Filed under: Internet, Productivity, Web services, Google, Social Software
Google finally updates Reader's email feature
Since Google Reader began reporting actual numbers of subscribers, we have since found out that it's actually one of the most popular web-based readers. That said, one of its least popular features has been its ability to email a feed item you're looking at. Reader would typically pop up a Gmail window, which in itself wasn't such a bad thing, but the message being sent was mostly mashed together gobbly-gook containing a 'This item was sent to you by a Google Reader...' message, along with the entire text of the post you were reading. Nearly anyone who's used the feature would likely agree that this was not the prettiest way to share something via email with your friends and colleagues. Adding insult to injury, it seemed like a trivial thing for Google to fix this feature; they simply could have tweaked the template that creates the Gmail message to contain maybe just a link to the feed item. Easy enough, right?Well Google, staying true to their form, finally wound up doing much more than making a few changes to a template; they have completely revamped Google Reader's email feature to offer a vastly improved experience. Clicking 'Email' on an item now displays an in-line email compose window, complete with the ability to pull names and addresses out of your Gmail account. As for what the message actually sends, Google also went above and beyond by including the news item in its entirety; headline, pictures, links - the whole nine yards. While this might not be such great news to those who use plain-text email clients and services, Google is probably betting that most recipients of Reader-shared messages are using Gmail or some other form of capable client.
The new email features should be live and kicking for all Google Reader users, as we noticed them already enabled on our accounts.
With Halloween fast approaching, it's a great time to get in some practice defending your territory against zombies. In Graveyard Shift, you take aim at zombies and other creepy-crawlies, blasting them into splatters of cartoony green guts. It's a casual first-person shooter, and it's very easy to get the hang of - use the mouse to aim, click to fire. Graveyard Shift has at least 15 levels, and it might even have some secret stages I haven't unlocked yet.
They key to getting good at Graveyard Shift is learning to use ...
