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joku

john shin  //  overcome the world.

2009 11 1 / 17:11

Streamlining

I'm not sure from where the motivation comes, but I've had a deep desire to "clean house" a bit.

Streamlining is fantastic. Donating old clothes, removing things that add no value to living, and generally clearing out the clutter refreshes the soul. This includes throwing away useless gadgets [even old presents that I don't use], scanning and e-storing documents [I recommend Dropbox], and implementing new organization methods for all the "must keep" junk.

Recently, I've chopped down heavy Google Reader usage. I was one of those people who subscribed to great feeds and needed the "unread count" to be ZERIO - which is useless. It just sucks up too much of my time. I have recently eliminated all subscriptions that actively update the same articles online via Twitter. I realized that the archival ability of Google Reader is not valuable to me anymore. I now only use Google Reader to subscribe to personal blogs that I like to keep up with [who don't update those blogs to Twitter]. With the recent introduction of Twitter Lists, I can focus the streams of news that come in and get news when I want it. And with so many great iPhone Twitter apps, I can have that news real-time and on-the-go.

Almost shamefully, this has been a great time-saver for me.

I've also decided to sell the trusty PS3 Slim. It was a great run for about two months, but I've realized that I no longer have a desire to play video games anymore [boy, times are changing].

It's refreshing.
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Filed under  //  Efficiency   Google Reader   Streamline   Twitter  

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2009 7 27 / 20:56

Refresh


[via: thecybersource.com]

Reboot. Refresh. Restart.

However you want to call it, I think it's good to have one of these every once in a while. I'm officially going on a Twitter, Facebook, and Google Reader hiatus for one month, starting tomorrow, July 28, until August 29.

This summer has been a unique one with many transitions and strong convictions. WIth the onslaught of the information age literally a tweet [officially] away combined with many changes occurring in my life, I think it's best for me to abandon the 1-headline-a-second twitteration of my brain and retreat back to some deeper thinking and reflection, Jack Handy style.

I'm personally excited, yet challenged. To be honest, I think I am a borderline internet addict. I love information, particularly regarding the things and people I love. Updates on personal blogs, next generation technology, Apple and Google, automobile culture, designing for social impact, and transformation in people through Christ motivate and excite me. Even thinking now, the sheer amount of information that passes through my head is dizzying. From Twitter to Google Reader, I can catch up on people and subject matter in an instant, for all instants. This is no original realization, but I'm beginning to wonder if I haven't yet grasped the principles of moderation, self control, and discipline. Sometimes, I feel I am one tweet away from the BSOD.

I'm looking forward to reading more books, investing in some more personal relationships with the people around me, developing my corporate-working game, and focusing on my continuing studies for my GMATs.

And so the training begins. I have to admit that I will probably miss Google Reader the most. I'm passionate about news and information. How am I going to know when Apple's new tablet comes out? What if I miss out on some crazy awesome deal that can only be obtained by reading the Google Blogs? And now that Google Reader allows its users much easier options to share and discuss information, this could be rough. And that's why I have you, friends. Update me with something sweet and I'll appreciate it. As a parting gesture, here is a selection of sick sites from which I glean my vast amount of [at times, meaningless] information.

  1. Jalopnik - Oh man, I love you. All things cars.
  2. Core77 - Industrial design site with updated prototypes.
  3. The Big Picture - Quasi-frequently-updated photo-article site on international news.
  4. Yanko Design - Another ID site with legit goings on.
  5. Frog Design Mind - Another ID site, but I like them because they generally post more about design for social impact and advanced thinking.
  6. Seth Godin - The man is social marketing amazing. His breakdown of human nature exposed to media, leadership, and business influences is bewildering.
  7. The Placebo Effect - I'm not going to lie, I love these guys and I read their daily updates. Sometimes, the little things just pick me up, and TPB is a great fix.
  8. Pastor Seth - How else am I going to get my Indo fixings?
  9. Desiring God - Piper style. It's easy to read and refreshing.
  10. Lifehacker - Hack it out. This site is for all hacks, for all aspects of life. Read it and learn that piece.
  11. Ars Technica - These guys aren't the fastest, but I like their reviews and some of their science articles pique my brain.
  12. TechCrunch - These guys are fast, unashamed, and quick with the information. I like their balance of techy, social media, and news.
  13. Engadget - I get the core of my gadget information from these guys. They're thorough and quick with it.
  14. Mashable! - These guys are really quick and they provide most of my breaking information on new social media.
As you can see, I read a lot. Especially since these guys update quite often. I didn't include NYTimes and BBC, but I figured most people would already be subscribed to them.

Enjoy. See you in a month. I'll update on the flip. [I just started enjoying Posterous, too...]

Peace.

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Filed under  //  Facebook   Google Reader   Posterous   Refresh   Twitter  

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