Update on 3-week tech trial: RSS Edition
Posted by admin | Filed under Site
So far so good on the new 3-week tech trial system that I’ve applied
to Google Reader. To recap, I created a probationary folder for feeds
in Google Reader, into which all new feeds will reside for three
weeks. The basic assumption is that if over the course of three weeks
I don’t find any value in the new feeds they will be removed. Google
Reader’s Trends function is crucial to keeping track of what I’m
reading and what I’m not, as well as tracking how often feeds are
updated. Since starting this trial, I’ve subsequently added and
removed about twenty feeds.
The added benefit of the 3-week tech trial is that it eliminates the
mental “weight” of keeping track of all those new feeds. I’ve found it
much easier to add feeds at-will as I surf around the Tubes, knowing
that I have better control over what’s incoming to my RSS reader.
Currently I have about a dozen feeds that have made it past the trial
(some of which are feeds of friends and coworkers).
I’ll soon post an update on how the 3-week tech trial is playing out
for the hardware and software in my life. - Michael
Auto-delete all spam from Gmail
Posted by Michael | Filed under Site
The 30-day auto-delete spam feature of Gmail is nice, but I still hate knowing that the spam is there. I don’t (yet) get a lot of spam, but each morning I still delete it. I know, slightly OCD. Nevertheless, I wondered this morning if there’s a way to set Gmail to do this for me automatically.
Actually, there is a way. After a quick Google search, I discovered that it’s so simple I wish I’d thought of it in the first place.
In the Filters tab, create a new filter and enter into the Has the Words field “is: spam” (w/out quotes).
One more thing that I no longer have to think about. Ahhh…
Tags: Gmail filter, spam
Use a Probationary Tag to Firewall New Apps
Posted by Michael | Filed under Site
In the process of developing some management structure for all of my
technology tools, I’ve found it quite useful to keep a GMark tag (via
the Google Bookmarks extension in Firefox) named Probationary with
which I tag all of the new web apps and misc. stuff that I’m
evaluating, learning about, and generally not yet sure about how they
may fit into my personal and work productivity habits. Up until now,
I’ve tried to stay organized by tagging apps (most recently Mahalo)
along with every other similar app. After a while though, I had tags
with a dozen or so apps, most of which I’d forgotten about and never
used beyond the initial gee-whiz excitement.
With this new Probationary tagging system I have a firewall of sorts
to protect the tags for only those apps that I grant “access” past the
firewall. This also fits nicely with my previous post about the 3-Week
Tech Trial. All new apps will remain in this folder for 3-weeks until
such a decision can be made on the app’s viability. As a bonus, GMarks
keeps track of the Most Used bookmarks, so I can monitor this tag to
help make decisions on what to keep and what to delete. - Michael
The 3-Week Tech Trial
Posted by Michael | Filed under Site
There comes a time in life when one has to establish some structure and boundaries for adopting new technologies. In particular, those technologies that can be classified in the yet-another-social-network / Web 2.0 service. Same applies to hardware too. Now is the time for me.
I am instituting what I call the “3-Week Tech Trial” to which I will scrutinize all new technologies I choose (or am asked) to bring into my life, whether for work or for personal use. The general idea is that each new technology gets a 3-week probationary period, during which I will put forth an honest effort toward learning the technology and, in a process of “natural” selection, see if the new tech fits into my life habits and/or workflow. Most importantly, this includes the extent to which the technology compliments my life, adds something to improve my life, or simply makes my life a bit more fun. I’m at a point where I am fairly confident in understanding how I live and work, which makes embarking on this project a reasonable endeavor.
Before I begin though, I plan to compile a complete (or as complete as possible) listing of every technology (hardware and software) in my life that is above the level of being required for daily existence (i.e., a stove or refrigerator fits nicely into this category). On the surface this sounds daunting and somewhat overkill, but success of the 3-week trial necessitates having a firm understanding of where I currently stand, and then judicially applying the 80/20 rule to the list.
Certainly this rule is subject to revision as appropriate, but for now I’ll see how it goes and report regularly on my progress. Wish me luck… - Michael
Today’s task: culling the clutter
Posted by Michael | Filed under Site
Bolstered by the confidence instilled by a few cups of coffee, today seems to be a good day to cull some accumulated blogs, bookmarks, etc. from over the last few months.
For the blogs, Google Reader Trends is tremendously helpful, as it shows me at-a-glance what I’m reading and, more importantly, what I’m not. Normally I’m pretty good about keeping my subscriptions list to a minimum, but sometimes, such as recently, it gets away from me. According to me reading trends, I’m subscribed to 35 blogs. This is on my high end, which why I’ve chosen today to tend to my “garden o’ feeds.”
For percentage read, there’s a distinct cutoff at about 50%, with the next highest being 27%. Without mercy, I’m dropping all those from this point down — 25 blogs total. This list includes a few I used to follow when I had a PC, but now that I have a Mac, there’s not much point in keeping them. Some others were suggested as “must reads,” but they’re still at 0% read, so the choice is easy.
In terms of simplicity, this periodic culling helps keep me focused on keeping only what I actually read and find value in including as part of my daily blog reading. The rest I “liberate” from my subscription feeds; for as much as I may think “oh, I’ll read that someday” I know — and so does Google Reader — that I won’t and so I need to let go.
Now that the self-imposed pressure of trying to keep up with so many blogs is reduced, I can now focus more of my attention on the ones that remain.
Ahhh…time for another cup o’ joe…
-Michael
