OMG No!!!!!… Google is abandoning Reader

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OMG No!!!!!

We launched Google Reader in 2005 in an effort to make it easy for people to discover and keep tabs on their favorite websites. While the product has a loyal following, over the years usage has declined. So, on July 1, 2013, we will retire Google Reader. Users and developers interested in RSS alternatives can export their data, including their subscriptions, with Google Takeout over the course of the next four months.

via Official Blog.

I use Google Reader & have for years! Now I’m going to have to find another service to use. Granted I’ve used Reeder programs recently, but I’ve sync-d between computers & iOS devices with Google Reader. Now I need to find something else. Which is fun considering I use about 4 different devices and 3 different operating systems. So anyone have any suggestions on new RSS readers to try?

Related articles

• Google Is Killing Google Reader
• Google Reader to shut down July 1

Google Scribe

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Google Scribe.

Write faster. I’m always trying to do that. Now with Google Scribe that may be possible. It starts trying to guess the rest of the word you are typing or even the next word you will put in your sentence.  It can be weird seeing the next word you were looking for pop up in front of you. But it is based on statistical analysis of the English language. It’s currently in the Google Labs, but I figured it was worth a mention. I just type what I want into Scribe then copy and paste where I want the text to be. It is also making me a little more verbose because it keeps suggesting more of a phrase than I was originally going to use, but then I see it works better that way and I keep it.

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• Google Scribe Gives Autocomplete Suggestions As You Type (techie-buzz.com)
• Google Scribe Predicts What You’re Going to Type (webpronews.com)
• Google Scribe (googlesystem.blogspot.com)
• Google Scribe – Google launched a very interesting tool … (Alex Chitu/Google Operating System) (techmeme.com)

Official Google Blog: Update on Google Wave

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But despite these wins, and numerous loyal fans, Wave has not seen the user adoption we would have liked. We don’t plan to continue developing Wave as a standalone product, but we will maintain the site at least through the end of the year and extend the technology for use in other Google projects.

via Official Google Blog: Update on Google Wave.

Sad to see it go, but it would need to replace email totally & it didn’t have that kind of integration yet. I expect to see some of the robotics like spell check & translation, drag-n-drop features in other Google products here soon.

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• Update on Google Wave (The Official Google Blog) (techmeme.com)

Some links for the day

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NetNewsWire is now going to sync with Google Reader [1]. I may start using it again.

Viral videos can make a profit. [2]

Someone is trying to take on Google Voice. [3]

Yahoo got Binged. [4]

Ahhhh. Hotels…. [5]

Official Google Blog: Google Voice invites on their way

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Official Google Blog: Google Voice invites on their way

I have been using GrandCentral (now Google Voice) for over a year now. L has been on the invite list for about a year and she just got her invite. It does have a mobile app. And this is an application that still could use some serious upgrades. But it is invaluable to me as a traveler. Right now I have several recruiters over about 6 companies.  Some of them get annoying & pushy. That’s when they get put on voicemail only for a little while. That’s right. I don’t even know they called until I get a voicemail alert. It’s handy. Plus if I have a second home phone. I can make it ring that only and not use up my mobile minutes. Or I can get a new phone number. And not have to tell anyone. I can have a different answering messages for my friends than I do business contacts. That “Whazzzzup chicas?” is great for your friends, but you don’t want an employeer or a coworker to get the wrong impression. Plus if you work in an office it can ring your office phone. Video kinda explains some of the features.

I have written about them before so I’ll just link to the previous posts.

Once

Twice

State of the Art – Unify the Phone Numbers and All Else Follows – NYTimes.com

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State of the Art – Unify the Phone Numbers and All Else Follows – NYTimes.com

FREE VOICE MAIL TRANSCRIPTIONS From now on, you don’t have to listen to your messages in order; you don’t have to listen to them at all. In seconds, these recordings are converted into typed text. They show up as e-mail messages or text messages on your cellphone.

I have been a GrandCentral user for over a year now. I was still happy that the product was function, but there were some functionalities I wish had been there, but I put up with it. I’ve used the call screening to know who was calling before I answered. I do like the transcriptions. Yes they are off, but It’s no worse than JOTT did when I used them.

One thing I LOVE is they added SMS texting. You can now Text my GrandCentral #. Woot.

Another thing I love is there is now easy dialing without adding someone to your contact list on the website. This was a major pain. But calling from your mobile is still a bit of a pain. So I want an iPhone app from Google.

Twitter Rambling summary

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Just my random twitter scribblings for today.

• 07:24 I wrote 831 words in 50 minutes with Write or Die! lab.drwicked.com/writeordie.html #
• 11:47 SLFN: Cupcakes: Cupcakes does beautiful dresses but occasionally it also does great seperates like this.T.. ping.fm/WkOCo #
• 23:50 Aww man. They’ve likely cancelled Middleman. is.gd/iaSk Totally bummed. (via @geekgrrl) #
• 00:03 Wilw off #

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Evernote Blog » Blog Archive » Welcome You Fine Google Notebook Users

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Evernote Blog » Blog Archive » Welcome You Fine Google Notebook Users

If you used Google Notebook be aware that they have stopped development on it. Evernote quickly started development of a way to import that info into Evernote. It’s now up!!!.

Products I can’t live without

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Every year Michael Arrington at TechCrunch does an article on Products he can’t live without.  So I made my own list. They are in random order.

1. iPhone
This was the game changer in the cell phone market in 2007. In 2008 with the opening of the App Store & 3G it took off even more.

2. Instapaper
Read Later. Never has there been better words when you are in a hurry. For those times that you don’t want a full bookmark, but you’d like to read it in detail later.

3. Evernote
Remember Everything. Notebook service. Much more useful than Google Notebook’s abandoned development. Offline/Sync-able clients are available for Mac, Window, iPhone & Windows Mobile. Will also store PDFs. More files types available if you pay for Premium membership.

4. WordPress
Wordpress runs my blogs. Nuff said. Can’t publish without it.

5. Delicious
Bookmarking service. Social bookmarks. Thanks to the Delicious extension for Firefox I use instead of the local bookmarks. That way if I go to someone else’s computer I can still access all my bookmarks.

6. Facebook
Thanks to Facebook I’ve caught up with a lot of people I had lost touch with. I just out of the blue received a friend request from a guy I was friends with in high school. I hadn’t seen him since high school. Now if I can just get all my cousins on facebook instead of myspace…..

7. Gmail
Email. I can’t live without email. I don’t always use the web interface, but I get it in Apple Mail and in iPhone Mail as well as the web interface. I use the IMAP to keep it all in sync.

8. Google Reader
My RSS reader of choice at the moment. I’ve strayed, but as they keep updating it I keep coming back.

9. Pandora
Internet radio. I’ve used it more on my iPhone than online, but I have discovered a few songs I like through it.

10. TripIt
I kept up with my work schedule and hotel bookings when I worked out of town.

11. Remember the Milk
There is a reason I pay for the premium service. There is an iPhone client for premium members. It will send me SMS texts & twitter reminders.

12. Twitter
I use twitter as an asynchronous group chat. Now that most of my RL friends use it we bounce messages back and forth. Arrange going out to eat.  And it sends their updates straight to my mobile.

Mourn
1. I Want Sandy
I miss Sandy so much. Email her something to remind you in plain english. And it would translate it into a to do, appointment or a contact. I was upset when it shut down.

So what do you use????????????

Google’s Street View Takes A Byte Out Of Crime

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Google’s Street View Takes A Byte Out Of Crime

In the case, which involved a woman who allegedly kidnapped her granddaughter, Athol Police Officer Todd Neale managed to track down the missing girl by obtaining coordinates of her cell phone from the phone’s carrier. …

The two men found that the phone’s coordinates kept coming in within 300 feet of each other at an intersection in Virginia. Unfortunately they were located in Massachusetts, so they couldn’t just drive to the other side of town to take a look. So they turned to Google.

Using Google Street View, they virtually “looked around” the intersection, when they noticed a large building nearby where the pair might have been staying. They subsequently identified the building as a motel (again with Google), and then confirmed that the motel was nearby using Google’s satellite view. The pair notified the Virginia state police of their findings, who then found the 9-year old girl and her grandmother in the motel.

Sounds like someone learned how to use the internet…