Quoting Thoreau on this blog might be a bit odd, yet the quote sums up my feeling for the plugin. When I read about Tweetable on Mashable, I thought sarcastically “hurray, another Twitter plugin.” After setting it up, being swayed by their referral, I really enjoyed it’s presence. The plugin places a quick Twitter interface in the admin panel, allowing the admin (or authors) to interact on the blogs Twitter account.

“Simplify, simplify.” – Henry David Thoreau. A quote stuck in my head after starting to read On Writing Well, by William Zinsser.

To me, it comes as a blessing. As I have been trying to force myself to concentrate on my blog, I’m excited that I now have access to Twitter without the need of another tab or application.

Along with the embedded Twitter application, the plugin publishes my posts to Twitter and places a TweetMEME icon on my posts. Two tasks which had been handled through other plugins.

While not a selling point, the posts are tagged with the application you name during setup. Which is why in the image above you see “from Michael Lipson,” named after my blog.  Just a little extra personality for the 140 character social network.

I received Gmail access to Google Buzz yesterday and had a chance to poke around with it away from a mobile platform. There’s a lot that needs to be worked out, however my opinion has changed quite a bit since playing around on the phone.

Naturally, my first impression was filled with concerns about privacy with the location tagging. From a mobile standpoint, I still feel quite the same. The difference with the Gmail based interface is that it doesn’t seem so invasive on that front. Overall, it actually functions really well (considering the hiccups with Wave) and feels more private then Twitter and smoother then Facebook.

Jason Calacanis posted a note on his blog claiming this was the end of Facebook. After receiving the Gmail access, I’d have to agree that in the long run it could be a direct competitor due to Facebook’s recent downward spiral. Naturally, Gmail has a great customer base to enter the market, but I think it has a lot more to deal with the presentation. Presentation and simplicity was the highlight to Facebook’s original success, however as the social site grew they moved in the opposite direction.

In previous posts, I’ve talked thoroughly about the simplicity of designs and ease of use being a strong point to the success of websites. Facebook had been an example, however even before the most recent redesign the networking site had fallen away from “networking” and became more of an entertainment site. With the addition of applications and games, Facebook was able to attract a whole new audience at the cost of detouring others with constant Farmville updates from peers. I remember wanting to quit Facebook over the first “best friends” invitation, because it resembled MySpace’s sparkling hearts.

Google Buzz has none of the added pizazz which attracts the easily excited. Rather, Buzz allows for peer to peer communication through a clean interface. Since there are no bells and whistles, at least distracting ones, Buzz becomes a feed from those you’re following. Almost a more business like approach to network, which is fitting because it is nested in a powerful email client almost always used for business.

Still, there are several things Buzz needs to improve to gain a faster share of the market. First, there needs to be a way to collapse or skip comments on individual and individual buzz. Second, there needs to be mobile implementation beyond browser interface that doesn’t urge location tagging. Third, and final, better arrangement of the Google Profile page. It’s just hideous.

While I’m certain I’ve missed a lot of updates to the Facebook application, since my first review, the most recent version really has appeal.  In the previous review, I was rather disappointed as the phones browser seemed to support more features at similar speeds.  I had begun to recommend http://touch.facebook.com/ as an alternative, after the site became live a little while back.  For me it has been about speed and accesibility. For the most part, I found that the mobile site would load quicker then the application could fetch the data and http://touch.facebook.com/ had a slightly better interface.

My favorite desktop Twitter application coming to Android! It’s true, I got the email last night and screenshots to prove it! I downloaded it to compare it against Twidroid pro, however it’s a free application vs a paid application so it wouldn’t be a fair comparison in my mind.

For a free Twitter application, it does the job and it does it well.  The application’s layout will seem natrual to Android users,while retaining general functionality of other twitter applications.  The application doesn’t have the same features of Twidroid’s premium application, like multiple accounts, Twitter lists or twittersphere.  Still the Seesmic application offers video uploading through Youtube, which is a great benefit in my opinion.

If Seesmic added multiple account support for their free application, it would make this a competitor to Twidroid Pro for me. Right now, the best part about it to me is that it is REALLY light, I hardly notice it running in comparison to other applications.

Here are some pictures (We all like pretty pictures):