Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you’ve undoubtedly heard of Twitter, the social network built around microblogging. One of the giant advantages to Twitter over its competitors is the wide array of applications and services centered around the service. One of the most popular Twitter applications for the desktop is Tweetdeck, a powerful Adobe Air-based program.

What separates Tweetdeck from the crowd is its plethora of functionality. The interface is organized into a series of columns. Each column has a specific, customizable function. New columns can be set to search for given terms, find @replies, or create groups for better filtering. For instance, you could create a group for ‘News’ that will grab updates from CNN, NYTimes, and your local paper.

Like most other Twitter clients, TweetDeck allows you to post tweets directly from the interface. Unlike Twitterific, another popular Twitter client, the TweetDeck interface is massive and takes up the entire screen. When I’m using TweetDeck, I usually dedicate an entire space to it in OS X. Also, when not in the application, TweetDeck will pop up with notifications in the background. The application can also integrate with 12seconds.tv, Stocktwits, and Twitscoop. Tweet deck has also announced support for FacebookConnect.

Because TweetDeck is based on the Adobe Air platform, it can be used on Windows or OS X. It is available as a free download on the TweetDeck website. You can see more information on the Adobe Air platform on Adobe’s website.

One of the most talked-about and recently released applications for the iPhone is Skype. As a popular audio and video conferencing system for the desktop, Skype has finally been ported to the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Like its desktop sibling, Skype for the iPhone can take and receive calls, instant message, and call telephones (With Skype Credit). Unfortunately, mobile Skype can not transmit or receive video chats, or file transfers. Additionally, you can only perform audio chats when using WiFi.

As an actual Skype client, the iPhone version works fairly well. I had a few hiccups here and there, but a simple application restart seemed to fix the problem. The interface is nice, and resembles the actual phone. It also integrates with the Address Book so that you can bring in contacts to your Skype list.

As a free application it’s worth a download. Heck, one million other people have. You can find it in the App Store, or see more information at Skype.com

Here’s a rundown of this week’s top Apple-related headlines:

• Apple Rises in Greenpeace Rating
• Apple ordering Better Cameras for New Products?
• New Snow Leopard Build issued to developers
• Microsoft to Ship Office for the iPhone?
• Woz is voted off Dancing With the Stars
• Second beta of iPhone OS 3.0 was released , and hackers then jailbreak it.
• Apple to Update XServe Soon?
• Skype is Now Available for the iPhone
• Macworld 2010 moved to February
• iLife Update brought Fixes to iMovie ‘09
• Macbook Mini in Russia?

This Week’s iBAM Posts

• Busy Bees Making Money With On The Job
• iPhone App Spotlight: Comic Touch

If you’re a freelancer, or running business by yourself, you undoubtedly have the need for a quality invoicing and time/expense tracking application. One of these applications, by Stunt Software, is On the Job, which recently hit version 3.0.

The bare bones to On the Job provide for tracking time and managing the billing for multiple clients. For each client, you can set up custom hourly rates, mileage rates, and taxes. Then, you’re off to the races by creating specific jobs and job items for each client. Entering items and getting started is fairly simple, for the interface is intuitive, simplistic, and makes sense.

For each Job item, you can either charge by the hour, as a fixed cost, or set up the sale of multiple quantities. The time tracking aspect to On The Job is very well done. You can either start tracking by clicking the large play button on the main window, or via the menu bar icon, from which On the Job will continue to track time in the background. Each job item can have multiple timing sessions assigned to it. If you need to charge for gas mileage, you can do that as an item as well.

While it’s important to track the work that you perform, it’s vital to charge for such work. On the Job includes a built-in invoicing system. By using one of the built-in templates, or creating your own, you can easily charge and bill your clients. The invoices are easily, and completely customizable. You can create invoices based on date ranges, clients, or specific jobs. Each invoice can then be exported as a PDF, printed, or sent directly to an email message. On the Job will also track invoices that need to be paid. You can mark an entire invoice as paid, or apply multiple payments.

Unfortunately, I’ve had some trouble with On the Job’s invoicing. It is constantly skipping job items when pulling information for an invoice based on a date range. I have concocted a work-around, and it seems to be working a bit better now. To be specific, the problem occurred when charging for Job items that had multiple timing sessions that were out of the date range. Instead of pulling the specific timing sessions in my date range, it wouldn’t include the entire job item.

While my individual experience was frustrating, I was able to get it to work. I’ve been very impressed with the fluidity and simplicity that comes along with On the Job. It is a $39 application, with a free trial.