Posts Tagged Average Joe
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
Blog theme
Posted by Adam Ainbinder in Life on January 2, 2009
so I’ve been trying to decide exactly what I want to put on my blog. It appears that most successful blogs focus on one thing 80% of the time, and throw in misc jokes, comments, etc… the other 20% of the time.
I’m very interested in social media, web 2.0, digital strategy, and web marketing. however, my hobbies are extremely varied and I focus on corporate finance during the day. social media for social media experts seems to be covered pretty well, so I’m going to focus on two things
1) Corporate Finance
2) Social Media for Average Joe/Jane
one thing I think will be helpful is to write about what is finance from a corporate perspective. yes, seems boring, but i think a lot of people out there would like to understand what finance is when working within a corporation, not when offering financial advice for corporations (investment banking: IPOs, mergers and acquisitions) or for individuals (wealth management, stock market investing, financial services). 
ive given up trying to explain what I do to my parents. and i still get calls all the time from family friends for capital raising advice, which fits outside the scope of my current position but I have some experience in.so I’ll fill you in on what goes on within a finance department without giving away the specifics of my company (i don’t think they’d be too thrilled).
i’ll also focus on digital and social media for the average person. i’m amazed with the wealth of tools to help people learn about the world today, and so many people are stuck in Power Off, Unplug, Reboot or Ctrl-Alt-Delete in order to get things to work. this is of course a metaphor for the old way…i hope to enlighten those about a new way.
plus, i will of course offer random ridiculous clips and jokes, and the occasionaly rumination about life and my purusit of my 2009 and LT goals.
off to the animal shelter…
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