Morse Code Tools

I love this RSS newsfeed/Twitter morsereader. I asked for support of international letters a while ago and @dc3dreamer implemented it. Works perfectly for Norwegian æ ø å, as well as Swedish ä ö. #hamr https://t.co/kHCnppttIE

— Sverre Holm, LA3ZA (@LA3ZA) February 18, 2018

Productive Morning

I should have a productive morning as Feedly is the victim of a DDoS attack.

Why did Google Reader die?

I figured Google Reader wasn't making any money, but maybe it died because it was costing a lot of money.

It's Dead, Jim

Google Reader:

Thank you for stopping by.

Google Reader has been discontinued. We want to thank all our loyal fans. We understand you may not agree with this decision, but we hope you'll come to love these alternatives as much as you loved Reader.

Sincerely,

The Google Reader team

Frequently-asked questions

1. What will happen to my Google Reader data?

   All Google Reader subscription data (eg. lists of people that you follow, items you have starred, notes you have created, etc.) will be systematically deleted from Google servers. You can download a copy of your Google Reader data via Google Takeout until 12PM PST July 15, 2013.

2. Will there be any way to retrieve my subscription data from Google in the future?

   No -- all subscription data will be permanently, and irrevocably deleted. Google will not be able to recover any Google Reader subscription data for any user after July 15, 2013.

3. Why was Google Reader discontinued?

   Please refer to our blog post for more information.

And I'm using Feedly for now. Although someone pointed out Inoreader in the comments and it looks good, too.

RSS Alternatives - At this moment

I like the Digg Reader iPhone app the best, but hate the web page (buggy, won't hold settings).

I really dislike the Feedly iPhone app (too many swipes). The web page is okay. [UPDATE: I didn't realize I could swipe to the side to move to the next item. That moves is up the list.]

I like The Old Reader, but there is no iPhone app and the web page is cumbersome in the mobile browser.

Change is hard.

RSS

I'm playing with Digg Reader, The Old Reader, and Feedly. No winner yet. Importing was painless on all three and surprisingly quick.

RSS Feeds

I've still not settled on a Google Reader replacement, but I just thought to check my subscriber numbers. There are about 240 of you who follow the blog via RSS. Eighty of which use Google Reader. I see several other readers in the list - but "unknown" is second to Google Reader.

Let's see what happens after July 1.

Google Reader - Google Takeout

Google Takeout of your Google Reader data:

"If you'd like to download a copy of all your Reader data before then, you can do so through Google Takeout. You'll receive your subscription data in an XML file, and the following information will be downloaded as JSON files:

• List of people that you follow

• List of people that follow you

• Items you have starred

• Items you have liked

• Items you have shared

• Items shared by people you follow

• Notes you have created

• Items with comments"

Try Google Reader

Apparently Google hasn't heard about the impending demise of Google Reader. The screen shot from my Gmail suggests using Google Reader as a replacement for Web Clips. (I've never used Web Clips.)

And by the way, I'm not happy with my alternatives yet.

Feedly is popular. I'm not sold. It is too pretty. I want bare bones/utilitarian/fast.

Digg is going to make an alternative, but I'm afraid it will be too bloated. I want a single purpose tool.

I am not building my own RSS platform.

And I'm not using Outlook as a replacement since I want my feed on any device, anywhere.

I don't think I care about losing my starred articles, but if you do care, you can sort and save them.

Google Reader

I'm on a webinar with Google regarding changes to our spam filtering. Can't wait for the Q and A so I can ask them about killing Google Reader.

 

Google Reader Being Retired

To borrow a phrase from my wife... What the what?!?!

"We launched Google Reader in 2005 in an effort to make it easy for people to discover and keep tabs on their favorite websites. While the product has a loyal following, over the years usage has declined. So, on July 1, 2013, we will retire Google Reader."

I don't want to move to one of those flashy RSS clients. I want fast, simple, clean.

12 Signs You Need An Internet Break

12 Signs You Need An Internet Break... #10 hits a little too close to home.