Google Reader Fanboy
With so much information readily available on the internet and increasingly less spare time, I’m always looking for the most efficient and friendly way to process that information.
I’ve settled on Google Reader, an online RSS reader. With Google Reader, I’m able to browse through 200+ blog posts a day in under 30 minutes.
What is RSS?
For those of you who are unfamiliar with RSS – here is a quick summary. An RSS feed is basically a service that sends you the latest blog posts that you have subscribed to. It is almost like receiving an email from a blog site.
An RSS reader is the software used to subscribe to different blog feeds, sort them out and read them.
There are two main types of RSS readers – the first is in the form of software that you install onto your computer which periodically checks your subscribed feeds to see whether any new content has been added – sort of like Outlook for RSS feeds. The second type is an online based reader that you need to register for. An online reader is similar to an online email site, like Hotmail.
Why Google Reader?
My preference is online readers. What I love about online readers is that they are accessible from any computer with online access. Once you have registered, you can even access the reader via your mobile. Once a post has been marked as read, it will appear as read on every computer you log in.
I use Google Reader as my online reader because it was the first to show up when I did a Google search. But seriously, can you really go wrong with Google?
Here are some screen shots to give you a better idea:
This is a sample of my folder structure. As you can see, I have one unread item under Photo News and I have selected Michelal's feed under the Travel Photography folder.
This is a feed from Mitchell's blog that I have currently selected. As you can see, it shows the blog text and media content (pictures, movies, etc.)
One of the features I love about Google Reader are the suggestions, based on your current subscriptions. You can find these under Explore.
Suggested Feeds
As this is a travel photography blog, I’ll keep my feed recommendations on topic. What I won’t suggest are feeds where bloggers post videos of themselves opening new gear (I’m serious, people actually do that) or feeds where bloggers think that they have become celebrities and post pictures from their iPhones of themselves doing random things.
- Pixilated Image blog – A constant supply of interesting, inspiring and entertaining posts related (sometimes very loosely) to travel photography.
- Mitchell’s Travel and Photography blog – I often recommend Mitchell’s blog, so it should come as no surprise that I recommend subscribing to his feed. Mitchell is my favorite travel photographer.
- The Art of Adventure – The blog of travel photographer, Bruce Perry. One of the few travel photographers still using medium format film. Bruce’s work is concentrated (though not limited to) on the Scottish Hebrides. A landscape genius.
- Steve McCurry’s blog – The photographer who shot Afghan Girl and someone that has been shooting for National Geographic for over 25 years. Steve McCurry has even survived two plane crashes whilst on assignment, so he knows a thing or two about travel photography.
- Video Surf Guide – A video blog concentrating on surf spots from around the world. I think it is an awesome idea for a travel blog.
- Nomadic Vision – If you keep checking out this site, why not subscribe.
If you know of any other great feeds or you want to suggest your own, why not leave them in the comments section.
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