I've Moved!

My original plans were to keep this site on Blogger. However, after using Squarespace, Blogger just won't cut it for me anymore. Therefore, I have made the content of this site a section of astarkmagazine. The new URL for my blog is now astarkmagazine.com/blog. Click on RSS in the sidebar to view my blog's RSS feeds. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Now I can't seem to get this post to publish, making it all that more sweet to be leaving Blogger.

On Mac OS X RSS Readers

Until recently, all of my attempts to enjoy RSS feeds had been in vain. RSS seemed like one of those hip technologies that people use simply to feel superior to those who don't use them. However, I had it all wrong. I just wasn't using the right software.

I tried Bloglines to manage my feeds, but I found it clunky (and--don't tell anyone I said so--ugly). I also tried the Sage extension for Firefox. It was also clunky and ugly. Plus, I've stopped using Firefox altogether (you guessed it, clunky and ugly).

Anyway, I decided to give RSS feeds another try, and I downloaded pretty much every single standalone RSS feed reader available for Mac OS X. (I have no need for one based online, since I use only one computer.)

To be truthful, I didn't like most of them, especially Newsfire, which I would have blown up if that were possible. The free trial had a frequent pop-up that would remind me that I hadn't paid for it yet, and I never will simply because of that ridiculous reminder. Listen, Newsfire people, that is one of the stupidest things you can do with a small program like Newsfire. In a free trial, you want people to think that your software is useful, not an annoying program made by annoying people. It would be one thing if you didn't have competition, but you do. Good riddance!

There were three feed readers that I actually liked. First, Vienna is a great program if you consider that it is free. However, it is a bit less polished than some of the others. Functionally, it is quite good. Second, NetNewsWire is okay, but for a few annoyances. For instance, it comes with a load of preinstalled feeds, and if I am not mistaken, they need to deleted one at a time. Pair that with an interface that I think could use improvement, and I just can't see myself paying 30 bucks for it.

This brings me to what is my current favorite and the program I may purchase after the free trial is over: NewsMac Pro. It has, I think, an exceptional interface. It really doesn't do much that the others can't, other than communicate with Bloglines, but it just feels right. Here's a screenshot (it makes great use of my widescreen):


I have only one concern with it, and that is its stability, or lack thereof. When I first started using it, it would periodically act strangely and require a relaunch to correct itself. Since I have learned the program better and my mouse-clicking has been less random, I have had better results. Still, it does concern me. Nonetheless, I will probably purchase it for the interface benefits alone.

Unless, of course, one of you know of a better feed reader for Mac OS X.

Most importantly, what I have realised from my testing is that with the right software, RSS feeds can save a person like me oodles of time and grief. Its like the difference between getting the newspaper delivered to my door, and driving 10 miles to pick it up. Furthemore, subscribing to RSS feeds makes it less likely that I'll spend hours just surfing the web aimlessly, which isn't that much fun anyway.

Here is a list of standalone RSS feed readers available for OS X. Please let me know if I have missed any.

• Vienna
• NetNewsWire
• NewsMac Pro
• Newsfire
• Postino
• RSSOwl
• Shrook
• PulpFiction
• NewsFan
• AmphetaDesk
• PixelNews
  

Related Tags: RSS, Feed Readers, OS X, Apple Software

More New Photos

Between school and full-time employment, I haven't had much time for blogging. I did, however, upload several new photos to A. Stark Photo. These are some from a recent trip to Upper Laberge.

Click on Photos for Larger View

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Tony has already posted about this trip and has some great photos here.

I have also uploaded some old photos of my mother's side of the family. They can be viewed here. Some of them are pretty neat.

New Photos

I just uploaded a couple of dozen photos to A. Stark Photo. Some of them are relatively new, and others are old ones that I was too lazy to process until now. They can be found in the following galleries:

• Nature
• Landscapes
• Adventures
• Taffy and Friends
• Friends and Family

I also hope to get some photos of the fall colors that will be around for the next few weeks. There are no guarantees, however, since I will be working full time during this time. Here are a few fall photos from earlier today:

My Blogging Plans

After a much needed break from blogging, I am back. During my time off, I managed to mountain bike several hundred kilometres, do some off-roading, read War and Peace, and most importantly, fulfill some social obligations. Furthermore, I made some decisions about my future on the web.

First of all, I'm going to resume relatively frequent posting here at A. Stark Place. I will use this site for shorter posts about everyday and less serious stuff. After all, where else am I gonna do my cat blogging. To be truthful, too, I appreciate Blogger and its free services, so I might as well make use of them.

Secondly, I have purchased the domain astarkmagazine.com and am building that site using Squarespace. I spent countless hours researching different publishing systems, and chose Squarespace over my second choice, ExpressionEngine, because Squarespace will allow me to set up my new site with a bit less grief. Both systems seem great and are able to produce sites with more complex structures than a simple weblog. This was my main requirement. ExpressionEngine is probably a more powerful program in the right hands, but my knowledge of web design is too puny to make use of its features. In the end, I chose Squarespace because of its ease of use. Its post editor, for instance, is as easy to use as most word processing programs.

This new site will be published in regular issues (probably monthly) containing several articles based on a single theme. I plan for the first issue to be released on Oct. 1. This way of posting should allow me to spend more time on each article. I was growing increasingly annoyed with blogging, because I spent so much time posting daily stuff that I wasn't able to produce anything that I was pleased with. I'm hoping this new site will change all that. As for A. Stark Place, I'm hoping to post to it every few days. I also have a backlog of photos to process from the summer that should be available soon.

Thank you to any of you who haven't totally abandoned this site, despite its being so thoroughly neglected.