This series is designed as a way to call attention to things, practices, places, activities, or anything else you might not be aware of that I think are worth checking out. I try to cover as wide a variety of topics as I can. This week is all about reading. It’s not about what you read, though. It’s all about how you read it.
E-Reader
The e-Reader has quickly become a crowded market in the last few years. There are still those who claim that they value the feel of a book in their hands, and for some types of books that is still a valid comment. For your typical novel, however, it is far more convenient to carry around a thin device than a weighty hardcover. In Canada, we have three main choices for brand: Kobo, Amazon, or Sony. If you travel south of the border, you can add in the Barnes & Noble Nook. There are two different styles of reader – e-ink, like the original Kindle and Kobo, as well as Sony’s line-up, and LCD tablets, like the Kindle Torch, Kobo Vox, and the Nook. e-Ink most closely replicates the feel of reading from paper, won’t cause eye strain, and is cheaper, but it can’t display color and doesn’t have a backlight so it can’t be read in the dark. All of the tablets run on a modified version of the Android operating system. They can display full color and, depending what limitations the manufacturer sets, can also be used to play games and movies and thousands of apps from the Android Market. The downside is that they are pricier and heavier. All four makers have their own online bookstores for purchasing content, but Kobo and Sony will also allow you to purchase material elsewhere. Kobo, Amazon, and Sony all have apps that give you access to your full library on your Android or iOS device (note that Sony only offers an Android option, Apple users are out of luck). Personally, I go for the Kobo e-ink as the best combination of value, features, and the ability to load content from any source.
RSS Readers
RSS has been around for years, and yet it’s still one of the lesser known internet features. Odds are that most of the sites you visit make use of this format already, and if you take advantage of that fact it can really save you time online. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. Essentially, it’s a way to view all the new content on a website as it is published, without having to wade through their pages and ads. All you need is an RSS reader. There are tons to choose from, but my favourite is Google Reader because of it’s simple layout and integration with the rest of the Google family of products. All you have to do is hit the “Subscribe” button and paste the address of the RSS feed you’re interested in. The site name will be added to the column on the left, along with a count of all the new stories that have been published since you last looked at reader. Clicking the site name will bring you to all the articles, which you can then scroll through, peruse item by item, or click on to view in their original form on the website. If you regularly visit a large number of sites this can be a huge timesaver. You don’t have to worry about missing anything and you can quickly view all the content.
1Book140
This one’s about creating more engagement with what you read. There are plenty of people who are interested in book clubs but aren’t in one for a variety of reasons. They’re too busy, they can’t find one in their area, they seem too geeky/female/insert-derivative-term-here to be public about their desire. 1book140 mostly solves these problems. What started as one guys idea to try to get a large number of people on Twitter all reading the same book at the same time, under the name 1book1twitter, has since evolved into a monthly, online book club. Time commitment problems are solved, since there are no set meetings to attend and there’s no reading schedule, instead there’s just a discussion schedule. Read the book at your own pace throughout the month, and discuss each chapter using hashtags whenever you are ready. The only rule is that you don’t post discussion of chapters ahead of the discussion schedule, to prevent spoilers for other readers. You might think that using Twitter as the discussion medium would limit the depth of the conversation, but they can actually be incredibly detailed. I’ve taken part in several, dating all the way back to the initial book, Neil Gaiman’s excellent American Gods, and it’s always been a very enjoyable experience. Since today is February first, they’re about to start a new book, and it’s also a good month to check it out for those who are big fans of long form prose, as this month the choice will be a graphic novel.
And that’s it for this week. If this inspired you to check out any of the above, let me know! And feel free to suggest anything you think is worthy of inclusion on these lists.
Sleep well,
DTE
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