Feeding and foraging, a balanced approach to a blog-reading diet

I agree with Fred Wilson . As efficient as feeds are and as helpful as they can be in keeping tabs on a bazillion blogs, they aren't enough to satisfy my Web reading appetite. I liked My Yahoo for a bit. More recently I've been trying out Rojo. I check it religiously every morning when I want a quick and dirty take on the current buzz before settling down to work.

But throughout the day, when I have a little time, I browse. Many folks have the doctrine that they'll only read blogs that offer full feeds because they only read 'em that way. Everyone should offer that, but as a reader, it doesn't mean that's the only way I want it.

Take BoingBoing, for example. Looking at a bunch of text headlines from BoingBoing in Rojo doesn't do it for me. I usually decide what to read based largely on the accompanying photo. With a feed reader, you don't see that until you click on the headline.

Also, despite the abundance of ugly-templated blogs (like, oh, this one) there are still plenty of cool and different ones out there. Design does still matter. I guess what I'm saying is that I like to be fed, but sometimes I like to go out and forage for myself.

Don't be fooled, bowling only looks harmless

"Limber up, avoid bowling injuries" advises the local daily.

Ever since I picked a ball off a rack and found out it was much lighter than I expected, I've known that bowling can be dangerous. I put too much muscle into it and it swung right into my face, chipping my tooth. Though I guess maybe that was a product of being too limber.

Never mind.

Geography still matters and so does a little peace and quiet

As someone who majored in geography and cares greatly about "place," I'm always heartened to see that even in a wireless world, location still matters for business as much as it does for homebuyers. Seems Starbucks is considering moving its content division from Seattle to LA to be closer to Hollywood and the music industry. Funny, I always thought Starbucks' content was coffee. (via PaidContent)

On a related note, Om Malik takes Starbucks to task for focusing too much on piping its audible content into its shops in an effort to boost CD sales and not enough on the content of the piping hot variety that's at its core. He says turning on the music is turning off mobile workers and anyone who wants to have a conversation.

On a related related note, we visited the Westin Diplomat while in South Florida last week. It was down the beach and well up the food chain from the place we were staying, but we wanted to check it out. Beautiful lobby, nice bar. And an oceanfront pool (above) that would be a lovely place to relax were it not for the Duran Duran blasting over the sound system. That's a deal breaker for me. I don't want to listen to someone else's music. Let 'em bring their iPods poolside. Let silence or just the gentle sound of kids splashing and giggling be an option.

South Florida sojourn

A few thoughts on South Florida after a recent weeklong visit:

• When you've been away from Manhattan or the Bay Area for a few years now, as I have, seeing the kind of obscene wealth that's on display in Palm Beach is a little disconcerting.

• I-95 from Miami to Fort Lauderdale is the craziest stretch of freeway I've ever encountered. That's saying a lot for me, having lived in the Bay Area and Massachusetts. We called the drive the Rodeo. It was common to see people driving over 100 mph and weaving perilously close to other traffic. We saw three accidents and only one state trooper in a week. Talk about white-knuckle driving.

• There's a weird Florida vibe that I can't put my finger on. Wouldn't want to live there. But the weather sure is nice and I can see why all the seniors love to retreat there from Northeast winters.
  

The 30-Second Spot: Alive and Well, Just Not on TV

Saw this NYT story via Dave Winer about ads as the main draw. The best spots are as entertaining as just about any of the TV progamming they support. Look at sites like YouTube where (along with videos of girls kissing) commercials are always among the most viewed. The 30-second spot isn't dead, it just has to work harder. The audience is no longer captive. Advertisers that make ads that people want to see (anywhere, at any time, not just on SuperBowl Sunday) will have effective campaigns.

Asking for Personal Information: a Right Way and the Wrong Way

The public is understandably sensitive to matters of protecting their privacy on the internet. So for businesses who want some insight into their customers' web habits, it's clear that there's a right way...

From the blog of design group We Break Stuff:

"...If you'’re wondering about why I'’m collecting this information, I want to trace usage patterns and assert how those relate to the design, usability and IA of web applications. This will translate in some of the next blog posts in the "Building web applications" series. Thanks!"

And a wrong way...

From (my former employer) the Times Herald-Record:

"We would like to know what other local website you visit on a regular or semi-regular basis."

I bet you would. So would the Department of Justice. So would a lot of people. But why on earth should I trust you with this information? What will you use it for? If you can't be bothered to anticipate these questions, who will bother to answer yours?

Blogger's Lack of Self-Awareness

Addendum to post below: while running spell check, Blogger flagged the words "blog" and "blogosphere" as misspelled words. The later I can maybe understand, but the former? What's up with that?

Addendum to the addendum: It just similarly flagged "Blogger". Hello....?

Cheap Thrills

I was at once stoked and slightly chagrined this morning to find that Doc Searls had noted my response to his post on madness-inducing public radio fund drives.

Stoked because I've only been experimenting with this blog for a few months and until this week hosted roughly zero visitors (give or take a few) to it.

Tara Hunt did link to it a week or two back after I asked her a question about her marketer as community builder/enabler.

So, in two weeks, I've gotten at least passing attention from two smart, respected thinkers in the Web world, a young gun and a veteran, respectively. These guys are big time in this world that I'm exploring.

Now, I don't worship false idols. But that's just my point, and it's why I'm getting more encouraged about my prospects for sticking with and improving this blog. Their Technorati rankings are top-notch, but they're as eager and willing to engage with the little folks here in the shadows of the blogosphere as they are with fellow A-listers.

So, why chagrined? Because seeing myself referred to as Pinecone felt silly. I've been meaning to update my "About" information but lacked motivation. Now that I know people might actually stop by for a look, I'll have to make that a priority.

Of Beautiful Sights and Irritating Sounds

Aside from taking my breath away with this pretty picture ("California Dreamin' on such a winter's day"), this Doc Searls post made me laugh because, in it, he speaks of his(albeit) modest efforts to circumvent his local public radio station during pledge drive hell.

"I give them money," he says, "but not during fund drives. It only encourages them."

I feel your pain, man. Here in the Hudson Valley, our terrestrial public radio comes courtesy of WAMC. Based in Albany, I've been told the station's call letters are the initials of Alan Chartock, its President and CEO. I'm also told this guy is the force behind this station, so kudos to you, Alan. I mean that. But I also mean this: get off the air, please!

My morning commute is about 25 minutes. In that time today, I heard Chartok come on no fewer than five times as he implored listeners to pledge ahead of next week's fund drive, threatening that failure to do so could mean they won't be able to carry the Senate Judiciary Committee meetings on Bush's wiretapping. Not much of a threat for me. Only the true wonks, retired ones at that, listen to these things for more than a few minutes. I'll wait for the story in the Times, thanks. The worst is when he begins, "Sorry to bother you..."

No you're not. You'd be on the air 24/7 if you could. He already pops up on so many of the stations shows, most laughably when he's treated in news stories as an impartial third-party commentator with the title, "political observer." I agree with most of his liberal politics, but his party-line views are so predictable as to make his value as an "observer" less than zero.

My biggest issue with these fund-drives is that they're trying to get you to pay for something by depriving you of it. There's virtually no NPR programming on during the fund drive week. Yet they find time for inane skits always featuring none other than...Alan Chartok. You can bet I won't go near that end of the dial next week.

And then there's his voice. Some people have a face for radio. Alan also has a voice for print. Thanks for all the energy you put into WAMC, Alan. But, please, step away from the mic.

SMT5600 vs. Razr. Which name sticks with you?

I don't understand cell phones. I mean I don't understand the logic behind the marketing. Nokia, Audiovox, LG, these are all powerful brands. But do people decide they want an Audiovox phone? I don't think so. Instead, they decide they want a particular Audiovox phone, say the SMT5600.

I've seen this phone. I like this phone. But I have trouble remembering the name. Because it's not a name. It's a bunch of letters and numbers. The Motorola Razr, on the other hand. I remember. Surely part of the phone's success comes from their smarts in using the opportunity of a phone's name to help market it.