Family guy and web developer
Alex Kessinger has compiled all his blog posts on the future of feed readers into one handy little book. The full document is here but there's also downloads in the form of a PDF and a Kindle book.
It's great that Alex has done this as feed readers really are an underappreciated tool. I'm actually glad to see that Google's Reader platform being turned off. It's opened the market for more feed readers that each have their own thing to offer.
With Google Reader going soon, people have been looking for a replacement RSS Reader. Fortunately for me I decided look for an alternative a few weeks ago when I wanted to go Google free. I looked at a number of different options for an alternative RSS reader at the time, but Feedbin really stood out for me.
It's a paid product. Not free. That's important for me because I want to use the product in the long term. Supporting this product by paying money to use it is just common sense. Free products can come and go but investing your money in a product provides some sense of insurance that it will be around longer. This is by no means a guarantee that Feedbin will be around forever. An annual Feedbin subscription is just $20 per year.
As an RSS reader, Feedbin does everything you expect a reader to do. You can subscribe to feeds using the textbox at the top of the screen. Underneath this are three panes. The far left is your list of feeds or folders of feeds if you like to be organised.
The next pane is the items in that RSS feed or folder. You can navigate these easily with the mouse or with keyboard shortcuts.
Finally the far right pane is the current item you are viewing or the reading pane.
Keyboard shortcuts can be used to move about between feeds, folders and items. From what I remember most of the shortcuts are similar to Google Reader so those migrating from Google Reader should be able to pick up the new shortcuts quite fast. As an ex-Reader user, I find it easy to navigate about Feedbin.
Feedbin also has support for sharing to an extensive range of services. You can share items to many services like Instapaper, Pocket and Evernote. This is done through the use of URLs that many services provide. Feedbin provides tokens that can be used within these URLs so that you can include the entry title, url and feed name within the URL to the service you wish to share to. I love this feature as it simple to customize what you're sharing. Some people may not like that it's not truly integrated with other services and instead relies on just URLs to share to other services, but given the number of services Feedbin can share to, I can wait for better integration.
Finally there's iOS support. The Reeder app is the best way to view your Feedbin feeds on your iPhone. Unfortunately at the moment there is no Reeder support for Feedbin on the iPad or OSX, however Reeder development will resume at the start of July and hopefully we'll see more Reeder support coming.
It's an interesting time for RSS readers. Many people are turning to Feedly as a replacement for Google Reader, but I just didn't like the Feedly interface or the it's iOS applications. In the time that I have used Feedbin I've had no reason to complain about the service. Aside from the unread counts being a little out on some feeds Feedbin really is a great little RSS reader. I'm looking forward to seeing what the future holds for Feedbin.
Update: Shortly after this review was written, Feedbin was moved to much faster servers. Performance of Feedbin on the previous hardware wasn't much of an issue for me but I did read about others complaining of speed and response time. On the new setup though Feedbin is definitely faster than it was previously.
This is the hardcore hardtail of the big wheel world. I don't know if I'm convinced that bigger wheels are better for mountain biking, but I'd be prepared to give it a try with a frame like the Bigwig.
via Ragley Bikes
While going through my Dropbox, I came across a number of programming ebooks that I have yet to start reading. Shocking I know. I mean, who buys books and then doesn't read them?
At the time I thought the book was a necessary purchase but after buying it, I simply forgot that it was there. Over the months it seems I have built up quite a collection of unread programming ebooks.
I never had this problem with a book. You buy it, you read it. You read it because the book takes up physical space in your surroundings and therefore you are continually reminded that the book is there to be read. Most of the time I would place my book beside my bed. It's the one time of the day where I can get a quiet half hour to read. Every night the book is there as a reminder that the book needs to be read.
Wat about ebooks though? They're there somewhere in your room, you just have to look for them. And that's my problem with them. Out of sight, out of mind. There's no reminder in my space that I have a book to read. I have a Kindle yes, but there is at least eight books on there that I haven't read, but by looking at my Kindle from across the room, I just can't know that there is eight books on it that I have yet to read.
So what's the answer? Being accountable for the books you read and publish your reading list for others to see? Perhaps. Maybe people can give you a poke when you haven't updated the reading list for a while?
It's worth a try. I'll do anything to try and get my money's worth from my unread programming books.
I get asked this quite a lot. "Why do you do it?" people ask. Here's just a few reasons why I blog.
My blog is my own. My little space of the internet. Okay, so I don't own the hosting server that my blog runs on, but the text, images, links and videos are all carefully crafted or curated by myself to form a timeline of my thoughts, likes and dislikes. And I own that little timeline. I don't need to ask permission from a third party to get that timeline back. It's sitting on my MacBook Pro at home as a series of little Markdown files, that when passed through a program, form the lovely little timeline that is my blog.
My blog isn't just for me though, it's for you. It's for everyone if they're interested. To reach a wider audience though, it helps if you have a network of other bloggers to rely on. This is something that I was late to realize when I started blogging. The power of a network. I wouldn't say I was part of a formal network like Svbtl or Medium but I do have a circle of fellow bloggers who link to my blog frequently.
Every once in a while a fellow blogger in my network will like my post and link to it from their blog. In return I too will link to blogs of those in my network. There isn't a "tit for tat" rule though. This is simply sharing content that we like and recommend. Over the last couple of years I've built up a nice network of fellow bloggers who not only have interesting blogs to read, but also find my own content interesting.
Take a look at any social networking tool and you'll find restrictions that limit the content that you can publish. Post length, media type and reach are all restrictions that will prevent your post from reaching the world. No fear of that with a blog.
For me though the main attraction to blogging is the practice of writing. I love writing and using my blog as a way to practice writing is time well invested in my eyes.
Sitting down to write a novel is a serious long-term commitment, but a blog allows you to work using a smaller commitments. You can write something about 500 words in length, then edit it until you're happy with it and publish it for the world to see. My blog gives me this chance to practice my writing.
So that's why I blog. What's your reasons for blogging and what motivates you?
In this age of always on firehose content, it can be too easy to simply read something and forget to retain any meaning from what you have read and use it.
Maybe you just shared an article about the importance of open communication, but then disregarded comments from someone who tried to bring up a problem with you. Regardless of what it is, you’re wasting your time with all your reading if you don’t use it to drive action.
— Do you really read? by Jason Evanish
I'll definitely be making more of a point in the future to review more of what I read online.
... with Nicholas Bate to guide us.
I've been looking for a notes application just like nvAlt for some time. Glad to read it can also be used as a wiki.
It's hard say when I first started reading Nicholas' blog and how I found it, but it's been required daily reading for me for at least the last five years.
Over that time Nicholas has produced hundreds of blogs that centre around real life personal development and productivity. I say real life because there are thousands of blog posts and dozens of systems that claim to have the golden key to "getting things done". Only Bate's blog has a realistic view of productivity and it's place in life. Nicholas' posts range from lists and series to drawings and photos.
Not only is Nicholas' blog a great source of content for those who are on the path of personal development and improvement, but he also has a great catalogue of mini-books on topics that have featured in his blog. Personal favourites of mine are his Instant MBA and Be Bold 101 books. Not only are these books easy to digest and read but they're quite small and therefore easy to carry about.
If you're in the market for a life coach, don't bother. Save yourself the hassle of someone prodding you to do the right thing and read Nicholas Bate's blog every day for a better career and life.