If you need to poll the API more frequently that the API limits allow, email Alex and chances are very good that you can be accommodated. Ditto regarding something Alex referred to as a "research project" involving a data-mining feed -- presumably, this is like a customized (or perhaps random) fraction of the full public timeline firehose.

As for the full public timeline firehose via XMPP: "That would require a business discussion."

My Twitter bot works just fine for me, but Dustin is actually trying to provide a service to people other than himself, so he needs more cooperation from Twitter. Based on what Alex said, it seems that Dustin and others who are working on various bots to bring back the "track" feature via IM should be able to do so.

As for the "official" return of "track" and IM -- don't hold your breath.

I setup xmpppy on my box, thinking I could quickly set up a bot to run as one of my Google Apps for Domains users. I've spent about six or seven hours (off and on) getting this to work, though, because the documentation from Google about setting up my DNS configuration is incomplete. Thanks a lot!!! Like DNS isn't difficult enough for amateurs.

After many searches, I finally found the magic incantation, so here it is for posterity, in case that link disappears:

_xmpp-server._tcp.YOURDOMAIN.TLD. 3600 IN SRV 5 0 5269 xmpp-server.l.google.com.
_xmpp-server._tcp.YOURDOMAIN.TLD. 3600 IN SRV 20 0 5269 xmpp-server1.l.google.com.
_xmpp-server._tcp.YOURDOMAIN.TLD. 3600 IN SRV 20 0 5269 xmpp-server2.l.google.com.
_xmpp-server._tcp.YOURDOMAIN.TLD. 3600 IN SRV 20 0 5269 xmpp-server3.l.google.com.
_xmpp-server._tcp.YOURDOMAIN.TLD. 3600 IN SRV 20 0 5269 xmpp-server4.l.google.com.
_jabber._tcp.YOURDOMAIN.TLD. 3600 IN SRV 5 0 5269 xmpp-server.l.google.com.
_jabber._tcp.YOURDOMAIN.TLD. 3600 IN SRV 20 0 5269 xmpp-server1.l.google.com.
_jabber._tcp.YOURDOMAIN.TLD. 3600 IN SRV 20 0 5269 xmpp-server2.l.google.com.
_jabber._tcp.YOURDOMAIN.TLD. 3600 IN SRV 20 0 5269 xmpp-server3.l.google.com.
_jabber._tcp.YOURDOMAIN.TLD. 3600 IN SRV 20 0 5269 xmpp-server4.l.google.com.
_xmpp-client._tcp.YOURDOMAIN.TLD. 3600 IN SRV 20 0 5222 talk.l.google.com.
_xmpp-client._tcp.YOURDOMAIN.TLD. 3600 IN SRV 20 0 5222 talk1.l.google.com.
_xmpp-client._tcp.YOURDOMAIN.TLD. 3600 IN SRV 20 0 5222 talk2.l.google.com.
_xmpp-client._tcp.YOURDOMAIN.TLD. 3600 IN SRV 20 0 5222 talk3.l.google.com.
_xmpp-client._tcp.YOURDOMAIN.TLD. 3600 IN SRV 20 0 5222 talk4.l.google.com.


N.B. Those trailing periods at the end of the domain names may or may not be necessary, depending on how you update your DNS records. For example, GoDaddy inserted them for me. YMMV.

Note the clipping along the bottom of the statusbar, as underscores and descenders are cut off.

But check this out. Same theme, but with XP Styles enabled (not my personal preference), and the clipping is gone.

Now, look at the noise in this shot. Where is that coming from?!

Finally, check out the left-side alignment, as "Work offline" is not aligned with the other menu items.

That last one is only present when I use the Azerty III theme, but the other bugs appear in the Default theme, as well.

Seen any others?

Update: Surprise, surprise! Went through the tedious process of disabling all add-ons then re-enabling each of them one by one, and it turns out that those statusbar display bugs were caused by Forecastfox and Foxclocks (not in combination, either one alone causes the display issues).

So, I'm not much of a Python programmer, but I wrote this Planet Venus filter that looks at each entry, and if it detects that it's a Jaiku presence update, it only includes it if it originated via Jaiku. In other words, it filters out all the duplicates.

If you understood any of that, you may find this helpful. If not, nevermind.


"""
For jaiku presence entries, only retain entries that originate from jaiku
(as opposed to grabbed via web feeds)
"""
import sys, xml.dom.minidom
entry = xml.dom.minidom.parse(sys.stdin).documentElement
entry_id = entry.getElementsByTagName('id')[0].firstChild.data
for node in entry.getElementsByTagName('link'):
if node.getAttribute('rel') == 'alternate':
entry_link = node.getAttribute('href')
break
if entry_id.find('jaiku.com/presence') > 0 and (entry_id != entry_link):
sys.exit(1)
print entry.toxml('utf-8')


(Updated to fix a bug on line 11.)

1. Peaches In Regalia, Hot Rats (1969)
2. Camarillo Brillo, Over-Nite Sensation (1973)
3. My Guitar Wants To Kill Your Mama, Weasels Ripped My Flesh (1970)
4. Maggio, The Man From Utopia (1983)
5. St. Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast, Apostrophe' (1974)
6. Echidna's Arf (Of You), Roxy And Elsewhere (1974)
7. Mother People, We're Only In It For The Money (1968)
8. Cocaine Decisions, The Man From Utopia (1983)
9. Five-Five-Five, Shut Up N' Play Yer Guitar (Disc 1) (1981)
10. Can't Afford No Shoes, One Size Fits All (1975)
11. G - Spot Tornado, Jazz From Hell (1986)
12. Dumb All Over, You Are What You Is (1981)
13. Teen-Age Prostitute, Ship Arriving Too Late To Save A Drowning Witch (1982)
14. Sleep Dirt, Sleep Dirt (1979)
15. Tell Me You Love Me, Chunga's Revenge (1970)
16. Pygmy Twylyte, Roxy And Elsewhere (1974)
17. Baby Snakes, Baby Snakes (1983)
18. Electric Aunt Jemima, Uncle Meat (1969)
19. Po-Jama People, One Size Fits All (1975)

Enjoy!

Hmmm... looks like I really need to work on the OPML browser.