I never got into Facebook. Try as my friends might, I just wasn’t interested in it because IT SUCKS. My only interest in MySpace has been the language that has grown out of it, and for some reason I have a soft spot for lolcat pictures.

* Quick digression: lolcat has become an area of increased interest for me. I first noticed it when ‘teh’ started popping up everywhere I went, the we started replacing the letter ‘y’ with ‘eh’. I’m not 14 so I didn’t really understand what was going on, though ‘teh’ is one of the most common mis-typings you see on the net. But to end my digression, if your lolcat isn’t quite up to scratch (no pun intended) you can head over to the translator TO BRUSH UP ON UR SKILLS BEFORE READIN TEH LOLCAT BIBLE (conveniently started at Genesis 1). *

I don’t have all day to stuff around with my profile page, nor do I want to read delete hundreds of emails about this person roundhousing that person while so-and-so throws a turd at such-and-such. That’s why I like Twitter. 140 characters to talk about whatever has your attention right at that point in time. Do it once a day, once a week or twenty times a day (as some people seem able to do). I follow 14 people (six of whom rarely update) and receive no email updates because they’re all contained within whatever client you choose to tweet in (and if you really want email notifications, you can tell Twitter to do so). Key information, minimum fuss.

Which brings me to BrightKite, location based twittering. Currently in public beta (read: we’ll invite you when we want to), the whole concept looks quite exciting. While it seems the mobile capability is limited to the USA (and limited carriers) right now, in all truth you’re just a free wifi hotspot away from tweeting WITH your location as well. Of course, an iPhone launch in Australia and some competitive mobile data plans would go a long way to seeing me tweet whenever and wherever I am. Being able to bring location (through Google Maps), pictures and tweets (tagged to location) into one service goes a long way to allowing users the opportunity to properly connect with one another. ‘Cos remember, it’s all about interaction. Check it out and while you’re there, check out my page. I promise to have a more locations soon.

So life got a little crazy after April Fool’s. My sister got married (congratulazione) and because I was in the bridal party, my life got put on hold. Lovely day, my sister looked a treat and my new brother-in-law is a top bloke. To infringe upon my life further, the Daydreamer was off swanning around Jamaica AND the Big Apple. And just to top it off, the last few weeks at work have been quite demanding. So take a guess who couldn’t be arsed banging out a blog post?

If you guessed either Donnie, MonkeyBoy, Jade or Jimmy Whatsisnem… you’re absolutely correct!

So now I have the formalities out of the way, let’s get straight to the begging. I’ve been quite an avid supporter of MacHeist. Not necessarily on the blog but definitely within my circle of Mac friends. Well, the guys at MacHeist have another bundle up for sale thought this one is more a “best-of” sort of affair. If you bought the last bundle, then this probably isn’t for you but for a recent switcher (or even a potential switcher) or a seasoned Mac user looking to add some unexplored apps, this bundle offers a great introduction to life in OSX.

So what’s in it for me? Well, click through the picture and every bundle you buy will give me a referral point. Three points is all I want so I can get myself a copy of RapidWeaver, a really beautiful app for web design ‘cos this little bee is getting tired of the blog’s appearance. I might just be motivated to redesign, especially considering I’ve been working my way through an enormous manual on XHTML and CSS.

Come on Beezhouse readers. Help a brother in need. Show me just how low I have sunk…

I have an amazing friend who points me to things that change my life. Sometimes I check it out straight away, and other times I’ll revisit six months later. My introduction to TED.com falls into the latter category. Over the last couple of months I’ve downloaded several videos for my later viewing, and whilst all are quite amazing, there are two I’ve found so incredible that I just have to share them.

Whilst hardly a practising (in the traditional sense) Roman Catholic, I still retain an interest in matters of faith. Karen Armstrong’s Charter for Compassion rings true with many of my thoughts on the Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Islam and Judaism) - there is a single unifying ideology of compassion which gets lost amongst a sea of commentary. Sometimes people add too much crap to a really great idea. Karen is truly engaging throughout and her wish of an open dialogue between the faiths is one that I share.

Which brings me to Dave Eggers. Apart from being a fairly prolific author (his first book, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius was shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize), he was instrumental in opening a tutoring lab for young people in San Francisco’s Mission District called 826 Valencia. His TED Prize Wish outlines the setup and growth of 826 Valencia, and the subsequent implementation of the concept in other American cities. Entertaining and inspirational in the same breath, I couldn’t help but be amazed by the foresight of the project.

I wonder if I’ll ever speak before a TED conference. Guess I’ll have to do something worthwhile in the meantime…

Edit: at the suggestion of one reader, I have included direct links for downloading the relevant talks. Just means you won’t have to deal with auto-loading movies. And for those who enjoy watching video on their iPod, I recommend you download the zipped version and then use iSquint to convert it into iPod-friendly format straight into iTunes. Enjoy!

Karen Armstrong: Zipped mp4 or iTunes

Dave Eggers: Zipped mp4 or iTunes