I need to say “Thank you” to my local paper delivery service for not being able to deliver the Wall Street Journal. I have been a WSJ subscriber for years and I still believe the Journal is the best source for unbiased and critical reporting of today’s top issues. However, upon moving about a year ago, I was dismayed to find out that even though I have moved to the fastest growing county in Virginia, I could not receive morning delivery of the Journal. Instead, I would have to wait until the postal mail came sometime after lunch to get the news that I needed to keep on top of the day. Obviously, short of starting my own paper-route there was nothing I could do that would allow me to keep my routine of reading the top stories with my morning java, or was there? Along with my print subscription to the Journal, I also signed up for an online version that I could read 24/7 (as the news broke). Of course, I set my homepage (or actually one of my home "tabs" using IE 7.0) to this link and I was back in business.
Now by starting my cyber-routine at “coffee-time,” I can not only browse the Journal article I want, but I can scan my RSS feeds and keep up on the blogs that are of interest to me. That’s the difference in today’s online media versus the old days of 2002-03. Today we are much more aware of targeted media outlets like blogs or RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds that allow us to digest more relevant information and not wade through the cosmetic crap that fills up the AOL or MSN homepages.
Most of the readers on this page have probably figured out how to use RSS or scan blogs, but for those unlucky few who came across my musings by happenstance, I have listed a couple of tips that may help you consolidate your morning routine and ensure you have the information that is important to you.
First, get yourself a good mail program and/or browser. As a “Microsoft” guy, I use Outlook 2007 and IE 7.0, but you can use Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird as a ready alternative. The key is to have the ability to integrate RSS feeds into your mail or favorite websites section. There are specific RSS Readers that are great for this ,too. With a little preparation, you can open your program of choice and, voila, have the news feeds you care about. They may be from the Journal, Department of Homeland Security, or possibly Bob the Builder. Whatever it is that you are looking for, if it was posted, written about, or captured on video while you slept, it will be ready for you first thing in the morning. Personally, I like the integration with Outlook 2007 and IE 7.0. When I subscribe to a feed using the RSS button in IE 7.0, it automatically adds the feed to Outlook. Then any time a new feed is written, it comes into my mailbox like email messages. I can scan the subject line and determine its relevance before I engage the story itself.
But how do you find what you are looking for? Well, fortunately most traditional news outlets use RSS today, and most have topical RSS feeds (such as Tech Journal or Washington Wire). Also, a lot of today’s companies are instituting RSS feeds or blogs to discuss topics relevant to their development. If you want information from a supplier or vendor and want to be alerted of a change, a blog subscription or RSS feed is a great way to stay on top of it (i.e. Suite-Soft Blogs). Finally, there are several engines devoted to sorting out relevant blogs. My favorite is Technorati (http://www.technorati.com/). Blogs are a great way of communicating with other like-minded thinkers out there. Some great blog topics for businesses deal with tax strategies, corporate policy, and, of course, a plethora of sites on programming.
By the way, look for the RSS Gadget in the Microsoft Windows Vista™ Operating System. It is nice to have a feed for RSS always on the desktop. I am sure there is a “Widget” available for you Mac guys as well. Finally, I have a friend who lives by the phrase “Cash is King,” but I am repeatedly thinking to myself, “Information is King,” and the blogosphere is becoming a great place to find it.
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