So yeah… the new version of Google Reader for the iPhone (http://www.google.com/reader/i/) is 10,000x better then the old one.  This makes me SUPER happy because I basically live off of Google Reader.

iPhone users, check it out and tell me what you think.

So… I’ve been reading a lot of good books lately and for some reason have forgotten to mention them here.  The book that I’m reading now is “Designing for the Social Web” by Joshua Porter.

I’ve been reading Joshua’s blog Bokardo for a while.  His insights around the social Web have always been really spot on so I didn’t hesitate to pick up his book.

In the book, he analyzes a lot of examples in the social Web that we are all familiar with while abstracting a lot of high level ideas that everyone can use.

Some of the highlights so far have been things like the intro to the rise of the social web,  AOF  (Activities, Objects, and Features) method,  how to build authentic conversations with your users, and how to communicate the actual benefit of your service in a way that will get your users coming back over and over again.

Buy This book.  You’ll love it.

Yesterday, Apple announced the addition of HBO television programming to the iTunes store.  This is awesome and seems totally like a no-brainer for HBO.

For me (the consumer) it’s great too.  I have yet to really dive in and get into shows like the Sopranos, The Wire, and Rome (I know I’ve been living under a rock).  Now with them being on iTunes, its really easy for me to just buy an episode or two and slowly get addicted to the shows, rather then having to lay down the big investment.

Yes I know I could have added the TV shows to my Netflix que but that takes planning and fore thought.  This is so much more easy and instantly gratifying.

I guess the lesson here is… make it so easy for people to try your content… to get a taste that it’s easier for them to become hooked.

So are you going to try any of HBOs shows on iTunes?

The Library of Congress has continued to add photos to its Flickr account, at a pace of about 20 per week.  Enjoy them.  Be inspired by them.  Tag them.

Here’s a cool photo of the Austrian Calvary:

I have the coolest mom on the face of the earth.  She is an inspiration and an angel in my life.  She has been there supporting me and cheering me on through every twist and turn.

Happy Mother’s Day Mom!  I love you.

If you haven’t yet, call your mom and tell her you love her.

A lot of my friends have been talking about the Guitar Hero and Rock Band video games but I haven’t really gotten into them yet.

The other day I found the Guitar Hero Widget over on one of the Wired blogs.  Inside the widget, they give a mini version of the game.  It includes three songs.  It’s really cool.  Instead of using a plastic guitar, you’re using your keyboard but none the less it’s fun.

It gives me a taste of the game and would get me potentially excited about buying it.

Making a widget is SOOOO genius for a video game company.   If i’m a big fanboy of the video game, I’d send this widget to my friends who were yet to be converted so that they too could get a taste.  It empowers word of mouth advertising, which is the most powerful advertising technique.

So… Go play with the widget.

(Note: I would have embeded it here but I use WordPress.com and they don’t allow me to embed third-party flash. *frown* )

Happy Wednesday everyone!

So… a co-worker sent me this video of the R2-D2 DVD projector. It made my inner-nerd smile.

Anybody wanna buy it for my birthday?  Just kidding.  I can’t imagine what a lady would think if you brought her back to your apartment to watch a movie and you pulled out a R2-D2 DVD projector.

There is this new trend which has been popping up.  Instead of sitting at a desk, people are standing.  I noticed this first at Clearspring.  There are a handful of guys who work standing up.

Last week, Jamis at 37 Signals wrote a blog post about, “Standing versus Sitting.”

I’m really starting to think about it.  Maybe I should give working standing up a shot.  What do you think?  Would you do it?

Just read on Gez Lemon’s site Juicy Studio that with WebKit’s recent announcement of support for WAI-ARIA, all the major browsers are now doing something to support it.   This ROCKS!

For those of you not familiar with WAI-ARIA, it’s a World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standard for making all those ajaxy fancy user-interface components (like tree menus or alerts) accessible to people with disabilities.

Last year at a W3C conference, I got to see WAI-ARIA demoed by a blind gentelmen.  It was WAY cool.  I hope all browsers move quickly to suppor this as much as possible.

Yesterday, Robert Scoble announced the redesign of his blog.  That’s awesome. My question is: if he wouldn’t have said anything, how many people would have noticed?

I go back to my thesis: No one cares about your Web site.

I care about the content and functionality that your site provides me.  I experience the Web through feeds in Google Reader and widgets in NetVibes.  I do 90% of my enjoying of content in those worlds.  I typically don’t notice your fancy designs or user interfaces.

We’re moving away from a Web page world to a Web of data that gets aggregated together.

The Web is getting broken into pieces.  If you write interesting things, I’ll grab the piece of the Web site that is your content (your RSS feed) and put it where it’s more useful to me.

What do you think?  How often do you look at Web sites vs. feeds in Google Reader?