Feedly. It’s like an RSS feed digest thingy.
So about six months ago I checked out Feedly after reading about it on some tech blog. Chances are, I read about it in Google Reader which I wrote about a while back.
Google Reader is great, but after seeing Feedly, I gotta admit I think it makes for a more digestible way for consuming news. It makes your feed content look almost like a newspaper or an online news site or magazine.
Feedly's built on Google Reader's API, so you need to be using Google Reader in order to use Feedly. But it uses more of the Google Reader features than even Google Reader does, or at least it displays them better. It takes popular articles and features them. It pulls from my Twitter feed. It is that huge firehose of information to which I subscribe on a daily basis rendered in the form of a tall, refreshing glass of water.
They also provide you with a dozen different ways of consuming this information. Cover mode is like an online magazine, providing compartmentalized summaries with a Popular section (based on Likes and Shares) and a Must Reads section (still trying to figure out how this is determined). Latest is for the more traditional types featuring a streaming inbox/list of the most recent items from sites to which you subscribe. Digest mode is a hybrid between the traditional Latest and Cover modes, featuring highlights from your favorite categories, but in a list (sort of like a newspaper). There's also Popular which features all the most popular news items across the entire web (not limited to what you're subscribed to). Buzz shows you what's most popular amongst your Google friends.
I've made it my homepage, so that when I come in every morning, I can consume current affairs in a more civilized fashion.
All in all, definitely worth checking out. Click on the image below to check out a lifesize version of "Digest" mode.
Hipstamania!
So a couple guys created an awesome app that's taking the iPhone and its camera by storm.
Hipstamatic turns the iPhone camera into a replica of a vintage camera created in the 1980s by a Bruce and Winston Dorbowski. Sadly, Hipstamatic suffered a sudden and tragic end.
The legacy was kept alive by their brother until it was discovered by a couple of iPhone developers who wanted to bring the legendary Hipstamatic to the iPhone. What resulted is one of the COOLEST apps ever for the iPhone.
The business model is also intriguing. You pay 15 SEK for the app (which comes with some upgrades). Then you can add additional upgrades known as Hipstapaks at just 7 SEK each. A Hipstapak includes a lens (for the different filter and visual effects), paper (framing and/or rendering), and a flash (adds to the visual effect). If you buy everything, I think it runs you around 50 SEK total, which is totally worth it for the quality of the output. Amazingly, everyone I've told about it (including a few who have never paid for an iPhone app) shelled out the cash for this.
There is a rabid community building around the application:
A Flickr group for Hipstamatic photos: http://www.flickr.com/groups/1271604@N24/pool/
Hipstamatic is also hosting themed contests: http://community.hipstamatic.com/
Below are some pictures my friends and I took:
My photos
Omid's photos
Lauren's photos
My love affair with the NPR News iPhone app
I am on an unlimited iPhone data plan in Sweden now.
The implications of this are immeasurable. The ability to check email, browse the web and check-in as often as I want, to tweet, to upload pictures and video have all just made it immensely easier on the wallet. It's the future of mobile, the future of internet, the future of epic awesomeness.
There are two iPhone apps which will now see a huge uptick in usage from me. Spotify which, previously mentioned, streams music thus eliminating the need for downloading it, is now my primary source of music-listening pleasure. The second is the NPR News app.
I appreciate the BBC and the awesome news options available to me in Europe. But the one thing I was missing were the fantastic cultural, political, economic, and social commentaries and shows that NPR was airing. This American Life, Car Talk, A Prairie Home Companion, and Wait Wait Don't Tell Me were among the shows that allowed me to focus and relax when I was living in San Francisco. Don't get me wrong, I could listen to them through my PC at work, but too much multi-tasking wouldn't allow me to enjoy them as much. The NPR iPhone app allows me to walk through the streets of Stockholm while I hear the self-deprecating Click and Clack give advice to hopeless yuppie intellectuals about their outdated modes of transportation. This is the stuff I miss.
The NPR app is flawlessly executed. Traditional media outlets are complaining about their demise while the one without any money to begin with goes out on a limb to take risks and become part of the technological revolution. Within the app, you can read news articles and listen to news stories. You can create playlists of broadcasts and stream them all in a row. You can save favorites. The ads are non-invasive and quick. And the app is so easy-to-use (and easy on the eye) that you're almost having fun while you're using it.
Kudos to NPR for pioneering the way we consume news in the future. You've set an example for others to follow.
My love affair with Spotify
Thus begins the second in the series of things to which I want to make sweet passionate love.
Spotify is taking the music industry and music fans by storm. Though it's not available in the US, and though it hasn't shown profitability yet, Spotify is paving the path for the future of online media distribution.
Spotify is a streaming music service, which eliminates the need for downloading music, and recentralizes the distribution of music. In an industry running rampant with piracy, Spotify has used technology to not only legitimize the distribution, but also to quell the demand for pirated music. Digital rights management (DRM) is maintained centrally at the distributor and simplifies the complexities that iTunes faces on a daily basis. From a consumer standpoint, it eliminates the limitations of digital storage, and places the burden on the digital pipeline, which is rapidly expanding and is a shared cost among consumers. It eliminates the need for consumers to backup media files and to manage their personal, digital libraries.
In short, it's the future of music, books, and film. For me personally, it's practically rendered iTunes completely obsolete. I haven't bought an album off iTunes in months and it feels great. Spotify is a light, lightning-fast client application which you download. The user interface is easy-to-use. For free you can listen to Spotify's entire catalogue and every few songs you hear ads. Users can also pay 99 SEK per month (around 15 USD) to get a wide range of premium options, including: no ads, higher bitrate quality, offline playability, and early access to music. For me this is worth it, because these are features I use AND it's still cheaper than what I would spend on iTunes to buy albums of the course of a year. I also don't have to back anything up or worry about losing music. I can create playlists and email my friends links to any of the music from a catalogue that is the best among all streaming applications and frankly has just about everything my wide taste in music seeks (though iTunes catalogue is still bigger). There's also a 24-hour premium option for those that want to have a wide music catalogue for an event like a party, and don't want to hear ads (brilliant, btw). Furthermore, there's a Spotify application on the iPhone which allows you to stream on-demand music to a portable device. This is awesome and ridiculous.
It's not the first time we've seen streaming music services. Rhapsody, Pandora, Last.fm, Blip.fm, Lala, etc. etc. etc. However it seems to be doing it more successfully than anyone else. This likely has to do with significant investments in early business development, securing distribution deals with major music distributors and building a large music catalogue up front.
Though this early widespread success doesn't come without struggle. Spotify is 7 million strong in Sweden, Norway, Finland, the UK, France, and Spain. Only 250K of these are paying subscribers (3.5% - 4%). And although in Sweden, Spotify generated more revenue for the major music distributors than iTunes did in 2009, it's likely because most Swedish consumers were getting their music for free. My true belief here is that Spotify simply gives too much away for free, and provides little reason to go premium, unless you are a tech geek who is really into music.
Spotify is attempting to make its entrance in the US market in 2010, but rumor has it it's going to be very difficult unless they get rid of the ad model. Distributors simply don't believe in it. However I do believe that if Spotifycan create a content-based ad model (similar to Google), tailored to different listener segments (heavy metal v. classical v. jazz v. pop) they could be successful. Furthermore, if this ad platform can allow for local ads, I can imagine it would be essentially on-demand internet radio station. I do believe the ad model can work, and I do believe that this can be profitable (as it appears to be for radio), but Spotify needs to make some significant short-term investments in its ad platform for longer term profitability, and furthermore to sell the distributors on it.
Spotify is top-notch, cutting-edge, and smart. But the next few years will be critical to determining its long-term success in Europe and eventually abroad...especially with Rdio just around the corner.
Spotify is currently invite only, but I have three outstanding invites and I get two every month, so if you or anyone you know needs one (and you live in the aforementioned countries), let me know.
My love affair with Caffe Nero
I'm starting a new series this year called "My love affair with..." It's an attempt to take all those products, services, artists, technologies, etc. that significantly influence my outlook on the way things ought to be done; things that are done so well, they change the world, the community, art, technology, etc. for the better. They set new standards and innovate, they make our lives better, not easier. They are things that, if it were physically possible, I would make deep passionate love to, cuddle with, and even call back in a few days.
So this is the first in the "My love affair with..." series.
Swedes take a ton of pride in their coffee. They like it strong. Long, cold winters might have something to do with it. I'm proud to say, I live just around the corner from the best coffee served in all of Stockholm. In fact, I will venture to say it is the best coffee I've had in my life.
It's Italian coffee, so it's served by forcing hot water through densely-packed ground coffee beans. I will have my coffee one of two ways, Americano or Espresso. More often I will have it as an Americano, typically for breakfast or during a midday fika, served with foamy warm milk on top, and a bit of brown sugar. Sometimes I'll have it as an espresso with a cannoli dessert. No matter how I have it, Nero makes it perfectly. It's made in a way that only your local neighborhood Italian restaurant and cafe can make it. And Nero qualifies itself as something that, when it disappears, or when I disappear, will be completely and utterly irreplaceable in my life.
So sadly I've become strangely addicted to it. Every morning before work, I wake up and I walk just around the corner to Caffe Nero. Everyone knows me there and expects me there. I'm one of the first to arrive in the morning. With my Americano, I have a freshly-baked croissant (cornetto) filled with either apricot preserves, lemon vanilla cream, almond paste, or chocolate. And every morning when I walk in the door, they get it started for me, no matter where in line I am. I'll then sit down and savor the thirty minutes I have with my Americano, my cornetto, and my book. It's my chance to unwind before I begin a day at work, or to appreciate the time I have with myself on a Saturday or Sunday morning. I am typically not a person of routine in any way, but I am probably Nero's most regular and predictable customer ever.
And that's just the coffee. They also happen to serve an amazing Italian lunch and dinner menu which changes seasonally and includes some of the best Italian food I've had. The pan fried and breaded veal stuffed with ruccola and prosciutto is something you'll taste in your mouth for weeks. Their freshly-made pastas are second-to-none. Their service is immaculate.
And with their success comes great opportunity. As of today, they're moving their main restaurant to a far larger space just two doors away, where they will have a bar and more seating room (something they are in desperate need of) and their current space will eventually be turning into their fresh bakery/cafe after some renovations, something Stockholm is desperately missing.
Nero is an assault on the senses with their amazing coffee, their good, fresh Italian food, and their outstanding service and I humbly resign myself to the ridiculous power it has over me. If every place in Stockholm were like Nero, I'd never have any reason to want to leave.
Shantaram (Gregory David Roberts, 2003)
It's rare that I come across a modern true story that I'm blown away by. Often times I find them to be sensationalized and drawn out, often times reeking more of fiction than of fact.
Shantaram exceeded any and all expectations I might have had about these kinds of novels.
This book was the product of a determined man. Gregory David Roberts was in prison when he wrote it and watched as his first two drafts, amounting to 600 pages and six years worth of work, got destroyed by prison officials. Many pages of the original handwritten manuscript are stained with blood, the result of residual physical damage stemming frostbite he'd suffered while fighting in Afghanistan. It's obvious throughout the book that it was written as a testament to the struggle he endured and that its completion meant the closure of a very painful yet enlightening period of his life.
The book is 900+ pages and I read it in just two weeks. It's undoubtedly one of the most powerful books I've ever read and is a breathtaking account of one man struggling to come to terms with himself - his past and his personal quest for freedom.
Shantaram was recommended to me by a number of friends, mostly as a great book to read before I head off on my journey through India in a few weeks. I fully expected to carry it there with me, since a nearly 1000 page book did not seem like a realistic endeavor in just a month. I'd known nothing about the book, and nothing could've prepared me for the adventure I would embark on as I read the story of a convict who escaped from prison and found himself in India.
The story starts off with Roberts landing in Bombay just a short time after he'd escaped a maximum security prison in Australia where he was serving a 20 year sentence for armed robbery. Though seemingly cliché, it's not the story of an uneducated man who had nothing to lose by robbing at gunpoint, but rather a story of a highly-educated individual who'd lost everything he'd known and loved and further descended into a world of drugs and desperation before being arrested.
But that's not what the book is about. As Roberts lands in Bombay, we experience what we can call his rebirth. Landing with nothing more than his false passport and enough money to last him some time in India, he almost immediately befriends a small Indian man who would be his guide in Bombay. Prabaker would teach him the simplicity of being a good man and would show him the heart and love that would help to begin his ascent from the bottom.
From here we watch as Roberts immerses himself in the spirituality of Indian culture and customs, learns Hindi and Marathi, is forced to live in the Bombay slums after he loses everything he has, rises from the ashes to create a makeshift health clinic in those slums, befriends Indian mafia dons who take him in as a son, fights among his brothers in Afghanistan, receives the unrequited love of the Indian people, and wholeheartedly gives it in return. In that love he redeems himself a million times over and finds his own path to enlightenment.
Shantaram is a book magnificent in its scale, achieving a level of spirituality through amazing prose and powerful introspection. It never once feels pretentious or disingenuous, but rather feels so painfully and emotionally real that you empathize with his struggle as a reemerging spirit and as a flesh-and-blood human being. His writing is beautiful and the simplicity of his views and the views of others on life and death, joy and pain, enlightenment and struggle are so eloquently portrayed, you never want to put the book down.
Needless to say, its helped me to further anticipate my trip to India, not only as an adventure, but as a very personal, spiritual journey where perhaps I can learn just a little bit more about myself. Furthermore, the way he describes India in all its beauty, its energy, and the love-filled livelihood of its one billion plus inhabitants is enough to get me all anxious and ready to go.
I urge you to read this book. I can promise you, even as the cynic that I can often be, that you will not be disappointed.
PS - Once you're finished (or if you need further convincing) check out the videos of his talks on YouTube. Truly fascinating.
The $100 million global impact of Kiva.org
I received an email from Kiva.org this morning and was completely floored by what I read.
Kiva.org has enabled $100 million in loans between individuals all around the world.
Kiva.org, for those of you who haven't heard me preach about it before here, is a microfinancing non-profit wherein people like you and me, have an opportunity to loan money directly to individuals in developing countries, looking to get on their own two feet, to support their families, and to make a living for themselves in countries where they would otherwise get no support or aid. More importantly, they pay their loan back over a predetermined period, assuming they are able to.
Some other impressive stats (from their email):
- Kiva is 49 months old.
- 98% repayment rate
- 250K entrepreneurs funded
- 587K lenders (Kiva users)
- 185 countries represented
- Average total amount loaned per Kiva lender $172 (including reloaned funds)!
These are some amazing statistics, made more amazing by the fact that Kiva has essentially created it's own massive economy of those with the means lending to those without, and those without paying back.
It's really a gratifying experience and it's extremely simple. As you get paid back, you can then re-loan to another individual.
My personal stats:
- 19 loans totaling $475 lent.
- 19 individuals: 58% female, 42%.
- Countries include: Tajikistan, Uganda, Togo, Cambodia, Palestine, Philippines, Nigeria, Ecuador, Benin, Peru, Kenya, Nicaragua, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, and Viet Nam.
- Sectors include: food, retail, agriculture, services, housing, clothing, and health
Check out my lender page: http://kiva.org/lender/rommy
I highly encourage anyone with the means to get started. You'll find that it's highly addictive and a great way to invest your disposable income in helping enable and empower others.
Greatest James Bond Tracks
So I found some gold on Spotify (sorry Americans you are unable to access it).
The Best of Bond...James bond
It's a collection of the best tracks from the Bond films. It's more or less all the ones that mattered. This album reminded me of why I loved (and later despised) Bond as a kid. This album also reminded me of what fantastic pop hits came from these films. I mostly like the sultry spy theme that permeates throughout many of these tracks.
Some tracks of course stand out more than the others. Here are my top 5:
- Thunderball by Tom Jones
- A View to a Kill by Duran Duran
- Goldfinger by Shirley Bassey
- Live and Let Die by Sir Paul McCartney
- You Know My Name by Chris Cornell (though I really like THIS version far better which has a prime spot on my gym mix)
Then there were those from the extremely cheesy Roger Moore 70s Bond films, easily in my mind the absolute bottom of the Bond years (ok fine, the Timothy Dalton era was worse). I didn't mind All Time High by Rita Coolidge or Nobody Does It Better by Carly Simon, so I'll just give them an honorable mention, but they simply don't have the edgy Bond spy appeal of the above.
Another honorable mention is the classic Bond theme from Dr. No.
Epic fail is For Your Eyes Only. What the hell were they thinking?
PS - In case you're wondering, the Bond reboot with Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace have absolutely reinvigorated my passion for what was a completely dead Bond franchise.
WTF is a feed? How do I subscribe?
For the non-cyberdorks (i.e. mostly my east coast friends (zing) and my family) out there, a very quick and easy way to get access to instant updates from all your favorite sites is using an RSS reader or feed aggregator.
BUT WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?!?!?
Most content-driven sites today are built as feeds. From news sites like NYTimes.com, to media sites like YouTube.com, to social sites like Facebook.com, everything uses a feed to deliver and syndicate information across the internet.
RSS readers or feed aggregators make it easier for people to consume information from multiple sources. They act as inboxes for quick consumption of content. So rather than have to go to every site to gather my information, I just have to go to my reader to pull it all in.
Well-known RSS readers include Google Reader, Bloglines, NewsGator, and Thunderbird.
RAD! How do I get started?
I personally prefer Google Reader and I think you will too (this sounds like an infomercial). It's easy to use and has a wealth of simple features for sharing all the stuff you read with the people you care about. Here is a great, easy tutorial from the Google dorks themselves on Google Reader:
How do I subscribe to feeds in Google Reader?
After you've set up your Google Reader account, think about all the sites you're frequently going to for your information and entertainment, then go to them. When you're there, look for an RSS link. It usually looks something like this button below. Click it and it either copy the link and paste it into Google Reader or follow the instructions. Most sites give the user a very easy subscribe experience:
You can also search for feeds directly within Google Reader. Google Reader will also provide you with recommendations based on the feeds you're currently subscribed to.
Some of my favorite sites to which I subscribe, include:
- NYTimes (RSS Links)
- /Film (RSS)
- Mashable (RSS)
- Slow Food USA (RSS)
- Tuk Tuk Goose (RSS)
Why are you telling me this?
Using a reader is like watching the news in the morning. You have instant information at your fingertips and everything you need to know in minutes.
Also recently, I've been moving my blog around a lot and optimizing it and stuff, so if you use any RSS reader, make sure you're pointed to the correct free rommy feed so you can get all the updates about my mindless musings in real-time. Or just click on the big orange button at the top right. If you don't use one, I highly recommend it. It can save you a world of time.
Growth of the Soil (Knut Hamsun, 1917)
For me, reading is an unhealthy obsession. I've read close to 20 books so far this year and I may finish with close to 30. I'm so addicted, that I even began setting literary goals for myself, thus categorizing me as a huge nerd.
For example, one of my missions is to read every single thing John Steinbeck has ever written (I'm close to ten so far, I think).
One of my other nerdy goals is to read one work by every literature Nobel Prize winner ever. I'm doing pretty well, having read books by about 15 different winners and being disappointed only once. These Swedes really know their great literature.
It can be a great thrill to find a fantastic book by an author who has fallen somewhat into obscurity throughout the world. Ask any Norwegian or Swede who Knut Hamsun is, and without a doubt they'll know. But I can't say I have many friends outside of Scandinavia, if any, who would know who he is. Knut Hamsun (you do pronounce the 'k') won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1920.
I was lucky enough to have my Norwegian friend Aleks recommend Hamsun's Growth of the Soil to me. Wanting to achieve my literature goal and at the same time get more into Scandinavian writing, Hamsun appeared to me to be perfect choice.
But the fact is, Norwegian sentiment towards Hamsun is confused. Hamsun was an outspoken Nazi sympathizer. Actually, he was a "vehement advocate" of Nazi Germany, having mailed his Nobel medal to Joseph Goebbels in 1943 and later having visited Hitler, and furthermore having eulogized him after his death as "a warrior, a warrior for mankind, and a prophet of the gospel of justice for all nations." (Source: Wikipedia)
So whereas Norwegians are very proud of Hamsun's accomplishments as an author, they have a much tougher time coming to terms with his very radical political ideology during one of Europe's darkest periods.
Needless to say, this would never stop me from reading a great book.
Following WWI, the West was going through a period of rapid industrialization and economic development. The middle class was seeing their hard work get swallowed up by a speculative and increasingly credit-laden, power-hungry upper class further empowered by laissez-faire economics. The gap between the rich and poor was widening and the mass was getting restless and desperate. Sounds familiar.
Growth of the Soil was simple in words and profound in scope. It was both foretelling and a scathing commentary on the state of the world at the time. It starts off telling the story of a simple man Isak walking through the Norwegian wilderness near the Swedish border looking for a place to settle and begin a life for himself. He picks a spot and begins to survive off the fruit of his labor. His hard work is dignified (and his only means of survival), his intentions are pure, and his simple modesty is his greatest trait. And thus is his success imminent.
However, as to be expected, the chaos of the self-righteous man intrudes, always seeking the easy way out, and looking to capitalize off the hard work of others. The book follows Isak and his family as they persist in the wild, fending off the educated industrialist, favoring hard work and personal dignity over easily sought out wealth (and more often as Hamsun explains, debt). It never proves easy, and not all of Isak's family is able to stay true to his ways, falling victim to the lure of high society, education, and industrialization. How does it end? Well I'll let you read it.
Hamsun is not all together off base with his belief that man is constantly trying to seek the quickest means to wealth. Rather, he preaches that man's greatest source of persistent wealth and personal sustainability is in his hard work and clarity of purpose.
This book blew me away. It's beautifully written and very direct in its message. His ideals at times seem very early-American/pro-libertarian and his complete loathing for bureaucratic, self-righteous, mooching, fast-tracking capitalists resonates with me. Don't get me wrong, Growth of the Soil is not anti-capitalist, but rather speaks out against those who seek to 'capitalize' purely off the hard work of others.
Really a fantastic read for anyone looking to pick up a good book by a good, though controversial writer.
PS - as a newly inducted Amazon affiliate, I get a cut if you buy it through the above link. 
I'm a capitalist pig, I know.
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