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 22 after the jump, and all episodes by clicking on the Trimming in Public tag:
- Techmeme: Powered by some super secret algorithms developed by Gabe Rivera, who as far as I’m concerned is a bloody genius, Techmeme is a website that shows you the popular stories that people are talking about in the technology space. Techmeme also does a fantastic job at highlighting what is wrong with journalism today. Under any major story you’ll see that 100+ blogs have essentially rewritten it, and then all linked to the same source. Some might argue that is what makes journalism today awesome compared to our memories of what journalism used to be in the 20th century, to which I have to say: so you’re saying that hundreds of people sitting at home rewriting a story contributes to the public good; how exactly … ? That makes me a bit of a hypocrite, and I know this. Journalists, public relations people, advertising companies, they all produce bullshit out of thin air, yet the small ecosystem we all inhabit some how continues to provide nutrients (read: Euros, Dollars, British Sterling) for everyone to keep on going. Companies that actually make something hire PR people, who talk to journalists, who rewrite what PR people sent them via email, and now those very same PR people buy display ads next to said content produced by journalists, which makes a company money, which then lets that company create something new, which of course needs to be marketed, so the PR people have to be paid again. And so it goes, on and on, the circle jerk known as technology journalism. Sounds grim doesn’t it? I think, and this is purely my opinion, the only way to deal with knowing that what you do has no impact to the good of society is to enjoy the living hell out of your life when you’re not working and to stop trying to change the world, but instead embrace it. Decision: Unsubscribe, you’ll see why in a second.
- Techmeme Firehose: Unlike the RSS feed above, which only links to popular stories that stay on the Techmeme homepage for a longer than average amount of time, the “firehose”, as Gabe likes to call it, is an RSS feed that spits out each and every single article that hits Techmeme’s homepage, even if it is there for less than 15 minutes. They call it the firehose for a reason, there are a lot of RSS items being pumped out of this feed. I prefer this versus the feed above since what I may find interesting, isn’t necessarily interesting to the “mob”. Decision: One of my favorite RSS feeds. Ever.
- TECHMUNDO 2.0: Yet another technology blog that has been abandoned on the internet by the author. Hasn’t been updated in over a year. Decision: No new content = unsubscribe.
- Technology Review: You would think that a publication made by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology would have a proper RSS feed, but sadly they can’t figure out how to make it work right. Not only will their RSS feed spit out the same stories multiple times, they’re loaded with ads and only include headlines. I want to like Technology Review since they publish work about what scientists, across multiple disciplines, are working on in their respective fields. Their RSS feed sucks so bad though, that I have to get rid of it. Decision: Unsubscribe, with great saddnes.
- TechRepublic News: Yet another technology site, Tech Republic is owned by ZD|Net. I can’t tell why this website exists since ZD|Net is better in every conceivable way. The writers are better, the design is better, the content is more interesting. I’m struggling to find a reason why I even subscribed to this RSS feed in the first place. Decision: Get out of my RSS reader right now!
- Ted Dziuba: While everyone else is talking about how cloud computing will change the world, or how one technical framework is superior to the other, even though said person has never wrote a single line of code in their life, Ted Dziuba is sitting in the corner, slowly getting angry, until he snaps and writes articles that are filled with so much hate, anger and rage that they are an absolute joy to read. Ted makes his living as a programmer, so he actually does something useful, he makes something. He is also a father, so he knows how petty and insignificant this whole internet thing is in the grander scheme of things. Ted is the internet version of Lewis Black on The Daily Show. At the time of writing this his website is down, I’ve pinged him to let him know that. Decision: One day I hope to be as funny and knowledgeable as this man; keep on reading.
- Textually.org: Emily Turrettini writes one of the most under rated mobile blogs on the internet. Forget about how many megapixels the next iPhone has, or spy shots of some stupid new Android device that isn’t going to his the market for a few months. Emily takes a look at how people are using mobile phones to make a difference in their lives. She also highlights how society is adapting to everyone having a mobile phone. I’d call Textually a blog about mobile anthropology rather than mobile technology. She is the only one I know who writes about these sorts of things and I hope she never, ever, stops blogging since it would be a great disservice to the internet. Decision: One of my favorite blogs.
- The Big Picture: You know how a newspaper has small pictures surrounded by massive amounts of text? Boston.com’s the Big Picture is the exact opposite; it has massive pictures underlined by small amounts of text. It’s the creation of Alan Taylor, and it has been cloned many, many times by various publications, but I’ve yet to see another writer at another internet property with an eye for beautiful photos like Alan has. It gets published once a week, I forget which day, anyway I highly encourage you to read the about page to get a better idea of what the Big Picture is all about. Decision: One of my favorite photo blogs on the internet.
- The Boy Genius Report: No one really knows who the Boy Genius is, and the few people who do say that you would not even believe them if they told you his name. I’d call BGR “just another technology blog” since the writing isn’t stellar, but they make up for it by a huge, ginormous, crazy amount of exclusive information. He calls his sources the BGR Ninjas, and they really are. I don’t think anyone in this industry scores as many scoops as BGR does. For that alone, I keep on reading his blog. Word of warning: he is a bit of a BlackBerry fanboi, so be prepared to see a lot of BlackBerry related news on the site. Decision: Awesome scoops = I’m paying attention.
- The Creative Life blog: Copy and pasting exactly what I said for #3: Yet another technology blog that has been abandoned on the internet by the author. Hasn’t been updated in over a year. Decision: No new content = unsubscribe.
Down to 131 and dropping fast. Have a wonderful weekend everyone!