Reads the public feed from socialno.de every 60 seconds and displays the new posts with proper formatting to fit your terminal width. Usage: `go run socialnode.go`

socialnode.go

package main

import (
	"encoding/json"
	"fmt"
	"io/ioutil"
	"net/http"
	"sort"
	"strings"
	"syscall"
	"time"
	"unsafe"
)

// Replace socialno.de with twitter.com if it suits you better
// You can also get user_timeline.json?screen_name=USERNAMEHERE
// Where USERNAMEHERE is, of course, the username of the person
var Config = Configuration{
	FetchURL:        "http://socialno.de/api/statuses/public_timeline.json",
	RefreshInterval: 60, // In seconds
}

type Feed struct {
	Posts Posts
}

type Post struct {
	CreatedAt               string `json:"created_at"`
	ID                      int    `json:"id"`
	StatusnetConversationID int    `json:"statusnet_conversation_id"`
	Text                    string `json:"text"`
	User                    User   `json:"user"`
	Truncated               bool   `json:"truncated"`
}

type User struct {
	Name string `json:"name"`
	ID   int    `json:"id"`
}

type Configuration struct {
	FetchURL        string
	RefreshInterval int
}

type winsize struct {
	Row    uint16
	Col    uint16
	Xpixel uint16
	Ypixel uint16
}

type Posts []*Post

func (s Posts) Len() int      { return len(s) }
func (s Posts) Swap(i, j int) { s[i], s[j] = s[j], s[i] }

type ByID struct{ Posts }

func (s ByID) Less(i, j int) bool { return s.Posts[i].ID < s.Posts[j].ID }
func init() {
	fmt.Print("\033[?25l") // Hide the cursor
}
func main() {
	var lastID int
	for {

	Connect:
		response, err := http.Get(Config.FetchURL)
		if err != nil {
			fmt.Println("Error connecting to", Config.FetchURL, ", trying again")
			goto Connect
		}

		bits, err := ioutil.ReadAll(response.Body)
		response.Body.Close()
		feed := &Feed{}
		feedData := feed.Posts
		err = json.Unmarshal(bits, &feedData)
		if err != nil {
			fmt.Println("Error reading from", Config.FetchURL, ", re-connecting")
			goto Connect
		}

		sort.Sort(ByID{feedData})
		termSize, err := GetWinsize()
		if err != nil {
			fmt.Println(err)
		}
		for _, post := range feedData {
			if lastID < post.ID {
				indent := len(post.User.Name) + 2
				maxLen := int(termSize.Col - uint16(indent) - 1)
				words := strings.Split(post.Text, " ")

				fmt.Print(post.User.Name + ": ")

				for wordCount, charsLeft := 0,
					maxLen; wordCount < len(words); wordCount++ {
					word := words[wordCount]
					if charsLeft > len(word)+1 {
						fmt.Print(word + " ")
						charsLeft -= (len(word) + 1)

					} else if charsLeft == len(word) {
						fmt.Print(word + "\n")
						fmt.Print(strings.Repeat(" ", indent))
						charsLeft = maxLen

					} else {
						fmt.Print("\n")
						fmt.Print(strings.Repeat(" ", indent))
						fmt.Print(word + " ")
						charsLeft = maxLen - (len(word) + 1)
					}

				}
				fmt.Print("\n\n")
				lastID = post.ID
			}
		}

		// Spinning cursor while we wait
		chars := [4]byte{'|', '/', '-', '\\'}
		for i := 4; i <= Config.RefreshInterval+4; i++ {
			fmt.Print("\b" + string(chars[i%4]))
			time.Sleep(1 * time.Second)
		}
		fmt.Print("\b")
	}
}

func GetWinsize() (*winsize, error) {
	ws := new(winsize)

	r1, _, errno := syscall.Syscall(syscall.SYS_IOCTL,
		uintptr(syscall.Stdin),
		uintptr(syscall.TIOCGWINSZ),
		uintptr(unsafe.Pointer(ws)),
	)

	if int(r1) == -1 {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("GetWinsize", int(errno))
	}
	return ws, nil
}

Did it. Works like a charm. Thanks, inhies

Submitted to Pinboard: https://pinboard.in/u:gwenbell/b:296b87d44b61