Did you ever wonder (American Idol)...

...how David Cook beat the adorable, squishy, cute, cuddly David Archuleta in the "Battle of the David's?" A good friend of mine, knowing that I am an Idol fan, asked the below:

"This is totally off topic, but I'd like to see a random thought about your view of the American Idol shocker! I was immediately repulsed by David "Oh My Gosh I Can Sing I Like Candy" Archuleta, but I thought teenie-boppers would carry him to victory. I know you shared this view. What happened?? I hope people saw what I did, which was David Cook's rendition of Billie Jean--possibly the best Idol performance ever.

I hope that doesn't make me sound gay. Not that there's anything wrong with that."

May 22, 2008 8:34 AM

Well my friend, here is what I think. First, I don't think you sound gay. It's okay for us to be Idol fans. I'm comfortable with this. We can get away with being Idol fans because we play fantasy football, too...and that balances things out. Although, most people would be shocked to know that we spent more time talking fantasy football, Idol, and other "important topics" at work than we did "running the world." Only a select few know what I mean here...

Second, I did not think it was a shocker -- even after Simon tried to sway the vote with his absolutely off the mark assessment of Cook's final performances. Usually, I'm aligned with Simon, but this time he missed the bus. Cook's final performances, especially his take on 'The World I Know,' were light years ahead of Archuleta's. Even his rendition of the gay, required Idol song was a good effort to make something out of nothing.

Archuleta, on the other hand, is like Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell in Anchorman): You put it on the teleprompter and he'll read it. The whole deer in the headlights look week in and week out just got annoying -- almost as annoying as Brooke White crying every week.

However, to answer your question, I think this article, 'Cougars 4 Cook' sign was our first clue, pretty much sums up the reason Cook won. I saw the sign that Erin Carlson references in the article -- it was only there for a second as the camera panned the audience last week, but you could not miss it -- and it just makes sense.

By the way, below is the above referenced Billie Jean rendition...

The Aggregator

What Is An Aggregator?
In my 4 April post I touched briefly on the aggregator. Essentially, an aggregator provides a consolidated view of content in a single browser display or desktop application, and in its simplest form draws that content from RSS (see my 4 April post -- Harnessing Collective Intelligence -- for more on RSS).

What does that mean in English? Well, if in your daily web routine you visit a number of different web sites for news, sports, entertainment, politics, blogs, etc. for your information fix, an aggregator can simplify this process for you. The aggregator allows you to "subscribe" to the content you want to receive and than consolidates that content in a user-friendly format. The below video is an okay tutorial on RSS and aggregators...

Different Types of Aggregators: Web Based or Client Software?

There are many different aggregators to choose from. For a running list of available aggregators visit Wikipedia.

In my brief experience with aggregators I have found that most have similar features. They allow you to organize your subscribed content -- much like you would your email inbox, provide a headline and the first few sentences of each individual item, link you to the original content if you want to read the entire item, and allow you to "tag" the content for future reference.

The biggest decision you will make associated with an aggregator is web or client. A web based aggregator is just that; it's accessible through a browser. If you have Internet access and a browser, and use a web based aggregator, you can access your aggregator from any PC. I am a web based aggregator user. I use Google Reader, but there are many others (see the Wikipedia link above). Below is a shot of Google Reader.


In contrast, a client based aggregator is software installed on your PC. In order to view your aggregator you must access it through your PC. A good client based aggregator I have used is FeedReader. Below is a shot of FeedReader.


Both versions of aggregators have their pluses and minuses. However, for me, being able to access my aggregator from anywhere is a big plus. Some will tell you that client based aggregators are faster than web based -- and thus more efficient -- but I have just not found this to be true. I started with Google Reader, tried FeedReader, and went back to Google Reader because I actually found FeedReader to be slower. Maybe it's my clunky HP laptop...

Additionally, another feature to look for is offline access. Most client based aggregators have this feature and I know that Google Reader has offline access, this may not be the case with all web based aggregators, though.

At the end of the day, even for the casual web surfer, the aggregator is a must for efficiently accessing, receiving and organizing content from myriad web sites. For me it's a keystone for effectively managing my web experience.