We’ve all had the problem.  Hundreds of feeds and you never get them all read. I go through this ever couple of months or so. I end up with so many feeds in my Google Reader I just don’t get to them all.  I start feeling guilty about it and wonder how others do it all. Some people I’ve talked to suggest cutting the number of feeds you read… and I hear that BUT then I feel like I might miss something important. The challenge is… how to manage your feeds.

I talked to Josh Bancroft a few weeks ago about the very thing.  He’s got a great method he uses. I’ve adopted it and I have to say, it works really well. So what is it?

1) Use Google Reader for those feeds you REALLY will read.

2) Aggregate your other feeds and put them on your Netvibes.

So how do you aggregate your feeds?  Well, you could:

• Use YahooPipes (Thanks Marshall K for teaching that at WordCampdx.)
• Use the following tools to get RSS feeds of keyword searches and then use Netvibes to browse the searches.
  • Twitter search (search.twitter.com)
  • FriendFeed
  • Google Blog Search
  • Ask.com blog search
  • flickr.com/photo/tag
  • Youtube tags

I have been following this process for the last couple weeks and I have to say, it works great!  I read the feeds that I really want to read and need to read. I don’t feel like I’m missing out because I didn’t but my feeds just moved them to an optional location. I don’t have the guilt either because my Google Reader ONLY has those things I really want to read so I don’t see hundreds of feeds staring me in the face.

I can’t recommend this system enough.  That said, do you have a better idea? How do you manage your feeds?

Today I had the opportunity to meet with Josh Bancroft and chat about all things geek. Everyone once in awhile Josh and I get together to talk about “geeky” things.  Every time I walk away from meeting with Josh I’m pumped up about geeky stuff, online communities and usually end up buying the new toy he just showed me. Yup, I’m bad. Last time Josh and I met, I ended up buying a Kindle… this time he showed me a cool, white, EPC.  I’m in trouble with that one. I really REALLY want that. I’m a sucker for new, techy things.

I am just so amazed and how much one can learn about building online communities, social media, web 2.0 and all those other “hot” phrases for connecting on the web. On one hand I feel really strong in my knowledge and on the other, I feel like I have so much to learn.  Josh keeps telling me I know more than I think I do, and maybe that’s so, but I want to really feel comfortable about what I know. I want to be able to speak to anyone, geek and non-geek, about wikis, blogs, podcasting, online communities.

I can’t believe I went with three questions and we only got through the first.  Ok, yeah, I can because Josh and I have a habit of talking about the question and then going off on a tangent and then coming back.  Right in the middle of talking about blogs I should be making sure to read, showing me how to use Netvibes and making feeds of twitter searches we jumped to iPhone apps.  I had to laugh a bit because there we were in Panera sharing apps and “geeking out”. I’m sure people thought it was quite a site. Josh has some wicked cool apps though, like sonic lighter. That is one cool app! I can’t believe that it shows you all the people that are running that app all over the world.  It was amazing to look it.  Imagine the power in that sort of thing, maybe not for a lighter, but it did make me wonder how it could be applied to other things. Koi Pond was super cool too.  I ended up with nine apps on my list to try.

Josh and I also talked about his new project which sounds so cool and right up his alley.  I think he’ll be great at it.  The cool thing is I get to help him a bit.  How cool is that?  Right now I’m going to try and work out a logo for him and then go from there. I am so flattered that he’d want me to help him.  So we’re helping each other. He’s mentoring me and I’m helping him, where needed, on his project.

I learned so much today and got so many great sites to start following.  I’ve also implemented some new changes on my blog too based on today’s meeting.  I even got an early preview of Josh’s presentation for tomorrow at WordCampdx.  That’s the other fun things happening.  I’m really trying to emerse myself in the blogging, wiki community.  I’m pretty excited about tomorrow to learn lots about WordPress and network with other bloggers in the pdx area.

Woo Hoo!

I bought the best thing ever a few days ago. A Kindle. I’ve been looking at one for a while and thought it would be so nice to have, for several reasons. It wasn’t until I met up with Josh Bancroft a few weeks ago to talk about wikis that I got the chance to see a Kindle live and in person. It is so cool! You can have hundreds of books on your Kindle. You can subscribe to magazines, newspapers and of course buy books, load free books and so much more.

I just got the Kindle last night, plugged it in to charge it and then in a couple of hours started reading the Jun 16th edition of Time magazine. How cool is that? I also chose some books and had them loaded on my Kindle. It’s so super easy. I mean you just go tot he Kindle store, choose your book, etc and then it’s one click for purchase and then in seconds it’s sent to your Kindle via their wispernet system. I mean I didn’t have to subscribe to a wireless account or anything. I guess it uses the same technology that cell phones use. Basically if you’re in a location that gets cell service, you’ve got wifi access on your Kindle. Awesome!!

Honestly, I can’t even say enough about this cool toy. I love the idea that I can read magazines, books and more from one device. I love that I can jump from one to the other, leave notes in the book, etc. There’s just so much to say about this thing. I can’t imagine not having one if you’re an avid reader. I’m sure it won’t be long until we’re getting one for Eric. He loves reading too!

More on the Kindle to come later as I use it more!

“Kindle: Amazon’s New Wireless Reading Device” (Amazon)

Today I attended this meeting on Podcasting and embracing blogs. The guy, from Intel, that did the talking and presentation was Josh Bancroft. He seems like a really nice guy. he works here in Oregon and has his own blog outside Intel at http://www.tinyscreenfuls.com/ I really like what he’s got to say about Podcasting and how we can use it at work. I have a couple of Podcasts on my new iPod and love them.

What’s cool too is for the time someone explained what the heck RSS’s were and how to use them. I downloaded FeedDemon and now I’ve got all my blogs running through the program so when someone updates their blog with something, I can clearly see who’s updated and read it. It’s cool because it’s in newsprint layout so it’s easy to read. What is neat too is that you can organize the blogs and things in any kind of file system. I love it because it takes just a few minutes to really see what to read and I don’t have to go to a million links and figure out if I’ve already read it.

So now I’m feeling a little more geeky and cool. Maybe I’ll be able to hold a conversation with a “teckie”