The iPhone App post inspired me to share some of the blogs I read on a daily basis. At the opening of the academic year 2009/2010 at Maastricht University Dutch entrepreneur Marc van der Chijs said: "Dont read the news, read stuff from the source as it happens." His statement made me think about the power one has in being up to date. Since technology and entrepreneurship are two fields that I like to be up to date. Here are some of the blogs that I can only recommend reading: Entrepreneurship

• Retire at 21 - Offers some very nice interviews with young tech entrepreneurs and a nice brag list of the top earners
• FastCompany - The online content is just as great as the magazine content and I like to use the feeds to forward stories that I found interesting.
• Young Entrepreneur - Great content for up and coming businesses from the perspective of young entrepreneurs and those who want o become such.
• Inc. - Another great magazine with terrific content to stay ahead of the business game.

Technology

• Scobelizer (Robert Scoble) - Best tech blog with a personal opinion touch. Robert's content is always great and informative.
• Mashable - Just the greatest resources on social media developments, rumors, and trends. Also, I like the format and the writing style.
• Silicon Alley Insider - Great news resources to see what is going on at the "other side". Very informative and often funny content.
• Wired - My favorite geek, gadget, and geniuses magazine. That is all.

People

• Marc van der Chijs - Marc is - among many things - the co-founder of China's largest video portal. I really like how he is using Twitter and his Blog to keep people in the loop on what he does.
• Jason Calacanis - Jason is probably one of the most respected people in internet entrepreneurship. He is one super active internet entrepreneur and I like everything that he is involved in.
• Paul Graham - Paul is the co-founder of Y-Combinator, an incubator that has brought up more than 140 start-ups.
• Matt Mullenweg - Matt is the founder of WordPress and a true tech-startup idol of mine. The projects that he is involved in are awesome and inspiring.

The Software I Use Most of the blogs I read through RSS feeds. My favorite prog here is NetNewsWire for Mac. I love the Google Reader sync ability so I can the exact same feeds on my iPhone and PC. The program works just fine on all three platforms.

Inspired by German entrepreneur Kolja Hebenstreit's Blog post on iPhone apps I too wanted to share some of the Apps and iPhone optimized websites I use on a daily basis and find very useful. His list comprises some very fine apps that I run on a daily basis, too. Apps Of course all the communication apps like Facebook, LinkedIn, Xing, and especially Skype fulfill their purpose. They don't have any special features in my opinion but pose a quickly accessible alternative to the website. Most certainly none of them are a good "complete replacement". If you work on a Mac I can only recommend using Things for both, the Mac and the iPhone. Syncing is done quickly and I never experienced any problems there. As long as you are in the same Wi-Fi you don't even have to connect the device. The UI is clean and very intuitive. Managing tasks, projects, or tracking tasks that were assigned to others was never easier. When traveling by plane with Lufthansa there is nothing better that checking in via the Lufthansa Launcher. If you have a registered mileage account it will also let you check that. Most of the application involves iPhone optimized websites that are launched after pressing the respective button in the app. Check-in with seat selection and mobile boarding pass are some of the features that take the time-consuming hassles of air travel. For reading RSS feeds I use NetNewsWire (Pro). The app connects to your Google Reader profile and downloads all the feeds that are listed there. It is very convenient for checking stuff quickly but also for reading entire articles. I can also recommend the Pro version since the additional 3.99 Euros will take out all ads and stability is no problem. German Newspaper Handelsblatt has launched their new app and there I one distinctive feature that I just love about it. You can download all articles with the push of a button. This is great for reading the articles on the plane or other places where you don't have a 3G network or Wi-Fi available. iPhone-optimized Websites As a German I praise our public channels ARD and ZDF every day. I am glad that we have them. The mobile version of Tagesschau, probably the most prominent and respected news broadcast, is just great in terms of content and usability. Another great resources is offered by Harvard Business. The content is the same as on HarvardBusiness.org and everything is very nicely readable on the small screen, too. More well researched and commented news are available through SPIEGEL Online. The mother website is by far the most visited news site in German and the mobile version makes most content viewable on the iPhone. "Insiders Tip" If you dont know these Apps just download them and explore their entire beauty: Dropbox (if you have one), MProfs (if you are interested in Marketing), ConAngel (if you go to events that use it), Tube Status (if you go to London frequently), and Airport Staus (Free) (if you travel in the US a lot). What about you? What do you think of the apps that I have listed here? Do you use them, too? What are your pros and cons? Which apps / websites can you recommend that make your life easier? (Photo on top: Courtesy of Apple Inc.)