Thing #11: RSS Feeds

I can't believe it's taken me this long to finally get around to doing this, but I'm glad I have. I opted to go with Google Reader rather than Bloglines since I already have a Gmail account. It might be worth looking at Bloglines just to see if the format is preferable, but for now I'm happy with what I've got. I can already see how much more efficient the RSS method is vs. the "old and slow way" of checking a dozen (or several dozen) sites every day, or several times a week. The only downside is when a favorite website isn't set up with an RSS feed, such as Bill Hunt's The Digital Bits, one of the only DVD-release sites I like that's remained active (RIP "DVD Journal"). I'm also finding that my original 16 subscription sites are already filling my inbox with more than I can reasonably manage, so I'm concerned that there needs to be a more sophisticated level of filtration on this thing, but for now I can rely on my eyes and clicking finger to get by.

Dull Statement of Intent

Though it technically ended in December, 2007, I'm still following the Saint Paul Public Library version of 23 Things, not the 23 Things On A Stick most MN librarians are currently following -- although I've already stolen the Yahoo avatar idea from them, so I may end up joining theirs at some point, as well.

Thing #8: The YouTube

I love YouTube, so I don't have much to say about it. Once I warmed to its potential, I realized that YouTube is a nearly perfect development of the internet, and a time-devouring entertainment vortex that's less insular than blogs were five years ago. It's easy to get "fooled" by poorly produced parodies when you're looking for the real deal, so there is a form of scamming or trolling going on, but for the most part I've been able to quickly find video that you might never guess would be freely available online.

Here's a random library-related clip I found, a cute joke in the unexpected form of a Mercedes advert:

Thing #9: Podcasting

I've never been a fan of talk radio, or audiobooks, which may explain why I've made no effort to investigate podcasts before. I poked around the search engines a bit but didn't really come up with anything that I'd want to listen to. The only podcasts I've ever actively sought out were the official "Lost" TV show podcasts from producers/writers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, but even that has morphed into a video podcast with little or no value (in my eyes). This may change now that the writers' strike is officially over, we'll see, but obviously here it's the content that interests me (if you're not familiar with the series, it's designed to make one scrounge about for any and every scrap of explanation they'll toss out), not the method of delivery.

If podcasts were like themed musical radio shows I might find them more worthy of investigation, but as it is they seem to me like an even less interesting version of blogs*, with thousands floating around, disconnected, and unheard. Much as this blog will be unread.

....

*Less interesting because, being text-based, blogs can be quickly scanned for items of interest or to get a general sense of the content. An audiostream requires headphones and patience for linear input, the pace of which you can't control. I haven't developed an interest in video blogs for the same reason. I do love the fact that video and audio content is widely vailable and easily accessible online, but I mostly use the audio to preview albums I'm interested in buying, and the video for comedy and music, especially when they're combined in unintentionally hilarious music videos: