tweets

The Web is a great place to learn about hot topics, but Internet memes can't be spotted so easily unless you have some help. On topics ranging from tech to general interest, you can find what's hot at any moment with the following resources.

Blogrunner The New York Times' Blogrunner sifts through all the news hitting blogs across the Web, finds the hot topics, and lists them on the site. The most popular stories at the time are listed at the top of the Blogrunner page. Those that are either older or on their way up are listed below the top stories.

I was happy with the amount of content Blogrunner provides. Unlike some sites that focus solely on one topic, Blogrunner lists politics, world news, tech news, religion, and several other topics to find the hot stories in each category. Sifting through the stories is simple. And thanks to a fine design, you should be happy with the experience. It's not the best tool in this roundup, but it's pretty good.

BuzzFeed BuzzFeed is a user-generated topic finder. The site asks its users to find funny, outrageous, or interesting content across the Web that appeals to a wider audience. The topics they find should have the goal of starting a meme on the Web.

BuzzFeed is filled with funny or outrageous videos and images. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but if you're trying to find the hottest news at any moment, you probably won't have much luck with BuzzFeed. If you're just looking for some entertainment, you might like BuzzFeed. Your mileage will vary.… Read more

There's some chest-thumping going on over at TweetMeme, a service that rounds up "retweets" of popular links--much like Digg buttons--and aggregates them into a central site. A rival site, ReTweet, just announced its impending launch, and TweetMeme thinks the two are too similar.

More specifically, according to a blog post by TweetMeme's Nick Halstead, ReTweet's "retweet button Javascript and the Wordpress plugin code seemed to have been directly copied from ours." He said that TweetMeme is "seeking further legal advice."

Halstead says he was spurred by a commenter on a TechCrunch … Read more

In the not-so-distant past, the only way to follow the Tour de France was through TV, newspapers, or radio. People in the U.S. (lucky enough to have cable) would wake up before dawn to watch the race in real time. Then came the Internet, which made stats and information on the race course and teams more readily available. Technology continued to expand, and last year the big advance was Google's Street View of the race.

But, now there's Twitter, which takes it to a whole other level. No longer are riders' recaps spliced into packaged sound bites, … Read more

Remember ExecTweets, the app that aggregates the tweets of over 100 top executives? PoliticoTracker Twitter Edition does the same thing for elected officials.

Specifically, the app lets you track the tweets of U.S. politicians (those that use Twitter, anyway). Sure, you could manually look up and follow your local representatives, but this makes it significantly easier.

What's more, PoliticoTracker Twitter Edition (PTTE) lets you create a favorites list for easy access to the officials you care about most.

In short, it's a pretty nifty app for politics junkies (you know who you are). And it's a … Read more

Some of us have multiple Twitter accounts that we need to manage. We have an account for work and an account for personal use. In that case, switching between usernames can be a pain. Luckily, there's an easy way to manage multiple Twitter accounts with some basic apps.

We've taken a look at a couple of services that will help you manage those accounts on your computer, but what about when you're away from home?

We have you covered there too. Let's take a look at iPhone apps that help you manage multiple Twitter accounts.

LaTwit Although LaTwit lets you post updates to multiple accounts, including those from Twitter, Identi.ca, and others, its interface is difficult to get used to. In fact, it detracts from the experience of using the app. If you're looking for other features, LaTwit also lets you post multiple tweets if your update exceeds the 140-character limit. But for $2.99, it might not be worth the price tag.

SimplyTweet SimplyTweet comes in two flavors: a Lite version for those who want a free app and a paid version with all the SimplyTweet features, which includes multiple user accounts. Don't let SimplyTweet's name fool you--it's not so simple. The app lets you draft notes, update your stream with iPhone photos, and more. It has a slew of features. The paid version is available for $3.99.

TweetDeck TweetDeck is my favorite mobile Twitter client. Like its desktop alternative, the app provides a column view, making it easy to see all kinds of Twitter data pass you by. Plus, it makes it extremely easy to manage multiple accounts, creating a scenario where updating all your accounts will only take just a few seconds. TweetDeck also shortens URLs before you post to your stream. Overall, it's a great app. And since it's free, you'll probably like it even more.… Read more

On today's show, we discover that Microsoft is a fine American company that thinks nothing of shafting its highest-paying users or subjecting the entire Internet to multiple episodes of projectile vomiting. And Apple shouldn't be forced by some pissy little upstart to change its perfectly legitimate EULA. And don't even get Cooley STARTED on sending self-replicating nanobots to Mars. Good times all around. Plus: Metrologists!

Microsoft to offer Family Pack for Windows 7 Home Premium http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=1145… Read more

Is Twitter getting possessive of its own name? Maybe.

A developer building an application using Twitter's API was told via e-mail that Twitter took issue with the user interface of his application, allegedly very similar to Twitter's own, as well as his use of the word "tweet" in the application's name.

The developer forwarded the e-mail to TechCrunch: "Twitter, Inc., is uncomfortable with the use of the word Tweet (our trademark) and the similarity in your UI and our own."

Uh-oh. If Twitter is staking a claim to the word "tweet," … Read more

It seems like just about everyone has a Twitter or Facebook account these days and I find myself checking the so called "status updates" for my friends and family more than I'd like to admit. I never thought when these services launched that a status update could become anything more than a simple yawn-worthy report of personal activity. But as we've seen with these services' growing popularity, and the recent explosion of activity during the aftermath of Iran's election, the idea of a status update has morphed into something much bigger. A simple sentence or … Read more

Since Adobe Systems relaunched its AIR marketplace, I've been spending some considerable time there. There are so many great apps, it's hard to pick just a handful worth talking about. But after taking some time to sift through all my apps, I've selected my favorites.

Adobe Media Player If you're a Photoshop, Premiere, or Dreamweaver user, the Adobe Media Player will come in handy. The app lets you watch a slew of videos that train you how to use Adobe's applications.

Although there are videos for advanced users, there are quite a few videos that help Photoshop novices find their way around the sophisticated program. You can also save your favorite videos and go step-by-step during instruction. It's a great app for anyone who wants to be creative.

AOL Top 100 Videos If you're a music lover, you'll love the AOL Top 100 Videos app. Instead of forcing you to go to YouTube to find videos or search through Google, AOL Top 100 Videos lets you watch them all right from the app. Besides having an outstanding design, the app lets you share clips with friends, create a "favorite videos" playlist, and pick the genre of music you like. The videos load quickly, and the quality is stellar.

Desktop iPhone Desktop iPhone is one of the coolest apps in this roundup. You can experience the iPhone user interface, check the weather, and record voice messages. But the Desktop iPhone app's best feature is the ability to make phone calls from the app with an account from online phone company Ribbit. More features, including Google Maps, Calculator, and other options haven't been enabled.… Read more