Google Reader died last night. I wanted to make a brief blog post to help you rebuild (or even build from scratch) your news reading experience.
I find keeping up with tech news vital in my growth as the information devouring sponge I aspire to be, every day.
I’ll go over some of the tools I use, and then mention useful sites, as well as bootstrapping options.
RSS Reader
We're retiring Reader on July 1. We know many of you will be sad to see it go. Thanks for 8 great years! http://t.co/0jtSqBnORp
— Google Reader (@googlereader) March 13, 2013
Either use Feedly, or one of the many, many alternatives out there. I picked The Old Reader over feedly because, back when Google Reader was sentenced to death, or even now, Feedly doesn’t allow to import an OPML feed from my computer.
That’s the primary reason I sticked with The Old Reader. It’s prettier, but it’s way too slow, and it doesn’t have mobile apps. I just can’t bother porting over to Feedly by hand.
Just google for RSS reader alternatives and you’ll find tens of great tools you can use.
There are a few Read Later type of apps you could use. I started using Pocket earlier this year and I haven’t looked back since. I know Instapaper is an alternative, but I haven’t really tried it myself.
Pocket has the whole toolset you’d expect from this kind of tool, a Mobile app, a Chrome extension, and it even has an App Directory, giving you tons of news reading tools to pick from.
The ability to save articles you can’t read right now, but you wish to read later, is crucial to a sane web discovering experience.
Buffer
If you are in the business of sharing content with others, and not just keeping it all to yourself, then Buffer might have something in store for you.
With Buffer, you can… well… buffer stuff. For example, if you buffer a tweet, it will be shared at a later time, which you can configure. If you buffer multiple items they will be posted on your social account _using the schedule you provided:.
I went a tad further, and created a IFTTT recipe. This recipe buffers any item I pocket. This results in tweeting about articles that interest me, on a schedule I put together, and all in just a single click!
Keep Up!
# Getting Bootstrapped!
Keeping up with tech news isn’t that hard, really. If the web is your 127.0.0.1, then you’re in luck.
# Tech News
- Hacker News has hottest news about the tech world
- Reddit: The Good Parts
# Web Development
# Email Subscriptions
Here is my full OPML feed, if you’d like to peek at the feeds I follow. I’m also subscribed to a few weekly digests.
I hope this is enough to get you going. I’m always excited when I find brand new link dumps I can look at, so you are more than welcome to post yours here.
Lets move past the death of Google Reader, and entice others to follow us in our quest for becoming literate in the world of software development.
Happy news reading!
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