Improving Twitter’s Location Field

Faruk Ates just asked on Twitter about:

You know, wouldn’t it make more sense if Twitter made geo-coordinates as the Location field a hyperlink to Google Maps?” - @KuraFire

And he’s right. Most twitter clients for mobile devices (including Twitterific for the iPhone, my Twitter client of choice) set your location to your current coordinates, because that’s what the API for the internal GPS returns. But it’s hardly helpful. I’m currently at 47.270721, 11.409668 but without the Google Maps link noone would know where those coordinates are.

Greasemonkey Script to improve Twitter's Location Field

Since I’ve been working a lot with JavaScript lately, I figured I could just write a simple Greasemonkey userscript that remedies that problem. So, without much further ado, I give you the Twitter Google Maps Link Greasemonkey script!

You need the Greasemonkey extension for Firefox or another browser with userscript support (Opera 8+, IE, …). There’s a Greasemonkey extension for almost every browser but I’ll just refer you to the Greasemonkey Wikipedia Article.

Just install my script

and browse to your favourite twitter user pages (for example @aetherworld ;) It also works for non-coordinate locations like on @KuraFire’s twitter page. Enjoy!

My Recent Posts

Other posts you might be interested in

Mac-over your living room with Throwboy pillows

About 8 months ago, I happened across Throwboy. They had come up with the idea of making OS X dock icons as hand sewn soft furnishings! Back then I was in the process of moving into my new flat and the last thing I was worrying about were couch pillows. But the idea sounded so cool it kept nagging at the back of my mind. So, in November, I decided to order two of their dock pillows.

I know, this is why Mac users get the “cultist” label but I still think these Apple icon pillows are adorable. You can choose from Finder, Dashboard, iTunes, iChat, iPhoto and Photo Booth. Each one is hand-made with fleece and filled with polyester fiber. They are $29 each or $149 for the whole set. And even though I missed out on the set price, I’ll still get the rest of the pillows, they are just too cute.

They are shipping internationally and really, really care about their customers. Thank you Roberto and the rest of the Throwboy team.

Throwboy rocks!


Adobe unveiling Creative Suite 4

This May, Adobe released limited Beta editions of the forthcoming 4th edition of their Creative Suite. I had the fortune to try out Dreamweaver CS4 and Fireworks CS4. Those who had access to the Beta versions gained some insight regarding the stage of development, but Adobe remained guarded over the planned features of the other CS applications.

Now, Adobe is officially announcing the 4th version of the Creative Suite on September 23rd. Before you all get the wrong idea, this is NOT the release date but rather the official unveiling of the release date along with the feature set and a lot more details about the applications. You can register to view a special web broadcast that will take place on the 23rd.

Photoshop CS4 (codenamed Stonehenge) will apparently support 64-bit systems (at the moment only for Windows). It will also offer a palette of Flash-tools and support the import of 3D wireframe models.

Once I know more, you can read all about it here!


I took it!

This is a no-brainer but….

I know that some of my readers (shame on them) don’t know about A List Apart or the annual Web Design Survey, so I feel obliged to tell you about it.

The web design industry exists for more than a dozen years, yet there is a strange absence of data about our profession. A List Apart is trying to change that. With their second annual survey for people who make websites, you can help them collecting more statistical data. If you’re a web designer of any description, you should fill it out – it only took me a few minutes to do so.

The 2008 survey corrects many of last year’s mistakes, giving more detailed questions for freelance contractors and owners of small web businesses. There are also better international categories (good for me), and many other improvements recommended by those who took the survey last year.

If you, too, are from Europe, here is the current exchange rate: 1 € = 1,54 US $. Remember that you might get 13 or 14 annual salaries.


who am i?

What you should know about me
Replace this line of text with an obligatory short two liner sentence about yourself.