I wonder who Mandela voted for… §

This Tuesday Push is LoopThing and as with a few others I find it a tad confusing. I automatically compare it to iGoPeople which I also find confusing (though their new home-page with sample questions makes the benefit much clearer.) My main problem with LoopThing is that it centralises what shouldn’t be centralised. Companies should have active, useful and clear websites of their own, not rely on a 3rd party controlled, owned and centralised service. A more practical problem for LoopThing is that they require sign-up far too early in the day. Signing-up “individuals” should not be the aim of the home-page. Give me a clear, valuable benefit and then I’ll sign-up. §

Some initial thoughts on Tweetie for Mac. It is the best Twitter client for Mac that I have used. Clean, fast and with some spot-on features. There are some issues though and I hope the team take this as constructive feedback, not just criticism.

Not using oAuth is a black-mark against Tweetie. The developers have addressed their oAuth concerns but I’d still like Tweetie to use it. If nothing more than I can use the Twitter Connections page to see what apps. have access to my Twitter account.

Multiple-account support is great to have though I’d like to mark some of my Twitter accounts so that Tweetie won’t notify me of updates to them (the little blue dot is always visible and the blue menu-bar icon is always on.)

How do I view my favourites and there doesn’t seem to be a way of deleting tweets?

Tweetie allows you to “tear off” (through Window -> Open in New Window) search results so you can monitor multiple keywords. Arranging 4 or more of these windows on your desktop is a pain without some kind of tiling command or “magnetised” edges that snap together. Also, Tweetie doesn’t remember these torn off windows between restarts of the app. This makes it effectively useless. I’d also like to be able to tear off any window, not just search results. Replies as a tear off would be nice as it would be synced then, unlike a search for your Twitter username.

Better keyboard support would be appreciated. Arrow keys let you move between messages and also dig deeper into a message but I’d like to see more; enter to load the message in your browser, R to start a reply, F to repost a message and V to load any links in the message in your browser. §

A study claims that people who pirate music are 10 times more likely to buy music. I’m not sure that is the only way to look at it. How about people who love, and therefore buy, music are 10 times more likely to pirate it? My own observations are that music fans get music however they can. §

Parkour, on a bicycle. §

I’ve never been wise with money but with a 9 month old child and an unstable economy I thought I had better take the first step; the personal budget.

Using iWork Numbers I inputted all the various figures. The Personal Budget template works nicely. My monthly expenses are a stupidly high €2,400. I’d love to post my salary but I doubt my employer would appreciate that and some co-workers would probably have kittens. One day when I am self-employed I’ll happily tell the world.

One thing I noted was that expenses that seem small per month add up over the year. Sounds obvious but it does sneak up on you. Sky satellite TV is costing me €792 a year. My mobile phone is costing me €780 a year. Gas and electricity, €1,200 a year!

I give €30 a month to Amnesty International. I’m thinking of canceling that and instead putting the money into Kiva.org. You get the money back and it helps people.

Short of getting rid of my car I can’t do much about my €1,500 a year car insurance cost.

Naturally I have a credit card bill. It was a horribly expensive Christmas followed by a holiday to South Africa and then an engagement ring, all of which nuked my previously OK credit card. Not sure whether to get a loan to pay it off in one go or just keep paying it off every month. §

Just noticed that Twitterfon, the best iPhone Twitter client, is free. §

Oh dear god. Sub hashtags. #icould.barf. §

The 37 man British and Irish Lions rugby squad to visit South Africa. (via @campbellscott) §

Clever, clever, mobiletinyurl.com only uses the first letter off each mobile keypad button for its short-URLs. Makes it easier to type on a mobile phone. (via @tomraftery) §