Google Reader: Experiments with notes, following and sharing

Google has been trying to make Official Google Blog: Google Reader and Reader Mobile more "social" -- and more Twitter-like. You can "Like" items, you can "Share" with or without a Note ("followers" see the shared items), and you can Comment on items others have Shared. When you "Like" an item Google tries to suggest similar items. More interestingly it puts you on a "Liked by" list; I use those lists to find new people to follow.

You can also inject "naked" comments into your shared item stream, and you can use the "Note in Reader" bookmarklet to create a Reader stream note on any web page. It's microbloggy-twitter-statusy-social-graph stuff.

I've been using this stuff on the standard and mobile web clients [1] for months, and it works for me. I don't have much use for Twitter, but I use my Reader Notes as a way to track ideas that might turn into blog posts, and to create an annotated repository of things I find noteworthy. That repository is searchable in Google Reader.

These notes are shared as well, but Google tells me no more than 2-3 people are following my Shared items (My wife reads them too, but as an embedded feed rather than via Reader. She's my favorite reader by far).

Whereas I'm not well "followed" (sniff) I truly enjoy reading the items shared by those I do follow, such as Jacob Reider, Thomas, Rahul, Jesse Stay and John Munro [1]. Their crowd-sourced items and notes have significantly broadened and improved the quality of my knowledge stream.

Reader gets more love than most Google products, but there are still issues. Here's a quick summary of stuff to watch out for ...

1. Features are scattered and surprising. In writing this, for example, I found a "Comment View" that shows comments on my posts -- I didn't know there was a way to see these. Sorry Rahul, I've just now appreciated your comments!
2. There's a strange intersection between Google Contacts "Groups" and the ability to "Comment" on a shared item. I don't know if it's necessary, but I added the people I "follow" to a Google Contacts Group I created called "readers".
3. When I read a shared item with a Note, I want to reshare it with a Comment. However if I add a Comment it doesn't show up in my Shared or Notes view or my shared item feed. Comments are an awkward design fit.
4. I sometimes Star items that I also Share w/ or w/o a Note. Sometimes the Starred Item shows the Note and the Noted item shows a Star, but sometimes I get separate Starred and Noted items.
5. The Mobile version of Google Reader is due for an update. It's missing several of the key features of the standard version such as "Like" and "Tweet".
6. If I read an item, I don't want to see it again. Sometimes this works, but if several of the people I follow share an item I may see it 4-5 times.

I hope Google's ADD holds off a bit and they continue to invest in Reader. At the moment it's one of their best products.

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[1] I used to read on my iPhone using "Byline", but their quality fell off a cliff about six months ago. I gave up on them.

[2] His Profile taught me how to get a "Verified Name" badge, a strong identity stake on a Google Profile. This turned out to be more than a bit odd however, so it needs another post.

See also:

• Gordon's Tech: More of me: My Google Reader Shared Item Feed
• Google's confusing social graph strategy: Google reader friends via Google Chat
• Gordon's Tech: Google reader shared items to Facebook
• Gordon's Tech: Google Reader: Feed Bundles and Shared Items

Update 12/16/09: Ooops, it's wrecked. I'll give it another go in Feb 2010.

Google Profile now an OpenID URL

I’ve been using MyOpenID as an identity provider. I’ve been disappointed with their two factor authentication strategy, but I like their Persona support.

As of today, however, I’m supposed to be able to use my Google Profile, http://www.google.com/profiles/jfaughnan (note vanity ID), wherever OpenID is accepted …

Google Profiles Turn Into OpenIDs (Tech Crunch)

… Google has been attempting to unify its various account profiles into one Google Profile. And now it’s more useful. Google’s Brad Fitzpatrick has just tweeted out that Google Profiles can now be used as OpenIDs.

What this means is that you can sign into any site that accepts OpenID simply by using your Google Profile domain…

I just tried it with Slashdot, and my credentials were accepted. Slashdot also allowed me to bind my Google OpenID to my old Slashdot account.

I have appreciated MyOpenID, but it’s hard to beat the convenience of having my Google account as an OpenID provider. If only MyOpenID had listened to to my critique of their two factor authentication procedure …

Facebook application privacy

Facebook has dubious ethical relationship with application creators. The money has to come from somewhere, and it appears that quite a lot comes from how applications exploit vulnerable customers.

So if you use Facebook, you should probably take a close look at this privacy setting:

Facebook | Application Privacy

... When a friend of yours allows an application to access their information, that application may also access any information about you that your friend can already see...

Very few FB users understand how "applications" work, and how one may unwittingly grant applications privileges. They are not applications like "Microsoft Word", they are mixtures of services and entertainment purchased with personal information. The most successful applications, are, by necessity, invasive. Darwin would understand.

The key concept here is that a "friend" can essentially "sell" your personal information -- and be completely unaware of what they've done.

I've set every option on this panel to the most limited setting.

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My Google Reader Shared items (feed)

Google Docs is really bad

Every so often I try to do something non-trivial using Google Docs "Documents".

Each time I come away with the same opinion. Google's Document.app is awful.

Try selecting a table embedded within another table row.

That's just the start. Document.app has lots of missing functionality. It's not stuff that's technically impossible to do in Ajax, it's just that Google isn't doing it.

Spreadsheet.app is not nearly so bad. You can even edit it on an iPhone. Unlike, say, a Google Document.

I don't get how people pretend this is some kind of alternative to Word. I am, to put it mildly, no fan of Microsoft Word. Even so, I can't delude myself for a nano-moment that Google's Document.app is in the same class as Word. Especially not Word:Mac 2008*.

It's weird that anyone pretends otherwise.

* I've only recently begun using this version of Word. I am disturbed by the suspicion that I might like it.

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My Google Reader Shared items (feed)

SurveyMonkey and web apps for meeting setup

I've seen this site used with quick group questions such as dates, places, etc.

SurveyMonkey.com:

... SurveyMonkey has a single purpose: to enable anyone to create professional online surveys quickly and easily...

In a similar vein are a number of products for setting up meeting times and spots ...

• TimeToMeet: visual calendar sync
• Doodle: this one's quite popular for quick scheduling. Probably next one I'll try. Apparently works without sign-up (smart). No OpenID!
• Tungle: Read-write-web really liked it, I need to study it more. No OpenID! Can work with Google Calendar, but does it require a Google pw (kiss of death).
• TimeBridge: Has iPhone client
• When is Good: No sign up at all.

Ok, so why don't any of these support OpenID?

Big switch on my iPhone sync: CalDAV and Exchange server

In the last episode of ‘As the iPhone Turns’ our hero was getting business contacts to the iPhone via PST export to Outlook on home XP to MobileMe to the iPhone. Office calendar data traveled one way via Google Calendar Sync to Google Calendar. Google Calendar and Contacts went to the iPhone via Google’s Active Sync (Exchange Server) clone. Address Book on OS X synced to MobileMe on several machines. iCal was out of the picture.

Today it’s all shook up. I can now use Exchange server to bring office contacts, calendar and email to my iPhone. Since the iPhone can support only one Exchange Active Sync connection I switched my Google Calendar sync to CalDAV; for now office appts still go there via one way Google Calendar Sync. I still don’t use iCal.

Personal Contacts now go via MobileMe to the iPhone. Google Contacts don’t go anywhere (for now).

The downside is that my office contacts no longer appear in OS X Address Book, but the ease of updating and ability to edit on my iPhone makes up for that. My first impression is that CalDAV is a better fit for Google Calendar than Active Sync, and that Exchange sync works better with a true Exchange server than with Google Calendar.

Hope you followed all that, I’m not sure I did.

Update 12/3/09: I've seen one odd behavior that might be a bug. I can see and edit Emily's calendar. So when Emily invited me to an event I at first accepted, then realized I didn't need to see her event and mine. So I deleted the invited even, so only hers remained. Problem is, her appointment then vanished on my iPhone! but it was viewable on her iPhone and on the web.

So it was still around, I just couldn't see it. I removed the "invited, not coming" data from the event and changed it enough to force a refresh, it then reappeared.

I wonder if there's a problem with deleting an invited appointment while viewing the original appointment on another person's calendar.

iPhone App store boredom - some palliatives

For me the iPhone App Store went from nothing to thrilling to boring in a matter of months.

The excitement was just one casualty of the Battle of Google Voice. I gather there are lots of interesting games coming out, but I don't do games. I haven't found a good app in months; it's 57 channels and nothin' on all over again.

I did find some palliatives.

The App Store.app Genius button does work and it turned up one or two I've not considered. One of them led me in turn to the O'Reilly Best iPhone Apps site, which is two cuts above the competition. Between the two of them I'm looking at QuickOffice and iThoughts.

Even so, there's no cure for the App Store blahs. Cowardice is making Apple boring.