ---------- Getting Messages The New command, Alt+N, gets tweets by you or your "leaders" -- the McTwit term for users whom you are following. The Replies command, Alt+R, gets tweets that reference your screen name preceded by the @ sign -- a Twitter convention for replying publicly to someone. The Direct command, Alt+D, gets direct messages sent privately to you. The Public command, Alt+P, gets messages from the "public timeline" -- recent tweets posted by anyone. The Messages command, Alt+M, gets tweets by the base user. The Sent command, Alt+S, gets direct messages that you have sent. ---------- Sending Messages The Tweet command, Alt+T, posts a public message by you, which is also called a "tweet" or "updating your status." The 2Tweet command, Alt+2, posts a public reply to the base user. The Write command, Alt+W, sends a direct message to the base user. ---------- Managing Users The Leaders command, Alt+L, gets users that the base user is following. The followers command, Alt+F, gets users who are following the base user. The Join command, Alt+J, sets the base user as one of your leaders. The Zap command, Alt+Z, removes something according to the type of item. The command deletes a tweet or direct message by you. The command also drops someone as your leader, or blocks someone as your follower. The Unblock command, Alt+U, unblocks someone, so you may be followed again. The Extra command, Alt+X, gets more information about the base user, which is displayed in the viewing area. ---------- Navigating Items The list of items supports navigation by arrow keys or the initial letter of an item. The Keywords command, Alt+K, searches for an item, starting at the top, based on text it contains. A match does not depend on capitalization. The Again command, Alt+A, searches for the next match, if any. The Order command, Alt+O, sorts the list items in alphabetical, reverse, or original order. Since messages are initially displayed with the most recent first, you can display them chronologically instead by choosing reverse order. The Query command, Alt+Q, prompts for a "regular expression" for filtering the list. The syntax of regular expressions is an advanced topic that is beyond the scope of this documentation (many tutorials are available on the web). If no punctuation symbols are used, the regular expression acts like the keywords search, except that it searches all text of each message or user item, not just the part displayed in the list. Various punctuation symbols have special meaning in a regular expression, and they may be used to specify almost any condition or combination of conditions for text to be considered a match. ---------- Miscellaneous Commands The Bound command(Alt+B), sets a limit on the number of pages to be retrieved from Twitter. The default is 0, meaning no upper bound. Since Twitter limits the amount of resources consumed by each user per minute, you may wish to use this command if you are running into resource limits. An indication of this problem is when no items are retrieved by McTwit, even though you are fairly sure that updates are available on Twitter.com. The Export command, Alt+E, saves text of the current item -- text from both the list and viewing area. The text is appended to a file called Export.txt. This file is automatically opened in your default text editor after closing McTwit. You can then use the text in other ways. Delete the file if you want McTwit to start a new file in the next session. The Yield command, Alt+Y, is a convenience for screen reader users. It says the number of items in the list and then reads their text. The Configure command, Alt+C, lets you change settings such as your screen name and password, which are needed for authorization by Twitter. If this information is not found when McTwit is loading, you are prompted for it. The Help command, Alt+H, presents this documentation in your web browser. In addition, a summary of commands is displayed in the viewing area. This summary is in the following section. ---------- Summary of Commands McTwit = Alt+ControlM, Launch or activate the McTwit program Items = Alt+I, Focus on list of messages or users View = Alt+V, Focus on Additional information about current list item New = Alt+N, Display new messages from leaders (friends whom you follow) Again = Alt+A, Find the next keywords match in the list Bound = Alt+B, Set an upper limit on the number of pages returned (0 means no limit) Configure = Alt+C, Change McTwit settings, e.g., user name and password Direct = Alt+D, Display direct messages that were sent privately to you Export = Alt+E, Save text of the current list item and view to the file Export.txt, which is opened after closing McTwit Followers = Alt+F, Display users who are following you Go = Alt+G, Open a referenced URL in your web browser Join = Alt+J, Start following a user Keywords = Alt+K, Find a list item based on text it contains Leaders = Alt+L, Display users whom you are following Messages = Alt+M, Display messages posted publicly by a user Order = Alt+O, Change the order of list items, e.g., alphabetize or reverse them Public = Alt+P, Display messages in the public timeline Query = Alt+Q, Filter list items based on a regular expression Replies = Alt+R, Display public, reply messages to you Sent = Alt+S, Display direct messages you sent privately to others Tweet = Alt+T, Update your status by posting a public message 2Tweet = Alt+2, Tweet with a public reply to another user Unblock = Alt+U, Unblock a user, so you may be followed Write = Alt+W, Write a private, direct message to another user E&Xtra = Alt+X, Display extra information about a user Yield = Alt+Y, Say the number of list items and read their text Zap = Alt+Z, Depending on the type of list item, delete a public tweet or direct message by you, block a user from following you, or Stop following a user 0Items = Alt+0, Clear the list, so queries are based on yourself 1Other = Alt+1, Set or clear the screen name of another user, which will be referenced instead of pointing to a list item Help = Alt+H, Display a summary of commands, hotkeys, and descriptions Close = Escape or Alt+F4, Close the McTwit program ** To leave the list, click on the immediately-following link:- ** [mailto:guispeak-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe] ** If this link doesn't work then send a message to: ** guispeak-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ** and in the Subject line type ** unsubscribe ** For other list commands such as vacation mode, click on the ** immediately-following link:- ** [mailto:guispeak-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=faq] ** or send a message, to ** guispeak-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the Subject:- faq