Intuit's Go Payment: Is it cooler than Square?

Intuit's Go Payment system has a more difficult sign-up.  I'm not a fan of being told it's going to take me 10 minutes. I'm also not a fan of a processing fee and a transaction fee (even if it is less than $1.00/transaction).  Making me pay a monthly fee if I process over $1000/month?  Really?  C'mon Intuit.  You've gotta do better than that if you want to compete with Square...Yes, the reader is fee, but when you make me pay a monthly fee, transaction fee and processing fee, then I'm not quite as happy.  ESPECIALLY if my phone isn't supported. Give me a mobile credit card processing that is quick, easy, low cost, with a free device and I'm happy.  Nickel and dime me, and I can't give a full thumbs up.  Nonprofits: stick with Square.

Ow.ly: The best way to shorten a bit.ly link

Wow.  I just shrunk http://on.msnbc.com/emW7NL (from bit.ly) to http://ow.ly/4iokZ on ow.ly, effectively giving myself more characters for Twitter writing.  While I like that they have an open API, I'm not a fan of having to use captcha every time I want to shorten a link.  The only way around that is to sign up for their service.  If you're like me and you are commitment-shy, this isn't the site for you.  However, if you want really short links and want to keep track of analytics, then maybe we can get over our fear of commitment together...Don't want to give up information...then sign in using Twitter. Ow.ly is the platform used by Hootsuite.

Bit.ly: Where'd all the letters go?

Nemo eats them. I use bit.ly to shorten and keep track of my links.  I love it..it's quick, easy to use and best of all, FREE.  They have an open API and if you want, you can always upgrade to a premium plan (no thanks says the cheap bird here).  How to use it: paste a link into the box.  Ex: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42183807/ns/business-oil_and_energy/?gt1=43001

Press shorten and Nemo gets to work. He leaves us with http://on.msnbc.com/emW7NL.  Now, you don't have to worry about that 140 character limit on Twitter.

Does anyone else find it funny that a company with a fish as a logo began at a place called Betaworks?

ps, I call the fish "Nemo"...I don't know his real name.