oneafrikan.com

I’m looking at proof of concepts for integrating Twitter for MyHeritage users, so doing some reading and hacking (can you call it that these days?). Note this isn’t exhaustive or a rating, just looking for something specific.

My top rated script / code for sending to Twitter is this one:
_ Twitter: send message from a PHP page using Twitter API

If you like Twitter, and you’re looking around, here’s some free research that might help you along:
General:
http://www.webmonkey.com/tutorial/Get_Started_With_the_Twitter_API :
Like the service itself, the Twitter API is simple and easy to use. The only thing to keep in mind is that Twitter limits you to 70 requests per 60 sixty minute interval, so remember to cache or otherwise store your results. Otherwise, you may find yourself banned.
Can grab updates via the RSS feedm or the API. RSS feed is delayed due to caching, API is current, but can run into overuse problems.

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Links to code:
http://twitter.com/badges
http://twitter.com/widgets/html_widget

http://apiwiki.twitter.com/
http://apiwiki.twitter.com/Libraries#PHP

http://twitter.pbwiki.com/

http://twitter.pbwiki.com/Scripts

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Get Twitter updates:

http://twitter.com/widgets/html_widget
easy peasy implementation.
easiest out of the box implementation, can be customised with css

TwitBlog: Syndicating Twitter to My Blog
http://www.kadavy.net/blog/posts/twitblog-syndicating-twitter-to-my-blog/
needs magpie rss / rss parsing
works well, can be customised

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Send Twitter updates:

command line:
curl -u username:password -d status=”twittering from curl” http://twitter.com/statuses/update.xml

php-twitter:
http://code.google.com/p/php-twitter/w/list
http://code.google.com/p/php-twitter/wiki/ExampleCode
works but needs hacking

Posting to Twitter using PHP
http://morethanseven.net/2007/01/20/posting-to-twitter-using-php/
works nicely
similiar: http://phpfashion.com/twitter-for-php

Twitter: send message from a PHP page using Twitter API
http://woork.blogspot.com/2007/10/twitter-send-message-from-php-page.html
used improved script:
http://www.aimclear.com/code/twitter/twitterSetStatus.zip
http://www.aimclear.com/code/twitter/twitter.txt
made changes according to:
http://woork.blogspot.com/2007/10/twitter-send-message-from-php-page.html#comment-6242557261423855168
is fast, works well, has neat UI already – best so far

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Various or not what we need:

Twitter tools for wordpress / Twitter Tools 1.0
http://alexking.org/blog/2007/05/07/twitter-tools-10

Twitter2HTML is a free script that helps you easily add your latest tweets to your website
http://www.twitter2html.com/

Fetch twitter updates via PHP
http://blog.amanjain.com/2009/01/fetch-twitter-updates-via-php/

Drupal Twitter module
http://drupal.org/project/twitter
– code sample

Twitter using jQuery
http://www.reynoldsftw.com/2009/02/using-jquery-php-ajax-with-the-twitter-api/
- sample only retrieves data from twitter api

How to Create an RSS-Enabled, Micro-Blog with Twitter
http://thinkvitamin.com/features/how-to-create-an-rss-enabled-micro-blog-with-twitter/

Stammy Script: RSS to Twitter using PHP
http://paulstamatiou.com/2007/01/26/stammy-script-rss-to-twitter-using-php

Updating your Twitter status from PHP
http://www.modaco.com/content/the-lounge/250376/updating-your-twitter-status-from-php/

OK, so I’ve not got long so will be brief and to the point with this one, in the hope that it will help some of the people that read this blog, and maybe even some of the folks that are looking for devs to join their teams.

I’ve had to run through a lot of agencies and candidates in the last month or so, recruiting for Kindo, and these are some thoughts in no particular order:

As a candidate

DO:

• accept there is lots of good competition; you have to stand out to be noticed
• research on the company you’re interviewing at – it’s polite and will help you with 3, 4 and 5
• send a cv that is relevant to the job spec – java experience won’t interest someone looking for a php person
• learn how to sell yourself and articulate your experience – enough said
• accept you’re going to have to send code to show what you can do – send your best relevant code
• describe what your code is supposed to be doing to there is context – don’t just send a bunch of methods
• comment more than you think you should – esp if you’re going to work in a team or be contracting
• write documentation in the code for something like phpDocumentor – that makes people happy

As a general rule (unless you’re a superstar), your work environment, the people you work with, and the work you’ll be doing, should all supersede remuneration unless you have a specific reason (like a mortgage for example).

As someone recruiting

DO:
Read this first:
http://www.nickhalstead.com/2008/07/01/10-reasons-why-i-hate-recruitment-agents/

• accept that it is going to take up a lot of your time
• have a clear job spec and role description in place to send around
• use your personal network first
• get your agencies to send some cv’s to assess the kind of candidates they have
• ask for source code if you like the cv – you’ll do less unnecessary face to face’s
• expect them to do some filtering and work for you; if not, bin them
• turn your phone off if you want quiet time to work
• agree on terms first, or re-confirm them if circumstances change on your end

Hope that helps!!