Twitter is a great resource for learning about layout software and technology in general, not too mention much more. So when I saw this new micro search engine called Twendly.com, my very first thought was who is Tweeting the most about Adobe InDesign. The answer is:

The Most Active Twitter Accounts Talking About: InDesign

@indesignstorm is first and he (Chuck Green – IdeaBook) is a great person to follow on graphic design and general Adobe issues for sure. @creativetechs (CreativeTech Training) had a great second place showing, which kind of surprised me. It was of course also great to see @Markzware right up there in the thick of things in the third position.

EDIT after publishing: I started this post yesterday and it appears to index not whom has done, say, the most Tweets about the key-word term over time, but more on a per-day or certain time period basis. For instance today @aj_wood (http://ajwood.com/)is in top position, whom is another great educator! Markzware feel to 4th place, darn – well anyway, furthermore, this tool is still in beta and surely there are many fine Tweets, like those from @rufusd [web page: http://rufus.deuchler.net/]which are not indexed yet… See their FAQ:  Read more... (257 words, 1 image, estimated 1:02 mins reading time)

Printers – another how-to online social networking presentation, this time from NAQP or the National Association of Quick Printers. You saw our last video from Print 09 from T.J. Tedesco here (Social Media Strategies for Printers and the Future of Printing + free Kodak booklet) and now we have this interesting piece, “Using Social Media to Build Business for printers:”

This presentation was done my John Foley, Jr., CEO of interlinkONE and he can be followed on Twitter via @johnfoleyjr. He gave a very good overview on where and how a print-shop can get started with Twitter (oh, yes, check out the Markzware list of Printers on Twitter!), Linkedin, YouTube, FaceBook and more – all of which Markzware is also busy with:

Markzware on FaceBook: FaceBook Group…
Markzware on Twitter: @Markzware
Markzware on YouTube: MarkzwareTV
Markzware RSS feed: RSS Feed…
Markzware on Linkedin: Linkedin Group…

We also did a video series on how a printer can get started with Twitter as well…

Now, I am quite sure there is more to this than meets the eyes.. or is this a sign of the Internet times we live and work in?

“…Please use either WordPress or InDesign. Don’t know of any other students using Blogger…“

said @scost1 on Twitter, apparently to a student- is this the ‘new world order of Graphic Design‘?

Source: http://twitter.com/barbaranixon/statuses/4788759496

Just a little WordPress or Adobe InDesign chatter on Twitter! Don’t even get me started on Google Wave. Sounds like this school and it’s students could use content conversion and text extraction provided by PageZephyr.com…

Don’t forget that you can also follow Markzware’s Tweets on Twitter here:
http://twitter.com/Markzware

Here was a nice email that was forwarded to me from Quark about a happy customer of both QuarkXPress v8 and ID2Q v4 or InDesign to Quark XT, which I would like to share in part:

“Thank you for your very quick response. I have just installed the XTension and used it to convert an ID CS4 document that I urgently needed to amend for someone who only uses Quark – and it worked perfectly! It’s saved me hours of work already – can’t quite believe it. I’ll pass on my appreciation to Marksware – excellent product!”
Source: New QuarkXPress 8 user whom got ID2Q v4 with it as well.

On that note, You’ll see that there are still plenty of happy Quark users out there, like Mike here, whom appears to use Adobe Photoshop happily with QuarkXPress, which I saw on Twitter:

Not all Adobe CS users choose InDesign, but some QuarkXPress...

Here was an interesting Tweet I saw on GraphicStart’s watch list for tracking all things Quark on Twitter:

Find anything that passes through Twitter that has to do with the layout application QuarkXPress.

Two pieces crossed the desk today which highlighted the continued growth of social networking tools such as Linkedin.com, FaceBook and most notably, Twitter.com. First, we read here on WhatTheyThink.com this:

Businesses are slowly adopting social media marketing. Each month Discover Financial Services publishes a monthly report called Small Business Watch, and April’s “Poll of the Month” focused on social media. Some interesting responses by the small businesses polled:

38% are members of online social networking communities, as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, or My Space.
45% of those who currently belong an online social network use it to promote their businesses.
62% percent of small business owners still do not have Web sites for their businesses.
Source: http://blogs.whattheythink.com/going-green/2009/07/10-ways-twitter-will-permanently-change-business

Now, those are numbers for small business in general. We for sure see a lot of graphic designers, advertising studios and creatives using Twitter and a growing number of printers (See this list of printers on Twitter.). This same article above, which was titled, “10 Ways Twitter Will Permanently Change Business” goes on to list why and how Twitter is changing business… check it out, as it is very interesting imho.  Read more... (428 words, estimated 1:43 mins reading time)

“I see more and more people using lo res images more then ever and they don’t care about the results once the job prints” says “Prepress_Online” via their Twitter account to “Markzware.”

Is a low-resolution image pandemic sweeping the world of printing?

• Are creatives, graphic designers and print-buyers preflighting less than ever?
• Is quality assurance taking a back-seat to price?
• Do you use an electronic method of preflighting on your brochures, color graphics and other posters & cards heading to print?

Would love to see, via the comments section below, some answers to these general preflight and prepress problems. Hearing from both designers, publishers and printers would also be great.

You can follow Markzware’s and Prepress Online’s tweets here:
http://twitter.com/Markzware
http://twitter.com/Prepress_Online/

Just realized, Print 09 in Chicago is just around the corner, when reading this:

“EFI will display new modules for its print-management information software systems at the Print 09 exhibition, to be held from 11-16 September in Chicago.”
Source: http://www.printingtalk.com/news/efi/efi244.html

Don’t forget to mark your calendar for this big printing trade show. And of course stop by the Markzware booth #6542 and see FlightCheck, which can preflight Adobe Acrobat ( sometimes called Acrobat Adobe ), Q2ID and more… Follow us on Twitter to stay up-to-date, as we tweet from the show floor as well!  We plan some cool things for the show this year and, as always Chicago is a nice place to visit.

Today I learned of the rumor that Apple is in talks to buy Twitter for 700 million via an email from MacUser in the UK, which read:

There has been a lot of talk this week about Apple buying micro-blogging service Twitter, with rumors of a $700 million offering on the table. Apple is just one of many companies that has been linked with a possible take-over of the service. (See full story here.)

I disagree with MacUser’s notion (story here) that there is no logical reason for Apple to buy Twitter. Imho, it would be a bargain at 700 mil. The biggest challenge Twitter faces is how to monetize itself. With Apple at the helm, the service ‘itself’ would be like one big marketing costs, with huge exposure and potential ROI. Not to mention it is widely used via the iPhone. Lastly, it would also slide Apple into the search market, which in-and-of itself, will lead to a serious revenue stream. For instance… I use Twitter search for monitoring real-time events. Hands down, you get more information, faster, via Twitter than MSM (Main Stream Media) and often better eye-witness accounts. Which leads me to the next bit, which I of course learned via a RT from @ilovetypography.  Read more... (452 words, estimated 1:48 mins reading time)

Here was a great article from a good source for IT channel advice, tips and tricks (Trusted Business Advisor or TBA) on how and why to use Twitter as a reseller, distributor or channel player. Here are a few of the highlights from this informative piece:

Twittering for success (By Steve Wexler, April 2, 2009)
The social media market may be miniscule today, but it is growing and Twitter and its tweets, or text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length, offers some intriguing options for the channel…

Enter Gregor Rohda, owner of InfoEdge.com, who has a lot of thoughts about the business value of Twitter and wanted to get into the discussion. In short, he sees Twitter as a great tool for ‘micro press releases’, i.e. ‘We just got a great new report about the value of social networking – check it out! http://bit.ly/2GxT.’ …

“Of course the efficiency depends on having a good network of followers, and not abusing the feed, but there is good potential here.”

But the bottom line, said Crawford, is that when leveraged correctly, Twitter “can bring amazing new business results, connect you with the industry leaders and provide a conduit to share your experiences.”
SOURCE (Read full article here): http://tba.integratedmar.com/story.cfm?item=36  Read more... (229 words, estimated 55 secs reading time)

As many have seen, I have been on this Twitter rush lately. Seriously, it is such a cool communications tool. (See last post) And in reference to my last blog post, around that same Twitter thread, we got this awesome “Tweetimonial” or testimonial on FlightCheck Professional from one of the power users on Twitter and a graphic designer, whom loves Helvetica btw, @imjustcreative. Check it out:

Graphic design and power Twitter user @imjustcreative had this to say about FlightCheck

You can follow Markzware, imjustcreative mistygirlph (she Re-tweeted it as well, as you can see above) and many more on Twitter for free. Just sign-up. It is a great resource and you can learn a lot.

@tommytrc Re-Tweets this awesome comment further along it's path of communication...

OK, gotta get back to some marketing campaigns. Have a great one.