Last week’s interview with the sword swinging and keyboard wearing Lisa Bettany was a huge success. Especially because of Lisa’s use of twitter, flickr and Pownce.

This week it’s Editor-in-Chief of Mashable, MindSay co-founder and ReadBurner owner Adam Ostrow’s turn to show us his desktop. Many of you probably know Adam from Mashable and MindSay (one of the oldest blogging communities), but from today we’ll also know Adam as the one of the guys, who acquired ReadBurner.

In January 2008 Alexander Marktl launched Readburner as a hobby project, but within a month is became a very popular service. So popular that it took more time than Alexander Marktl had. Luckily for ReadBurner and for us Adam Ostrow, Drew Olanoff and Eric Kerr recently bought it and is making sure the service lives on. So what is ReadBurner?

ReadBurner collects the shared items from each feed. It’s similar to Techmeme and heavily inspired RSSmeme. It has a lot of potential. If they can get the attention and coverage, it’ll beat the current FriendFeed hype. Adam, if you need my help promoting ReadBurner, you can count on me.

The interview is a little taste of what season 3 of Show Me Your Desktop will offer.

What is your background picture?

Hilary Duff. Not like Lizzie McGuire Hilary Duff, that’d be kind of sketchy. But she’s all grown up and looks amazing.

Why did you choose that picture?

In addition to being really hot, Hilary seems like a breath of fresh air compared to a lot of the celebrities out there. She’s involved in a lot of charities and actually does stuff with them like handing out meals in New Orleans after Katrina. I shouldn’t know all this, but I spend almost as much time on WeSmirch as I do TechMeme, so, I do.

If you have a personal and a work computer, which program do you use the most on your personal computer?

They are one and the same. Sadly, I’d say when I’m not working, the program I use the most is still Firefox. I spend too much time on the Web.

Which program do you use the most on your work computer?

Firefox and Trillian are tied, since they are both open all day. Within Firefox, the programs I use the most are Gmail and Google Reader. Those two are also always on.

Which web browser is your preferred browser?

Firefox 2.0. I still do use IE on occasion though for quality assurance on my various side projects. It’s amazing how different the same site can look on different browsers. Usually, it’s not pretty.

Why is it your favourite browser?

Initially, it was the tabbed browsing, but IE has that now too. It also used to run a lot faster than IE, but that advantage also seems to be fading with all of the memory leaks. I guess Firefox won me over originally with their innovations, and much like Google versus Yahoo or Ask, it would take a lot more than a few shiny new features to get me to switch. I’d need to see something truly radical and innovative.

What is your favourite program and why?

My favorite has to be Google Reader. Pulling together all of the sites you read in one location is such an amazing time saver, and of the RSS readers I’ve tried, Google Reader does the best job of it. As someone that consumes and creates news for a living, it’s absolutely the most important tool that I’ve got.

Which program is the worst?

Adobe Reader. Loading up PDFs grinds my computer to an absolute halt. Note to PR people: don’t send us PDFs!!!

Do you have any tips and tricks on how to get the most out of your computer or blog?

To get the most out of your computer, you need to constantly delete the crap you don’t use. Similar to how a messy house can create a lethargic environment, a desktop cluttered with worthless apps can be rather de-motivating.

As for getting the most of your blog, I think one of the most important things you can do is respond to as many of your commenters as possible. Not only are these people your most important readers, but if you write for a more newsy and commercial blog like Mashable, I’ve found it’s the best way for people to get to know who you are. Similar to newspapers, with the exception of a few bloggers, almost no one remembers the bylines, so even if you write for one of the big sites, it’s up to you to build your personal brand.

From a content perspective, one tip I can offer is to constantly vary the format and length of your posts. I know I can’t stand reading big blocks of text, and know most other people don’t enjoy it either. So experiment with different image placements, shorter paragraphs, and block quotes.

Thank you very much Adam and the best of luck with ReadBurner. It’s a great service and I’m certain you will succeed. Oh and if you ever need my services on Mashable…Not that I’m waiting or anything. (Updating Gmail every two minutes and redirecting Skype, IM and twitter to my cell)

In my quest to make a living of blogging I’ve now turned my attention to my equipment a.k.a my gadgets.

If you didn’t already know that, well I’m working on it. Hopefully in a couple of years I can quit my day job and make a living out of blogging. I think I would be the first Dane to do that.

I’ve compiled a list of gadgets, equipment, skills and programs that I need in order to match the stereotypical blogger.From my interview series I’ve learned that most bloggers have

1. Use a Mac, usually a MacBook Pro, iMac or MacBook Air
2. Keen interest in photography, usually a Canon Digital Rebel XTi or Nikon D40 or similar. Darren Rowse, Matt Mullenweg or Lisa Bettany. They all take great pictures and have a lot of followers on flickr
3. Adobe Photoshop skills. The photographs must be edited in someway. Also great for making graphics for your blog posts
4. Attend a convention. I always envy the bloggers that attend a blogger convention. SXSW is just one of the conventions I would love to participate in. There is so much going on there
5. Speak at a convention.Jennifer Laycock, Guy Kawasaki, Lorelle VanFossen and Andy Beal travel the roads and sky thin speaking at conventions.
6. Have a cool nickname. Robert Scoble is the Scobleizer and Jeremy Schoemaker is Shoemoney. Just to mention a few. I’m sure there are plenty of others out there too
7. Vlog, podcast, lifecast or stream either your life or a daily/weekly show. Justin Kan from justin.tv, Sarah Meyers from Pop17.com, Justine Ezarik from iJustine and Chris Pirillo from LockerGnome all have a show or lifecast (sometimes both). Use services such as Revver, Qik, Ustream, Mogulus or YouTube
8. Say smart, useful and thoughtful things on twitter or pownce
9. Be a part of a Web 2.0 startup

So what kind of stereotypical blogger thing am I doing?

1. I’ve been a pc-guy for many years, but I’ve decided that my next laptop will be a MacBook. (If you have any recommendations then please let me know)
2. I just bought my own Nikon D40. It’s a great camera and a huge upgrade from my old Olympus point and click. The only followers on flickr I have are my parents. I guess the average The Beta News visitor isn’t really interested in pictures of my son with food all his face or our vacation pictures. Who would have guessed! (I do look good in shorts though).
3. Did you notice the graphical improvement after I switched theme. I’m slowly learning to use Photoshop. I just love it, when I find a new feature and figure out how to use it.
4. Attend a convention. Man, I would love to go to a blogger convention. All a part of my big “become a problogger and move to the States”-plan.
5. Being the first Danish problogger that moved to the States. If that doesn’t earn me a spot as a convention speaker. Then what does?
6. Cool nickname. In real life my nickname is Don, but that doesn’t really catch on. I’ve tried with “dennisbp”. Right now I’m trying with my full name: Dennis Bjørn Petersen. Let’s see how many remembers it.
7. I’m experimenting with Qik.com. What a great service. I can stream directly from my cell phone. Besides that I’m trying Camtasia Studio out too. A few of my blog posts will now be recorded using Camtasia Studio. The first one was the prize draw as a part of The Beta News Contest.
8. I try to say smart things on twitter. I’m not as clever as Maki (DoshDosh). He has some really insightful and philosophical tweets.
9. I have no programming skills whatsoever. I do have a couple of great ideas. I just need someone to develop it for me.

Now I’ve revealed my most intimate and secret dreams for you. Which of these points do you follow? Or perhaps you are going your own way and starting your very own trend? What made these people so famous? They were usually first movers or early adopters, some might even call them visionary (not me of course).

UPDATE: I don’t usually ask for diggs, sphinns or stumbles, but as an experiment perhaps you would consider digging or sphinn this?

Last week I asked Duncan Riley to Show Me Your Desktop. Duncan started a new urge in me. I want to replace my two 19″ monitor with 22″. If you don’t want to be tempted, then please don’t read last week’s interview with Duncan Riley.

This week it’s Lisa Bettany’s turn to share her desktop with us. If you aren’t familiar with Lisa’s blog “Mostly Lisa”, you are missing something in your feed-reader. She has some hilarious videos, clever blog posts and takes great pictures. The media part is because of her involvement in the multimedia company Redpilot. However Lisa is more than just a blogger, actress, model, nocturnal and geek. She is also in the top 8 in Wired’s Sexiest Geeks 2007. So remember to vote for her.

I also noticed that Lisa has a thing for Mac. Yet again we meet a lovely Canadian with a Mac-fetish and great photography skills. I have to get myself one a Mac. Beautiful people use Macs.

What is your background picture?

OS Leopard theme “Aurora”

Why did you chose that picture?

In the past, I have always used my favourite photographs as my desktop, but being a bit of an Apple fangirl I couldn’t help but get into the OSX Leopard craze. Plus, I personally feel that this is the best desktop image Apple has come out with and who doesn’t like space themes?

If you have a personal and a work computer, which program do you use the most on your personal computer?

I’d have to say Safari, because I am constantly blogging or searching the www. Adobe’s Photoshop, Final Cut Pro, iTunes, iPhoto, iChat, VLC, Transmit, and Entourage are my other top applications.

Which program do you use the most on your work computer?

Work computer = home computer. I run my multimedia company from home, usually in my pajamas.

Internet Explorer or Firefox?

I only use Safari. I use FF as a default when I have browser issues with Safari, but I find Safari to be a cleaner, more aesthetic, better functioning application over-all. Plus, I was getting bogged in FF plug-ins and wasting far too much time searching for new ones. 2008 is all about stream-lining my resources and getting things done!

What is your favourite program?

A toss up between Adobe Photoshop and Final Cut Pro. Both are intensely powerful programs that allow me to create beyond my wildest dreams. I haven’t even touched the power of these programs.

Which program is the worst?

Microsoft’s Excel. I’ve done my fair share of data entry and just the sight of it makes me frustrated, bored, and slightly nauseous. I’m currently moving over to Apple’s spreadsheet program “Numbers”.

Do you have any tips and tricks on how to get the most out of your computer or blog?

What you put into your blog and the blogging communities is directly proportional to what you get out of it. I reply to every comment and email I receive about my blog. It means something to me someone has taken the time to write me a thoughtful comment, or just a “hey, I liked that post”. I also visit try and visit their blogs if they have include their URL in their comment. I have met great people and found wonderful blogging communities this way. Also, writing relevant, interesting, and varied posts with cute pictures of yourself also helps ( ;

Mac or Pc and why?

For me and the type of work I do, Mac > PC. It’s just that simple.

It might be a comfort to some, that Lisa is struggeling with some of the same problems as you are – Joining too many social networks. That’s why I’m really glad she found the time to answer my questions. Thank you Lisa and good luck with the audition.

PS: Thank you for cleaning your desktop before taking the screen dump.