#Kevs30th Birthday Social Media Style

In true geek fashion I established #Kevs30th for social media fun, and captured the whole thing on Storify

Saying Goodbye To Things You Love

One of the challenges of being a web early adopter is the likelihood that a lot of services you fall in love with will ultimately disappear.  New start-ups are launching exciting digital products for us to fawn over every day, and many of us web obsessed rush to try them as soon as possible.  The ones we like we invest a ton of time in, way before there's any chance of knowing if anyone else will be interested enough to join along and help propel the start-up to become a viable company.

On a good day we become obsessed with the start-up, preach about it to everyone we know, and then take some credit for it's success as it builds towards greatness.  But often times the start-ups we love don't make it.  Not enough people end up seeing the value in the product and the product shuts down, or the company's ambitions of their own success get usurped by a high priced suitor that strips it down for parts.  Either way the outcome is the same: the product we love disappears from us.

This last week I've had to say goodbye to a number of products I've really enjoyed over the last few years, all for different reasons.  News aggregator Summify was acquired and neutered  by Twitter.  Online photo editor Picnik was shuttered by its owner Google.  And Plancast CEO Mark Hendrickson announced he will be giving up on the pursuit of his two year old social event sharing product after it failed to gain enough traction on the web.

While saying goodbye to Summify and Picnik is tough, both are in a popular space and have strong competitors that will serve as worthy replacements.  Plancast, however, is by far and away the best social event sharing site I've ever come across.  It's attractive, incredibly easy to use, and has powerful integration built in to other event platforms like Meetup, EventBrite and Facebook that helps make event sharing effortless.  Whereas the old stalwart event planning site Upcoming.com was painful to populate, Plancast is a pleasure to use and explore.  It's one of the products I can't really understand why enough people found compelling enough to use, and one that I'll really miss when it's gone.

The good news about being a web early adopter, though, is that for every start-up heartbreak there's a new start-up to take it's place.  I wake up every day now excited to play with Path, I'm testing out Buffer to power my social publishing, and I've just signed up for News.Me to replace the hole that Summify will be leaving in my day.  And I can't wait to preach to you about all of them.

Continuing Education

One of my goals for 2011 was to put more effort into continuing my education.  After graduating and transitioning to the work force it gets a lot harder to feel like you're learning and getting to grow mentally in directions beyond what your job dictates.  However, living in New York City, I am lucky that there are a lot of ways to take classes and attend lectures for relatively minimal money.  Here are 5 local ways I "get back in the classroom" (and one bonus on-line resource):

Ignite Sessions

http://www.ignitenyc.org

Ignite is a unique event where you learn a little bit about a lot of things through a rapid-fire series of short lectures.  Speakers can apply to present on anything, and typically the collection of chosen lectures varies widely from technology, to the arts to society.  Each speaker is given 5 minutes to present a coordinated talk along with 20 slides that turn on their own every 15 seconds.  The structured nature of the event keeps the audience entertained whether the topic is NASA research, samurai swords, or anything else.  Events are usually around $10.  You can view all of the past Ignite NYC talks here: http://www.youtube.com/user/IgniteNYC#g/u

Creative Mornings

http://creativemornings.com

Creative Mornings are "a monthly breakfast lecture series for creative types".  Each monthly event is usually about :30 minute breakfast, :30 minute lecture and :30 minute Q+A discussion session.  Past speakers have been writers, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and more.  They take place on Friday mornings from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. and have been sponsored, so attendance is free (and sign-up fills up fast).  You can view all of the past Creative Mornings lectures here:

http://vimeo.com/creativemornings/videos  

General Assembly

http://generalassemb.ly

By day, General Assembly is a co-working space where teams of people can rent desk space and share collective office resources.   By night, General Assembly is a an educational campus that hosts classes to help teach new technology, business and marketing skills.  Classes usually cost around $25 per hour and are taught by employees from small start-up companies to Google employees.  This year I took classes on Gamification, API Programming and Website Wireframing.  Unfortunately, the classes have been a bit hit or miss because they're sometimes taught by smart people who aren't good teachers.  However, I'm optimistic and will continue to try more.

TEDxBrooklyn

http://tedxbrooklyn.com

TEDx is an offshoot of the popular global TED conference, though on a local level.  The organizers of TEDxBrooklyn put together an annual all-day event mixing talks from local business leaders and artists with curated videos of the global TED conference.  This year's event was held at Brooklyn Bowl, and the topic was "redefining better".  Highlights included motivational speaker Jullien Gordon, Etsy CEO Chad Dickerson, Gotham Greens founder Viraj Puri and several music & art performances.  The event cost $100 for the full day, including lunch.  The event wasn't perfect, but I expect that the quality will improve each year as the founders gain more experience.

140 Characters Conference
http://140conf.com 

140 is actually a series of conferences throughout the year that covers a number of topics.  This year I attended the tentpole #140conf ,  a 2-day event discussing how social media effects business and people, and #140edu , a 1-day event discussing how social media can improve education.  The first event was a series of short :10 - :15 minute presentations and panel discussions, and was very interesting in the same way that Ignite typically is.  The edu event was a more classic format, with fewer + longer presentations, and wasn't nearly as interesting.  I would make my decisions to attend future events based on the format and the costs- which varied from $1.40 to $140 per event (discounts to frequent attendees).

Next year, in addition to attending conferences and classes, I'm also committing to taking some online courses.  One site I'm really excited about is Codecademy.  The site is basically a collection of "gamified" courses on web programming.  Courses are broken down into small incremental assignments, and motivation is driven by badges and level completions.  Codecademy seems like an powerful, free, way to learn new subjects, one I'm very excited to spend more time with.  I'll update everyone soon on how it goes.

So what are the ways you learn?  And what are your other 2012 goals? 

Some Grade-school Nostalgia This Weekend

This weekend i've had a few throw-back moments that rekindled the joy of favorite things from my grade-school days.
First, Capcom released an iPhone app that lets you play old arcade games like the original Street Fighter 2. For me this is straight-up a flashback to grade school skating rink parties. I'm surprised how many of the special moves I remember after not playing an arcade game at least 15 years. I was so hooked on the game in the subway that I missed my stop.
Second was this short youtube film I came across about opening packs of baseball cards. Anyone who's visited my bedroom back in Cherry Hill knows how obsessed I was with baseball cards back in the day. I used to skip lunch all week and pocket the money so I could run to the card store Friday after school to buy more.
Anyway neither of these drives down memory lane will get me back into the hobbies for long but it was fun for the weekend.

[written on my iPhone at while biking at the gym]

Outdoor Adventures in West Virginia

This weekend a bunch of us ditched New York City for a weekend of outdoor adventures in West Virginia.  First we conquered white water rafting down 16 miles of the Upper Gauley River, a stretch of class 5 rapids often considered the best river rafting on the east coast.  It was the first time any of us had ever done such an aggressive rafting trip, and for the most part we killed it.  We made it through most of the tough stretches of rapids mostly unscathed, though I flipped out 3 times.  Afterward we made our way to New River Gorge where my brother took us rock climbing.  It was the first time I'd climbed out of a gym, which was really cool.  It was a really awesome, unique weekend that my brother summed up best in 140 characters:

@askobac: the new & gauley river: class 5 rapids, pies & pints, junkyard wall, gumbos, friends, brother, flipped raft, first fall on gear = great trip

My 365 Project

My 2010 goal is to complete a 365 photo project; the idea is to produce 1 picture a day for every day of the year. Ideally this means taking a photo, doing any digital editing that I'd like, and publishing it to my gallery (though sometimes I'll use a picture I took earlier in the year) every single day in 2010. So far I've gone 23 straight days, so I think I'm ready to open up the project to the public:

Follow my daily gallery on Tumblr
or
See the gallery on Flickr

I'd love to buy a DSLR at some point, but in the mean time I'm relying on a point-and-shoot Canon SD700 and my iPhone 3GS. I'd love comments and suggestions on the pictures!

do we publish too much too often about our lives?

Recently I was at a bar having a very challenging conversation with a friend about the state of our lives now that we are connected in so many ways.  He looks at facebook and flickr and twitter and yelp and youtube and blogger (and more) and challenges me to explain just how life has gotten better now that I am actively recording, updating, blasting, publishing, posting just everything I do.  And not only do I do it, but I often do it in real time- as it's happening.  He thinks people like me have lost the ability to really enjoy anything because we are too busy recording everything and telling everyone about it.

Its a troubling question- mostly because I spend a gross amount of time and effort doing it all.  By some counts I'm active in over 40 social networks (depending on definition), and I'm often the one stopping to take out a phone or camera or,when I have nothing else, a pen and paper.  In my friend's estimation, this means I am not really enjoying anything as much as I could be, not getting as much out the moment as I could be.  I'm never as happy as I could be because at any given time I'm half checked out somewhere in my mind and being.

The more I thought about it, however, I simply couldn't agree with his assessment.  I don't agree because his measure of utility, his definition enjoyment, is too one demensional.  To him it seems you can only enjoy the moment you're physically in.  For people like me though, the moment itself is just the beginning. 

To begin, we do things we like, we enjoy it.  But then we record and comment on it.  We start to think about it deeper.  We revisit it, find more reasons to appreciate it and enjoy new levels of appreciation from ourselves.

And we start conversations.  We talk about our activities with other people, unlock things we didn't know, learn about things similar that we might like that we never would have known about.  Or we make new friends that we never knew enjoyed similar things.

And we enjoy the platforms we share on.  We explore them too, discover their value, help them to expand and grow and develop for the betterment of others.  We gain satisfaction and a sense of worth by contributing for society benefit.

In short, we take a simple moment and expand it into a cascading sequence of experiences that continue to enhance and add value to our lives.  While any one might be less than the other, together they may far exceed.

Post: I wrote this before seeing "we live in public"; i'l have to regroup and add more thoughts including response to the film

Where'd my writing go? Introducing UsableClicks

So I never took the time to write on this blog about my new project, and where the majority of my writing has gone lately.  Most of the people reading this blog probably already know it by following me on Twitter, Facebook, etc, but I started a joint venture project with a few old co-worker friends.  The new website is called UsableClicks, and the focus is on actionable marketing strategy and tactics.  Ultimately it will be a combination of our writing, recommending reading of marketing content out on the web, and resource pages such as all you need to do your own blog & buzz tracking.  This doesn't mean I'll stop blogging at my personal blog here, but lately it's meant I haven't had much time for it.  Again, I hope that I find better balance.  In the mean time, you can follow UsableClicks three ways (besides visiting the site):

Rss , Email , Twitter 

My most recent article "Why do we waste our time (and why you should do the same)" is a personal introspective into why we care to be early adopters and spend hours playing with new products that give us very little in return.  It meant a lot to me to write; if you have thoughts on it, feel free to comment or discuss over at UsableClicks.

Oh, and if you have any interest in writing about marketing strategy, let us know - we'd love to have some guest writers.

My Personal Blogging Hiatus

I've been silent for a over a month now on my personal blog k.b.skobac - it wasn't necessarily intentional, but it's just that I've been dedicating my time to different projects.  For starters, as the recession has slowly taken over my company as much as others, it seems like everyone has more work to do (in addition to leading the online planning for the Office Of National Drug Control Policy, I am also now on Fisher Price Friends and Patanase Nasal Spray).  Also, I've been spending time writing for another project that I hope gets unveiled soon - I'm excited about it.  In the mean time, I really want to get back to writing more here again, about non-work related things.

Liking What You Do

Image via Wikipedia

Seth Godin contrasts his conjecture "It's more important that you be passionate about what you do all day than it is to be passionate about the product that is being sold" with his statement "All that statement "I've never met a great marketer who wasn't passionate about what she sold. In the case of marketing, it's not just a nice combination, it's a requirement". What do you think; can you be really great at a job that you are exceptionally skilled at but really don't care about the mission? A lot of really skilled people fail to accomplish great things because they just don't care about what they're working on - I'm guessing more often than not, lack of interest and passion in your product will overshadow your ability.

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Working on Being Greener (Part of my ‘09 Resolutions)

I got a head start on one of my new years resolutions tonight – I am trying hard to get rid of all of the wasteful paper that comes to me in the mail from banks, credit cards, etc.  I turned off all monthly paper printed statements for Chase here and switched to Paperless Statements on my Amex through the account options.  I also emailed my investment manager to request that he turn off my monthly statements as well.  As far as I can tell, I won’t be receiving any monthly financial statements in print mail in 2009.

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• My Resolutions for 2009

Making My Parents a 2009 Calendar

Every year my brother and I make a calendar for my parents for the upcoming year.  We post pictures on Flickr from the year previous, trying to capture photos of the two of us with and without our parents, cousins, etc.  Then print the calendar from Qoop.  Qoop is easy to use and the quality is really pretty good, and with shipping the cost of 2 printed calendars is under $37.  It’s fun to go back through the whole year’s photos, and my parents love it – one for my kitchen and one for my dad’s office.  It’s a great Channukah gift.

Here’s the photos Andrew and I chose this year:

My Resolutions for 2009

1) Complete projects that I start
I think I run with too many ideas, don't focus them, and don't complete them.  It's beginning to seem futile, and I need to focus on deciding what I want to accomplish and doing it.

1a) Make a significant change at work

There's a lot of opportunity at my job to make something happen, beyond the every day work.  I need to stop talking about it, and do it.  

2) Identify the things that matter to me and ignore the filler

It seems like there's a lot of pressure in this city or in life in general to do a lot, to always be using your time, to always be busy.  I think I had a pretty good 2008, but I want to avoid that pressure and only do the things I really care about, rather than just doing things to check them off a list or feel like I used my time.

2a) Spend more time in non-Starbucks coffee shops reading and writing

One thing I always enjoy when I make the time to do it is sit in coffee shops watching, reading, and writing.  It's something I rarely pick over another option, but I usually enjoy it more.  And it shouldn't be Starbucks, there isn't the same kind of energy or interestingness there.

3) Improve my socially concious efforts

This year spurred a lot of interest in alternative oil, green awareness, and more.  But I don't want to be one of the many who forgot about the need for alternative energy once the oil prices dropped again.  This year a group of friends tried to eliminate the frivilous use of paper cups when drinking coffee; I also contributed to and tried to spread the word about Donors Choose.  Hopefully I make more progress moving forward.

My 2008: A Look Back at the Events and Activities

I am planning doing a series of posts recapping various perspectives of my 2008 and I thought a fun way to start would be to look back at the memorable events that shaped it – the activities and trips, etc. It’ll be nostalgic as I put it together, and possibly dig up some funny stories or pictures. This isn’t everything, but the things that really stuck out for me when they happened. So Here I go:

1/7 – I attended the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. I stayed in a beyond seedy motel behind a liquor store on the Vegas strip, I saw Jerry Yang give a Keynote Speech as CEO of Yahoo, and I viewed several miles worth of booths containing the world’s largest TV’s and various other new electronics, along with 150 thousand other people.

1/17 – Angela and I went to see the Editors & Hot Hot Heat at Terminal 5. The concert was great until the last song during the main set, when someone in the balcony threw up on us. We ran out into the rain along with 20 or so other unfortunate people; it was one of the grossest moments I can remember, and I am partially traumatized about concerts now.

1/21 – I got to see the Celtics, behind the big 3 Garnett Pierce and Allen, trounce the Knicks during a season that the Celtics then went on to become the NBA Champions. I sat in the 17th row.

1/26 – I ran the Idiotarod for the 3rd time, this time with Ari, Angela, Jackie, Mike, and Andrew. We wore ridiculous neon outfits, ran more 4 miles from Manhattan, over the bridge, and through Brooklyn, and got covered in all sorts of disgusting stuff.

2/21 – I went with Vito to see Linkin Park at MSG; The highlight when Jay-Z mad a surprise appearance on stage to sing Encore with them.

2/25 – “Black Magic”, a film about race issues through the history of Basketball that features my Uncle Milton as a commentator (he wrote a book on the subject), debuts at Apollo Theater. I attend with my mom and uncle; together we are easily 2 feat shorter than everyone else in the theater.

2/28 – I attend the Deep Blue Something reunion tour with Ari to witness the reprisal of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” in a very empty Brooklyn bar where people ignored the band until their one hit was played. I felt really bad for them, and they looked miserable. The song was awesome.

3/1 – Angela and I head to Riviera Maya Mexico for a quick vacation on my birthday. We visit Chizen Itza, one of the 7 wonders of the world, and jump 20 feet into an underground water pool called a cenote. It’s the farthest we’ve both ever jumped and we got no good pictures!

3/18 – Angela and I stand outside in the middle of a very cold night to see the Elephants from the Circus walk through the mid-town tunnel from Queens into Manhattan. It’s quick and underwhelming after the wait.

3/22 – We attend the Union Square Pillow Fight for the 2nd year in a row. It’s much bigger this year, equally hilarious, and I do get punched in the face.

4/4 – Angela, Ari, and I learn about the hidden world of Underground Art Battles. It’s a pretty cool experience but not an every day thing, as you are mostly waiting patiently and watching.

4/23 – My dad and I go to the Phillies/Cubs game and Sixers/Cavs game on back-to-back days, a Philly sports road-trip of sorts. It’s the beginning of an amazing Baseball season where the Phillies win the World Series.

4/27 – We attend a screening of a critically acclaimed animated film at the Tribeca Film Festival, that may yet hit the theaters in ‘09 or ‘10 (it was really good but I can’t remember the name).

5/1 – Angela and I attend the Google Art Show, a projection show to music being presented on the walls of buildings in the Meatpacking District. It’s raining on us as we stand outside, which I think kind of added to the effect.

5/16 – Angela and I visit the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens; I’d never been there, and I still haven’t been to the Bronx Zoo – that has to be a goal of mine in 2009.

6/7 – The Big Apple Bar-Be-Que comes to town on a ridiculously hot summer day. BBQ restaurants from all over the country come and set up in Madison Square park, and you can buy samples. The lines are long, it’s worth paying for a speed pass.

6/21 – My friends and I go on a road trip to see a Nationals game in Washington D.C., a Phillies game in Philadelphia, and a Pearl Jam Concert in Camden. All of them are awesome, but the memorable moment for me is ending up at an IHOP in the middle of the night in D.C.

6/28 – Angela and I head to California to visit San Francisco, Wine Country, the Redwoods, the beach, and the famous 17 mile drive. It’s an awesome vacation, one where each day brought something totally new and fun. Everything about the trip worked out perfectly accept 1 one horrendous hotel; also its the first time I ever rented a car.

7/10- Angela, Tanayia and I check out Shakespeare in the Parking Lot, a very interesting spin on Shakespeare that is performed literally in a functioning parking lot around the cars coming in and out. It’s one of those things you are surprised and yet expect from New York City.

7/13 - I take Angela home to Cherry Hill to go blueberry picking at the farms. It's her first time; we pick 9 pounds of blueberries and later make some amazing pie.

7/14 – We head to Coney Island for a Brooklyn Cyclones game and bumper cars, my first and only visit before Coney Island gets torn down.

7/18 – Ari, Mike, and I do the Chipotle Underwear Run in Central Park; I forget I’m not wearing any pants and get out of the car to walk home infront of Macy’s.

7/25 – We head to Wildwood NJ for a weekend Beach Ultimate Frisbee tournament. We get destroyed, our worst showing in 3 entries, but we have a great time anyway, and Bruce manages not to repeat his mistake of throwing his keys away and making us get towed 100 miles. Angela and Eric have a fierce Chubby Bunny contest.

7/29 – Angela and I see Spring Awakenings on Broadway; if you haven’t seen it, you should before it leaves.

8/1 – My Brother, Dad, Friends, and I backpack the Wallowa Mountains in Oregon. It’s 45 miles, 10,000 feet vertical, 50 degree temperature swings, and 6 days of intense camping. It’s an amazing challenging week.

8/9 – The Wedding Life Stage begins; 3 weeks running of Bachelor Parties and Weddings for my old college roommates Dave and Jeff. It starts out with paint ball in Massachusetts – my first time, would definitely play again. I give a speech at Dave’s wedding.

8/23 – My whole family takes a cruise up the North East Coast to Canada for my Grandfather’s 80th Birthday. It’s the first time we’ve ever all traveled together and it’s the first cruise we’ve ever taken. It provides countless family photo ops.

9/13 – Our Zog Football season starts; my first Zog sport, a right of passage in NYC. Jackie puts together an awesome team. I don’t score any points until the last game, months later.

9/21 – I run the 5th Avenue Mile Race in just under 7 minutes, my first formal race (and 1 mile is just about my limit).

10/4 – Day of Cultural events in NYC. Angela and I do the 1.7 mile Norway run in Central Park; then we walk through the Gracie Square Art Show; then we meet Bruce at the Korean Festival for lunch. Later, I head to a disturbing film screening about nightmares at the New Yorker festival.

10/11 – Angela and I vacation to Lisbon Portugal; it becomes one of my favorite places. Portugal is Europe without the hastle. We see castles, eat delicious pastries, and drink a lot of coffee.

10/15 – We see Stephen Colbert do a reading of a short story at the Cymfony Space ‘Tales of the Office’ short stories reading event. It turns out he loves to do this; I found books on tape that he reads.

10/20 – I see Art Spiegelman, the author of MAUS, speak about the graphic novel genre; I then get to meet him, and have a copy of his book personalized. It’s incredibly emotional and I am thankful for the opportunity.

11/28 – Angela and I see Avenue Q on Broadway with my Parents; if you’ve seen it, you understand why that might not have been the best choice. Still, it was a hilarious play.

12/7 – Angela and I check out the Gizmodo Tech exhibit, get to see some early models of computers, cameras, phones, and apple prototypes that never made it into production.

12/11 – Vito and I hit up Rockwood Music Hall to see some relatively unknown groups play. We’re a few feet from the stage, it’s an amazing intimate music experience, the acoustic performance is great, and I fall in love again with live music.

Missing Calvin and Hobbes

 

I stumbled upon an article that reminded me of Calvin and Hobbes, and how Calvin and Hobbes could be summarized in one single word - Friendship.  How reading the books, we not only witnessed Calvin and Hobbes friendship, but became best friends with them.  I miss Calvin and Hobbes - there has never been a comic close to it, and I don't have as many fond memories reading anything else as I do reading them over and over.  Leave me thoughts on the ones you remember, and if you can, link me to prints.  

(I posted links to rare Bill Waterson comics a while back)

Flashback: The Dominican Republic with Angela and my Friends

3.2007.dominican republic. 081
Originally uploaded by kskobac.

Lately pictures have been popping up in my picture frame that I've forgotten about, and absolutely love - I guess it's the kind of thing that good pictures memories become better over time. I'm going to start posting the pictures that make me pause, and writing a bit about them on flickr under the picture, in another attempt to tap into my Daily Fotolog, which never really took off. You can see my reborn daily Fotolog here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kskobac/sets/72157604529959949/

The picture here was taken on my trip to the Dominican Republic, with Angela, Bruce, Mark, and Ari. It was the first trip that Angela and I took together. I was nervous about it, but it was an incredible trip, everyone had a great time, and she held her own on a very male-driven trip with non-stop sports and little beach relaxation. Here Bruce and Angela are in the back of a bus taking us to a catamaran trip early in the morning.

Inspiring passages read on the New Year

I don't often write about religion, but this morning in Rosh Hashana services I read a passage in the prayer book that I found particularly impactful. It's not about religion so much as it's about life perspective, and life approach - I think we can, myself included, all benefit from focusing more on thinking about both of those things more often. The text I'm copying here is an abridged version, focusing on the portions that were most significant to me:

A Passage Read on Rosh Hashana
(edited)

The day has come
to take an accounting of my life
Have I dreamed of late
of the person I want to be,
in the changes I would make,
in my daily habits,
in the way I am with others,
in the friendship I show companions.

I have remained enchained too often
to less than what I am
But the day has come
to take an accounting of my life.

I, who am my own kind of needy person,
have been afraid of vision.

I need to be loved.
Do I deserve to be?
I need to love another.
Can I commit to my love?
Perhaps its object will be less than my visions
(and then I would be less)
Perhaps I'm not brave enough to find new vision
through a real and breathing person.

So long as I have breath
I know I have the strength
to transform what I can be
to what I am.

The Open Book World vs. the World of Information Overload

Mark Cuban has an interesting post about how "information overload" is a myth, that we've moved to such a point of aggregation (think Techmeme) and access (think Google) that we no longer have to worry about when where or how to find information - we know that when we need it we are sure to find it. That life is now an "open book" test.

It's an interesting thought - in reality, we have so much access, that we can become experts or catch up on any subject at any time. I haven't been to a library in years, and researching something happens every day. But now with all this access, I am acutely aware of just how much information is out there, and it comes at such a rapid pace that I tend to feel - if I don't read ALL THE TIME I'll fall so far behind that it will be too late to catch up.

Techmeme for example is great, it aggregates the major tech headlines, and for most people that should be enough - but if I don't read in detail the 80+ feeds I have saved every day, I'm worried that what slips between the cracks of Techmeme (a personal Techmeme built ontop of Google Reader would be a game-changer) will be more important, and if I don't catch it today then it will be burried by 200 more articles tomorrow.

I have, for the most part, given up books - but I read for hours a day, between blogs, news sites, email, twitter and more. With greater access, I feel a need to consume faster and consume more, and rather than getting easier, it's getting burdensome. At some point I need to step back and accept the idea of "open book" life, it seems the only way to manage the information overload.