That little icon in the corner; and, how to “Feedly” your newsreader

Because you are an intrepid, bright university student, surely you’ve noticed the little icon found on nearly every web browser. You know the one, it looks like this:

(And please, don’t call me Shirley.)

This icon is the link to RSS (Really Simple Syndication), otherwise known as social bookmarking. This blog will show you how to set up a newsreader through your Google account, and then make it really, really pretty by using an application called Feedly.

Part I: Google Reader

*NOTE: If you already use the Google newsreader, skip ahead to Part II.

Like Twitter, social bookmarks are a way to tailor-make your own web browsing experience. These bookmarks are saved through a customized account called a “newsreader.” This is perhaps the most useful way to maximize efficient web usage.

Rather than read a huge paragraph detailing the steps to set up a newsreader, why not just follow these steps (these steps are for the Google Reader, for reasons to be explained in Part II):

1.     Sign in/up for your Google mail account.

2.     See the menu bar in the top left corner? Click on “Reader.” This will direct your to the Google newsreader page:

3.     Follow the directions on this page, which gives you directions on how to set up the newsreader service.

From there, it’s just a matter of picking the RSS feeds you want to see in your newsreader. Whenever you find a site that you’d like to receive a feed from, click on the RSS icon or link, and you’ll be directed to the subscription setup. Choose Google from the choices, confirm the subscription on your reader, and you’re finished. You’ll receive feeds from that site on your Google account.

Part II: Feedly

The Google Reader process was used specifically for two reasons: first, because it’s the reader I use, and second because I found it visually unattractive.

Wait . . . why choose a newsreader service because it is unattractive?

Well, because the whole point of “Web 2.0” is to make a customized web experience. This is what is referred to as the Semantic Web – the more you interact with the web, the more you tinker with things, the more enjoyable and intuitive it becomes.

Enter Feedly. Feedly is an application that transforms your Google Reader into create an elegant, completely individualized “magazine-like web page.” Installing Feedly is easy; because it is a conventional application, it can be downloaded from the Feedly website.

Do you cringe at this ungainly mess?

This is what that same reader looks like through Feedly:

As amazing as Google is, its colour scheme is gaudy, to say the least (with apologies to those who love its Brazilian-flag motif). Feedly is sleek, simple, and absolutely addictive; play with it, use your newsreader, impress your friends, and bask in your increasingly-advanced web savvy.

Twitter: a Meta-Melodrama in One Act

Cast:

Reader: The young, dashing reader of this blog

Blog: The handsome-sounding, disembodied voice of the writer of this blog

ACT I

[Scene: Reader sits staring at a computer screen, fixated on a blog about social media written]

Fade in

Reader has untagged his or herself from the embarrassing pictures from last summer’s Beerfest, and has decided to give social media a new look.

Reader [soliloquy]: Where to start? Facebook has been fun, but it’s just so, well, friendish. I feel daring . . . I want something fresher than Facebook. Starting a blog seems a bit ominous and daunting. But Twitter . . . hmm, seems fairly light; maybe that’s a good place to start. But what is it? It seems like it could be really great, but also like a big waste of time.

Blog: Twitter is most definitely a waste of time, but not in the what-am-I-doing-with-my-life kind of way. It’s a time waster because of its usefulness. It is a laser beam, guiding you straight to the heart of what you use, want, or need the internet for. A Twitter account offers as much useful or useless information as you  could possibly want. Since it clarifies the web so effectively, it can be hard to peel yourself away from it.

Reader: Sounds promising, but those little 140-character blurbs . . . isn’t the site geared towards people with minuscule attention spans? (Anxiously) How can this be the future of the internet? What an outrageous statement!

[Turns away from screen and yells]

Help!

Blog: Wait! Think about this: those little blurbs are tiny gateways to incredible amounts of information. Consider that as humans spend more time reading from computer screens, they’ve changed the way they read. The human eye tends to scan text in a diagonal fashion, starting at the first word, and moving through the center of the paragraph, seeking only information and skipping the rest. Humans respond more actively to smaller amount of text; therefore, Twitter is the ideal new medium, because gets straight to the point.

Reader: Okay, that makes sense. So what am I gonna find in these blurbs? I don’t need to know what Justin Bieber had for breakfast.

Blog: This is absolutely true. [NOTE: many people need to know what Justin Bieber had for breakfast. At last count, @justinbieber had over 6.2 million followers.] But those who use Twitter effectively know that they can trim all the excess, superfluous communication and strike right to the essence of a message. This is what “microblogging” is all about.

Reader: Okay. This is starting to sound better. So I can get straight-to-the-point messages. But how important can the message be if it is so short?

Blog: Like I said, the blurb is the gateway. Thousands of reputable magazines, websites, and organizations use Twitter. Scientific American cannot possibly tell you about the theories regarding the end of the universe (only Douglas Adams could do that). Instead, you’ll get a headline, followed by a tiny URL. You can click the link to read the article. It’s a hyper-efficient way to browse a load of information and actually absorb what you want.

[Pause. Reader looks up in contemplation to a nearby window. A little blue bird lands on the tree branch outside, and begins to sing in short, concise tweets.]

Blog: See? Twitter. It’s so . . . natural.

Reader [cringes]: Wow. That just happened.

[Camera closes in on over Reader’s shoulder, focuses on the URL bar of Reader’s web browser. Reader deletes “freeoncampus.wordpress.com” from the bar and types in “twitter.com” as the shot fades to black.]

End.

“A Piece for Peace”

Freebie alert!

Where: Monday, November 8, 12:00-2:00 at the entrance tables in the SUB

What: The Jewish Student Association (JSA) and Israel on Campus (IOC) are giving away free pieces of cake in the SUB building. Why? Because the club seeks to bring together Jewish students and lovers of peace in a socially accepting atmosphere where things like peace and life can be discussed. Also, Irina wanted me to tell you to “come out to support a message for peace with cake, a button, and an info for a free (and inspirational) movie screening that evening.”

Also, these groups have a FREE BAGEL giveaway EVERY TUESDAY in the SUB! Come if you are interested in learning more about these clubs, or if you are interested in connecting with the Jewish community on campus.

Thanks Irina and Carrie for the scoop!

Free food . . . AND yoga!

Just saw someone putting up this sign on the University Centre wall . . .

That someone was Jenny, who runs the UVic Yoga club. If you go for the yoga, stay for the food!

If you are interested in the UVic Yoga club, but you can’t make it to the SUB tomorrow, you can email Jenny for more information: yoga@uvic.ca

UPDATE (Wednesday): If you can’t make it today, the yoga club is having a bake sale in the ECS main lobby tomorrow. Not free, but cheap baked goods! The proceeds are going to Kidsport, a local charity that provides extracurricular actitives to underprivileged children. Go support!