First, my truest apologies for the disappearance. Due to health reasons, work, then more health reasons my tech life was drastically minimized. But, now all is well and coming back on track.
And, we’re coming back with a sweet web service called identi.ca. Once Twitter got all crazy and full of never-ending glitches, many web services jumped in the opportunity to win the hearts of frustrated users, identi.ca being one of them.
But, what is so special about identi.ca? First and foremost, the software that powers it, called Laconica, is completely open source!! (released under the GNU Affero General Public License) Which means that the community can jump in and produce a much better service in a shorter amount of time. For example, translation to several languages are already in the works.
Secondly, anyone can download the source code (Laconica) to make their own branded identi.ca, creating a de-centralized micro-blogging platform. This is possible because Laconica uses the OpenMicroBlogging protocol, allowing the user to post a message in his own Laconica-based microblog hosted in his/her own server which will then connect directly with other microblogs using the platform.
Other features I love: API (same codes pretty much that Twitter uses), GTalk integration, and OpenID login.
So far, the folks at identi.ca are doing an awesome job, kudos to them! If you’d like, add my identi.ca account here.