Shared OPML, and dektop rss reader productivity

Off late i've been adding a lot more blogs from media/ blogosphere (techcrunch 'ish blogs, company blogs , and so on ) apart from the developer blogs that i cherish the most . One of the categories that i have been having a close watch and building on are indian developers who are being there and doing that ; ) You'll most of the individuals mentioned in my post about indian hacker's in the opml file as well . Ofcourse, most of the list are people I would personally know or like to know but as a technology / web geek i think that sharing this list would really help introduce you to a lot of really good blogs.

I'm also surprised why there is'nt any viral site for sharing rss reader opml files ?!(or is it just my ignorance!). So i'm going to upload my opml files once a quarter so that it might be useful to other hackers, entrepreneurs and technology watchers like me .

And here's for an awesome tip . Sure it wont be easy reading up on 1000+ , i'd prefer to take my time and read most of them . (especially if u skip a day or two ! ) SO what i've done is what i think a more leisurely way to read my favourite blogs without the clutter and time constraints .

Here's what i did two days back :
I installed a desktop rss reader on my laptop. I imported my google reader opml . Once a day i go online and let it autoupdate . Finito ! now i can take my time, change the themes ,font's ,add rating ,see my reading statistics, custom tags, searches ,bookmarks, even blog from it, and more importantly - take my time to read all the 1000+ feed items ,as and when i want.

step 1: exported my google opml file.
im guessing that you are familiar with rss readers, and blogs and rss . If you use a bloglines or a google reader there should be a export subscription /export feeds / export as opml option somewhere. save the file on your system. Here are my google reader opml files.

step 2: downloaded a desktop rss reader
I expected a little more from google readers offline operation that used google gears. sadly though it just did'nt work . Moving on, i looked around for a couple of desktop rss readers. ended up on just installin one though called blogbridge . FYI : a nice link that higlights 9 reasons to use desktop readers, and here's another one that tells you how to make your own desktop rss reader. i then imported the opml file, and can choose as to when it should update (either on program startup or when i say to get updates )


i still like to still to maintain / add feeds ,etc to my online rss reader(google reader) since i can access them when im not on either my machine or the laptop. another hassle is that after reading posts from the desktop reader- they wont be 'marked as read' ,but i still think that the move has let me catch up with the 'posts that i always wanted to take time to read' and the 'blogs i never had time to read and so on' ,and all this offline . I think it's worth it thinking /trying it out.

Keep Clicking,
Bhasker V Kode

Technorati Tags: opml, rss, , reader,, google, , desktop, , feeds,, bosky

Indian Independent music is ALIVE and kicking !!

When i first saw sites like radioverve and gigpad for indian independent music spring up , I wondered who would be creating this kind of music from india . Well, today as a music lover and self-taught guitarist , i'm more than convinced at the amazing changes and advances happening in the indian independent music scene.

Take for instance - my good friend ,Prakash Hariharan has been playing the mandolin for 10 odd years. Sometime in college few years back, he got himself a new acoustic guitar ,and an electric one . And started playing amazing leads on both that led to him drifting towards fusion and little jazz. He and other friends from college like Raghu (Bass,vocals, composition) ,Karthik(vocals,guitar)& Deepak (drums) all from SVCE , have been making demos and jingles and performing at a semi-professional level for some time now .My gf was judged best singer at an inter-college event,and sings for the college band , and i know how she really enjoyed every practice session they had, and admits - its all hard work and patience. She should know - she's been learning classical indian music for the past 15 years ,Prakash for 10 odd years on the mandolin started off classical himself. Some like the pianist junior ,have even made it big in the band called Oxygen. Great to see them win gigs ,be it a fusion at iit,iim or the other events in south india. Hey ,incidently I had a great time myself playing the guitar for while in the western music band. I still do enjoy each minute i spend everyday with my custom made spanish guitar 8 )

Whats new though , is that unlike anyone else i know or anytime before ... Prakash has put away a nice job at a software company to pursue his dream . He joined a radio station to learn production , while spinning his own compositions in his home studio . recording and jamming with other buddies . He's been showing his demo's to people ,even to Guitar Prasanna and hopes to one day join the Berkely school of music . Really awesome to see people passionate and pursuing what they love 8 )

On the same lines, I was really stunned when i heard the awesome potential in indian inde music 8 ) ( songs from red cube, indus creed especially ) .Lot of indian independent music happening ....

Check out

1. http://www.split-magazine.com/downloads
2. http://split-magazine.com/radio
3. radioverve
4. gigPad
   

Prakash puts some of his music over at his blog and runs his own podcasts with his music , and I'll ask him to update news on his new band in bangalore .

Here's a demo of Red Cube's single called "some where in the corner".

Cheers to the music,guitars and the free world ! 8 )

Update : Also on similiar lines, is tempostand.com . And here's cheers to Oritus, for their awesome song and now my personal fav indian inde ballad - 'Many a Mile' - by Oriitus.
Keep Clicking,
Bhasker

Technorati Tags: indian, indie, music, pkharry, radioverve, redcube, split,tempostand, oritus,svce, gigpad,bosky101