Google Reader gets even better

Filed under: Internet, News, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Windows Mobile, Symbian, Palm, Productivity, Web services, Google, Freeware, Social Software, Unix

Google Reader gets even better

by David Chartier Oct 10th 2006

I don't have a good view to check (I live just outside Denver, CO), but I swear Google's campus must be on fire, what with unleashing their gadgets, a new groups beta, code search, a new company focus and now acquiring YouTube. It was just a week ago that they also whipped out a major update to Reader which was enough to convince me to switch from my long-time Mac desktop favorite, and now they've gone and quickly updated it again based on feedback from their discussion group.

Users can now set their own launch page, with the ability to chose between their Home page, All Items or any folder/tag. Completely hiding the left column that houses navigation and the folder list is also possible with a mere keyboard shortcut, as is auto-refreshing of feeds with a dedicated button and web 2.0-certified UI feedback when folders and feeds update. Last but not least is the return of the space bar; it now scrolls through long articles and selects the next headline in the list (and yes, shift-space rolls backwards).

Check out the announcement post for more details, or dive in if you haven't tried the new Google Reader yet.

Tags: google, reader, rss, ui, update, upgrade

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Hu Dou said 11:53AM on 10-10-2006

I have been using bloglines. Unfortunately it seems nobody is improving it.

Aaron said 11:49PM on 10-20-2006

And yet another plus for google. I am a fairly decent google user, since I have an acoount there for business. BUt all the while, my home page has been with the other guys. But with these improvements, I think I would be switching permantly now. Google knows how to please, that's for sure.

Featured Time Waster

Civiballs is a beautiful, soothing physics puzzle Time Waster

I have an absolute weakness for physics games, and while Civiballs isn't the strongest physics-based game, what it lacks in the physics department it makes up for a few times over in style and fun.

In Civiballs, you are presented with a few colored balls, and your goal is to get those balls into the same-colored urn on the level. The "civi" part of Civiballs is that there are 3 sets of levels to play, each representing a different civilization. While the civilization doesn't affect gameplay, the artwork for each level is beautifully themed to it's appropriate era.

To play the game, you are given only one tool - a sword with which to cut the chains that are holding the balls. The puzzle part of the game is in figuring out what order, and with what timing to cut each chain. Do it right, and all the right balls end up in the right urns, with no stray balls entering an urn (a no-no). Do it wrong, and you get to start over again.

Civiballs is not terribly deep on gameplay; the entire game can be completed in about 15 minutes. But if you enjoy this type of game, it will be a very enjoyable 15 minutes.

View more Time Wasters