Archive for January 3rd, 2009

wow…ultramarathons

Posted by Adam Ainbinder in Life on January 3, 2009

this is inspirational!

how do you consume information?

Posted by Adam Ainbinder in Life on January 3, 2009

I think that the future of consuming information will be very different than it is today. 3 months ago, I was reading the economist. now I’m downloading it online and listening to it on the way to work.

more importantly, I’m barely listening to it anymore because i discovered Google Reader. I subscribe to feeds via RSS – real simple syndication (and explained video explaining it below – in Plain English) – and these feeds are provided continuously, so I don’t need to visit sites anymore because I just look at my reader. here’s how it works

Find News you like. Find blogs, news sites, etc that you’re interested in. On these sites, you should see an RSS feed, similar to the RSS feed you see on my site at the top of my right sidebar
Click on the RSS feed. This is usually located on the top of bottom of a site. It should be easy to find. Once you click on it, it will ask you where to add
Select a reader. Once you click on the RSS feed, it will ask you to use a reader. I use google reader, which i think is awesome. I can organize my subscriptions into groups, and i can share, share with note, star to read later, or email them to people.
Add it to a reader. If you’re using google reader, select google, then select google reader (if you use igoogle, you can also add it to the home page, but google reader knocks igoogle out of the park!)
Read the articles in your reader. Visit google reader and read. It’s that simple. Once you subscribe, every update to that site is automatically updated in your reader. I love the tabs at the bottom that allow you to quickly move to and from articles, and the number in () tell you how many articles you haven’t read. Great way to manage your information!

So what’s in store in the future? I mean this has really changed the way I take in information as I barely read my magazines and newspapers anymore! Will portable devices allow me to consume this on the go? the kindle? iphone?

i can see how this has improved the way i consume information (as well as increased how much I consume per hour – my “consumption productivity”). here’s what my google reader looks like:

Adam

RSS in Plain English

Average Joe, consume, google reader, information, RSS, technology

4 Comments

is time our friend or our enemy?

Posted by Adam Ainbinder in Life on January 3, 2009

do you want more hours in the day?

how many of you wish there were more hours in the day? is this a good thing? are we enjoying life if we need MORE hours? are we taking in the hours that we have in the right way? What if we wanted fewer hours and days to be shorter?

I’ve always wanted there to be more hours, particularly now with school ending and taking up some new hobbies. I’ve even debated sacrificing that precious thing we call sleep, but then it affects my work performance.

I’m going to try and make time my friend in 2009, not my enemy. i think i can enjoy life more if i do that! i have several more years of my life to get things done, so what’s the rush?

sleep, technorati, time

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animals need help too

Posted by Adam Ainbinder in Goals on January 3, 2009

spent a few hours at the animal shelter today. what an amazing experience! everytime I go, i get pretty emotional. It’s hard looking at these wonderful animals in cages.

I’ve been told by my trainer that it’s better for them to be in these cages with a meal and water everyday then on the street. that logic makes sense and helps me get through the day.

either way, i discovered two things today

black cats still have a stigma, and people don’t want to adopt them – huge % of black cats
older cats don’t get the love they deserve

Why do people care about black cats? they’re THE SAME as other cats. man, i was playing with some of the best black cats today – friendly, playful, funny…it doesn’t matter! so sad. how can we reverse this stigma? black cats need to be re-branded! maybe in a movie?

as far as older cats, i can understand if the life together with the owner is shorter. but i was playing with a cat named pirate today – most loving cat. calm, gentle, friendly. he lost his friend over the past few weeks (to adoption). he’s 8. i would say he has a small chance of getting adopted? what can we do for older cats? i know they could fill a place in someone’s heart.

i also saw another cat today named lieutenant…he had FIV. It’s like HIV, but for cats. Most playful loving cat at the shelter. he jumped on the cage when i saw him and climbed to the top to greet me. gorgeous black and white cat. well, he’s 4 years old and has plenty of life left, but people pass him by because of the virus. The virus means he needs to be an only cat, and it has no impact on humans. the cat needs love too!

if you can, save an animal. i know you can provide a good home. and trust me, a pet is always there when you need em!