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 12 after the jump, and all episodes by clicking on the Trimming in Public tag:
What a week. I’m sure you’ve missed Trimming in Public on Tuesday and Wednesday, lots of things happened in my personal life that I’m not going to get into on this blog, but feel free to scroll through my twitter account if you really care. I doubt you do.
With that out of the way, let us continue our regularly scheduled program:
- Martin’s Mobile Technology Page: Martin Sauter’s latest book is called “Beyond 3G – Bringing Networks, Terminals and the Web Together: LTE, WiMAX, IMS, 4G Devices and the Mobile Web 2.0” and he is one of the few people out there who can break down infrastructure in a way that I can understand. I feel smarter after each blog post he writes, and if you can manage to get to the bottom of this post and have an increased pulse, then I recommend you subscribe to him. Decision: One of my favorite sites.
- Mashable!: Reading “social media news” is a bit stupid if the phrase “social media” causes your left eye to twitch and gives you an urge to leave your house with whatever little clothes you have on, find a baby, and proceed to throw it into oncoming traffic while your friend who happens to be a registered sex offender records the entire incident on his brand spanking new iPhone 3GS and then uploads it to Youtube. I’m just saying. Decision: Leave. Now.
- Me and My Phones: Asian geek with a lot of money and connections. He usually got hardware before anyone else did. I still haven’t figured out how. Anyway, he has not updated his blog since February 2008 so his feed will get cut. Decision: Abandoned blog = buh bye.
- MediaShift: Where is the future of journalism heading? How will journalists make money? Is Twitter a viable source of information? How much of an impact does real time make? These questions are asked, and attempted to be answered, over at MediShift. I plan to dedicate an entire essay on the future of advertising and journalism at some point, but right now I’m just waiting on my drug dealer to score some Adderall. Do I want to keep on reading this blog? It’s a hard question, but I’m going to have to go with no. Journalism will always live on forever, whether the newspaper industry survives is another topic of discussion. Smart people will not figure out how to solve the monetization problem, risk takers will be. Right now it doesn’t seem like anyone is trying anything radical, and all the smart people (read: consultants) can tell you is that you should make everything free and make your content stand out. Fantastic advice, but that’s like reading the instructions on the back of a shampoo bottle and hoping that with your new found knowledge, the lice in your hair will be cured. Action will win, blog posts will do nothing but cause debate, which is great if you’re the blog owner since more traffic = more money. Decision: Unsubscribe.
- MEX – The strategy forum for mobile user experience: Marek Pawlowski used to write about interesting finds in the mobile UX field, now he just pimps his MEX Conference to hell so that executives from all around the world, with too much money in their wallet, can escape their wives and children by flying to London, state everything that is wrong with mobile design, discuss what qualities are required to achieve awesome mobile design, and then go back home to their company with little to no idea on how to change their strategy to get effective results. It’s the greatest con of the century really. Put people in a room, make them workshop, make them pat each other on the back for stating the obvious, and then let them go home feeling good about themselves because they think they know more than their competitors about the current market. While this is happening, the competition is building tomorrows market. Decision: Unsubscribe.
- Michael Gartenberg: This is a dead RSS feed because Michael Gartenberg changed where he writes. He used be Vice President and Research Director at Jupiter Research, which got purchased by Forrester. He did not want to be a part of the newly combined mega-analyst firm so he left and became Vice President of Strategy and Analysis at Interpret. He now writes here, but I have to ask myself: Do I want to subscribe to his new feed? I’ve never seen or purchased any reports from Jupiter or Interpret, and his blog is more of a space on the internet where he can talk about what’s on his mind in a casual voice. I don’t want to read that. I want to read hard core 10+ page PDF files with more numbers than the ever increasing United States National Debt. Decision: Not subscribing.
- Microsoft Research Downloads: Say what you will about the products Microsoft ships, their research division is another beast all together. The stuff they work on is amazing, and two years ago I cared about it, a lot, but today … not really. The last application they posted to the public is called: “Dynamics Simulation and Geometric Modeling Using D* Symbolic Differentiation” and yes, there was once a point in my life where I cared deeply about things like this. Few people know that I used to do research with my chemistry department, with a grant from Intel, using expensive x-ray spectroscopy equipment, in an attempt to see which metals we could bond to silicon wafers. I used to live for that kind of stuff. Then I discovered I was much happier listening to Bob Marley, smoking weed and having sex. Thank you higher education and fuck you Nietzsche. Decision: Unsubscribe.
- Microsoft Research News and Highlights: What cool new things is the Microsoft Research department working on and what are news media organization saying about it? That’s what this RSS feed is in a nutshell. I have to echo what I said above. Decision: Unsubscribe.
- Microsoft Research Publications: I used to read research publications all the time, not just from Microsoft, but from Nokia Research Center, IBM, and other large Fortune 500 companies who throw billions of dollars at research every year. I stopped a long time ago because I got upset. I was upset that here I was, reading about something that could have a major impact on the future 5 or more years from now, and I’m either too dumb to contribute or too impatient to wait. Decision: Unsubscribe.
- Mike Rowehl: This is Mobility: Mike runs the Silicon Valley Mobile Monday events, he also has a knack for attacking issues from multiple angles and can explain his conclusions very persuasively. I like that. I just wished the man blogged more! Decision: Smart guy, keep reading.
Down to 206.