Top 3 Android Apps of 2014

My top 3 Android apps of 2014:

3. Feedly

Feedly has been my primary RSS reader ever since Google Reader shuttered its service in 2013. Feedly, the RSS service, has been my main RSS aggregator, so it makes syncing between the apps (Feedly for Android and iPad, and the Feedly web interface) and service completely seamless and easy. There are no killer features to the app–it’s a killer service.

2. PushBullet

PushBullet is a must if your workflow and personal life involve multiple platforms and machines. It makes working and sharing data across machines seamless and easy. The PushBullet features I use most are: responding to texts directly from my browser window (requires Chrome extension), sending links from my phone to my other devices (usually my PC or iPad), and sending files between devices (usually from my PC to my phone). I imagine these features may work there way into Android and Chrome in the future (a la Apple Airdrop), but until then PushBullet is the way.

1. PocketCasts

PocketCasts is the best podcast app for Android. It’s got all the bells and whistles you would expect in a podcast app (background downloading, multiple play speeds, great scrubbing, etc.), a small footprint, and a great looking UI. The $3.99 asking price is totally worth it and I would pay for it again if I had to.

Runner-ups: IFTTT, TextraSMS, Red Reader, and Pocket.

Disaster in the age of McMansions: America’s dangerous addiction to suburban sprawl – Salon.com

A really great excerpt from Benjamin Ross’ new book “Dead End: Suburban Sprawl and the Rebirth of American Urbanism”

“The great migration was over. A half-decade after the crash, suburban building has resumed, but it will never again be the same inexorable outward surge. The landscape created by the migration remains, embodied in houses, stores, roads, habits, and laws. What we do with that landscape will determine what kind of country we make in the century to come.”

via source.

A Beautiful Corpse: An oral history of the fast life and quick death of the XFL – SBNation.com

A really great look back at the short-lived XFL (eXtreme Football League) and its lasting influence on the NFL.
via source.

dinosaur

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For ‘House of Cards,’ Using Big Data to Guarantee Its Popularity – NYTimes.com

“Executives at the company knew it would be a hit before anyone shouted ‘action.’ Netflix, which has 27 million subscribers in the nation and 33 million worldwide, ran the numbers. It already knew that a healthy share had streamed the work of Mr. Fincher, the director of “The Social Network,” from beginning to end. And films featuring Mr. Spacey had always done well, as had the British version of “House of Cards.” With those three circles of interest, Netflix was able to find a Venn diagram intersection that suggested that buying the series would be a very good bet on original programming.”

Elvis

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Johnny Cash Wall of Albums

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Johnny Cash Hit Singles

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awesome dude

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car wash

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