Mild Fuzz

5 Tips for Google Reader

The internet is awash with information. Much as it pains me to admit it, there is far too much of it to digest in a lifetime, but that’s not going to stop me trying.

Blogs are an excellent way to keep up to date with new information released on the web and there a few tips and tricks I follow in order to make the most out of the blogs I subscribe to.

By far the best feed aggregator is Google Reader. It utilises Google Gears to give you an offline mode, for those times you’re away from a reliable connection, so when you are on your commute you can catch up on your unread items without the web. It integrates with Firefox seamlessly using Google Reader Watcher Plugin and, through the use of bookmarklets it integrates with pretty much any browser you want. It also has a great mobile version, for times when your laptop is an unavailable or inappropriate option. Here are a few systems I use to try to keep track of the 100+ subscriptions in my Reader.

Organise your Feeds

Google Reader allows you to organise your feeds into folders. It treats these folders more like tags, as you can place any one blog in many folders, which smartly update as you read. That is to say, if you read a post from within one folder, Google Reader marks it as read in all the other folders it exists in. This allows you to get creative about where you place your subscriptions.

Grouping your subscriptions in this way allows you to be more specific when you come to reading them. If you are in the mood to find a new design tutorial, then you can look through your ‘design tutorials’ folder, if you want to see whats going on with the US Election, have a browse of your ‘Politics’ tag. One tip to remember is to group the blogs in a way that is meaningful for you, that reflects the way you read them and don’t stick with the folder tags you create at first. As you subscribe to more blogs, the way you consume them will evolve. An example of this from my own experience is when I first started using Google Reader, I grouped all my Web Design and Development blogs into one ‘Web D&D’ Folder. I found quite quickly that my Web D&D folder was becoming unruly, because it was hard to find an article which suited the mood I was in. Now I have 9 separate folders (including Design Tutorials, Design Inspiration, Development Tutorials, Development Blogs and Design Blogs amongst others). This way I can always quickly find an article appropriate for the time, and consequently because I am not wasting so much time looking for something to read, I am reading more.

Use the Trends Section

Google Reader has a ‘trends’ section, which allows you to look at how you are consuming your blogs. What I find interesting about this is that when I look at my data, I find out surprising things about my areas of interest. I always figured my main interest would be either design or cinema, but the blog I mostly read according to the stats is Lifehacker, a geeky DIY blog.

Discover

Along with the trends, Google can also try to match up what you are reading with other blogs which may be of interest to you. This can lead you to some previously unknown sources of information and can significantly improve your experience.

Star

Like Gmail, Google Reader has a ‘star’ feature. The way I like to use this is to mark an item for further attention. For example, I might stumble on a weekend DIY project from Lifehacker I really want to try out while I’m at work, or I might read what sounds like a great design tutorial while reading on my phone.

One thing to be aware of, try to keep your starred item folder clear. I use it in conjunction with my del.icio.us, so anything I think will be in my starred items for an extended period, I transfer to a more permanent position in my del.icio.us bookmarks. Once used, unstar!!

Feed your interests

This tip isn’t specifically for Google Reader, but it does involve other Google services. When you search Google for web content, news, blogs or anything, you can create an RSS or Atom feed from your search. This can be then subscribed to in the same way as a normal blog.

I manage a fantasy football team online, and one use for this feature that I have seen pay dividends is that I can use an advanced google news search to keep check on any injuries, transfers or team news relevant to all of my players, whilst filtering the bulk of the irrelevant, allowing my to keep informed without wasting time crawling the web.

You could also use this method for finding employment, keeping up to date with a news item or just about anything.

Anyone else have any killer tips? Leave a comment!! Don’t be shy!!

5 Fantastic Design Inspiration Resources

The look and feel of your site is one of the most important aspects governing it’s success. A poor design can undermine great content, whilst a super sleek look can encourage stumblers to dig a little deeper. People stick around where they feel inspired.

But the problem we all face is where to begin. Where can we start to collate ideas and make them our own? In this list, I reveal some of my favourite resources for just finding inspiration, to begin a design and where better than to start than to develop your logo.

Adobe Kuler

Kuler is amazing, I mean really really amazing!! I have used colour selection tools in the past, but this one is really something special. Not only can you create your own palettes using colour theory standards or your own custom seperations. You can also save your palettes onto the cloud, great for multi-computer working or collaboration.

I think the real killer is its social aspect. You can see other users pallets and rate them. For someone who like me, who struggles for colour inspiration, this is an amazing feature. You can borrow colour schemes created by others, tweak them and include them in your design.

Moodstream

Moodstream, from Getty Images, is an unusual site, but one that can really unblock you in times of creative occlusion. You feed in your ‘mood’ using the sliders, or opt for one of the mood presets, and a hit refresh. Once the content is loaded you will be presented with a display of images, both moving and still along with an appropriate piece of music. Sit back, take it all in and let the inspiration take hold.

i find it can be a little repetitive (I wish they would add more images) but the principle is amazing, and has worked for me a few time. You can directly purchase the images and sounds, should you require, but often it is simply the idea it throws out of it’s randomness that inspires me, rather than the specific media it presents.

Ferry Halim’s Games

They say the easiest way to find what you are looking for is to stop looking, and I find this quite remarkable set of pick-up-and-play flash games truly enchanting. The artwork and music are remarkable and the game play is often thoroughly addictive. Just watch out it doesn’t distract you for too long!

A List Apart

This is a great article about the creative process which I think anyone interested enough to get this far down this post should read. It comes from the A List Apart blog, specifically from Mark Boulton and lists the formal process he goes through in his work when drumming out an idea with his colleagues. I think we can all take a little something from his approach, even those of us who don’t often find ourselves in a meeting dynamic.

This is just one good example from a whole host of great articles from A List Apart, I thoroughly recommend subscribing.

scrnshots.com

Design Galleries can be a really useful inspiration tool, and I think this one stand above a lot that I have seen. It encourages user uploading, commenting and rating of designs and lot’s of cool webby features like embedding syntax and a new wordpress plugin. Site’s like this can be really useful for freelancers who spend most of there time by themselves without colleagues to play critic for them. In this context, it can be nice just to have someone confirm or deny the quality of your latest design.

Well, that’s my top six. If anyone reading this has any others, please leave them in the comments.