A Week of Google Reader
Thursday: Discover that Google Reader exists. Add some blogs to the reader, find new blogs on the blogrolls of those blogs, add more blogs to the reader. Read interesting articles on "wiki the vote" and portable VW avatarsFriday: This reader thing is pretty cool! Find that BBC has a news headlines feed, and add it to the reader. Also add the tech headlines from BBC news. Feel well informed about global news. Find that even if Microsoft is evil it isn't hurting Linux box sales. Get sent updates from my new favorite diabetes blog. Read "lol cat bible" and die laughing.
Saturday: Feel not so informed about national news. Add the SF Chronicle to my subscription list. Feel well-informed about national and local news. Read about human and robot love.
Sunday: Realize that the chronicle's RSS feed has more local than national news. Subscribe to the NY Times' RSS feed, making it the third news site I have in the reader. Also add the NY Times Washinton RSS feed, to keep up with the dealings of all the dirty politicians. Read another article on the Turkey debacle and learn about the Google gPhone. Really falling in love with this new well-informed me.
Monday: Wake up, go to gym, come home, check email, and then check the reader. 100+ news articles and recent blog posts for me to skim through. Read the headlines from the Chronicle, the NY Times, and BBC News. Read the latest tech news from CNet and Slash Dot. Feel like a good citizen. Go to work. Come home. 100+ more articles for me to read. Get the latest on what happened during the day. Give Bush a chance to explain why he vetoed the health care bill, laugh at AOL's demise (though not at the poor employees), and cringe at the Discovery Channel taking over HowStuffWorks.com.
Tuesday: Wake up at the crack of dawn. Go to gym. Go to class. Go to other class. Get a lunch break. Check email, check reader. 200+ news articles and blog posts to read? This is getting out of control! Scroll through news headlines just to get the number of new items in the reader down to 0. Read about a few interesting things, including a great response to an attack on Halo 3, an East-Coaster's take on Los Angeles, and the fact that the BBC is finally offering mac and linux-friendly video formats (finally!).
Wednesday: Same routine as Monday: Gym, Home, reader. Still way too many news articles for me to read! Starting to feel discouraged about news media and the state of the world. Realize that the Chronicle and the Times keep sending me doubles of stories. Feel overwhelmed by the amount of data available for those who care. Wonder if I care any more. Hope that our President doesn't insult the Dalai Lama, catch up on my mom's travels in South East Asia, and read about the move toward digital. Go to bed feeling informed to the point of exhaustion.
Thursday: Wake up and have, again, way too many new articles to read. Decide that it's time to give the news sites the axe. Cancel the subscription to BBC News, cancel the subscription to SF Chronicle, cancel the subscription to NY Times. Keep the NY Times Washington feed (you can never let down your guard when it comes to the sneaky politicians!). Begin to enjoy google reader again. Read about fun stuff like The Daily Show episodes being posted online, the release of Ubuntu 7.1, and Europe exploring cell phone use on flights. Wonder if I want to be on a transatlantic flight where cell phone conversations are allowed.
Friday: Wake up, read the manageable 50 or so new articles and blog posts, and go to work feeling like Google reader and I are BFFs once again. Read articles on Halloween costumes for geeks, the all-important children's cough medicine debate, and find out what my mommy has been up to in SE Asia over the past few days.
Moral of the story: Don't get so caught up in news stories that you miss what really interests you. Stay informed, but realize that nobody can be an expert on all current events. Oh, and if your mom has a blog, read it!
posted by Sara at
9:41 PM
1 Comments:
People should read this.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home