I can’t imagine trying to keep up with SQL Server news without using Google Reader. It’s a web-based console for all the web sites you want to follow, all in one place. Every morning, I open it up and within a matter of minutes I know if there’s any important news in the community.
There are other RSS reader tools too, like Bloglines or Outlook, but I prefer Reader because it works so well from anywhere. I can catch up on my blogs from my iPhone or from any web browser, and I can share articles with friends with a single mouse click.
I put together a set of quick Google Reader tutorial videos over at SQLServerPedia to show what it is and how I use it. If you decide to give it a shot, let me know what your Google account email address is so I can subscribe to your shared items too.
I have used Google Reader for a year or two now and find it useful as you mention. It does seem to fall over if browsed from IE8, just another reason to avoid IE I guess!
I have used FireFox and the add in RSS Ticker for years. Sure I have looked at Google Reader but it blows chunks when you follow a site that spews info like there is no tomorrow. Here it is, food & cooking: http://www.tastespotting.com/rss
I like how in RSS Ticker I can state that I don’t want to be bothered by the rest of that feed and it will mark them all as being read. That means that the few it has as current are marked, but not the whole blasted feed. I guess it is in how you set it up that this works for me.
I like Google Reader a lot, but have been using Feedly lately. It’s a combination firefox add-on and web app that site on top of Google Reader. You get to use the same subscription list, read/unread info and shared items as with Google Reader, but I like Feedly’s interface.
Rob – *wow*. Feedly looks amazing. I’m gonna try that.