If we used to be in the information age, we are new in the age of the news feed. It all began for me when I got my first email account. At that point, my news feed doubled. I now had a mailbox and an email box. The email box contained daily jokes emails and communication with friends and family. Now, years later I fight to tame the flood of data that I have coming to me. I have multiple email accounts, collections of RSS feeds, lists of podcasts, email newsletters, text messaging, online calendars, and now I can even set reminders online that call my cell phone to wake me up or remind me of something. I don't struggle to be informed, but to make sure that my 'informed' status doesn't change to the 'buried' status that we all find ourselves in when things get busy. What happens if you're away from anything that requires batteries or an outlet for more than a week? I find that I can cope, but I have to make some changes to reroute important things to other communication channels.
This is exactly the thought of the developers of Yahoo Pipes. Pipes is a visual interface that allows employees to connect a feed of information such as an RSS feed to filters that restrict the flow of data to a certain topic such as 'football.' The filter, and other custom filters, can then be connected using the mouse, to an output mechanism such as another RSS feed. This way, the user ends up with one custom feed to pay attention to. See video explanation here.
Tasks come through this sort of feed system today too, as testified by those involved in productivity management tools and philosophies, which have become extremely popular. One system that I am familiar with is called Getting Things Done. This system teaches principles that apply to all the inboxes of our life. It has gained traction with many people. It has certainly improved the way that I handle my data hydrant.
It struck me the other day that a friend who has been in Tanzania for several years was staying in touch with some sports games, not by watching them on TV, or even by watching a streaming video online, but by news feed. 'Long pass notification,' it messaged, and he was right there watching highlights. I'm not much of a sports guy, but what happened to sitting down and watching a game?
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