I am often asked the question of how do I stay “in the loop” or rather up to date with technology. While my method may not work for you it definitely is the best method for me. With that said I have come up with a list of “how I stay in the loop”.
It’s rare for me to surf the web. I subscribe to RSS Feeds. If a web site doesn’t provide an RSS feed then I don’t consider that site a valuable resource and I will probably never visit it again. I normally do not bookmark web sites. It comes down to me not having the time or no real desire to go looking for the latest and greatest in technology by surfing web sites, I prefer it to come to me. This is done of course with RSS feeds.
1. I manage my RSS feeds using NetNewsWire on my MacBook, and I synchronize my feeds with NewsGator. Could be via a web browser or the NetNewsWire application on my MacBook or iPod Touch. My feeds are synchronized. NewsGator also has a Windows client called FeedDemon.
2. My process for sorting through the new posts is pretty simple. Again this is what works for me. In the morning over a cup of coffee I go through my RSS subscriptions on my iPod Touch. What I am doing is filtering out the posts that don’t interest me, if something interests me I use the “add to clippings” option in NetNewsWire.
3. After I am done with that I then fire up Twitterrific on my iPod Touch. I read through the tweets and the ones that interest me I add to my favorites. Usually I am just finishing up my morning coffee when I finish with Twitterrific.
4. When I get to the office I open up NetNewsWire on my MacBook and it synchronizes with NewsGator thus getting the new postings I clipped using my iPod Touch.
I will also open up TweetDeck on my MacBook, this of course gets the tweets I added to my favorites when using Twitterrific.
5. Throughout the day I am reading the newest posts that show up in NetNewsWire as well the tweets in TweetDeck. I read some of them right away, others I add to the clippings folder in NetNewsWire or add to my Twitter favorites using TweetDeck.
6. Typically at lunch time I catch up on all that I have clipped in NetNewsWire or what I have added to my favorites on Twitter. I will also do this again later in the afternoon.
7. I also subscribe to a few podcasts via iTunes. The shorter podcasts, like GeekBrief, I watch/listen to right away. The longer podcasts, like MacBreak Weekly or BowCast, I will listen to while working. I like using the Notes application on the iPod Touch if I hear something of interest while I am listening to a podcast.
8. During the evening at home I am constantly checking NetNewsWire and Twitterrific on my iPod Touch for new information. When something catches my eye I clip it or favorite it for later.
9. I am also a big user of Evernote, if I find a product or solution that I like I will add it to Evernote. This keeps everything in one place and organized. Not to mention, Evernote is synchronized on every device I use!. I am going to a separate blog posting on how I use Evernote.
On weekends and holidays this all goes out the window. If we are home I may have my MacBook turned on so throughout the day I go and check NetNewsWire and TweetDeck. Typically I just leave them both running. If I know I may not be using the MacBook much then I don’t leave NetNewsWire or TweetDeck open and do the clip and favorite thing on my iPod touch.
Of course all my RSS feeds are not technology related. I do have a few NASCAR and Outdoor feeds I subscribe too!
Like I said this way may not be perfect, may not be ideal but it’s what works best for me.
How do you stay “in the loop” with technology or any other interest you may have?
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