When two individuals tell me separately that I need to look at xFruits, I finally get around to taking a look. This new web service allows one to do some neat things with your content:

• Aggregate RSS feeds from different sources into one feed
• Turn RSS feeds into pdf
• and much more …

As a sample I took my own eContent feed, and converted it to PDF (free xFruits account required). Thus I was able to "freeze" my content (or someone else’s) at a chosen point in time, and convert a variable RSS feed to static pdf … with active web links. Here is my example:

• eContent PDF RSS Feed … created with xFruits

The service also allows me to tag and read other folks tags / work. My thanks to Rafael Sidi (Really Simple Sidi Blog) of eiVillage and Dean Brown of Thomson Corporation who both told me I needed to research xFruits.

As I head on vacation to Northern Minnesota (no computers or cell phone coverage … thus no posts for a while) I give you "Truthiness and the American Way"!

• As Spoofed by Stephen Colbert
  (video takes a moment or two in loading, but worth the wait!)
• As Defined by Wikipedia

Quoting from Wikipedia: "Truthiness is a satirical term coined by Stephen Colbert in reference to the quality by which a person claims to know something intuitively, instinctively, or "from the gut" without regard to evidence, logic, intellectual examination, or actual facts."

Thus, I now leave you for a cabin in the northwoods, not to far from the border with Minnesota’s Portugal. (background: Idaho’s Portugal)
.

Aside from all the time I spend on the net, I also play (and love) the accordion. If you want to learn a little about a gentleman (in the true sense of the word), who was a legend in his own time, link to: (Mr. Galla-Rini was 102 years young when he died on July 30th)

• Anthony Galla-Rini

I had the fortune to have met both Mr. Galla-Rini and the late Myron Floren. In both cases, I attended amazing musical performances by these gentlemen when they were in their 90’s. Unlike the public concerts most people get to attend, which focus on "popular" songs, these concerts were for fellow musicians …. and these two guys got to strut their stuff …. ranging from classical music to obscure folk melodies. In Mr. Galla-Rini’s case, his accordion which had been bashed up by the airlines, broke during his concert. Within seconds, 20 audience members offered him their accordion Within seconds Mr. Galla-Rini was playing again on borrowed instrument … and sounded great. This fact may not sound like much, but accordions and their "touch" vary greatly by unique instrument. To change instruments in the middle of a concert, at age 95, and continue as if nothing happened is truly amazing. He received a standing ovation from the assembled musicians.

Have you ever been frustrated in your attempt to look like an absent minded professor? (i.e. you can’t tie a bow tie)?  This new service, VideoJug, is the answer to your "how to" needs.

• How to Tie a Bow Tie … with an English Accent
  or
• How to Get Video on your iPod

Following up on yesterday’s post of my favorite webinar sites, today I am focusing on podcasts. Many of you know that I advocate the use of podcasts as an excellent means of short learning events. I’ve created a tutorial named "Drivetime Podcasts", and encourage the use of an FM Modulator (transmitter) which easily allows anyone to listen to podcasts in their car … without the need to own a iPod or MP3 Player.

Take a look at my Drivetime Podcast multimedia tutorial. It’s less than four minutes long, and in this case, a picture (or two) are worth a thousand words:

• Drivetime Podcast Tutorial
  Note #1: module may take a moment to load
  Note #2: maximize screen by clicking upon icon next to "paper clip"

Here are some of the content links referred to in the tutorial

• FM Modulator (about $25 US)
• RSS Overview from c|Net

Some of my favorite Podcasts

• 800 CEO Read
• Business Week Podcasts 
• Cranky Middle Manager
• Deloitte 
• Gartner Research 
• GeoQuiz from PRI International
• Harvard IdeaCast 
• IBM Business Consulting Services 
• IEEE Spectrum Radio
• Insead Knowledge
• Invisible Hand (interviews with business book authors)
• Knowledge at Wharton: USA | India
• Motley Fool Podcast – NPR
• Naked Scientist
• NPR Podcasts
• PopTech 
• Radio Tuck from Dartmouth
• Science Friday – NPR
• Ted Talks
• TechNation – NPR
• University of Chicago Graduate School of Business

Finally, here are just a few great examples of author interviews / podcast series:

• The Long Tail by Chris Anderson – TCS Daily
• Primal Branding by Patrick Hanlon – Business of Success
• Ten Faces on Innovation by Tom Kelley – TechNation
• The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman – Science Friday