Thing #8 RSS

When I first started this exercise I was looking forward to having several of the news and sports pages come to me instead of me having to search them each day.  The first video I watched about RSS in Plain English was VERY helpful as an explanation of what an RSS Reader is and does.  My excitement only continued to mount at this point.  The second video I watched from Capture the Conversation was specific to Google Reader and made the setup and use very easy to understand. This video started strong and about 7 minutes in, lost me (and my interest).

When I went to Google Reader to set up my services the first two were fairly simple.  I chose to do a search for the Dallas Mavericks and it then provided several choices for me.  This was helpful as it provided articles from a variety of sources and perspectives.  The first two entries were quick and simple.  My enthusiasm died quickly at this point.  I then tried to load The Top Shelf by copying and pasting the web address.  Twice my computer got "blogged" down and would not continue.  After 10 minutes and much frustration, I was finally able to add the blog to my Google Reader list.

I don't know if it is exhaustion or frustration, but I had a difficult time finding two more sites that I wanted to add at this point.  I looked over several of the SLJ choices but at this point did not find any of interest.  I finally just decided to add two more news sites to complete my list of five.  I know that I will find sites in the future that I want to add but at this point it was a stretch to think of something on the spot.

I am curious how often I will check Goggle Reader and how it will effect the amount of time I spend reading the newspapers via this site as opposed to going to the site directly and navigating through it.  One video I watched said this is a good way to avoid adds and other non-pertinent information.

We shall see!