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 17 after the jump, and all episodes by clicking on the Trimming in Public tag:
There is going to be the last “Trimming in Public” episode this week since I’m going to spend all of tomorrow at the “1st Nordic Conference on Innovation Journalism” in an attempt to get better insights as to what the future of my profession is going to be like. After that I’m going to hit up a sauna and then pass out, I’ve had a longgg week. With that, let us begin:
- Paul Thurrott’s Internet Nexus: Paul Thurrott is one of the two people who I trust for news about Microsoft, the other being Mary-Jo Foley. Internet Nexus is Paul’s personal blog and he hasn’t updated it in a while, not to mention that when he does update the blog it is usually to dump shit he no longer wants versus having to go through the hassle of eBay. Decision: Unsubscribe.
- Paul Thurrott’s SuperSite for Windows: The definitive website about Microsoft’s Windows operating system, plus a few bits here and there about Office, Zune and the XBOX. No one goes as in depth as Paul, and he literally installs every leaked version of Windows to hit the net just so he can share screenshots and opinions. I’m a PC. Decision: Keep on reading.
- Penguin.SWF: This is an official Adobe blog written by Mike Melanson that keeps track of Adobe’s Flash player for Linux. I don’t give a shit about Linux, and I honestly hate Adobe for having such a stranglehold on the internet streaming video space. I literally said “holy shit” when I read that Google purchased On2, the company that licenses their video codec to both Adobe and Microsoft. If Google makes On2’s software open source, along with pushing the living hell out of HTML5, we can see Adobe’s death grip on online video come to an end. The should stick to what they know best: photo and video editing tools. Decision: Unsubscribe.
- People Linking To Me: I’m shocked this RSS feed still works. Back in the day, way back in the day, Technorati was the best blog search engine on the planet. When searching for something that was written on a blog, you didn’t even bother going to Google. Getting on the Technorati list of top 100 blogs was the equivalent of winning an award. Today Technorati is a pile of shit. This RSS feed was to show me who linked to my old blog, Ring Nokia. I obviously don’t write there anymore so … this is a bit useless. Decision: Unsubscribe.
- PHD Comics: People seem shocked when I tell them that I’m a drop out. I never finished University. It wasn’t due to a lack of capability, hell I was working with grant money from Intel on attempting to see which substances could stick to silicon. This involved multimillion dollar x-ray spectroscopy machines. I just can’t stand the arrogance and lack of practical knowledge that burst out of ever University campus I had the displeasure of visiting. Do I miss sleeping with freshmen girls and getting tested for chlamydia every semester? Do I miss hitting a one meter bong? Do I miss those very very very limited number of professors who would blow your mind in lectures and talk to you after class for hours at a time? Of course I do, but it isn’t worth several thousands of dollars a year just to have my name on a piece of paper that says I showed up for class over a period of 4 years. Sad thing is, I did show up to class for 4 years. Switching my major fucked me. I was computer science, but then switched to chemistry. I dropped out with more credits than most of my peers. Hell if I got credit for the amount of classes I actually sat in, but didn’t register for, so I could you know, learn something I actually cared about, I’d have a PhD at the end of my name too. Was it foolish to leave and will it stunt my growth career wise? Probably, but right now I’m having a ball and times are too good for me to go back and hit on freshmen girls. Besides, my girlfriend would be pissed if she knew I was doing that. PhD comics is a blog that mocks higher academia, and I always get a chuckle out of it. Decision: Subscribe.
- Phone Scoop: I could talk at length about Eric Zeman, but for the sake of simplicity I’m just going to say that he does one of the best jobs at summarizing news, and writing reviews of mobile phones, on the internet that I’ve ever seen. His site, Phone Scoop, has an extremely limited amount of employees, I think less than IntoMobile even, and that allows him to make this his full time job. Based out of New Jersey, he often goes into New York City to meet public relations folks. I know this because he is always tweeting about how much traffic sucks. The guy diggs BMWs, which I do too, and he even pays for music he likes, which is fucking impressive. The best thing Eric does is event coverage. Take for instance his write up of Mobile World Congress 2009. Everything is in one page, listed in multiple parts, lots of pictures, lots of opinions from actual hands on time versus rewriting a press release and using press photos. Awesome stuff. Decision: Highly recommended blog.
- Phone Scoop Blog: This is Eric’s personal blog, which he hasn’t updated in almost two years. The sad thing about being a technology blogger is that you’re essentially getting paid by advertising. Advertisers care about one thing and one thing only: how much traffic can you get. Eric is a really bright guy, and I’ve talked to him at length about the wireless ecosystem, but the sad thing is that writing up his thoughts and putting them out there takes time and effort. Time and effort he could be spending covering every bit of news on the planet. More blog posts per day = more traffic = more money. Writing a hard hitting article can possibly get you a lot of traffic, but it is a bet that Eric can’t make since he uses Phone Scoop to put food on the table. I’m fortunate enough to have a boss and colleagues who push me to write more editorials. We’re not all that lucky. Decision: Unsubscribe due to lack of updates and if I really want to know what Eric thinks about something, I’ll just call him.
- PhoneArena.com – Latest Reviews: An RSS feed for every review that Phone Arena publishes. The site is solid, and they usually get devices quite early. They also review a whole range of devices, not just boring expensive handsets. They’re fair, in depth, and almost always include a video with their reviews. Decision: Keep on reading.
- PhoneArena.com – Latest Phones: This RSS feed spits out new devices that have been added to Phone Arena’s database of mobile phones, which is one of the most comprehensive out there on the internet; only GSM Arena is better. This feed is useful if you’re a mobile phone nerd, but I honestly don’t need it for my job. Decision: Unsubscribe.
- PhoneArena.com – Latest News: Dear people who run Phone Arena: You need on RSS feed that literally has everything you guys do, versus 3 separate feeds. This RSS feed is for the latest news, and they’re usually not the first to break a piece of news. I don’t need yet another blog to read the news when I have so many already. Decision: Unsubscribe.
That’s it. Down to 163!