Will TaskBlaze Kill Twitter? This Reader Thinks So…

I am still excited to be coding TaskBlaze’s next generation of features – including new automatic posting of tasks to Twitter.  But apparently not everyone happy.  In one email, the writer indicated the new TweetBlaze feature will kill Twitter.

But before I get further into that subject, I want to mention the TaskBlaze updates since my last post:

1. Twitter approved our source parameter! – meaning after you post to Twitter, in the text below your post, it says from TaskBlaze (thereby recognizing TaskBlaze as a Twitter friendly app.)
   
2. Better error handling for Twitter and Google Calendar – in certain instances you may have crashed if something goes wrong when entering username/password and then starting a task.  The new version addresses this by “refreshing” TaskBlaze’s settings if you make a change.
   
3. Update engine fixed – If the latest update didn’t come through for you, you can download it here.  It will fix the delays with getting updates.  It is also set to not replace your configuration files – sorry that happened in the first place.

To the ones who have written in, thanks for all of your helpful feedback for the latest Beta.  You’ve found many of the little bugs that I missed.  I’ve corrected many of them already and I posted a new Beta last night.

Twitter Killer?

During a coding session yesterday I noticed my email chime in with a new message.

The writer said in reference to TaskBlaze’s new automatic task posting to Twitter feature :

Oh, goody.  Now we get to read, “I’m writing a letter.” “I’m updating my resume.” “I’m going to lunch with Max.” “I’m updating the Q4 sales reports.” Ad nauseum.

Automated crap like this is going to kill Twitter.

hmmm… It never occurred to me that TaskBlaze would destroy Twitter.  Plus, why would I want it to?  Twitter are good people.    I have no reason to do the company harm.

Why TaskBlaze Won’t Kill Twitter – and a few hidden benefits

1. TaskBlaze is mainly used by professionals for time tracking - I think the users are bright enough to know that a task they are sending to Twitter is going to be read by other people.  They may choose to make the task description more interesting to their readers.  for example: Instead of posting “Writing a letter.”  They may rephrase the task as “Writing a long overdue letter to my sister whom I haven’t seen in 7 years…”That is one of the hidden benefits of using TaskBlaze and Twitter together.  It helps you make the tasks more interesting to your readers – but more importantly to YOU.
2. TaskBlaze does not post anything you don’t want to post – Let me clear up any confusion.  TaskBlaze, like any other Twitter software, posts only what you choose to post. It is incapable of spamming Twitter.It does not manufacture any posts, nor does it grab your task list and post it.  It simply grabs the task you are working on and posts that.  But it only posts it if you want it to!
3. People post unimportant stuff Ad nauseum with or without TaskBlaze – Let’s face it, some people post garbage to Twitter.  In fact, I once followed a popular Twitter user who posted complete nonsense all day every day.  The silly and unintelligible posts grew tiresome quickly, so I unsubscribed.You can help decrease the garbage too.  Improve the signal to noise ratio on Twitter by un-following those who don’t contribute in a meaningful way.TaskBlaze can neither cause nor prevent mindless posts.  But considering it is used by some smart people, they probably aren’t going to want to clutter up their calendars with stuff like “Going to the bathroom” or “Eating a peach.”
4. TaskBlaze can be blocked by Twitter - As nice as it was for the Twitter API team to quickly approve TaskBlaze as a source app.  They can just as quickly revoke it.We would be lying to ourselves if we thought somehow TaskBlaze took away power from Twitter.  They own and control the engine.  I feel privileged to be included in the group, but I also know that if TaskBlaze becomes a Terminator rise of the machines, they’ll cut the cord – plain and simple.
5. I won’t let it happen – I always put a lot of thought into unintended consequences.  I met with other network engineering experts prior to, during and after coding the TweetBlaze module.  Just about every doomsday scenario – was discussed including:Q: What if someone hacks TaskBlaze so it will automatically spam the same message over and over to Twitter?
   Q: What if someone breaks into TaskBlaze source code and steals the API key?
   Q: Is there any possible way someone can use TaskBlaze to post someone else’s private Google calendar to Twitter?

   In all of these cases, security measures are built into Twitter and TaskBlaze to prevent any abuse by a rogue user.  Twitter has a terms of service agreement with users.  And I’ve encrypted TaskBlaze executables to prevent hacking.

   Never mind the fact TaskBlaze would be incredibly slow if used for spamming.    And, it cannot “grab” any information anyway.  It can only post one update at a time.

So what are your thoughts?  Did I answer your concerns with regard to the Twitter posting via TaskBlaze?  Do you have more questions?  Or do you think TaskBlaze is still a risk?  Please share in the comments.

And if you love TaskBlaze as much as I do, please Stumble this post.  You’d be helping me a lot.