I Can Still Remember Clearly…

It was a scorching hot afternoon, my husband and I were driving our way home from a nearby town. The approximate road distance was about 200 km.  Since we weren’t in a hurry, my husband had been maintaining the speed well around 90km/hour.

The two-way traffic was less busier than usual with occasional palm oil trucks passing by. After the winding roads, we turned into a long straight one. Coming from the opposite direction was a taxi, followed closely by a four wheel drive – both with a considerable speed. As we getting closer, suddenly the four wheel drive sped up and drove in our lane! The guy was crazy enough to try overtake the taxi with just 150m distance away from us! My husband honked hard and repeatedly to alert the car with me gripping the car handle tightly. The taxi quickly slowed down to give way. The big car was still half in our lane when my husband hit the break and steered into the side road immediately with limited space. I could feel my heart racing like mad when the reckless driver drove past us in minor distance! Close call!

This wasn’t the first time we had a near death experience. A land cruiser rammed into us last year and I still freaked out when thought about it.  Not a day goes by when we don’t feel grateful about being alive.

Treasure Your Life: Even The Smallest Thing Counts

There are many times in life I grumbled ‘how unfair life has been! Why can’t I have what others are having?’ It took me a long while to appreciate how fortunate I am to live my very own life. You don’t always need a big incident to tell you how blessed to be just YOU. Life is not a bed of roses, but it’s not all thorns either. Comparing ourselves to those unfortunate ones who have no love, no food, no education, no home,  no peace…  how one has the heart to complaint? Why can’t  we see our glasses being half full instead of half empty? Envy, greed, selfishness and other negative thoughts enough to confine us in a grumpy mood, what more an unsatisfactory life?

Recently I had an inspirational read of Regina’s 50 Timeless Life Lessons in which I learned a great deal about contentment. How I should be grateful about being enough, treasure my family more and people I met along the way. Life is too short for grumbles. If we can all learn to be appreciative for the smallest things in life, our perspective about ‘not having enough’ can be changed tremendously.

Ways To Spend Thanksgiving Differently On Social Media

For those who are reading this, you are owning a powerful asset  – social media to spread this wonderful spirit among your network. It’s a moment to really think about Giving instead of Receiving all the time:

• Post about Awareness Months & Thanksgiving ideas to create awareness among others.
• Promote meaningful and inspirational posts via social media bookmarking sites.
• Make an effort to comment as a way to support writer’s effort and hard work.
• Promote users on Facebook by sharing selective tweets when necessary. I acknowledge my Facebook fan by Weekly Selected Posts or occasional tweet about their latest posts in my Facebook Page and Twitter.
• Join Tweetsgiving today and share your story within your network. It’s an annual occasion with wonderful events you can take part in.
• Other References: Top 5 To-Do’s for the Gratitude Season.

It’s time to give back. If not financially, a prayer, a post or a shout out in social media can make a huge difference in people’s lives. We spent too much time worrying about personal matters; our eyes are constantly upon ourselves that we forgot the compassion we should have for others in need. Let’s try to be observant and caring, share the message about love and gratitude today. One Small Step for Us, a Big Step in Humanity.

This post was created as part of a global groundswell of gratitude called TweetsGiving. The celebration, created by US nonprofit Epic Change, is an experiment in social innovation that seeks to change the world through the power of gratitude. I hope you’ll visit the TweetsGiving site to learn more, and to bring your grateful heart to the party by sharing your gratitude, and giving in honor of that for which you’re most thankful.

To overlook Twitter Lists is not possible right now. I tend to focus on Google Wave this week but obviously the immunity didn’t work. I have more expectations on Twitter Lists especially after the Seesmic Desktop integration.

Considering how Twitter has evolved, it won’t be long for web developers to come up with numerous applications for Twitter Lists. I can’t help but snoop around and got hold of these 6 Twitter Lists applications to expand your network.

For Network Expansion:

Twitter Lists Search Engines

Ever since Killer Search Apps for a successful Twitter Network, I haven’t been this hyped up about any Twitter-related search tools. I know, a little early for that but fact is, some are just right at our fingertips. You just need to know where to look and how to use it.

A. Listorious

It’s a directory of Twitter Lists where you can search for desired lists based on:

- Most Popular Lists

- A-List or trustworthy lists

- Newest lists

- Top Tags

Use the search box and type the possible list, person or tag. The results displayed are limiting to those who added their list to Listorious. So in order to have the best results, Listorious is encouraging everyone to submit their lists. Just how are we able to do that?

How to Add Your Twitter Lists to Listorious?

1. Go to Add List and grant access to Listorious by signing in to your Twitter account.

2. Enter the URL of your selected list, add descriptions and tags for the accuracy of search results.

3. You will be prompt to publicize your list to your Twitter network upon complete, or not.

4. You’re done! Check your Listorious account and be wowed with the neat Twitter profile, lists curated and lists you’re on.

B. Google Search

Ok, this isn’t actually an ‘exclusive’ Twitter Lists search tool but with a minor tweaking, Google Search can work like a charm ! The idea is to narrow down the search to twitter.com with keywords contained in Twitter Lists. Here’s how:

a. site:twitter.com/*/your keyword

For example, if I’m searching for lists containing the name ‘social media’ in twitter.com, I should type ‘site:twitter.com/*/social media‘ in the search box. The results will show as below:

Too complicated ? Here’s an easier solution:

C. Google Custom Search

Google Custom Search allows you to have the control over how and what to search for — it narrows down your search to limited websites predetermined during the customization. Of course, you need to endure some configuring steps but no pain no gain, right? In this case, I customized a search engine to narrow down my search to Twitter Lists in twitter.com. Instead of the lengthy search terms, now you can type in the keywords straight and get the desired results. Try the Twitter Lists Search Engine below and compare the results with Google Search, are they identical?

For Publicity: Twitter Lists Widget

Allowing you to display selected Twitter Lists with real time streaming. It’s a perfect widget for company to show off their staffs and encourage visitors to follow them on Twitter for updates. This can be a really cool widget if you have a collaborative team on a project – it makes the follow up easier and almost instant. (another alternative is using Tweetgrid with similar effects):

For Alerts: Listiti

When Google Alerts meets Twitter Lists — it’s all about being ahead of the game. Set up or follow the list curated for authority figures in your niche; or even your blogger buddies. Prepare to receive email notification whenever a tweet from chosen list matches your prefixed keywords. Since this service is new, the alert can only be sent hourly.

For Those Lazy for Lists-Making: Conversationlist

Easily put, Conversationlist is a list consisting of all the people you talked to or mentioned on Twitter. The list is building by itself, daily. Once you stop connecting with someone, he/she will be dropped off the list. If I were you, I’ll start compiling them in own lists as Conversationlist does make the process easier — start with someone you frequently talk to. Here’s 9 Reasons Why You Should Be In Love with Twitter Lists , try to make use of the lists accordingly.

** Updated**

Share Groups of Twitter Users: TweepML

Similar to Listorious, TweepML allows you to create and find lists of users to follow on site. However, there is an extra feature: TweepML provides HTML embedding options for buttons, links and icons. Showcasing your choice of Twitter lists has never been easier! (thanks to Growmap for introducing this app)


To get the list ready simple Register & Create List; then you’ll need to fill up the details as followed, hit ‘Generate TweepML’ and voila!

It’s Up To You Now…

What are your expectations in Twitter Lists and the third party applications that are bound to spring up like mushrooms?

Don’t forget to spread a little love by sharing:

I have to retract my own scheduled post at the last minute for this exciting news!

There has been a wild guess going on between Tweetdeck and Seesmic Desktop on who will launch the FIRST Twitter Lists integration? I was ecstatic to learn about Seesmic determination to be ahead of the game with Twitter Lists ! The Seesmic founder, Loic Le Meur also happily announced through Twitter that Seesmic Web will have the same added feature if not by this week, then early next.

So now…

What will Twitter Lists look like in your desktop client?

The Userlists option will be placed at the sidebar of Seesmic Desktop, between Pages & saved Searches. Soon, it will update with your current configured Twitter Lists and those you subscribed to. Here’s an overview:

Clearly, you can identify the differences between yours and others’ lists by :

• Username Displayed

• Color Differences: blue indicates your created list while grey shows the subscribed lists.

Once you click on them, Voila ! You have them displayed in columns for viewing pleasure. To add a Twitter user to existing lists is do-able on Seesmic Desktop. Here’s how:

1. Right click on the Twitter user to display the command box. Select ‘Add To Userlist‘.

2. In the dropdown menu, assign the List for your friend and click OK. You’re done !

Neither list-creation nor user-removal is doable on Seesmic Desktop for the time being, but I’m not complaining.

Want to be among the early birds to test out this new feature in Seesmic Desktop? Sign up here and wait for the new release to be sent to you.

If you’re wondering what’s the fuss with Twitter Lists:

It’s a new way to organize your Twitter account by creating custom groups. You can assign any names you prefer and categorized your Twitter friends accordingly. For me I think it’s necessary to have one fixed site to maintain all our groups, regardless what client we’re using.

Now why is this encouraged?

• To acknowledge your friends within your network

• To discover and reconnect with long lost users in your list

• For the benefits of marketing, projects & business ventures: potential customers/workforce in groups

• Clear the clutter and manage your follow ups

• More more more … that’s for you to find out.

Read further about Twitter Lists at Twitter Lists 101 & Let Me Add You To My Twitter List. Enjoy the insights!

Have you started with Twitter Lists yet? Do you think the integration is necessary? Voice it up in the comments and don’t forget to share this fantastic news with others! ^^