Adding “Printed links” after all links when web page is printed via CSS2 selectors. http://twurl.nl/gk7766

Additions to the infamous project management cartoon: the one with the tree swing http://twurl.nl/g14qtp

Does anyone monitor local Twitter bio info keywords (e.g.- When a new web designer joins Twitter in Indianapolis, etc)?

We are back from the beautiful Canadian Rockies. I will post a formal post on here when I have time. Until then, Facebook photos will have to do.

Whether you believe that micro-blogging and syndication feeds provide too much information and makes us either dumber or smarter, information overload has been here for a while. Even though, Microsoft Internet Explorer has had an RSS button for two versions, I would say that syndication feeds are still not mainstream, yet highly valuable that you can feast on such a cornucopia of information without browsing to a single web page. Think of syndication as requested email (in juxtaposition to the majority of your Inbox, right?). If you are in the anal-retentive 43 folders crowd, you’ve probably already have a syndication feed management process in place for two years. If you haven’t and the thought of having to browse through 100 new blog posts every day is overwhelming, I recommend FeedHub.

I use FeedHub to provide me with the “most popular” blog posts from over 80 sources. As a web designer, I have a plethora of blogs to choose from. Some recommend if you don’t regularly get to read your feeds you have too many in your feed reader that you should declare RSS bankruptcy (similar to email bankruptcy). Another option is to create categories so that one category is for your “read all posts from these providers” and some is your “if I have time, read these posts.” I do not prefer this latter method, since I like a well-rounded mix of graphic design, programming (mostly front-end, but a little back-end), social media, blogging, and user interface posts. It is difficult to draw upon raw feeds to receive a variety of information. Some websites can be quite prolific. Do you really want to browse the headlines of all 23 posts from Mashable yesterday?  Probably not, unless you are one of the thousands of social media experts on Twitter.

What’s most popular?

I mentioned above that FeedHub only provides the “most popular” blog posts. I don’t have the exact details–that would be similar to figuring out Google’s PageRank, but I know that you can set preferences for certain blog tags over others in order to customize your reading. You can also set that you want the articles with the most comments or links to them. It’s all part of a machine they call mSpoke.

I like the idea. Where do I start?

You can import an OPML of my “daily feeds” (Right Click/Save As…) into FeedHub, if you think we would have similar tastes. My original list of blogs to read came from a computer science department of a university that I’ve now forgotten, and I’ve slowly added graphic design and social media oriented blogs. You can find a sample of my daily feed reads at the bottom of the Interactive Llama sidebar.

Going forward

For most of us, how connected we are is a lifestyle decision. You can always unplug to hike through the Canadian Rockies or to spend time with your children, unless your job mandates you reply to be “on call” and reply within five minutes. If you are in a creative, forward-thinking job (like a web designer at an agency) then, I highly recommend this hybrid of reading RSS feeds–but not too many, so that you are not overwhelmed, but do stay informed.

Before checking out library books, see which are best-selling in the subject on Amazon and choose those.

If statistics instead of calculus was at the top of the high school math pyramid, might we not be in the mess we are in today. – Benjamin

I really hope no one puts Thriller on repeat for 8 hours today

Less than 8% of the “common man” surveyed know what a web browser is? http://is.gd/19oLv

The one time, I’d give up time–twice,
as fast as chlorophyll leaves fall
to the ground: blood. Oranges coupled with bitters,
the saving grace: incoherent post-midnight mumblings of the past
day passing, air calms, (eupnea)
Leviathan to break free, locked up in this Loch
Lethargy desiring, to dote its anti-dote, anticipating
the smearing of oil, and the anointed,
return the plastic clamshell, tearing away,
thermoformed around a thermometer’s rising crescent,
carmine colored by parasitic spirits leaving,
into veins cautiously cauterizing
a brand. New. Return to each single second
is not difficult to imagine place to serve,
time in a queen’s single slough, tossing,
turning slowly-recalling at once,
upon a time.