Tag Archives: google reader

if this then that – The Web Service I’ve Been Waiting For

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If This Then That, http://ifttt.com, is a new (currently in limited Beta) task based service that allows you to fully customise your tasks based on channels (think Twitter, Evernote, YouTube, email, Flickr, text message), triggers (if “this” happens) and actions (then do “that”).

via if this then that | craigt44 tech blog.

I was going to write a relatively extensive post regarding if this then that, but “craigt44″ has done a great job explaining it along with some inspiration on how to use it.

Uses

To compliment that post, here are the 3 ways I’m currently using it:

if I send ifttt an email, tagged #grs from <my email address> then add subscription to my Google Reader

I’ve been desperate for this for a while now. I’m forever seeing sites I’d like to subscribe to in Reader whilst using my iPhone, and have wanted to just fire off an email with it’s URL and have the subscription take place (so no need to copy the URL, go to the Reader web site, tap add subscription, paste and tap ok). ifttt will extract the URL from the body of the email (which is handy as most iOS apps when you send a link using email automatically includes the URL in the body) and then subscribe to it, placing it in a predifined folder.

if I send ifttt an email, tagged #fbl from <my email address> then create a link on my Facebook feed

I believe Facebook have a way to email in a status update, but I’m not aware of a way to do it for links. This one will extract the URL from the body along with any comments I wish to include with the link. ifttt and Facebook take care of the rest.

if I send ifttt an email, tagged #share from <my email address> then add a new bookmark to my delicious account

I currently have two Delicious accounts. One is links for future references (which I’ve now had for donkeys of years) and the other has been created especially for sharing links with friends. I want to be logged in at all times with my reference account rather than the sharing one, and so it’s made sharing a pain. Being able to email links to the sharing one has made life much easier.

Getting an Invite

ifttt is currently invite only. I have 5 available (at the time of writing), if you’d like one tweet me @greggannicott.

Google Reader API: Getting Time-out (expired) when attempting to add subscription

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I’ve been playing around with the Google Reader API and I was having an issue when attempting to add a new subscription. The POST request would time-out (in Ruby this showed up as “Expired”).

After some messing around I realised this was caused by the value I’d entered into the “Content-Length” HTTP header.

I’d entered the sum length of the parameters being passed across (this was based on the PHP greader class – very useful resource consindering there is no official docs for this API).

However, once I simply entered the Content-Length as 0 (zero) it worked.

Here’s the Stack Overflow question I raised with more information.

MobileRSS: Feature Request

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RSS
Image via Wikipedia

As I’ve stated a couple times, I use MobileRSS for my {en:Google Reader} client on the iPhone.

One of the features I like is the ability to add a page to Read it Later. However, to do this I have to open the page before I can mark it to read later.

This doesn’t sound like much, but when you’re on the train and signal is tweak, it can take up much of the journey opening the page. And if I’m reading a good post with lots of interesting links out (Nat Torkinson’s Four Short Links series is an excellent example) then I can kiss goodbye to that journey. Not only that, but it interrupts your flow of reading the article.

What would be much better is to have the option of pressing and holding a link, and along with the option to ‘Open’ and ‘Copy’, you could also have the option to ‘Read it Later’. It should be a simple feature to add, but a very useful one at that.

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Idea: Google Reader in Boxee

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We’ve now got a decent media PC in the living room that displays video correctly. As a result I’m using {en:Boxee} a lot more than I previously did (as in I actually use it).

Friends Activity

One of my favorite features is that it lists the videos that your friends and the people you follow have posted on {en:Facebook}, {en: Twitter} and {en: Google Buzz}.

This results in a nice mix of music (Facebook), geek (Twitter) and fun stuff (both).

Usually when people post videos I rarely watch them. The viewing expierence on both my iPhone and desktop PC isn’t the best. I’m simply not used to watching and enjoying video on them.

However, on the big screen tv whilst sat on the sofa, it all makes sense and is a good way to kill 20 minutes.

Google Reader

It made wonder what other services would make a good source for video. Most of the content I read is via {en:Google Reader}. However, as with Facebook and Twitter I can’t sit there and watch the content the various sites post. So I figured wouldn’t it be neat if Boxee pulled in my Google Reader feed (this could be all items or particular categories) and display the videos that feature in that feed.

Boxee Fail

Then the penny dropped. I remembered that the second best feature of Boxee is the way it manages RSS feeds. Using a web based GUI accessible via your favorite browser, you can easily add podcasts that can then be viewed via Boxee.

All I had to do was insert a feed I’ve shared via Google Reader and I should have the functionality I want. However, when I attempted to do that it failed stating it could not detect a feed.

Bummer.

If I find the time I might have a crack at creating a Boxee app that does it. If I do create such an app, or find a different solution I’ll post it on this blog.

Sharing what you watch on TV

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The last couple years has seen the way my brain thinks about things slightly differently. This has been down to two reasons:

  1. The iPod
  2. Google Reader & Friendfeed

The difference is, I now want to rate and share everything.

With the iPod I find that when I’m listening to a track my brain now naturally comes up with a rating (which I then apply via the iPod). This extends beyond the iPod though and happens when I’m listening to the radio. Of course, my brain soon clocks on to the fact that I can’t rate it and moves on.

Google Reader and Friendfeed has caused my brain to naturally want to share things. In Google Reader, I find that if I enjoy an article, I click the Share button and it then appears on my Friendfeed stream. It doesn’t really matter if anyone actually reads it or not. The cost to share is so minimal (one click) that there’s no reason for me not to do it. To an extent its my way of showing my appreciation for the work.

As with the ratings, the need to share items also goes beyond Google Reader.

I read a good letter sent into Teletext and I want to (but cant) share it. Or – and this is kind of the point of this post – I’m watching something good on TV and I want to share that.

It happened the other night. I was watching a Neil Young performance and thought “Jesus this is amazing! Must share so other people know about it and can enjoy it.”. Of course, the option wasn’t there (apart from a few choice text messages). But I really hope that’s where we’re heading in the future.

In an ideal world, the following would have been possible when watching that Neil Young performance:

I’m watching the Neil Young performance and think “Jesus this is amazing!”. I hit the share button on the remote and the following occurs…

It first of all prompts me to ask which group of friends I’d like to notify. I have a group setup for those who I consider to have a similar taste for music as me. I choose it.

My brother is watching the TV and a little icon appears in the corner of his screen. Its to highlight the fact someone in his social graph (haven’t heard that term in a little while – it was all the rage a year ago) has shared something. He presses the ‘view shared items’ button on his remote (or something to that affect) and it points out I’ve shared the Neil Young show.

With this being the future and all, we’re watching video on demand rather than Sky. So he can either tune in from the start right there and then, or perhaps flag it as one to watch/stream later – maybe after he’s finished what he’s watching.

A friend, Mark, is visiting family in Cardiff. His mobile chirps and he checks it. A tweet has just come through on Google Talk stating that one of his friends has shared a tv show. He clicks the link which offers him the chance to flag it up for viewing later. He’s not a big Neil Young fan so he passes on it.

A few days later, Dan (another friend) is browsing his Google Reader feeds and notices I’ve shared this show. He clicks the link and starts viewing. He likes what he hears and in turn shares it by clicking his Google Reader share button. As he’s a Friendfeed user this shows up in his Friendfeed stream. And from there? All sorts of folks pay attention, share and discuss it. I see it on my Friendfeed and join the discussion.

I don’t think my brain will be happy until I can share everything I enjoy. The infrastructure is starting to take shape in the form of Google Reader, Friendfeed, Twitter, BBC iPlayer etc, we just need everyone to tap into it.

I’ll save the ‘rating’ part for another day.

Random Thoughts II

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Thoughts that don’t deserve their own posts:

  • MTV2 vrs NME TV? Considering how much I use to enjoy M2, it pains me to say NME wins it.
  • The best few hours of radio is on a Sunday evening on BBC 6Music. Listener 6Mix followed by Guy Garvey. For new music though, weekday evenings with Marc Riley and Tom Robinson are both solid. Both on 6Music too.
  • Whether I like it or not, Techmeme and Friendfeed seem to be stopping me from using Google Reader as often. I think I actually preferred it when I didn’t have the options.
  • Best soundtrack on TV (at least before the series ended)? The Apprentice (UK). I’m not a big fan of background music (especially the way US tv does it), but this music adds to it.
  • Worst theme tune? Girlfriends on Trouble. Becky watches it and it cuts right through me.
  • Best album of the year so far? Its a close fight between Nick Cave’s “Dig” and Elbow’s “Seldom Seen Kid”. Elbow have the advantage of me seeing them live though.
  • MGMT’s ”Electric Feel” has just clicked. Would sound great on a Sunday afternoon.