Trimming in Public is a series where I go through my list of 293 RSS feeds, 10 feeds at a time, give some detail as to why I subscribed to a particular feed, and then decide whether or not to keep on consuming that feed. In Episode 1 I explained what RSS is and how to use it, please read that if you need a refresher on why RSS is awesome and why you should be using it if you take reading news on the internet seriously. The prefix to Trimming in Public is “Becoming a better blogger, reader and helping me take out the trash.” For the bloggers out there who read IntoMobile, I hope you get a better idea of what I do to keep on top of the news. For the readers who read IntoMobile, I know that this site isn’t the only mobile focused technology publication on the internet, and by sharing which sites I read I’m hoping that you’ll keep on coming back here. Taking out the trash has an obvious explanation, I can’t keep up with my RSS feeds and need to trim my list. For those who want to download my complete list of 293 RSS feeds, feel free to grab my OPML file.
Check out Episode 7 after the jump, and all episodes by clicking on the Trimming in Public tag:
- EuroTelcoblog: This is a classic case of “blog that covers a certain niche turns into a blog being more about the author’s life that what it was originally about.” EuroTelco used to ask hard hitting questions about the telecoms industry, now it’s turned into a personal diary. Decision: Unsubscribe.
- Explosm.net: An online comic that features stick figures and story lines that make you scratch your head and wonder which mental institution the author escaped from. I love comics like this. Decision: Humor is the best medicine.
- FeedBulletin for: DevilsRejection: This RSS feed no longer works. Feed Burner was a service I used to use, back when I ran my own blog, to keep track of how many people subscribed to my RSS feed. I honestly can’t remember how many people read Ring Nokia at the peak of the site’s popularity, but I’m a total statistics whore. Spending hours in Google Analytics to see which countries have the largest Firefox install base, what time of day traffic peaks, and what the most common resolution people use, all provide me with a sickening amount of joy. I will not count this towards my 10.
- FFFFOUND! / EVERYONE: This site is like delicious, but for images. When I’m feeling a lack of creative energy, I’ll just scroll through the pictures people have saved. They can range from 60s posters, to a business card, to a drawing, to a font sample, to naked women. I’m a very visual person and I get a high off of separating my Id from my ego and trying to analyze my first reaction at viewing a random image. It’s difficult to put into words why I do it, it’s just something that helps me reach inner peace. Decision: One of my favorite feeds.
- Finland for Thought: My buddy Phil, who works at Nokia, has been writing this blog for several years. He got dragged to Finland because of a tall beautiful blonde, and was a bit upset at the lack of English blogs. He started one. If you’re in Finland, you should be reading this. If you want to know what’s going on in Finland and get a taste of Finnish culture, you should be reading this too. Decision: When in Rome, do as the Romans. Step 1: Learn about what makes them tick.
- Flors: Quim Gil works for Nokia and his title is “Marketing Manager, Open Source.” Nokia is working on a Linux based operating system called Maemo. You may not have heard of it, because marketing dollars have no gone into it. The devices that Nokia has released based on Maemo are large, slow, and lack a cellular radio, making them only useful when in range of a WiFi signal. Quim’s job is all encompassing, from developer relations, to getting end users excited about the power of open source. I like him. I like him a lot. I just think his efforts could best be served at another company. I keep on asking Maemo people what their OS does better compared to Google Android, and they can’t give me a straight answer. Some say it’s Nokia’s view of how Linux should look on mobile. Some say it’s supposed to kill Symbian. Some say it’s to give Nokia experience with the open source community. I can’t tell you why Nokia continues with this little side project , because I honestly do not know. People will care about Maemo when Nokia releases interesting devices that run Maemo and also pours marketing dollars into the platform. Until that time comes, I can’t say I’m interested in yet another Linux distribution. Decision: Unsubscribe.
- Forum Nokia Blogs: I said this in a previous episode, I’ll repeat it here: If you’re into a technology company, chances are they have two different public relations channels. One for end users, the people who look at the advertisements on the side of a bus and recall it when walking into a shop, and one for developers, the people who want to know every single detail about the software platform they’re going to be pouring their blood, sweat and tears into with the goal of making an application that can yield them large sums of money. Forum Nokia Blogs are blogs maintained by developers for developers. Sadly, they’ve rarely spit out something interesting. Decision: Unsubscribe.
- Forum Nokia Search Results: This RSS feed is dead. I will not count this towards my 10.
- Future Watch [Beta]: The N-Gage blog for the 34 people in the world who give a shit about N-Gage. The first attempt known as N-Gage was a hardware platform consisting of one device that required custom memory cards. The second attempt at N-Gage is a software platform that does not take into consideration the different capabilities of hardware and various keypad layouts, while having a separate payment system from that of Nokia’s Ovi Store. N-Gage is a joke, and I wanted to believe Nokia could do something interesting with it by making it a software platform capable of running on multiple devices, but instead they just fucked it up. Decision: Take it out, pour gasoline on it, invite buddies over for a barbeque.
- Gaim News: I used to use this multi protocol client when living in America since my European friends used MSN, my older American friends used Yahoo, my school friends used AIM and my geek friends used Google Talk. Now, I install Skype and Google Talk and that’s it. If you’re not on either one, I’m not talking to you. I no longer use Gaim. Decision: Unsubscribe.
- gapingvoid: “cartoons drawn on the back of business cards”: My first business cards had a Hugh MacLeod cartoon on the back. Everyone told me I should get rid of them since the cartoon I selected had the word “fuck” present. I caved in due to peer pressure, got new cards a week later. I regret that decision. Hugh is an interesting man. He lived in New York City, where he burned out, so he moved to London, and he burned out again; now he is living in Texas. He doesn’t get the type of credit he deserves because he scares people and is a rather shy person. He is a simple man, who uses simple words, who draws what he sees happening to himself and the world around him on the back of business cards. The amount of truth he can convey on the back of a 89 x 51 mm piece of paper scares the living shit out of people. I’m jealous since he figured out the formula for eternal happiness. Due to his popularity, he can now start charging large sums of money for prints that take little effort to replicate. Instead of residing in New York or London, where the cost of living would have burned through the money he makes off of his site, he moved to some little city in Texas no one has heard about and is now leading a humble life. The city he lives in is small enough that he can get to really know people, and actually be a part of the community, versus being just another douche bag with a blog in a big city, starving for attention, who lists networking as a hobby on their Facebook profile. He has not only figured out how to make himself happy, anyone with a fully functional brain and decent analytical skills can do that, but he pursued that option irregardless of how unorthodox it was when compared to mainstream culture’s list of requirements you must achieve to qualify as being capable of feeling joy. You go Hugh. You rock. Decision: Keep reading.
- Garfield Minus Garfield: What happens when you take one of the most popular cartoons to ever come out of America, and remove the main character? You get a peak into the life of John, the guy who owns Garfield. After all, isn’t Garfield a cartoon about a guy’s cat? Get rid of the cat and you’ll see the story around John, an actual human being. It’s sad, funny, disturbing, and depressing, but taking Garfield out of Garfield makes for a cartoon that is infinitely more interesting than the original. Decision: Keep reading.
Down to 246.