The Blessings and Curses of RSS Feeds

If you haven't yet established an RSS feed reader for yourself, I highly recommend you do so. ASAP. RSS (Really Simple Syndication) allows you to compile the latest articles and posts from your favorite websites, blogs, and online periodicals into one location. It's a great system for keeping yourself abreast of current world events and learning about developments in your areas of interest.

I use Google Reader, and I use it frequently. I like spending my mornings reading through new items on my feed, much like people once read the morning newspaper while sipping coffee and munching breakfast (okay, this is still a morning ritual for some). I currently organize my feeds into two categories: News and Blogs. I can, however, add more categories as I see fit.

I currently have over 20 feeds ticking away in Google Reader. Here's a sampling:

News

• NPR's Talk of the Nation
• The New York Times Opinion Pages
• Politifact

Blogs

• Dangerously Irrelevant: a blog about education.
• The Official Google Blog: updates on all things Google
• Penelope Trunk: writing on personal finance and lifestyle advice.

As you can guess, the remainder of my "subscriptions" - which are free! - span a variety of topics. It's certainly a must-have tool for any aspiring polymath. Unfortunately, like Reddit or Facebook, my RSS feed is also a serious time sink. Major sites post updates multiple times per day, and nearly every subscription I have has new material on a weekly basis. So if I take a break from reading for a week, I come back to 300 or so new items.

I have been diligently reading my subscriptions during the past few weeks. No wonder my piano has gone untouched as of late :/