New technology – who needs it? Well, if you read my story, you too may want to utilize the latest in technology using Firefox, Google, BLOGS, and RSS Readers. I am a hard sell when it comes to using new technology. I don’t want it to complicate my life. And I certainly don’t want to spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to use the fancy features and nifty gadgets. Don’t get me wrong, I still like to install, configure, and play with new software as it becomes available. But for the most part, it is quickly removed and erased from my thoughts, just as quickly as it was downloaded and installed on my computer. So where am I going with this?
Lately I have been spending more and more time visiting BLOGS – reading, engaging, and participating in the overall culture of “bloggers” and “blogging.” I frequent a number of hosting industry based web sites to keep me informed on what is happening in the industry. I’m sure a lot of you reading this have visited a BLOG or two, but are you familiar with RSS Readers? I have been aware of RSS Readers, what they do, and the technology behind them, but I have also been really stubborn to actually sit down and start using one. New software and technology that doesn't save time, simplify procedures, or save money, just don’t make it into my daily life.
Over the weekend I probably drank around 5-6 cups of coffee while running through bookmarks and looking at some of my favorite marketing related BLOGS. It has been a process I try and do at least once a week so I don't fall behind with the latest news, gossip, and opinions of my peers.
While browsing one of the sites (http://www.fastservers.net/blog/), yes, it’s true, I frequent our own BLOGS, I accidentally clicked on the “Add to Google” icon. And that’s just because I am naturally drawn to anything that’s Google. It turns out that I ended up signed into my Google Reader account. Next thing I know, I’m subscribing to the FastServers.Net BLOG I was visiting. I thought, wow this is neat! I can go out to all my favorite web logs and news sites and instantly subscribe to BLOGS that interest me instead of searching through my massive list of bookmarks. And by massive, I mean several dozen or more. All I have to do is simply login to my Google Reader account and voilà, I have instant access to all the news and information I could ever want! It’s that simple.
After I finished mass subscribing myself to 20-30 news sites, BLOGS, and other RSS based content, I thought - "It would be neat if I could be notified of any new postings and changes." With a little research, and a another cup of coffee, I found a nice little Firefox plug-in called the Google Reader Notifier Firefox Extension (good name choice, btw). I instantly downloaded and installed the plug-in. Using Firefox is so easy. Anyway, on with the story.
This morning during my normal regimen, and with coffee in hand (yes, I love coffee), I began answering emails, opening browsers (six or so), and preparing for the day. To my surprise, Firefox alerted me of 10 new posts that were brand new! With just a few clicks I was able to review those 10 new posts, visit a couple of interesting ones, and marked the remaining ones accordingly. What I have come to appreciate are those sites that utilize RSS Feeds to do mass updates. A few of the sites I subscribed to have been doing updates every 10 minutes! The best part is I get those updates immediately. Now that’s impressive! And all it took was a little bit of new technology, powered by Google Reader, and the Firefox plug-in.
If you are an avid news junkie, BLOG reader, or simply want to centralize your overall updates, getting Google Reader plus the Google Reader Notifier Firefox Extension, can help you save time and maybe even simplify your browsing experience. If you are a FastServers.Net customer, subscribing to our forum via any of the newsreaders is only one click away. Just look to your left and you will see a list of possibilities including both standard ATOM and RSS capabilities. And don’t forget, you will also see the “Add to Google” icon I mentioned earlier. Happy reading!
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