One thing I really like about an offline feed reader is that you don’t need to read feeds all the time. Just store them up like a squirrel stores nuts. Then go on a feed reading binge. I use NewsGator for Outlook (it brings all my feeds into Outlook so I can read my feed items offline — most of this post was written using Windows Live Writer at 33,000 feet on the United Flight yesterday to Chicago).
I have an admission to make: I haven’t read any feeds since about 8/18. That’s why my blog has sucked lately. I haven’t been discovering the new little things that people tell me they liked most about my blog. Anyone can talk about HP and how messed up its board is, right? But who will read more than 100 feeds for you and find some cool nugget?
Anyway, one thing I noticed when I looked at my feeds for the first time yesterday is that most of my favorite bloggers publish more than my less favorite bloggers. A lot more. Let’s look at the top posters in my RSS reading list:
Boing Boing. 701 posts since I last read my feeds.
Engadget. 1093.
GigaOM. 466.
Lost Remote. 408.
Make Magazine. 395.
MSDN Blogs. 2886. (not really fair, cause there’s a few thousand people on there, these are Microsoft’s employee blogs).
Life Hacker. 552.
TechCrunch. 212
TechDirt. 278.
TechNet Blogs. 1454. (same problem as MSDN blogs, this one is another group of Microsoft bloggers).
I published 273 items in the same time.
Disclaimer, these numbers aren’t quite for the same time period. Some I hadn’t been reading for a longer period of time. But they are representative of the “fattest” feeds.
Whew, that’s a lot of blogs to read through.
A good comparison is my favorite Microsoft technical blogger, Raymond Chen, only posted about 50 things in the same time. And that’s a lot more frequent than many other feeds.
Interesting, on another, but sorta associated, topic: Maryam, my wife has written her first stab at “10 ways to create a killer blog.”
Me? I think I’d just focus on what a blogger is passionate about. That’s where it all starts. Yeah, there are things you can do to get into Google, or TechMeme, or iTunes, but if that’s how you look at life you won’t be interesting anyway.
Hell, what makes for a good blog? How about some hotel bed jumping? I’m lying in a hotel bed right now. I’m tempted. Heheh. Thanks to Tim Bray for that one.
Anyway, I gotta get some sleep. I’m on stage in a few hours.
I was using Sage for awhile but found it difficult because you can’t check more than one feed at a time — even the Discover mode crawls slowly and serially from one feed to the next, instead of in parallel.
So with time savings added up, I’ve switched back to Bloglines.com — while it’s online, like some of the better offline feed readers, you can just let feeds marinate and grow “fat”. Of course, that makes for a lot to catch up on, but that’s a good habit and I’m going to keep trimming what I don’t really read.
I was using Sage for awhile but found it difficult because you can’t check more than one feed at a time — even the Discover mode crawls slowly and serially from one feed to the next, instead of in parallel.
So with time savings added up, I’ve switched back to Bloglines.com — while it’s online, like some of the better offline feed readers, you can just let feeds marinate and grow “fat”. Of course, that makes for a lot to catch up on, but that’s a good habit and I’m going to keep trimming what I don’t really read.
James is correct. NewsRiver it is-actually, Les Orchard’s DECAFBAD variant. I know it has problems reading other feeds as well.
I should probably look at a few others. It’s been a while since I jumped ship from NewsGator.
James is correct. NewsRiver it is-actually, Les Orchard’s DECAFBAD variant. I know it has problems reading other feeds as well.
I should probably look at a few others. It’s been a while since I jumped ship from NewsGator.
I constantly weed out my feeds so I do not become buried in information. I try to keep it below 50 - add a feed unsubscribe from a feed.
I like boing boing but it is just too much to keep up with. I do keep it on my netvibes start page at a limit of 5 items that open directly on the site (instead of the RSS reader). That way I catch some of the content as it zooms by.
What feed readers do you all use?
I like web based ones so I can access them from any computers.
I constantly weed out my feeds so I do not become buried in information. I try to keep it below 50 - add a feed unsubscribe from a feed.
I like boing boing but it is just too much to keep up with. I do keep it on my netvibes start page at a limit of 5 items that open directly on the site (instead of the RSS reader). That way I catch some of the content as it zooms by.
What feed readers do you all use?
I like web based ones so I can access them from any computers.
It seems like I agree with a lot of what’s being said on here about not liking the quantity of posts. If the point of feed readers is to save you time by collecting the stories, it’s become the opposite because you spend so much time deleting all the posts that you can’t possibly read. And when the reader doesn’t provide pictures or video (a lot of art blogs I like rely on the pictures) you have to go to the site anyway-defeating the entire purpose of a reader.
It seems like I agree with a lot of what’s being said on here about not liking the quantity of posts. If the point of feed readers is to save you time by collecting the stories, it’s become the opposite because you spend so much time deleting all the posts that you can’t possibly read. And when the reader doesn’t provide pictures or video (a lot of art blogs I like rely on the pictures) you have to go to the site anyway-defeating the entire purpose of a reader.
I can’t possibly imagine how mostly fully staffed, corporate owned blogs could possibly manage to post so much more than individuals.
I can’t possibly imagine how mostly fully staffed, corporate owned blogs could possibly manage to post so much more than individuals.
All of those blogs you list are multiple author, magazine-style (ie aggregator, not originator) blogs. Are those the ones you find most compelling, or just the ones that update most often? I’ve had some time to blog full-time, and the most I think I ever managed was 18 posts in one day.
All of those blogs you list are multiple author, magazine-style (ie aggregator, not originator) blogs. Are those the ones you find most compelling, or just the ones that update most often? I’ve had some time to blog full-time, and the most I think I ever managed was 18 posts in one day.
Here’s what I do -
http://www.ihol.org/blog/index.php/2006/05/31/surviving-aggregation-overload/
Like the first commenter, I prefer a few posts a week to hundreds. I haven’t managed to read boingboing in months, and stopped reading Digg as soon as it shifted into high gear with v3.0. Using the method in that post, I’m able to keep up with feeds and still get some work done…
Here’s what I do -
http://www.ihol.org/blog/index.php/2006/05/31/surviving-aggregation-overload/
Like the first commenter, I prefer a few posts a week to hundreds. I haven’t managed to read boingboing in months, and stopped reading Digg as soon as it shifted into high gear with v3.0. Using the method in that post, I’m able to keep up with feeds and still get some work done…
You should use a power web-based reader so that you don’t have to rely on that particular system. It will give you the ability to read from a PDA as well as other people’ systems. I’m partial to MonkeyChow from http://www.monkeychow.org which requires your own PHP server. =) I have just over 130 feeds in it, checked hourly and gathered up like nuts as you say.
You should use a power web-based reader so that you don’t have to rely on that particular system. It will give you the ability to read from a PDA as well as other people’ systems. I’m partial to MonkeyChow from http://www.monkeychow.org which requires your own PHP server. =) I have just over 130 feeds in it, checked hourly and gathered up like nuts as you say.
Robert: My guess is George is using Dave Winer’s NewRiver as an aggregator. The last time I checked it was the only product that still didn’t handle content:encoded elements (which is what your feed uses for full content).
Robert: My guess is George is using Dave Winer’s NewRiver as an aggregator. The last time I checked it was the only product that still didn’t handle content:encoded elements (which is what your feed uses for full content).
Robert:
Personally, I prefer bloggers who post less and say more.
Best Regards,
Brooke A. Wharton
Robert:
Personally, I prefer bloggers who post less and say more.
Best Regards,
Brooke A. Wharton
HPQ getting hammered now that Hurd is implicated.
HPQ getting hammered now that Hurd is implicated.
I find the “river of news” style view preferable when reading syndicated RSS feeds. It allows me to dip in and out of the latest news and importantly also lets the feeds ‘flow’ past when I’m away. With the right amount of feed tagging I have different views depending on how much spare time I have available (and so that I don’t miss important stuff).
For instance, to view the my ‘favourite’ feeds: http://www.trawlr.com/users/ben/items/Favourite
I find the “river of news” style view preferable when reading syndicated RSS feeds. It allows me to dip in and out of the latest news and importantly also lets the feeds ‘flow’ past when I’m away. With the right amount of feed tagging I have different views depending on how much spare time I have available (and so that I don’t miss important stuff).
For instance, to view the my ‘favourite’ feeds: http://www.trawlr.com/users/ben/items/Favourite
George: what news aggregator are you using? My feed is a full text feed on the ones I use.
Chris: you can, but some aggregators only show you the last few items and don’t keep things around for an unlimited time. Also, online aggregators can’t be read on a plane.
George: what news aggregator are you using? My feed is a full text feed on the ones I use.
Chris: you can, but some aggregators only show you the last few items and don’t keep things around for an unlimited time. Also, online aggregators can’t be read on a plane.
I think blog reading can be a huge time sink. I’m subscribed to probably 100 blogs, and like Aaron above, I’ve had to unsubscribe from some because the volume was too high. Lifehacker was one. There was good stuff, but I had to check it every few hours or things started piling up.
I still probably spend too much time checking my subscriptions, and I’m not sure of a good way to mitigate that. Perhaps reading them on my phone?
About offline readers: why aren’t online readers like that? Can’t you store up posts and go on a feed reading binge with an online reader? I don’t understand why there’s a difference.
I think blog reading can be a huge time sink. I’m subscribed to probably 100 blogs, and like Aaron above, I’ve had to unsubscribe from some because the volume was too high. Lifehacker was one. There was good stuff, but I had to check it every few hours or things started piling up.
I still probably spend too much time checking my subscriptions, and I’m not sure of a good way to mitigate that. Perhaps reading them on my phone?
About offline readers: why aren’t online readers like that? Can’t you store up posts and go on a feed reading binge with an online reader? I don’t understand why there’s a difference.
Hotel bed jumping as key to success? Maybe that’s the *real* reason why the French Maids got attention. It had nothing to do with dressing attractive women in revealing outfits!
Hotel bed jumping as key to success? Maybe that’s the *real* reason why the French Maids got attention. It had nothing to do with dressing attractive women in revealing outfits!
Robert, I know you’ve posted a few times about partial versus full feeds, but you probably haven’t been trying to read your own blog in an offline reader. Your partial mini-feed would be rather frustrating. This is the little teaser that I saw from this post-all 277 characters of it:
“One thing I really like about an offline feed reader is that you don’t need to read feeds all the time. Just store them up like a squirrel stores nuts. Then go on a feed reading binge. I use NewsGator for Outlook (it brings all my feeds into Outlook so I can read my feed [...]”
You have helped me figure out something that’s been on my mind lately. How do high volume bloggers-and readers of aggregators with lots of feeds-get anything done?
The fact that you’ve (had to) let things slide for the past month is very telling. It would seem that all of this blogging and aggregating is a huge time sink. While enjoyable, informative, and profitable (for some?) there are probably lots of better things that can and should be done. [Another thing somebody can blame on Dave Winer.
] Since I started regularly reading blogs about a year ago, my personal productivity has tanked.
There’s a lot more I’d like to say on this topic, but I have some work to do. Maybe I’ll try to flesh it out in a blog post…
Robert, I know you’ve posted a few times about partial versus full feeds, but you probably haven’t been trying to read your own blog in an offline reader. Your partial mini-feed would be rather frustrating. This is the little teaser that I saw from this post-all 277 characters of it:
“One thing I really like about an offline feed reader is that you don’t need to read feeds all the time. Just store them up like a squirrel stores nuts. Then go on a feed reading binge. I use NewsGator for Outlook (it brings all my feeds into Outlook so I can read my feed [...]”
You have helped me figure out something that’s been on my mind lately. How do high volume bloggers-and readers of aggregators with lots of feeds-get anything done?
The fact that you’ve (had to) let things slide for the past month is very telling. It would seem that all of this blogging and aggregating is a huge time sink. While enjoyable, informative, and profitable (for some?) there are probably lots of better things that can and should be done. [Another thing somebody can blame on Dave Winer.
] Since I started regularly reading blogs about a year ago, my personal productivity has tanked.
There’s a lot more I’d like to say on this topic, but I have some work to do. Maybe I’ll try to flesh it out in a blog post…
I wonder if you can call Boing Boing or Gizmodo a blog. They are regular pubblications distributed on line, they collect advertising and have the problem to have a broader audience: Adwords are statistical… since you will have 2 or 3% of clicks, than you have to show as many pages as possible. And you must have ad many pages on line as possible: this is the long tail of advertising.
So: is this a blog? When you act as a traditional medium can you still talk about blogging?
I wonder if you can call Boing Boing or Gizmodo a blog. They are regular pubblications distributed on line, they collect advertising and have the problem to have a broader audience: Adwords are statistical… since you will have 2 or 3% of clicks, than you have to show as many pages as possible. And you must have ad many pages on line as possible: this is the long tail of advertising.
So: is this a blog? When you act as a traditional medium can you still talk about blogging?
I have to agree with Aaron. The feeds that update frequently I hardly ever read. I still subscribe to them, but very rarely read any of the articles. Lately I’ve been relying on filters to find the occasional post that’s likely to be of interest to me.
The end result is that I have several feeds with a *huge* number of unread messages. 14,000+ from Fark. 72,000+ from del.icio.us. I know I really should set those to autodelete, but I’m kind of curious now to see how big they can get.
Digg.com’s upcoming tech section alone is 60-100 articles every hour!
I have to agree with Aaron. The feeds that update frequently I hardly ever read. I still subscribe to them, but very rarely read any of the articles. Lately I’ve been relying on filters to find the occasional post that’s likely to be of interest to me.
The end result is that I have several feeds with a *huge* number of unread messages. 14,000+ from Fark. 72,000+ from del.icio.us. I know I really should set those to autodelete, but I’m kind of curious now to see how big they can get.
Digg.com’s upcoming tech section alone is 60-100 articles every hour!
Actually, I find the opposite to be true for me. I was subscribed to Boing Boing for a week or so, but found that quantity did not make up for quality. Same thing with Gizmodo, which I read for two weeks: too many worthless (to me) posts about cell phones. I also let my FOXNews feeds pile up because there are two many posts to catch up on.
My favorites are those that don’t swamp me, they just provide me with regular good articles: Get Rich Slowly, Ars Technica, Daily Tech, Google, Guy Kawasaki, I Will Teach You To Be Rich, Matt Cutts, Postsecret. For some reason it doesn’t seem like Slashdot swamps me (even though they post frequently), so I like them (maybe because it’s good content).
It just occured to me as I scanned through my feed list that I don’t like anything Winer writes. I would delete him, but there seems to be some inner force that makes me feel obligated to read him. At least he doesn’t write very much…
Actually, I find the opposite to be true for me. I was subscribed to Boing Boing for a week or so, but found that quantity did not make up for quality. Same thing with Gizmodo, which I read for two weeks: too many worthless (to me) posts about cell phones. I also let my FOXNews feeds pile up because there are two many posts to catch up on.
My favorites are those that don’t swamp me, they just provide me with regular good articles: Get Rich Slowly, Ars Technica, Daily Tech, Google, Guy Kawasaki, I Will Teach You To Be Rich, Matt Cutts, Postsecret. For some reason it doesn’t seem like Slashdot swamps me (even though they post frequently), so I like them (maybe because it’s good content).
It just occured to me as I scanned through my feed list that I don’t like anything Winer writes. I would delete him, but there seems to be some inner force that makes me feel obligated to read him. At least he doesn’t write very much…