Google has launched a major revamp of Google Reader, their online RSS reader. I think this upgrade moves Google Reader from what I would call a sub-par RSS reader with cool features to the top of the RSS reader mountain.
NewsGator Online was previously my favorite RSS reader before Google’s upgrade. I still think it’s a great reader, but take a look at it versus the new Google Reader and you can immediately see how much more friendly on the eyeballs Google Reader is. Also, NewsGator’s method for adding new feeds is way too clunky – especially when you compare it to Google’s.
One thing I can’t figure out about the new Google Reader is the whole folders thing. They used to exclusively use tags (previously called Labels) for managing your subscriptions. Now they seem to use both folders and tags. On the Manage Subscriptions page you’ll see that your Labels have been converted to Folders. If you had more than one label that feed will be in more than one folder. But you can’t add new feeds or modify existing feeds to be a part of multiple folders. If, like me, you love using Google Reader on your homepage or mobile device, the Labels are still their for both. And you can still edit the Labels at the bottom of each entry (you can still have more than one tag for a subscription), but now they are called Tags. I would have liked to see a little less confusion around that, but I’m not going to complain too much.
I’m also disappointed that Google, the king of AJAXy online apps, doesn’t allow you to drag-and-drop your subscriptions if you want to change their folders. Why make me go to the Manage Subscription page when I could have just dragged my subscription up a folder?
UPDATE: I forgot to mention the new Share feature. It’s just a quick “Share” button at the bottom of each entry that automatically populates a webpage of your shared stories. This puts it in direction competition with Del.icio.us, which can only be good for us consumers. Del.icio.us is great, but people seem to do a lot more with Google APIs so I expect to see some cool stuff created around these shared pages really soon.
Now, if they would just work that Share button into the mobile (or Google homepage) version of Google Reader I would be able to read from my news from anywhere and quickly add stuff to my Shared page. Like the idea of that.
Adam Technology
I can hardly believe it. After the huge ordeal last month with Comcast, I’m right back where I was before. Late last month I finally got so fed up with the connection drops, which had become a daily problem by that time, that I started a blog and purchased several domain names. On the blog, I took careful notes on all my problems and all the calls that I had placed to Comcast, as well as what kind of responses I had received from the tech support system.
At the end of a week, I emailed a few of their executives whose names and email addresses can easily be found on their website. I briefly described my problems and suggested they take a look at the website for more details.
To their credit they immediately jumped on the problem. I had several calls from various people in the organization and they took care of the problem – or so I thought – within a few days.
Unfortunately, the problems are back. My connection is usually gone when I wake up in the morning. (Strangely it seems to be fine this morning.) It’s gone again when I return home from work in the evenings too. Usually the connection will return for a couple of hours in the evening before dropping off again about 10 p.m. or so.
Needless to say, this is horribly frustrating. So I guess JustSayNoToComcast.com is back. It had been about a month and I was hoping to retire it permanently, but I guess not.
Adam Technology
Uh oh. Looks like the curse of the Madden coverboys continues. Shaun Alexander sustained a crack in a bone in his foot and will be out at least a couple of weeks. According to Holmgreen, “we’re looking at a few weeks, let’s put it that way.”
Alexander, McNabb, Ray Lewis, Vick. It’s amazing to checkout the horrors that followed the guys who graced the cover of the Madden video game. The ESPN story linked above shows a chart of the players and their issues going back to 2000.
Bad times.
Adam Football, Sports
From paidContent.org:
Amazon and Tivo are in discussions about creating a new feature that would automatically copy films downloaded online through Amazon’s Unbox service onto Tivo sets. The New York Post reports this as an aggressive move by Amazon in response to Apple’s iTunes move downloads.
This makes sense. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has been wondering why no one is partnering with TiVo for something like this. Everyone is coming out with a video downloading service because we all know it’s the next big thing. Except no one seems to be ready to allow someone to easily watch it on his/her TV, which is of course exactly where we all want to watch it.
TiVo already has that “last mile” relationship. It’s a natural fit. Of course, not everyone has a TiVo but it’s certainly a larger group of people than the video downloading fans at this point.
Adam Movies, Technology, TiVo
Another loss, another session of pointing the finger by Shockey.
This guy needs to quit running his mouth and play football. He’s got a lot of talent, but am I the only one who thinks he hasn’t nearly lived up to it yet?
Adam Football, Sports
After the game against Carolina on Sunday, Chris was rushed to the hospital where they performed the surgery. There is no word yet on how long he will be out. According to the AP story, recovery for a normal person is 4-6 weeks. In the callout to the right of that story, ESPN’s medical analyst is predicting 6 weeks.
Guess maybe they should have blocked better for him, huh? Perhaps when your QB gets beat up so badly that he has to have his spleen removed, it might be a sign that your offensive line sucks.
Adam Buccaneers, Football, Sports
Jackass Number Two nearly tripled the second-place movie Jet Li’s Fearless with an impressive opening weekend haul of $28 million. Again, I hope this convinces them to do another one ASAP. I could watch these idiots all day.
Adam Movies
Best Robot Chicken clip ever …
Adam Robot Chicken, TV, Videos
I headed out to the theater this morning to see Jackass Number 2. I’ve been looking forward to seeing this for a while now, and it didn’t disappoint. While I fully agree that 2006 has been a really bad year for movies, I have to say that this movie was easily the most fun I’ve had at the theater yet this year.
Of course, you have to enjoy Jackass humor which is basically just the ability to enjoy watching people get hurt. If that’s not you, stay home. But for those of you who have ever laughed at a Jackass skit, don’t miss this.
I liked it so much I’m thinking about going to see it again this weekend. I’ll definitely see it again sometime before it leaves the theater. I was sitting there halfway in thinking to myself about how I couldn’t wait to get this on DVD.
And it looks like I wasn’t the only one who was looking forward to seeing it. Jackass Number 2 raked in $11.6 million it’s first day, which puts it – ironically – number 2 all-time for September opening days. Hopefully, it will keep up that pace through the weekend because I’m ready for part 3.
Adam Movies
On his radio show, Adam Carolla tells the story of how Jimmy Kimmel had him convinced that Natalie Maines from the Dixie Chicks was stalking him. Then Jimmy calls in and describes how the prank ended.
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Adam Audio
