To all of our Twitter followers, we’d like to say thanks. We’ve got a really great giveaway planned for August, so stay tuned to our updates. Ok, a little hint…

It’s another goody made by Apple.

We’ve got an additional gift, prize, present, or whatever you wish to call it. We’re going to give it away at then end of July as well. As I mentioned in the post this morning, what we’re giving away is made by the fine folks out in Cupertino, CA, Apple, Inc. Drumroll please…

We’re giving away a 1GB iPod shuffle. After all, everybody could use one more iPod in their lives, right?

So here’s how to get entered into the drawing for the 1GB iPod shuffle. Simply become a fan of DDS on the DDS Facebook page. Already a fan? Then you’re already entered. Not a fan yet? Better hurry, there’s only four and a half days left to be eligible for this drawing.

If not, do it, NOW! There are only 5 days left till we draw the four (4) winners of a DDS Web Presence Development Package.

So far, response has been great. We have 112 eligible followers and that number is growing daily.

We’ve also decided to give away one more awesome prize. A little hint, it’s made by a company out of Cupertino, CA called Apple, Inc. We’ll be announcing this prize and how to win it on our blog today at 1:30 P.M. EST.

Some of you may think I’m crazy, but I can honestly say that I slept “light” last night because I knew that today was the official release of Tweetie for Mac. The user interface is very attractive and pleasing to the eye. As well, it’s quite intuitive. At present, it seems to me the primary missing element would be an audible notification for new Tweets. As well, I don’t see a way to enter my bit.ly credentials. Even without these features present, this app is amazing.

Tweetie for Mac is available as a free, (aka, ad supported), download and you can use it for free as long as you like. To eliminate the ads you can register Tweetie for Mac for a miniscule fee of $14.95. 

Follow @atebits and @tweetie on Twitter. Happy Twittering to you all.

Twitter in Plain English by Common Craft

“Gartner released a report today that highlights the different ways that companies are adopting Twitter for business use. Although Twitter was originally intended for communication among individuals, a number of organizations have begun to actively participate on the platform. However, not all companies are using Twitter in the same way. Some are tweeting, some are just listening, and some really savvy companies are doing both.”

Click here to head over to RWW and read the whole story. Well worth a few minutes.

It occurred to me while I was reflecting on this that what he wanted me to do, back in 1997, was to Twitter. Only, there was no such thing as Twitter in 1997. In fact, I recall, that in our office we had one, (yes 1), computer that had internet access via a 56K modem.

Fast-forward nearly 12 years and suddenly, I like the idea. I’m able to go back to my Twitter or Facebook account and review my status updates and analyze my activities. I know that neither service is intended to be utilized in this way, but when I take a look back over my recent status updates, it’s easy to see activities and time intervals that could have been more productive.

So there, now you can tell your boss, friends, and family that Twitter is a productivity tool.

UPDATE: 2008.05.17 – 10:00 AM – Please note that the website we referenced here was hacked and apparently vandalized overnight on May 16, 2008. This is very disappointing. In an effort to prevent any negative feelings or connotations to this site we have removed the link to it in this blog post. Once the site is restored and its security beefed up we will restore the link.

Microblogging seems to be all the rage. For those who may not yet know, microblogging is the near real-time, short message bursts that alert you to exactly what those you’ve decided to follow are doing at any given moment. The service maintains a timeline so that you can look back over a period of time to get a feel for someone’s day, or night, as the case may be for some, in the event that you missed some of the dozens to hundreds of entries that might accumulate for an individual in a given day. There are quite a few services dedicated to this new-found real-time digital voyeurism. Several are Twitter, Jaiku (recently purchased by Google), and Pownce, to name a few. While they all provide essentially the same service, allowing you to “follow”, and be “followed” by, anyone, Twitter seems to be gaining momentum as the preferred microblogging service of those in the know.

I know, you may be wondering already about the title of this entry and where it comes into play. What’s the connection between microblogging and WeTheChurch.org?

First, I’d like to credit Bobby Gruenwald of LifeChurch.tv for the heads-up on this one. In a post on the Swerve Blog today, Bobby told about this new site, WeTheChurch.org. The premise is that much like a microblog, except without having to establish an account, people can submit prayer requests and praises through the website and they get placed on the timeline, for anyone to see, but mostly for others to pray for. So far, not much more than a prayer and praise bulletin board. Very Web 1.0-ish. The power, and I mean power comes in the attachment of the site to the WeTheChurch.org Twitter feed. For those that choose to follow the feed, they will receive real-time notifications of real prayer requests and real praises. Very Web 2.0-ish!

Think for a moment about Matthew 18:19. It says:

When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action. – The Message

Wow! I get goosebumps thinking of countless stories of people being awakened in the middle of the night, for no other reason than they felt that God was calling them to pray for someone right then at that moment. God certainly can, and will continue to, stir our hearts to pray at specific times, for specific people, in specific situations. That is still very much part of the wonder and mystery of God and how He works. How cool to now also have an endless source of praises and petitions to join together with others in bringing before him. In Matthew 26:41 Jesus commanded His disciples to:

Stay alert; be in prayer so you don’t wander into temptation without even knowing you’re in danger. There is a part of you that is eager, ready for anything in God. But there’s another part that’s as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire. – The Message

I think this may be, for many, a great way to be reminded to “Stay alert; be in prayer…”

What do you think?