This is the twitter plugin developed for inscopeapps.com

jquery.twitter.js

(function($){
    $.fn.twitter = function(options){
        options = $.extend({
            //twitter url variables
            'screen_name': null, //required
            'count': null,
            
            //plugin variables
            'displayCount': null, //number of posts to display, regardless of how many were pulled
            'blockSource': null, //A search string to block the diaplay of posts based on what submitted them
            'loadingImg': null //An image to be shown while the content is loading, usually a loading gif
        }, options);

        //if no screen name early exit
        if(options.screen_name === null){
            return this;
        }
        
        var proto = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https:': 'http:');
        var url = proto+'//api.twitter.com/1/statuses/user_timeline.json?&callback=?&trim_user=true&screen_name='+options.screen_name;
        if(options.count){
            url += '&count='+options.count;
        }
        
        var $root = $(this);
        
        var $loading = null;
        if(options.loadingImg){
            $loading = $('<img class="loading" src="'+options.loadingImg+'" />').appendTo($root);
        }
        
        //load the data from twitter
        function displayError(){
            $root.fadeOut(function(){
                $loading.remove();
                $root.append('<em class="error">Twitter feed is currently unavailable.</em>');
                $root.fadeIn(); 
            });        
        }
        
        $.getJSON(url, function(data){
            if(data && data.error === undefined){
                var count = 0;
                var tweets = [];
                $(data).each(function(){
                    if(options.blockSource && this.source.indexOf(options.blockSource) >= 0){
                        return;//continue
                    }
                    if(options.displayCount && ++count > options.displayCount){
                        return false;//break
                    }
                    
                    //find links
                    var text = this.text.replace(/((https?|ftp):\/\/(\S)+)/gi, '<a href="$1">$1</a>');
                    
                    //find @screen_names
                    text = text.replace(/(@)(\w+)/gi, '<a href="http://twitter.com/$2">@$2</a>');
                    
                    //find #hashtags
                    text = text.replace(/(#\S+)/gi, '<em>$1</em>');
                    
                    tweets.push(text);
                });
                                
                $root.fadeOut(function(){
                    $loading.remove();
                    $(tweets).each(function(){
                        $root.append('<li>'+this+'</li>');
                    });
                    $root.fadeIn();
                });                        
            }else{
                displayError();
            }
        });
        
        return this;
    };
})(jQuery);