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 8 after the jump, and all episodes by clicking on the Trimming in Public tag:
- Gizmodo: Engadget vs. Gizmodo is like Apple vs. Microsoft, Israel vs. Palestine, Capitalism vs. Communism. I don’t want to take a particular side since both have their respective strengths and weaknesses, and it’s shocking to see how well they compliment each other. Engadget is more family friendly and focuses on technology that at some point in the future you’ll be able to purchase. Gizmodo has a talented team of Photoshop artists, who always manage to make me laugh, and are more in touch with their inner geek. Engadget would never cover something like steam punk, or the technology that goes into special effects of the latest Terminator movie, while Gizmodo uses that to their advantage and gives you pieces of information that are cool to digest, but difficult to take advantage of in the real world. I have yet to figure how the different cultures emerged, but something tells me it has to do with the pay structures. Gizmodo is owned by Nick Denton who is notorious for paying fewer dollars per post, encouraging more articles to be written, so that in the long run the site receives more traffic from Google. Engadget is rumored to pay per post, and include a base salary, but since they’re owned by AOL they can afford to pay a bit more since the relationships with the advertisers have already been developed. Anyway, that’s just speculation. If you held a gun to my head and asked me to pick Gizmodo or Engadget, I’d probably go with Gizmodo even tho the writing isn’t always as good and I highly dislike the site design. Engadget is that really pretty girl in High School who was smart and tried extremely hard to get good grades so she could get accepted to a University that she thinks will make her future perfect. Gizmodo is that girl who, with little to no effort, gets above average grades, smokes pot with you behind the gym, and doesn’t really care where she ends up, because she just enjoys every day for what it’s worth. Life is a balance between those two attitudes. Decision: One of the best sites on the internet.
- GOOD Department: Transparency: I’m a data visualization nerd, I admitted that in one of the previous episodes of “Trimming in Public.” GOOD has a section called Transparency that shows pretty interesting infographics, and they update the RSS feed roughly once a week. Nothing more to say really. I like the site. Decision: Eye candy for the win.
- Google Blog Search: Nokia: People always wondered how I found all those Nokia stories back when I used to write for Ring Nokia. Subscribing to Google blog search engine results is an awesome way to keep on top of your favorite company or topic. Be warned however, there is a lot of overlap. This feed is very useful for posting scoops, assuming that you’re living in your RSS reader 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The whole point of this “Trimming in Public” series is to get a grip on my offline life again. I’m going to have to let this one go. Decision: Unsubscribe.
- Google Chrome Blog: I love browsers, and swear no allegiance to any particular one. During a typical work day I’ll use Opera 10, Firefox 3.5, Google Chrome 3 and even Internet Explorer 8. Keeping on top of Chrome is something I enjoy and plan to keep on doing. Decision: Bring on the HTML5 goodness.
- Google Chrome Releases: I’m subscribed to the Google Chrome developer channel, meaning I don’t wait for software to go from 1.0 to 2.0 to 3.0 to update. I get a new version of Chrome every week, file bugs, and test out new features before everyone else. To learn how to subscribe to the developer channel, click here. With this blog, I get updated when a new version becomes available and a highly detailed changelog. Decision: Helping make the internet a better place is a nobel thing to do.
- GottaBeMobile: GottaBeMobile ranks up there with Notebook Review as one of the best websites to stay on top of what’s going on with laptops. Their videos are consistently of high quality and I used to spend a lot of time on their forum. Sadly however, thank the crappy economy and good enough performance from yesterday’s chips, but I don’t upgrade my equipment anywhere near as often as I did just a few years ago. My laptop, the one I’m using to type this blog post, is over 2 years old. I plan on buying another battery and larger hard drive this summer, and that will be the extent of what I’ll be spending on personal computers. With 2.2 GHz and 2 GB of RAM, you can get a lot done these days. If Lenovo would like to send me their latest ThinkPad to review, I would be more than happy to do so, but when it comes to spending my own money: I’m fine with where I am and don’t need to know what laptop manufacturers are up to. Decision: Unsubscribe.
- Groundswell (Incorporating Charlene Li’s Blog): What Forrester has to say about social networking, communities, and all that other nonsense that was awesome to talk about 2 years ago, but if anyone asked me today how strong my personal brand is, I’d punch them in their personal area. Decision: The Web 2.0 Kool-Aid hangover is over and done with and I never want to see a social media consultant again.
- Gumption: Joe McCarthy used to work for Nokia, I forgot what exactly it was he did. Anyway, he moved on to Strands and no amount of Adderall will help me get through his legendary long blog posts. I’m sure the content is good, and I’m not a simpleton, I can read long form writing just fine, but his style just doesn’t jive well with that parts of my brain that process text to memory. Decision: Unsubscribe.
- Gustav’s Mindshare: Gustav Söderström is the Vice President of Products for Spotify. He showed off an alpha of Spotify for mobile at Google I/O recently. I read his blog thinking he’ll say something about Spotify Mobile that isn’t going to make it to the official Spotify blog. Why do I torture myself so? Anyway, for the USA audience who has no idea what Spotify is: pretend you opened iTunes one day and everything was free. You could listen to any song you wanted. The only catch, you need to be connected to the internet and you can’t enjoy the music on the go. The amount of music piracy I do on a daily basis is a fraction of a percentage point of what I used to do before Spotify. At first I thought to myself this service can’t be legal. How can one listen to all this music for free? They’re legit. They have the licences, but it only works in Sweden, Norway, Finland, the UK, France and Spain. If you’re living in the previously mentioned 6 countries, stop reading this blog post right now and go get yourself a Spotify account immediately! It’s seriously one of the best things to happen to the internet since Napster, Bit Torrent and Usenet. Decision: I’ll get Spotify news from the Spotify blog, unsubscribe.
- HEL LOOKS: Here is something I bet you didn’t know about me: I’m into fashion. I have zero fashion sense, and am constantly seen wearing the same combination of clothes with only the color of my socks and the design of my tshirt changing, but there are few things I enjoy more than looking at beautiful people, wearing beautiful clothes. One of my dreams is to become a fashion photographer, as well as take artistic nudes. I kid ye not. I can’t take a photo to save my life however and I don’t know the first thing about approaching a model and asking her to pose. Maybe I need a mentor, maybe I need to take a photography class, I can’t say, but for now that pursuit is put on the back burner. The money I should be spending on a DSLR plus a few lenses is being used to purchase shots for teenage girls every weekend and the cab ride back to my place. At some point I have to stop, whether it be due to venereal diseases or old age. Maybe then I’ll pick up a camera and start reliving my youth by taking photos of the things I can no longer enjoy. I’m just talking out loud. HEL LOOKS is a blog that takes photos of people on the streets of Helsinki and asks them where they got their clothes from. Decision: Keep on reading.
Down to 241, and only now am I reaching the letter H!