Filed under: Design, Internet, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Blogging, Productivity, Web services, Google, Freeware
Google Reader Optimized
by Jason Clarke Nov 23rd 2006
Although the overhaul of Google Reader received almost entirely good reviews, after using it for some time I noticed some frustrations with respect to the very Google style it employs. While I'm no big fan of Google's choice in colors, it's the layout of Google Reader that could use some help. It's very simple, really. When reading feeds, the more vertical space you can give to the feeds themselves, the more efficient you can be with your reading. All too often I would come across feeds that would almost but not quite fit into a single page, forcing me to either take my hand off the keyboard to scroll that last bit into view, or use the overkill method of paging down an entire page, when all I needed to see was the next few lines.
Google Reader Optimized is a possible solution if you suffer the same frustrations with Google Reader. It's basically a skin that can be applied using either the Stylish user styles Firefox Add-On, or the venerable Greasemonkey Add-On. Personally I prefer Greasemonkey, but to each their own.
Once applied, you'll find that Google Reader's right-side post viewing pane has been extended to reach from the top of your browser window to the bottom, and the default typeface has been changed to one that looks better at a smaller point size. Although seemingly minor changes, the overall effect on Google Reader is to supercharge the reading experience.
Kudos to the official Google Reader blog for linking to some interesting way to enhance your reading experience, such as this one.
Of course, I can't commend the Google Reader team without also pointing out that they're certainly without fault. Look for that story in an upcoming post...
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 ...
