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Google Reader will shut down however I found Feedly

April 18, 2013 By Chris Mundy Leave a Comment

March 13 2013 saw the announcement that Google Reader will be shutting down, however I found an alternative, Feedly.

When I heard the news I took a deep breath and realised I needed to start looking for an alternative. My primary tool for bringing all my RSS Feeds together using Google Reader as the aggregator was a tool called Reeder, a great Mac app.

For those who don’t know what Google Reader is it’s a Web-based aggregator, capable of reading Atom and RSS feeds online or offline. When a website publishes a new article, it uses an RSS Feed to tell Google, “hey there’s something new on this site”. The search engine can read the feed and use it to index the content. If you add a web site to Google Reader or a tool like Reeder using the RSS Feeds from the site, means you get an instant notification that the website has been updated. Nice. Web blogging platforms like WordPress use this technology.

Why the deep breath when Google said it was turning off Reader? It has been my source tool for collecting key technology information across the web. I could get an update on where the local National Broadcasting Network (NBN) roll-out was up to, when new Motorcycle products were out on the market and when the latest technology is being released. Google Reader via Reeder keeps me on top of my game, however, the real reason for me being annoyed was I had the RSS thing all sorted out and now I have to change.

I forgot one thing, technology is like surfing, there is always a better wave coming through, you just have to catch lots of waves to get the best rides. I was lulled into a false sense of security of this technology platform being stable, true, tried and tested and not going away; I got too comfortable. I had sat on my surfboard just paddling but not catching waves.  After I had figured why I had reacted the way I did, it was time to go surfing again. The first wave I caught was Feedly, and boy, I’m glad I did.

Feedly is a RSS news aggregator application for a number of Web browsers and mobile devices running iOS and Android.  So how different is it than Google Reader? Currently it uses your Google Reader RSS feeds, however to survive post the closure of Google Reader, it will need a place to manage feeds. To do this they have a project Normandy. This will be the tool to replace Google Reader. Presumably there will be some monetization as the Feedly Service along with Apps is currently free, however, they will probably monetize by selling the app or selling premium space on their service. Whatever way, they will be winners as people will seek alternatives to Google Reader.

Why Feedly impressed me?

The first reality check for me was it allowed me to import all my Google Reader RSS Feeds easily. That was the first tick of approval. The second thing was it was more web-based than my Mac App, Reeder. Reeder was only limited to being used on my iMac, Macbook Pro, iPad and iPhone. That’s OK, however when I was away from my Mac environment, I had to use Google Reader in its native format on platforms such as Windows 7; very vanilla but not as powerful as Reeder on the Mac.

So I set up Feedly on the Browser, imported my RSS Feeds from my Google reader account, download the iPhone and iPad apps from the App Store, installed it on my devices and off I went. It took a couple of uses to get the hang of it.

After a month of using Feedly, I really like it. The features that stand out for me are the different views to check your feeds; you can have lists, magazine views and other choices. It allowed me to quickly acknowledge the article as “read” and move on to the next article.

When reading an article in detail, it can take you to the source article in a Browser window. This makes it easier for me to trigger Hootsuite, my social sharing tool.

Lastly, its a great looking program. I like the User experience and how it works. See the image below.

So for me, it’s Feedly. If something else comes along that’s better, I will give it consideration, if it has some value added functionality that Feedly doesn’t.

Click the image below to go the Feedly website.

Link Image to Feedly page

 

To view Feedly for the iPhone and iPad in the iTunes Store, click here.

 

Online Surveys and Competitions – Four things to check before you sign-up

January 3, 2011 By Chris Mundy Leave a Comment

Online Surveys and Competitions – are they protecting your information?

My Motorcycle Insurance Company does business online only. Fantastic, I think its great. To maximise their readership and keep their current readers engaged, they have regular competitions/surveys, eg. Win a helmet, win a gift voucher, etc.

Recently, there was a competition I was about to enter and I did my customary check and noticed that they wanted all my personal data; Date of Birth, Phone Number, Mobile Number, etc. I asked the question, why do they need it, and thought they may be updating their customer relationship management system, mentally I was happy with that.

However what really alarmed me when I looked at the  address (URL) and it said, http://fredsmotorcycleinsurance.com/competition.

Immediately the red lights came on. It should have said,

https://fredsmotorcycleinsurance.com/competition

and if you didn’t notice it

httpS://fredsmotorcycleinsurance.com/competition

What this means was my information was about to be sent over the internet, “in the clear”, a term meaning anybody who had the tools, could capture and read my personal information.

Funnily enough, some people are happy with sending their information in the clear, then there are other people who wouldn’t be aware what’s happening. So I thought I would bring it to the attention of any readers.

If you want to make sure that your information sent across the internet securely, then there are some easy ways to check that you have a secure connection between your computer web browser (Internet Explorer, Safari, Firefox, Google Chrome and Opera) and the website.

Image of a Secure ConnectionMake sure there is a “S”in https?

The S indicates that the connection between your computer and the website is secure. That means that any information passed between your computer and website is secured, what they do is scramble the information being passed across the Internet so people can’t understand it.

How much is it scrambled? Usually they scramble it so much you need a super computer with a couple of years to de-encrypt the password.

Okay, how do they make the secure encryption between your computer and the website?

Basically, what the secure site does is ask you to accept  a security certificate on your computer. The first time you visit the website, it presents you with their security certificate, you have to accept the certificate. By accepting the certificate, it then enables you to connect securely each time with that site.

Image of a security certificateThe sign that this has been successful is that it will give you a httpS and show a padlock somewhere on the screen stating that the connection is secure.

Without the “s” it indicates that they are going to send your information in the clear, unencrypted across the internet.

So, next time you enter that online competition or survey, do these four checks:

The Four things to check before you sign-up

1. See that the URL has security by it having https://your_competition.com by having the “s” after the http://

2. See there is a padlock image in the security area for the browser. This is in different places on each browser, sometimes in the lower right hand corner of the screen, sometimes in the address bar (URL).

Image of a Privacy Policy3. See they issue a statement on how they manage your privacy. If they do then it’s something you can possibly hang your hat on if there is information leakage.

4. See where your information will be used, who will use and who will it be passed on to and when will they be destroying it.

I have a personal policy of not undertaking any online surveys or competition unless it meets this criteria, before you enter a competition, make sure you check if it is a secure connection.

Other places on the internet where you need to check that you have secure connection

  • Banking, Credit Card and Payment Sites
  • Accommodation booking sites
  • Membership sites
  • Insurance Sits
  • Airline Sites

Paypal, probably the biggest payment online payment system has a way that you can only connect to them using secure connection, wouldn’t it be great if every business did this kind of thing!

Chris

Don’t photocopy personal information at work

September 15, 2010 By Chris Mundy Leave a Comment

Photocopier Hi,

Did you know that there are a lot of photocopiers with hard disks? A lot of businesses usually lease a photocopier so they don’t get left with old equipment, after a couple of years they re-lease a new photocopier. Here’s a couple of questions.

Q. Did you use the photocopier at work?

Q. Did you copy some personal information on the copier, say a bank statement, a tax file number, something that personally identifies you?

Q. Did the business delete the data on the hard disk before they returned the machine?

Q. What happened to machine after the lease and it’s been returned?

Sometimes old photocopiers get re-sold, sometimes they get dismantled, so you have to hope that before it left the business’s premises, someone remembered to erase the hard disk.

Here are two interesting articles that were published earlier this year that should make you think twice about copying your personal information on the business photocopier.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31727_162-20003771-10391695.html http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/781567–high-tech-copy-machines-a-gold-mine-for-data-thieves

Think again before you use the copier at work.

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