There are two types of people in this world:  those who prefer using Flipboard to aggregate their news and those who prefer Zite.  I’m firmly in the latter.

Zite was started up by some Canadians in Vancouver and bought by the people at CNN.  For my money (that’s just an expression since Zite is free), it’s way, WAY better for browsing news by topic and interest.  If you have a smartphone or a tablet, I highly recommend it.  It works with iPhone, iPad, Android and Windows Phone 7.

I check Zite for news on my iPhone several times a day.  And the last thing I do before lights out each night is scroll through my Zite preferences to see what’s going on.  This is why if you follow me on Twitter you’ll see late-night tweets from me, many with the “@zite” suffix.

This is also how Zite managed to find me and asked if I wouldn’t mind being profiled on their blog. Okay…

What’s on my Zite? Featuring Alan Cross

Alan Cross is a professional music geek, Canadian radio broadcaster for the Secret History of Rock, writer, public speaker and consultant. Follow Alan on Twitter: @alancross

Thanks for taking time out of your busy day to chat with us. Speaking of your busy day…what does a day in the life of Alan Cross look like?

Up at seven, two hours of writing blog entries beginning at eight (many culled from Zite links), then writing radio shows, working as a consultant for my radio station client, voice work in the home studio (or elsewhere), prepping for speaking engagements, working on assorted other contracts.

Talk about busy!

No two days are ever the same.

Now, tell us a little more about what gets you going. Where was your love of music born?

When I was six, my grandparents gave me a transistor radio for my birthday. It opened up the world to me. About six years later, my uncle (who had a job on the side, servicing jukeboxes) gave me a big box of forty-fives. From there, things just kinda went…crazy.

So it seems! You’ve worked with an impressive list of radio programs. Which experience was the most enriching in your career?

Working at the legendary CFNY/Toronto back in the mid-eighties was amazing. I’m so thankful to have been part of that crew. But more recently, my most enriching experience wasn’t with radio at all. In 2011, I had a chance to do a stage production with William Shatner—yes, him—on a cross-Canada tour. Each night featured me and him in armchairs chatting about his career. Unbelievable.

Continue on.