readers

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Google closes the book on Reader, announces July 1 sunset.

- Petitions beg Google to reconsider closure of Reader.

- Google Reader alternatives including Flipboard, Feedly, and more.

- Google to retire more services in new round of spring cleaning.

- Google yanks ad-blocker apps from Google Play.

- Samsung Galaxy S4 event: Join us at 3p.m. PT today (live blog).

- Berkeley creates the first graphene earphones, and (unsurprisingly) they're awesome.

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Like some of you, I was once a power user of Google Reader. I needed it to do my job. But as Twitter started to gain steam, I started checking it less and less. It was less a pleasure and more a chore.

And then suddenly, I just stopped. I created a Twitter account to track tech news, and I never looked back.

I'm fascinated by the outcry resulting from the news that Google is shutting down Reader. The backlash shouldn't surprise anybody: Reader's power users consist primarily of hard-core bloggers, who were obviously going to complain (… Read more

Google's decision to sunset its Google Reader has proved a wildly unpopular one, and users of the RSS reader have turned to popular medium for effecting change: the online petition.

Google announced this afternoon that it will shutter the service in July. In a company blog post today, Google said the decision was based on declining usage of the RSS reader, which was launched in 2005.

Many turned to Twitter to express their disappointment with the decision. While some said they relied heavily on the service, others admitted their use had become less frequent. Still, others said Google greed … Read more

Hear that? That's the sound of millions of news junkies on the Web scrambling to find an alternative to Google Reader.

As you may have heard, Google Reader will soon be no more. The search giant has announced that it will shutter its much-maligned -- though still widely used -- RSS reader, which will, no doubt, leave many users in a tizzy, searching for other ways to subscribe to their favorite RSS feeds. Sure, Google Reader may not have been the most beautifully designed product to come out of Mountain View, Calif., but it sure was convenient. And now … Read more

The day long feared by fans of Google Reader has come: the service will shut down, the company said.

"We launched Google Reader in 2005 in an effort to make it easy for people to discover and keep tabs on their favorite websites," the company said. "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."

Google Reader … Read more

Anyone shopping for a no-frills, brass-tacks e-reader has undoubtedly eyed Amazon's basic Kindle, which for $69 is just a crazy-good deal.

Of course, to turn pages and navigate menus, you have to press buttons. Ew!

Today it's all about touch screens, baby. Hence, this is the better deal: Today only, and while supplies last, Daily Steals has the refurbished Kindle Touch e-reader for $69 shipped. Yep: same price as a new non-touch Kindle. (Unlike with Amazon, however, shipping can take 2-3 weeks.)

The Kindle Touch was discontinued last year in favor of the Kindle Paperwhite, but it's … Read more

Safari Reader offers a great way to focus on content found on Web sites without being distracted by flashing ads, polls, and other distractions commonly found online. If you like the default reader but would still like to see some improvements and more customization options, then CustomReader for Mac might help you feel more at home.

This browser extension keeps it neat and simple in both installation and user interface. The first thing we noticed was that the CustomReader for Mac doesn't feature the black semitransparent background found in the Safari Reader, so you definitely won't be distracted … Read more

I never had any doubt that readers of this blog have the coolest systems, but the magnitude of the flood of homemade speakers, desktop systems, headphones, and all sorts of groovy turntables totally knocked me out. There's some sweet gear here, so click to the slideshow and check out the systems. Thanks to all who sent JPEGs -- I heard from well over 100 readers, so I can't show everyone's gear.

A new attack is targeting European governments through flaws exploited in Adobe's Reader software, according to security researchers.

Kaspersky Lab and CrySys Lab today detailed a new malicious program in the wild, called "MiniDuke," that has been attacking government entities and institutions across Europe. Government entities in the Ukraine, Portugal, Romania, and others have been targeted, according to the security researcher.

MiniDuke finds its way to infected computers through PDFs. The malicious hackers -- who Kaspersky believes might have been dormant for some time because of the technique's similarity to those from the late-1990s -- have … Read more