Blog Readers Try Google Reader
This post is for people that love to read blogs! I just discovered Goggle Reader and it is a very cool program! If you haven’t already started using it, I would start today. It is a great way to stay on top of all your favorite blog sites, and keep up with all the new posts from the publishers of the sites you subscribe to. Very cool and very recommended!
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July 12th, 2006 at 10:00 pm
You know… more I think about it… I am wondering if there are any good desktop based programs that you can install on your computer for easy feed reading? If you know of any good programs that can be installed on your computer, please leave a comment about the program and where it can be downloaded from.
July 12th, 2006 at 11:16 pm
Google Reader?
It doesn’t do anything useful that Pluck hasn’t been doing for us for awhile now.
As for a server based aggregator, Bloglines is better, since it allows you to read blogs like you would a newspaper and not as individual posts.
The last time I checked, Google Reader doesn’t allow you to read by date, instead choosing its own display methodology.
There are several alternatives to Google Reader, many of which are better, but none of which I would use. These are web based, central server apps - they allow the host to easily and actively monitor what you’re reading and subscribing to. Attensa, FeedLounge, Gritwire, News Alloy, and Rojo are but some of these.
Yes, there is a need for these things, just like there is a need for AOL and MSN - Internet for dummies, basically. Fortunately, most of the alternative offerings don’t get left around, half baked, like Google tends to do with so many of its offerings.
I am trying to figure out your allegiance to Google, while you don’t trust Microsoft. Each are similar in intent and business ideologies. The difference is that Microsoft actively improves its offerings.
If you’d like to try something that is client based and extremely cool, scoot over to http://www.serence.com/ and try out klipfolio. The self-proclaimed ‘World’s Smallest Personal Dashboard’ is far better than Google anything AND it picks up your favorite feeds.
Google Reader is simply another attempt at dumbing down RSS.
July 13th, 2006 at 8:27 pm
Hey Vex… klipfolio is very cool! I love it and thanks for the reference! As far as Google Reader goes…. I have had a night to mess with it now, and yeah… its not that good… but ok. I do like Google… but I am just a common user of Google services… I really don’t look to far into their development strengths and how well they follow thru certain things… I don’t know… to me Google seems like a great place to call home. I have my home page set there and have my custom page set up for it… I have my gmail preview box, my feeds, my search history, bookmarks… etc… I can’t say that I couldn’t be sold out from using Google… No… I definitely could. I guess in other words… If I was shown something better than Google, I would probably use that… Until then, though… I know nothing more. I don’t have any beef with Microsoft… I really don’t. Their products are too expensive… but thats about it. I just prefer Firefox over IE because I have been using it for the past few months and I am used to it…. If I was thrown a laptop loaded with IE only and no option to download Firefox, then I would adjust and eventually favor that…. probably created a blog post about how wonderful that browser is.
I remember a few months back, we did talk about this once before… and you gave me a comparison test of the two… Do you know where that post is… hopefully you remember… if you do, can you reference me back to that post? It might be in a message board, or maybe even here…
Your test concluded that Firefox does use more system resources, is slower to load, and I think you might have even proved that Firefox was no more possibly even LESS secure than IE… I hope you can dig that post up, I would like to read it again.
July 13th, 2006 at 9:27 pm
Don’t get me wrong - I like Google. I like Google a lot more than I’ll ever like Yahoo or even MSN. Their mantra of “do no harm” mirrors the old hacker code I once followed.
Still - they’ve rolled out all of these apps and have allowed them to stagnate. What big improvements have been made recently to Gmail or Picasa, for example? These are my two favorite Google apps and what is really different about them compared to 18 months ago, save added storage on Gmail?
Their attempts at making certain things, like RSS newsreaders have accomplished nothing, save a dumbing down of the technology. There is nothing inherently wrong with this, as the vast majority of Internet users don’t understand RSS. What I have a problem with is the large number of people who slammed Microsoft for including RSS capability in some of their offerings because the apps are not well designed - they are dumbed down versions of the real thing. Well, Google has done the same thing with Google Reader and no one says a word. People slam Microsoft for Hotmail, yet Hotmail is initially much more secure than Gmail - just not quite as capable as Gmail. Yet the average user won’t notice much difference between Hotmail & Gmail after the initial setup. They hammer Microsoft because of the safeguards put in place to help make sure you are who you say you are - to reduce fraud and add accountability, not to compromise your privacy.
Personally, I prefer client software to Web-based software. It gives me more control and greater privacy. I don’t need to worry about my messages or preferences being stored remotely.
And, using Outlook or Eudora or whatever allows me over 1TB of storage, far greater than Gmail ever will. If I need more, I can simply add another drive.
As for the Firefox thing, our discussion was either here or on ForumArcade. To this day, I still marvel at how well integrated IE is. At maximum load, with a couple dozen windows open (you should see the mess I make on a desktop and taskbar), IE uses about 60MB of memory. Opera pulls 120MB, using a single tabbed window (single or multiple tabs). I’ve seen Firefox peg 400MB, with 180-300MB under normal load, with the load rising with more tabs open. If you’re using 512MB RAM, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize using Firefox will have your harddrive handling a lot of cached memory.
Forgetting about the memory load, we can look at the security of each browser. Knowing exactly what the weaknesses of each are, it is much simpler to compromise Firefox than it is IE. IE is slightly more vulnerable than is Opera. IE is still the most targeted browser simply due to its popularity. A deceitful hacker would much rather spend six hours coding something that will affect 100 million browsers than he would coding something that would affect only 5 million browsers.
Another reason IE is attacked more often is the fact that Firefox users tend to be much more paranoid and see themselves as more technically advanced. The IE user is more naive and doesn’t keep their anti-virus software updated, don’t know when the last time they downloaded the latest Windows enhancements and have no idea what SpySweeper is for. These folks are the ones more apt to forward jokes and such to all their friends and who might arbitrarily open unknown attachments. They are easier targets.
Yes, Microsoft has been bad by not updating IE6 in seemingly forever, but the Windows updates have included enhancements that Firefox has to put out for their browser. I’d prefer Microsoft’s solution, since when you’re connected to the Internet, it isn’t your browser that is at risk, it is your operating system.
I can infect a computer that hasn’t opened a browser in years. Firefox protects the broswer. Microsoft protects your computer. The Firefox proponents have been lax at telling you that FF users tend to not update their Windows software (they don’t trust MS, remember), but hey - their browser is safe.
A really good example is where I work. We’re allowed full Internet access, even for personal purposes. The only things we cannot do is visit porn sites, gamble, download executables or participate in anything that might be legally questionable. I blog at work and visit message boards. I read Fox News and buy stuff on Amazon. The other day, it was slow and the IT guys wandered into our department and we were discussing things computer. One of the folks in my group asked why our corporate systems all use IE and Outlook. Before I could defend this practice, the IT guys (between the two we had with us, they have 40 years of IT experience and several degrees) said if we switched to Firefox or Mozilla, they’d have to end our free run on the Internet. Why? Because with IE and Outlook, they have a much easier time controlling threats. You have to protect one set of variables from all attacks. Going with FF and other assorted solutions would mean that they’d have to protect multiple channels into the corporate network. They would also have to increase our individual machines’ RAM and open more bandwidth.
I work in the corporate headquarters of my company and we have over 400 outlets in North America, along with connections into all of the major travel reservations systems. In the past two years, we’ve suffered one computer attack and that came from someone loading an executable game via a USB thumb drive - and that was caught, stopped and neutralized in less than 10 minutes - automatically.
Our installations of IE are not locked down - we have Google toolbars, can configure at will and have full control over our own browser workings.
The vast majority of North American banks, along with the Federal Reserve, use IE. The nation’s three largest Internet providers use IS. All of the biggest telecom companies, including AT&T, Verizon, Cox, Sprint, and TimeWarner use IE. Yet Joe-Techie Dipstick next door says IE is unsafe.
Now who should I believe?
July 13th, 2006 at 10:04 pm
So what do you see in store for the future of Firefox? Thru the years will people come to this realization? Man.. I believe you. Every word… You have totally sold me on your points and they all make sense.
So… my immediate thought after reading your comments was “What will happen to Mozilla in the future?” I guess leading that question would be “how popular will linux based operating system be?”…. because you have mentioned and proved (which I totally believe) that firefox is clearly not as secure, and takes up more resources and network and or individual computer bandwidth… agree.
However, how does Firefox or just plainly any Mozilla based browser protect itself and its linux based computer compared to IE running on a Windows Xp system current on updates and current with say… Norton AV. Backing up too… assuming the linux computer is up to date as well… (as much as it can be of course)?
Have we seen the peek of linux popularity? Or will that continue to grow? If so, how does Microsoft plan on dealing with that? Is Linux and other open source software a threat to MS? If not, then could it be in the future?
July 13th, 2006 at 10:19 pm
I think that with the rollout of IE7, MS will crush yet another threat.
An interesting development in the browser wars - Google has repeatedly tried to buy Opera. No go says the owners, no matter what the price.
Mozilla isn’t going anywhere. If you look back in Internet history, Mozilla was the foundation of the old Netscape. IE is based on Mosaic code, just as it was in the beginning. Interestingly, before Microsoft jumped into the browser picture, the techies were touting that the Mosaic core was far more stable and reliable than was Mozilla. Microsoft jumped in and overnight the same people showed a different face.
Linux isn’t going to last - its adoption has been in a downturn for awhile now except in Web server applications, where it has remained somewhat stable. However, Microsoft has been swallowing up most of the Web server growth. So yes - I believe Linux has peaked, especially with all of the newfound evidences that various parts of Linux were illegally taken from other apps.
Open source is risky from the standpoint that you don’t have anyone to trust. If Microsoft were to betray your trust, you could turn to Sun or Apple or whatever. If open source were to betray you, who do you turn to or away from?
Don’t forget - most malware & virus apps are open source…
July 13th, 2006 at 11:36 pm
I would really like to see Linux become more user friendly and secure… because honestly, I can’t afford Microsoft. I know we are originally talking about browsers… but browsers are leading into systems, and better systems are leading into money… and to me, unfortunately and not by choice, I have to seek the open source end of things… because its mainly free or funded by optional paypal donations. So… I guess where Firefox comes into play for me… is the fact that it follows suit to using software that I depend on and support because of my owner personal finances. If it wasn’t for open source, I wouldn’t have this site… or all the others that I tend to follow trend with Google on in reference to follow through and commitment… LOL!! My projects are never complete… LOL!! Minus this site of course… I am not designing or creating this site anymore… just growing and expanding it… So anyway… in the future when Linux dies… I think that could effect other aspects of open source software, which then could effect me because I would still be staying or attempting to stay with technology and the Internet… hopefully not… but more likely still bringing in the average to below average dollar… not being about to pay for software… but now… there is no choice BUT to buy software.
What open source means, personally to me: You can do what others can even though you don’t have money… The replicated or even sometimes duplicated programs might run a little buggy… but generally speaking the open source support is very helpful and you might make a few friends along the way….
Unfortunately, when I think of Microsoft… I have the perception of Bill Gates is rich… good for him… but he isn’t getting any of my money! Aside from that… I respect who he is and what he has done and for that matter the same goes for his company and his team. But… paying for software makes me feel cheated… for the most part. I know that money has to be made in that industry to grow… and some software I have no problem paying for. Windows Xp… I feel great about that purchase. Fine… but what makes me made is, why can’t Microsoft help me by providing free software? Hook me up with a free Front page… and Word… charge for Power point, Excel, and other more advanced programs…. Hook me up with a killer web forum script, or blog script… CMS program… little things.
I don’t know… In other other words… in my situation I am happy only depending on ONE paid for piece of software… MY OS… other than that, its all open source. And the only thing keeping me from running a Linux computer at home is the simple fact that I am too stupid to operate it comfortably and as efficiently as a Windows computer.
I surf ebay and drool over my keyboard looking at things I can’t afford and never will own… In my free time I create different websites which probably keep me from having too much time on my hands… which would allow me to stress and worry… which would cause me to make bad decisions in a and always has been and will continue to be strapped for cash household… I download my music, and surf the web… I pay my ISP and Web host… If there was no open source stuff out there I wouldn’t be able some what do the things others do with money… so why I surf the web with Firefox and not IE is an extension of my support for open source.
If I had money… LOL… I would probably sell out! and buy software… Because software that you pay for, is definitely better. But I wouldn’t look down or shun people for using open source… It’s actually said to see people from the open source community doing the same to MS and other paid programs. I don’t like bashing of either case… my only rant is I wish Microsoft would take better care of people like me, who want to just do the simple things with Internet and technology… I am a guy that likes to create stupid websites… Continue to get money from big fish corporations… but come on… give me something useful for free… other than media player and Hotmail.