In message <
[email protected]> Stephan Rose
I find that a little hard to believe. Subscribed...fine. Though I have
to say at that point in time...you're the first person I know that
does that.
Perhaps. I know a few others, but not many.
But I can't imagine anyone reading that many newsgroups a day. If I
just figure 10 minutes on average per newsgroup which is not all that
much, times 100 newsgroups is 1000 minutes or over 16 hours.
10 minutes is a vast overstatement, some of them go days or even weeks
without a single post, many of them might only see 1-2 posts/day most of
the time (Virtual PC/Virtual Server groups, for example), but when they
do light up, it's topics that interest me (or topics where I have a
professional interest)
Most of the medium-volume ones, I read the entire group in 10 minutes or
so while working (I connect remotely to the office, some activities take
30-45 seconds to complete -- I'm a habitual multitasker, if I don't find
something to keep my attention I'll get bored or distracted and it
usually takes me a couple minutes to get back up to speed. Usenet is
good because when I finish reading a thread or writing a message there
is a logical "break" to go back to work -- If I didn't have something to
keep my attention while waiting, I doubt I'd get anything done at work).
I'm quick to kill subthreads when it doesn't interest me, or when it's
two regular posters duking out personal issues. I've mostly killfiled
subthreads of the regular "I hate Vista but I still post here" posters
too, so I not only don't see their posts, but also anyone who replies)
In higher volume groups (this one, for example) I tend to skim over the
first posts of each thread and decide whether to read it (mark it as
watch), or not, usually from the subject, sometimes from the poster.
From there I skip to any well-known posters to see if the problem is
already solved (if I think I know the solution), or if the solution is
interesting (this is the best, I get to learn something)
So you're telling me you are spending 16 hours a day reading
newsgroups? When do you eat? sleep? work?
I tend to read while eating breakfast and lunch, occasionally dinner. I
read while cooking, when I'm waiting for the bus or sitting on the bus.
I am a classic always-reading, always-learning. I read while watching
TV, talking on the phone (which is mostly dialing, waiting, time on
hold, etc -- Very little of the time I spend on the phone is actually
speaking to anyone)
I read a lot of sources of information, personal email (mailing lists),
usenet, RSS feeds, slashdot, random websites, forums. Usenet probably
takes up less then 50% of the volume of material I read daily.
Once in a while you'll even catch me reading a real book (about once
every two years), but usually it's either from a PC or on my PDA.
I taught myself to speed-read in junior high school, scored in the top
2-3 people for reading speed and always highest for reading
comprehension in every reading test in high school, and haven't stopped
from there.
Oh, and it has been suggested by doctors that I am borderline
Asperger's, or a couple other forms of higher functioning Autism...
Since aside from being overly pedantic, I get along just find in
society, have a social life, and am otherwise "just a bit odd" I haven't
pursued this angle, but rather used my habits and my skills to better
myself and to increase my productivity.
