Managing our Attention Defecit

Alex T writes: “There’s no shortage of information about the world today. While some of us moved to BV to escape the full frontal assault of the media-industrial complex, there are still hundreds of news sites, TV channels, Billboards and Radio stations, not to mention the tens of thousands of bloggers clamoring for your attention. We swim in a sea of information. The trick is to go to trusted sources for good information. And while ChannelBV is a great place to look for local news and ideas about greater Buena Vista, where else can you go online to get information about your world and your interests?

Guy Kawasaki, an entrepeneur, author, blogger and early Apple employee has put together a great service called AllTop. The concept is simple, every 15 minutes, the site goes out, and checks on who’s talking/blogging about what stories on major news and blog sites, pulls the headlines and a bit of the articles and offers them up to you. It doesn’t ask you to do anything, all you have to do is visit the site and pick a topic! It’s not a complicated concept, but for a person who isn’t used to getting and managing their news online or is unsure where to start, this is an excellent tool. There are no ads, nothing to distract you, just quick hits of information - enough to let you decide if the article is worth a click through. And that’s basically what any good news source does: It presents information in a way that speaks to you, respects who you are, and respects your time.

As for me, There are a few places that I make sure to check everyday, but they’re limited to my specific love of all things tech / internet / Web 2.0 and the like. The best thing about these sites are the quality of thought in the communities that read and discuss the articles. I find that the community makes all the difference.
So how about you dear readers? What do you read day to day? What websites/blogs/online news sites are your favorite for your slice of the world? Feel free to plug offline sources too (I’m a big supporter of the folks @ KRCC), I’m just most interested in communities and sources that invite and enable participation.

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