While I have no data to back myself up on this, I at least feel like what I write on this blog is more often negative than positive. Without a doubt, I can be a very critical person, but it's not as if I have a reason to dislike everything around me!

So here are some additional endorsements.

I joined Twitter back in October, and I've been a fan ever since. It's simple, elegant and just generally wonderful. What makes Twitter even better, of course, is the universe of available applications that leverage Twitter's openness. On the desktop, I tried TweetDeck, but found its footprint on my computer bothersome. I prefer a piece of software called Tweetie from the fine folks at atebits. (A very clever name for a software company.) On the iPhone, I like Twitterrific.

Also, I recently had a chance to try out the Rosetta Stone language learning product. After playing with the French package, I'm convinced it's the best way to at least begin learning a second language, short of total immersion in another country or specialized classroom setting. In particular, I was quite impressed by the software's voice recognition capabilities, which did an excellent job of rejecting my input when I gave my French a strong American accent.