Posts Tagged ‘Google Reader’

Goodbye, Google Reader – Hello, Flipboard!

I felt a great disturbance throughout the Internet, as if millions of blog readers suddenly cried out in terror.  I was shocked to read that Google Reader will be retired on July 1, 2013.  I’ve used Google Reader nearly every day for the past several years to read the news, follow my favorite blogs, and subscribe to many helpful RSS feeds.  It’s my most frequently used app on my phone and tablet.  What will I do without it? Twitter conversations immediately commenced in search of a replacement reader app.  Flipboard was highly recommended. Flipboard rocks After I read that tweet, I decided to rethink my life.  So, I went home and downloaded the Flipboard app. I signed into my Google Reader account via Flipboard and was pleased to see all of my subscriptions there in a beautiful newspaper-like format.  The app makes it easy to go from one article to another with a “flipping” motion similar to flipping the pages of a book. The below screenshot shows what my blog looks like in Flipboard.  On both my Galaxy Tab and Galaxy Note II, I’ve found it to be an impressive reader app.  Most impressive. Flipboard Screenshot Another reader app that I plan to test out is Feedly.  If you have any other suggestions, please leave a comment.

Craigslist searches in Google Reader

Not long ago, a friend told me that he hoped to buy a certain piece of used equipment on Craigslist.  He said that he frequently went to the Craigslist website and searched for the name of the equipment he wanted to buy. If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you know that I use Google Reader to pull content from all over the Internet and read it all in one place.  My friend’s situation made me wonder if a Craigslist search could be pulled into Google Reader.  Indeed, it can be done and it is very easy. For example, after selecting my location (Las Vegas), I can go to the For Sale – Computers section and search for a tablet (not that I’m looking for a used tablet on Craigslist, but it makes a good example for this blog post).

When I scroll to the bottom of the page, there is a small RSS button on the right side. Craigslist RSS button After I click on the RSS button, I copy the resulting page’s URL.  In Google Reader, I click on the subscribe button and paste the URL. How do you use Craigslist for business, if at all?  I am curious to know, so please leave a comment below.

Following Pinterest boards in Google Reader

Pinterest, a rapidly growing social networking site, has a fun pinboard-style layout for sharing photos.  Although I am not Masturbazione e bodybuilding? qualita boldenone undecylenate con spedizioni allenamenti e routine di bodybuilding suck per costruire muscoli! currently an active user of Pinterest, I created an account and am experimenting with it.  You can find me at http://pinterest.com/dustinwcpa. I don’t log in to Pinterest often, so I follow my friends’ boards in Google Reader.  I use Google Reader to subscribe to blogs, news websites, and other RSS feeds.  It’s my way of consuming social media content all in one place. Subscribing to Pinterest boards in Google Reader is a simple process.  For example, to follow my Tax & Accounting board, copy the URL of the board (http://pinterest.com/dustinwcpa/tax-accounting/).  In Google Reader, click on the subscribe button and paste the URL into the box.  Then, type “rss” at the end of the URL and click on the add button. Some of the accounting related boards I have subscribed to are Jody Padar, Bill Sheridan, FreshBooks, and the CPA firm of Alpern Rosenthal.

Managing What I’ve Read with Google Reader

Have you ever read a good article on the Internet, but when you wanted to go back and read it a few days or months later, you weren’t able to find it?
It used to happen to me quite often, but it has become less of a problem since I began using Google Reader to read RSS feeds. When I like an article I’ve read in Google Reader, I either “share it” or “star it.”  I typically share an item that I think others would be interested in.  My shared items show up on the left sidebar of my blog, and they also show up in the reading list for those who follow me on Google Reader.  Usually, I star an item to which I might need to refer again later but others may not find interesting.  Unlike my shared items, my starred items are not publicly visible. The search function in Google Reader is very helpful.  Recently, someone asked me about the differences between the accounting programs QuickBooks and Peachtree.  I remembered reading a great blog post comparing them a few months ago that I shared in Google Reader, so  I searched my shared items for QuickBooks and Peachtree.  The article I was searching for appeared in less than a second, which was a lot faster than things I might have done in the past, such as look through my web browsing history or do a search in Google for terms I may have remembered from the article. Do you have any other ideas to share about managing the content you read to make it easy to find later?  Please share a comment in the box below.

Five Useful RSS Feeds I Follow That Are Not News or Blogs

I previously wrote a blog post about how I have been using RSS feeds to stay current on the news.  The majority of the feeds that I subscribe to are news and blogs, but there are a few that don’t fall under either of these categories that I have found to be useful.
  1. Tweets of a few individuals. I follow about 200 people on Twitter and I can’t log in to Twitter enough times to keep up with every single tweet of the people I follow every day.  However, there are those among the Twitter users I follow who share great information and I don’t want to miss any of their tweets.  It’s easy to add a Twitter timeline to Google Reader (which I use to read RSS feeds).  Copy the Twitter user’s URL (for example, http://twitter.com/whe97007), click on the “add a subscription” button and paste the URL in the box that appears.
  2. Twitter searches for certain words and hashtags. Using Twitter Advanced Search, I created RSS feeds for tweets from Las Vegas, Nevada, that include the words CPA, accountant, tax, or QuickBooks.  I have found a few interesting people to follow and some potential business opportunities.  For example, a tweet saying “next year I think I’ll have to invest in a good tax accountant” caught my attention and I contacted that Twitter user.  The only drawback to subscribing to these feeds is that I have to sift through a lot of unimportant tweets like “I just got my tax refund so now I can buy that HDTV!”
  3. LinkedIn Network Updates. LinkedIn is a great site for professional networking, but I don’t visit it daily.  I use RSS as a more efficient way to see what my connections are up to.  Occasionally, I notice that one of my connections connects to someone I know, who I then connect to as well.  You can get RSS feeds within the LinkedIn account settings.
  4. Notifications for new downloads. For example, I subscribe to the RSS feed of the CPA Technology Advisor to know when a new podcast is available for download.
  5. YouTube channels. In particular, I enjoy the YouTube channel for K2 Enterprises, which provides technology tips for CPAs.  Thanks to RSS, I am alerted when a new video is available to view.
If you have any ideas for using RSS feeds, please share them by leaving a comment in the box below.

RSS has Changed How I Use the Internet

Over the past few months, I’ve been much more efficient in reading news, blogs, and other websites that interest me.  I now read twice the content in half the time!  In this blog post, I’m going to give my secret away.RSS

You might have noticed a little orange button on some websites like the one on the right.  I had seen them for a long time, and always wondered what they were.  It is a logo for RSS (“Really Simple Syndication”) which is a web feed format used by many websites that publish updated content (most commonly for news and blogs). Unless you’re already familiar with RSS, that last sentence probably didn’t make any sense.  Keep reading.  It will.  I didn’t really understand it until someone showed me how a “feed reader” works.  That’s where I’ll go next, but first, a little background: Before I figured out how RSS works, I used to go to each of my favorite websites periodically to see what’s new.  This process consumed a lot of time.  First, I had to find the website in my favorites list in my web browser (and if I didn’t save it as a favorite, I had to do try to remember the web address or search for it in Google).  Then, I had to look for the most recent content, read the title (and maybe the first few sentences of the article) and test my memory to see if I had read it before.  This might not sound like too much work, but when you do this with ten to twenty websites, the time really adds up. Some websites offer e-mail updates for new content.  This became annoying as I started getting my e-mail on my phone.  I got tired of being interrupted by the new e-mail notification sound only to find out that the e-mail was reminding me to read a new article at some website. A feed reader (also referred to as a feed aggregator) brings all of the new content from these websites into one place, like your own personal newspaper.  It also lets you know which articles you have or haven’t read.  It frees up your e-mail as strictly a device for communication.  Another benefit of using a feed reader is that you won’t see nearly as many advertisements, if any, compared to visiting each individual website. There are many feed readers out there, and most of them are free services.  My feed reader of choice happens to be Google Reader.  If you’re still a little confused about how feed readers work, watch this video about Google Reader in plain English. With the help of Google Reader, I’m able to keep up with important publications in the profession such as the Journal of Accountancy, read the local newspapers, and enjoy posts from other blogging accountants.  I can also “share” items that I like and want other people to read.  On the right sidebar of my blog, you’ll see a list of items that I have shared from Google Reader. One last thing … and it might be self-promotional, but I wanted to point it out in case you missed it.  On the top right corner of my page, you’ll see a little orange button and the words, “Subscribe to my Blog.”