What? Another new feature? Yep, today I’m introducing ‘Headlines’ a new weekly post here on A Savage Curiosity. Headlines will be a post that features several articles I have found relevant this week and that I’d like to share. Most of the time these articles are shared through my Twitter feed, but I don’t want to share every single story I read there and junk up my followers feeds, here I can have a little more flexibility and room to add in thoughts on each topic. These articles are ones that have intrigued, inspired, enraged or otherwise stirred me. But first, I wanted to take a few minutes to introduce an app that I’ve absolutely fallen in love with.

Readability

As I’m frequently online most of the day for my job, I tend to come across a whole slew of things that I want to take time to really mull over, however, as my workload is relatively demanding I don’t always have the luxury of really diving into the many intriguing articles I’m sent or come across everyday. This week a friend of mine from New York suggested I give a new app ‘Readability‘ a go and I have to say, I LOVE it! I’m a pretty hardcore app addict and I am always happy to give something a try, so I was really surprised and really thrilled when I was able to connect with this app so quickly. I’ve noticed that it actually changes the way that I take in my reading content from online. I have the browser plugin installed on Firefox and I’m able to take a quick scan of an article I’ve been suggested and then I can save it to my Reading List. This is helpful in that I am able to take a few seconds, decide if I really want to read a particular article, click on the “Save for Later” icon and then have that article queued up for when my morning and evening reading times. Take a look at the interface:

Even the icon is awesome! A comfy chair inviting the reader to have a seat and take in some rad articles.

I LOVE this logo, clean and straightforward.

This is what the ‘Reading List’ looks like, the controls on top allow you to check for new articles you’ve saved online, search your articles, edit the Reading List itself, add articles from online right through the app, and then the settings which allows you to change the typeface of the text, change the the size of the text,look at your account and connect your social media services. At the bottom I pulled out the icon tray that applies to each article on the List. You can favorite, archive or trash it, right from the main list, handy!

This is a screen shot during a slide back to the reading list from an article, I think it gives a great idea of how the app interacts with Reading List. Just swipe to the right and bring back the list after reading an article.

This is what an article looks like when opened from the Reading List, it contains the media from the article. The type is clean and the interface is free of distractions. It’s SO freeing and makes concentrating on the content of the article SO MUCH EASIER. From here you can tap out to links in the article or view the article on the original website, which I love as well!

I love the clean design and the, well, the readability. I love that it helps me focus in on the content. As a designer and someone with SEVERE ADHD I often cant concentrate on the meat of an article when there is alot going on around it. While I can appreciate the design and marketing aspects of the webpage (hey, it’s how I make my living) I find that having this tool really helps me hone in on what the writer is really trying to convey, I can appreciate the point of view and such much more easily without those extras from the main site.The app allows you to style the text in larger or smaller type, select a serif or san serif typeface, and also archive and favorite articles.I love this as it helps me keep my reading list nice and clean and up to date, but allows me to keep hold of articles I want to keep hold of. Since I’ve purposely carved out a reading time in the morning and in the evening before bed, it helps me really take charge of what I want to read. The final icing on the cake? I can share THROUGH Readability so that someone can read in a clean format! My dad will LOVE this! Hahahaha,  I can also share it to the various social media outlets I frequent AND other readers (you fine folks) can subscribe to my Readability RSS! If you have an interest in what I’ve got running across my iPad and bouncing around in my brain you can subscribe right here! The app is totally free, head over and pick it up ASAP and give it a row yourself and let me know what you think.

Headlines

That said, here are a few of the headlines that captured my attention this week. From this point on, this will be its own post, if you have a suggestion for me, drop me an email or hit me up on Facebook or Twitter and let me know what’s on your radar!

• The Next Time You Cut Your Finger, Save a Life via Good //

Design doing good, that’s always at the top of my list! You may have seen these at Target or your local grocery store but did you know that you could take a quick sample of that cut on your hand and help someone? These innovative, beautiful and functionally designed bandages have a little envelope inside that you can send said blood sample to their labs and your on the National Bone Marrow Registry. No commitment, just listed so that you can have a chance to make a difference just by reaching in for a band-aid.

•  The Surprising Big Idea at TED: Turn off Technology via TIME //

I’ll admit it, I’m a TED talk fiend. I watch them everyday during my lunch break and I truly enjoy the topics and speakers that are so carefully created and curated. For a conference the focuses on Technology Entertainment and Design the overwhelming messages this year was TURN IT OFF. Most of the talks focused in on service on innovations you can build and create with your hands and the ways that you can create activism all around you.  I cant wait to go to this conference and I’m a die hard tech nerd but I’ve had to learn the hard way that you do have to turn off and unplug, some of the greatest minds in the world are letting us know it’s ok to take a break, I say we listen.

• When The Facts Dont Matter via Slate //

An article featuring a compelling argument for why the facts and statistics about the majority of births for American women under 30 now occur outside of marriage dont matter. The author, Nathaniel Frank, argues that social conservatives are locking down on the institution of marriage because the facts aren’t supporting their views. These conservatives are looking at numbers and black and white interpretations of marriage that aren’t necessarily representative of the current manifestation of the institution. I’m an very active supporter of Marriage Equality and I really enjoyed the voice and thoughts in this article. Keep and open mind and read.

• Bringing Bison Back To The Northern Great Plains via World Wildlife Foundation //

71 new Bison calves were released last week on the American Prairie Reserve in Northern Montana! These calves were the decedents of the very last Bison that roamed freely on the vast prairie land of the US before they were nearly hunted to extinction. I’m a very Environmentalist and I really love reading these kinds of stories, it highlights the importance of practicing good stewardship of our lands and also holding ourselves accountable for the damage we and our ancestors have rendered on said land. These calves join a herd that is already in the area with the hope that the population can begin a comeback into the area that they once ruled.

• Struggle is a Sure Sign You’re Creating Art via Jeff Goins //

This was a breath of fresh air that was shared via a friend on Facebook. Take a few minutes and read. I love how Jeff is encouraging and challenging in the same sentence. I also spent an hour clicking through the links to his other posts and LOVE his style and thoughts. I’ve added him to my Reeder feed and really look forward to spending some quality time looking through the archives of his site.

So there we go! The Savage Curiosity app review and the first headlines post! Now that I’ve got Readability loaded up expect a more robust list for next go. What did you think? Did any of these article ring true with you? Let’s get that discussion going!