Except for email and a couple of websites I decided to go internet dark for a couple of weeks to test out RSS readers. Recently I've found myself spending hours a day reading news sites and blogs, and when I didn't one day I felt as if I had missed an intangible "something" that I would never be able to find.
I went through long lists of every kind of testing many out as I went along. Most while simple in appearance were not intuitive to configure. Finally I found and starting testing out a web-based reader called Netvibes. Bear with me I know the name sounds dumb but how many services on the internet do we have that don't? Being able to bring it up any browser is a huge bonus to me as I have a long history of hardware failing unexpectedly at bad times. Also there is no worry of compatibility or having to worry about devices synchronizing. By default it has a homepage like appearance with blocks you can move around. These blocks can contain either RSS feeds or widgets that are easily added by clicked on an "add content" button that is always at the top of your browser window. If you don't like the homepage style view there is toggle button (again always visible) at the top labeled "reader". This instantly changes your page into a tradition RSS reader view with all your feeds along the left side of the screen.
For my test I added all of my favorite tech news sites and over a dozen blogs I follow. I'm not a fast reader by any stretch but I have been able to go from a couple of hours a day of reading to a couple of hours once or twice a week and I know I haven't missed anything. The only drawback I've been able to find is if you go to certain blogs like I do to see their blog rolls you can't add the rolls all at once. With that said adding any site only takes a copy/paste and a click or two, literally seconds.
If you haven't tried this tool or one like it I highly encourage it. If you have a reader you use and like please feel free to drop a link in a comment below.
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