It Backfired

I was reading an article a couple days ago by a guy that decided to de-Google his life.  He is a tech writer, so he's a pretty tech savvy guy.   Part of his reasoning in making the change is that he didn't want one company to have so much data about him.  Another part of his reasoning was to test his ability to recover his data from Google without a lot of hassles.

The process worked mostly well for him.  The important stuff [Gmail, Google Docs, etc.] were exported almost effortlessly.  Some of Google's more obscure services required more hoop jumpery.

In reading the article, I was inspired....

....to try yet another Google service/feature.  This time I engaged the Google Reader service.  Reader is a service that allows you to follow RSS feeds from a variety of sources.  It is incredibly handy for blogs that don't get a lot of updates [ahem  MIKE!!!!!!!!       SHERWOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!] as I no longer have to visit those sites to see when they have posted something new.  It will just show up as an unread post in the Reader.

It is also handy for higher volume sites such as Instapundit and The Drudge Report.  I can flip through the new entries in a few seconds, mark any that might be interesting for later reading, and move on with my day.

The ability to mark articles is handy for blogging as well.  Previously, I had emailed from one Hotmail account to another Hotmail account whenever I found an article worth blogging about.  The list is long.  My email account is filled to the brim with fascinating stuff.  Most of which you never see.

Be thankful.

Now I can simply make a list in one place throughout the day and use...or more likely ignore...that information later on.

I am still new to the Reader, so I'm not sure if there is a way to link directly from Reader into Blogger or not.  If so, then perhaps y'all are doomed.

Reader also lets you follow RSS feeds from Usenet groups in the same way that you follow blogs and other sites with an RSS feed.  It is a handy tool for keeping up with all the RACSals.  You know who you are.

In any case, my brief experience with Google's Reader service has been quite enjoyable.  If you don't mind surrendering another piece of your digital life to the leviathan that is Google, then I heartily recommend Reader as a tool worth your time.