Replacing Google Reader

With the impending demise of Google Reader, I have been shopping around for a new RSS aggregator. [If you're unfamiliar with RSS feeds, here is a post that got me reading development blogs AND using an aggregator].

I think I found my solution, at least for now: Feedly. It is pretty simple, yet syncs across platforms, can download stories for offline reading, and looks nice (especially on a tablet in magazine view). I recommend it as an easy-to-use solution. Now if I can just find a good replacement for TweetDeck (if I really need to?)

Here is what the web version of Feedly looks like on Chrome:

If you have a tablet, Feedly is even better in the Magazine display, like this:

Links You Should Know About

A few links that I had to share, of various types. And the sources for the links should serve as your Twitter Follow Friday for this week!

• Musician and artist Juan Diego Alarcón on overcoming disabilities and other challenges (h/t @marisola22)
• An autism consultant starts a blog, sharing her experiences and motivations (h/t @khench)
• Ayu, a new social enterprise and incubator in Peru dedicated to innovative solutions for advancing social goals (En Español Aquí - h/t @mcostach)
• Putting the (never-ending) Madagascar political crisis into (scary) perspective (h/t @ryan_arash)

Friday Music Video: Lose Yourself to Dance

Here is a more feel-good Friday afternoon music video to start your weekend. If for some reason you have not heard the new Daft Punk album (Random Access Memories), this song might encourage you to stop everything and go buy it. Critical summer party music. Now on to the dance lessons:

Friday Videos - Poverty Action Advertisements?

This past week, with family visiting for graduation, I was riding in NYC taxicabs quite a bit. During these travels, I saw an interesting series of ads played on the tv screens in the back seat: ads for Innovations for Poverty Action. I was a bit surprised to see these ads, because while fundraising campaigns for non-profits are common throughout the city, IPA has been a bit quieter than most. Also, I thought it might be tougher for them to raise funds, as they do not implement many programs but instead focus on evaluating existing programs to see what works. They, along with JPAL, are the primary performers of impact evaluations for international (and domestic) development projects as promoted by the must-read development book Poor Economics (which I eventually read last summer). Anyways, the ads certainly stand out from others, though I have not decided if I like them or not. But I am curious to learn what the intended audience (aka potential donors) think. So take a look!




Those pamphleteers have to be IPA employees, right?

Political Economy of Development Cheat Sheet

I had my last grad school exam today. It was for Chris Blattman's "Political Economy of Development: Africa and the World" class. We were allowed a single study sheet for the exam. Mine featured some highlights of the authors we read throughout the class - I thought it would be fun to share it with you all, with a few slight adjustments (inspired by this and this).

Nicolas van de Walle

Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson

Jeffrey Sachs

William Easterly

 

Esther Duflo

Abhijit Banerjee

Jeffrey Herbst

Dambisa Moyo

Dani Rodrik

Chris Blattman

Feel free to add your own in the comments, or create some more!