Andrew L. Van Slaars

I recently discovered Instapaper. This is a simple app that allows you to bookmark an item to be read later. It is simpler that del.icio.us, in that there are no tags. It doesn’t appear that your list of bookmarked items are meant to be shared or searched. The items are simply put into a list of things you want to read later. So, using a simple bookmarklet to your bookmarks toolbar, you can load up a web page, click on the bookmark, and that current page is added to your instapaper page. When you want to read the item, go to Instapaper and find that item in your list.

This is great. It’s fast and simple, but there is only one problem. Like del.icio.us, I tend to forget to go to the site to actually look at my bookmarks again. There is a simple solution though… Instapaper exposes an RSS feed of your unread items (you get the link once you’ve added an item to your list). So, I have subscribed to my own feed and now, when I have time to read, my items will show up in Google Reader, which is where I go when I have time to read. Perfect.

Remember, this is more about marking pages to come back and read when you have time. I don’t see this as a replacement for other bookmarking sites.

Learning, Tools bookmarks, rss, Tools

I have quite a few reference books that I flip through from time to time, but very few that I read from beginning to end. I started reading Designing the Obvious yesterday and finished today. I read every page and I couldn’t stop reading. The book was very well written and the tone made it easy to read completely without the normal “ok, get to the point” feeling that I get from highly technical books.

Every line either made a point or contributed to one, there was no fluff, just useful information. Given that one major point made in the book had to do with removing unnecessary elements from web applications, it looks like the author took his own advice when writing the book and it paid off.

This book should be on the book shelf of every designer, developer or anyone else who contributes to application development. Understanding the user experience is key to building a successful application and this book will help you do that.

I should also point out that the author, Robert Hoekman Jr., has another book hitting the shelves early in 2008. I will be pre-ordering my copy soon. How about you?

Books, Learning, Usability book, design, Usability