How I Work: Reading and Consumption of Text

August 8, 2011 by 5 Comments

I consume a lot of information, much of it in a textual format. News of all sorts, various industry articles, magazine-like content, personal blog posts, and heck even a book now and then.

Here’s how I consume text information.

RSS: Reeder

I’m a heavy user of RSS1 to have news, blog posts, articles, and other content delivered to me. Google Reader serves as my reading hub and main subscription management location (although it’s not how I usually read… more below on that). As of this writing I’m subscribed to 625 RSS feeds.

What’s in my feeds? These sorts of things:

  • News
  • Industry-related articles
  • Personal blogs of interesting people
  • Feeds for interesting Flickr groups
  • Feeds for interesting discussion forums
  • Funny stuff

How do I read RSS? Mainly through the Reeder app. It’s a beautifully-designed feed reader that works great for basic users as well as those who want integration with services such as Instapaper, Pinboard, Delicious, Twitter, Facebook, and more. That’s how I read… I suppose the other question is when I read. The answer is throughout the day whenever I have time. I’ll generally do a big chunk of reading from a computer early in the day, around lunchtime, and in the evening. In between I’ll check headlines on my iPhone or iPad as I have time.

One other RSS tip is to store feeds in folders or collections based on how important they are. I don’t read every feed every day. Heck, there are feeds that I rarely read (but I can if I want to). By storing feeds in a folder structure based on importance I can ensure that I keep up with news, key industry happenings, and the lives of important contacts while allowing other less important things to sometimes go unread for days.

Here are links to get it from iTunes or the Mac app store:

RSS is my method of choice for getting frequent updates, and I will read short articles in Reeder. For longer pieces that will require more reading time (either from Reeder or things that I come across on the web), see the next section, which is aptly titled…

Longer Online Articles: Instapaper

Instapaper is a lovely online service which stores text articles that one wishes to read at a later point in time. A (free) Instapaper account allows one to use the web interface to store articles (either manually or with a bookmarklet) and browse them on the Instapaper website.

While the website is nice (and the web services provide the glue/plumbing), the Instapaper iPad app is lovely and is my preferred method of reading. The app allows for reading in either portrait or landscape orientation and presents the articles in a choice of color schemes. The app also works in offline mode, allow for content to be loaded and then read when disconnected (such as on an airplane or a camping trip). There’s also an iPhone app available which is nice but doesn’t provide quite as great of a reading experience due to the small screen size.

One big feature of Instapaper (regardless of how you read the items) is that text is reformatted for better reading, with extraneous advertising and other distractions removed from the page. Save an article and that’s just what you get: the article without any sidebars or such. It’s awesome.

Download the Instapaper iPad app from iTunes.

Books: Kindle App on iPad or (gasp) Paper

I don’t read a ton of books… maybe one a month on average and they’re almost always nonfiction of some sort. Photography books (where a nice visual image is part of the experience) still get ordered on paper (thank you Amazon Prime) but for everything else I’ll purchase the Kindle version of the book and read it on my iPad.

After Reading Online: Bookmarking with Pinboard

If I read something interesting online and feel that it might be useful reference information for a later date, I’ll save it with Pinboard, my bookmarking service of choice. Pinboard alows for saved bookmarks which can be tagged, described, searched, sorted, and shared easily. I use Pinboard along with the Postalicious WordPress plugin to create the “Other People Say” posts here.

Up Next: Writing Tools

The next in my series of “How I Work” articles will look at the tools and techniques I use to write and publish.

Instapaper – Marco Arment

  1. Not sure what RSS is? View this video by the folks at Common Craft. ↩

Filed Under: General Info, iOS, Productivity · Tagged With: , , , ,

How I Work

August 6, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Inspired by a few different similar articles lately, I thought it might be interesting to compile an article with the various tools I use to manage my (digital) life. I frequently get inquiries as to how I juggle various jobs and projects; perhaps this will help provide some insight into the tools I employ to assist me.

As I started to write such an article, I realized it was going to get a bit long to be one post (John Siracusa I’m not). Hence you’ll see a series of articles over the coming week. I forsee articles discussion how I work and manage:

  • Consumption of written information (blogs, news, etc)
  • Production of written information (blogging, email, social media, etc)
  • Capture, processing, and sharing of photography
  • General productivity tools (tasks and other timesavers)

The first of these articles will be published Monday morning. Check back; I hope I can provide some interesting information and perhaps share something useful.

Filed Under: General Info, Productivity · Tagged With: , ,

Google+ is Threatening My Twitter

July 20, 2011 by 2 Comments

Shortly after joining Google+, I decided to go Facebook-free for a while. Based on what I read/heard/seen, supposedly Google+ was going to attempt to be the “Facebook killer.” For context, you should know that my Facebook use was already fairly limited – I would check in once or twice a day, mainly to see what was going on with some folks I know who live in Facebook and haven’t figured out how to use the actual internet (oops, got off on a tangent there).

While I’m intentionally ignoring Facebook, I’ve discovered what’s actually happening is that I’m starting to ignore Twitter as well. The easy-to-follow conversations on Google+ are nice. Embedded photos are nice (especially for a photographer). There’s now an iOS app which means that the mobile story is improving.

The killer feature though is Circles. On Twitter, I’m either following someone or I’m not. And Twitter lists are very clunky to use in comparison to Google’s circles. I can put photographers into a circle and when I want to read about what’s going on in the photo world (and look at some nice images) I read that circle. I’ve created a WordPress circle to keep up with the ecosystem surrounding my favorite blog software. There’s a Railfans circle for those connections I’ve made who appreciate railroad information and photography. And yes, I have a social media circle where I can drop those who I follow solely for their take on the world of, well, the things discussed in this post.

I’m using circles more for reading than for posting. I probably publish 70-80% of my Google+ content to “Public” meaning that anyone can read it. This is just like Twitter where I push content out for all since I feel that it’s of value to a wide audience. That said, I do publish some content only to specific circles. Something only of interest to folks who live near me gets published to the “Local” circle, ensuring that if you’re across the country you won’t be bothered by noise that’s only of relevance to those in the Portland area.

Another big advantage of Google+ right now is that it’s pretty much crap brand-free. Companies aren’t pitching, folks generally aren’t pimping their own services heavily, and I can read my stream without finding out who gave Klout K to whom or who just published their own “newspaper” with Paperl.li. I realize that this is probably going to change, but I’m going to savor the bit of purity we now have over there.

What about you? How has Google+ changed your mix of online communications?

Filed Under: General Info, Social Media · Tagged With: , , , , ,

Plussed About Google+

July 11, 2011 by 2 Comments

About ten days ago, Google+ was unveiled to the world, offering a new social networking experience. The social team at Google did a good job of bringing together elements from other successful social web experiences. The Google+ Stream is similar to Facebook’s Wall. The follower model is asymmetric, like on Twitter (users can follow each other without reciprocity). Google’s Circles allow one to group their connections by topic, locality, or any other arbitrary set of criteria. Integration with the Picasa photo service provides functional and good-looking image hosting.

Here are some thoughts on how I’m using the service, some TOS stupidity, and a bunch of random tips.

Usage (Compared to Other Services)

I’m in the midst of going almost-Facebook-free for a period of time. I’m checking in over there once a day to see if anyone’s talking about me and to catch up with a few folks where that is their only online presence, but other than that I’m ignoring Zuckerworld at the moment.

I’m continuing to use Twitter, although I’ll be honest I think Google+ is eating into my Twitter usage. The big advantages I see with Twitter are that I have an established social graph and the mobile experience (I’m currently using Tweetbot on my iPhone) is top-notch. So far, Google+ on the iPhone is very minimal. Google has indicated they’ve submitted an app to Apple for approval; I look forward to seeing what the iOS app will bring to the game.

Lots of folks are making analogies to FriendFeed because many of the stream’s features are like those of FriendFeed (realtime updates, comment activity bumps an item to the top, the ability to mute an item). One area in which Google+ is very much unlike FriendFeed is in adoption. I’m seeing tons of “regular” (not computer geek) folks trying Google+, where FriendFeed never caught on beyond the geekiest of the geeks.

Circling My Wagons

The concept of Circles (groupings of one’s connections) is interesting. It’s similar to Facebook’s lists feature, except that it’s not just for reading. As of this writing, I’ve created nine circles based on topics of interest, local connections, family, and a special list of folks I want to follow closely. Here’s how I find myself using circles for reading and posting.

For reading, it’s rare that I’ll choose to read the main “Stream” – instead I find myself choosing one of the circles to read. If I want to check out some interesting photos or related discussion, I’ll select my Photo circle. If I’m curious what’s up in the world of my favorite blogging platform, I can read my WordPress circle to see what’s being posted by WordPress developers and community leaders. My “Local” circle will let me see what folks in the Portland/Vancouver area are talking about.

When posting something, I’m finding that I post about three quarters of my updates to Public, which makes them visible to all. The rest are posted to a select group. Something that’s only going to be of interest to folks that live nearby will go to my local circle. Something that’s only of interest to railroad buffs will go to the Railfan circle.

Photos+

The Google+ interface does a great job of making photos look good. I’ve shared several images and I’m quite happy with the amount of engagement that I’m seeing (comments, re-shares, and folks marking +1 on the images).

In the past I’ve been known to make a big deal about user-unfriendly terms of service, and at least one blogger posted a piece warning about Google’s Terms of Service. Given that I tend to disagree with that particular individual on damn near everything, I wasn’t surprised to find his analysis lacking. For a more rational look at the conditions of posting content on Google+, I’d recommend Jim Goldstein’s look at how he evaluates terms of service. In short I feel that the user agreement is adequate and I have no qualms about posting photos and other content on Google+.

Tips! Get yer Tips!

  • Get the permalink to a Google+ item by clicking on the timestamp at the top of a post.
  • Want to send a private message to one person (the equivalent of a DM on Twitter)? Just start a post and in the box where you choose which circles to use, simply start typing the person’s name. Select their name and the post is private only between the two of you. You can also send posts to any arbitrary number of individual users in this fashion.
  • Make liberal use of the Mute feature. Muting a post hides it from your stream. You won’t see it and it won’t bubble to the top or cause notifications for any subsequent comments.
  • Post to Public by default, just like you would on Twitter. Only restrict something to specific circles if you need to do so for privacy reasons or if an update is of a very limited-interest nature.
  • Setup circles for sharing and circles for reading. Sometimes these might overlap.
  • Setup some sort of “home” or “key” circle that will become your main reading list. This circle will be for people whose updates you really don’t want to miss. Be selective about who you place into this circle. Your spouse should probably go here. Robert Scoble should not. Unless he’s your spouse. In that case, hi Maryam!
  • Before you start adding folks, fill out your profile page. Make sure you fill out the little one-line description that shows right below your name. When people start choosing whether or not to follow you, if they don’t know you in real life they’re likely going to look at your profile and that one line is the easiest way to make a first impression.
  • The notifications preferences are your friend. You’ll probably want to disable at least some of the email notifications.
  • If you follow celebrites (either “real” ones or the internet variety), your stream will very quickly be filled with their discussion. I generally recommend that you hold off from following these sorts of folks as their updates probably won’t let you gauge the usefulness of the service.
  • Way down on the page and wishing you could quickly jump back to the top? I’ll trust that you’re using Google Chrome (if not, why not?), so grab the Scroll to Top Button extension.

Circle me on Google+

What are your impressions of Google+ thus far? Any tips or other thoughts you’d like to share?

Filed Under: General Info, iOS, Social Media · Tagged With: , , , , ,
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