tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472737279040117941Sat, 05 May 2012 23:20:51 +0000ReviewsIntroductionNewsGator InboxLettersHardwareFeedDemonRSS ReaderNewsGator OnlineFeedStationUser GuidesNews AggregatorsOnline ToolDesktop ApplicationSocial BookmarksOutlook Add-onA humble attempt to provide impartial information about web services available throughout the great World Wide Web (now know as the Cloud).http://www.twonsolo.com/noreply@blogger.com (Twon)Blogger77125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472737279040117941.post-3666619000131826227Sat, 05 May 2012 23:20:00 +00002012-05-05T16:20:51.291-07:00As you may know I originally set out to find the perfect news reading tool.  As I set out to find the perfect blend of news sources and delivery methods, the technology world (as it does so often) spun around and went in an direction that I was not expecting.  I was thinking RSS would maintain a stronghold and continue forward as the dominant news delivery method.  I was not prepared for the http://www.twonsolo.com/2012/05/relaunch.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Anthony)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472737279040117941.post-5662776642999825617Sun, 22 Jan 2012 23:40:00 +00002012-01-22T16:40:54.950-07:00LettersDear Readers, My original intent was to post to this blog daily.  However as so often happens life got busy, my posts slowed and became more sporatic until finally they just stopped.  Looking back I really enjoyed the writting but taking the time to do i became challenging due to changes at work and around the house.  This year my plan is to revive this blog with several new posts based on the http://www.twonsolo.com/2012/01/letter.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Anthony)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472737279040117941.post-7342525589578622432Tue, 06 Oct 2009 05:24:00 +00002009-10-05T22:29:17.772-07:00Social BookmarksOnline ToolUser GuidesAfter taking a look at numerous choices, I decided that Delicious would be a good place to start and made it the first social bookmarking site on my list.  The main reason is it seems to be the epitome of Social Bookmarking.  It truely is a place online where you can house your bookmarks and all you have to do is remember your user name and password and you have access to them anywhere that you http://www.twonsolo.com/2009/10/delicious-singup.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Twon)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472737279040117941.post-3928590874721523779Tue, 29 Sep 2009 05:30:00 +00002009-09-28T22:36:45.481-07:00Social BookmarksYou were probably expecting me to move on to the next RSS Reader in the extensive list of readers available out there. Well to keep in interesting for you (and for me) I have decided to check out social bookmarks. Before we start checking out these tools, lets take a look at what they are and what service they provide.There are tons of these tools available out there in the world wide web, and http://www.twonsolo.com/2009/09/social-bookmarking.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Twon)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472737279040117941.post-831204302513766116Tue, 25 Aug 2009 20:29:00 +00002009-08-25T13:33:27.616-07:00ReviewsDesktop ApplicationNews AggregatorsFeedStationFeedDemonRSS ReaderRatings * Ease of Use: 4 * User Interface: 4 * Performs as Described: 3 * Overall: 4Overall I found FeedDemon to be a tool that performed as expected for the most part and made it very easy for me to review and manage my subscriptions. There were a few things that did not work as I expected but for the most part everything did work and it worked well. I really liked having http://www.twonsolo.com/2009/08/feeddemon-review.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Twon)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472737279040117941.post-54645112876107709Tue, 18 Aug 2009 05:16:00 +00002009-08-17T23:05:28.812-07:00ReviewsOutlook Add-onNews AggregatorsRSS ReaderNewsGator InboxRatingsEase of Use: 3User Interface: 4Performs as Described: 2Overall: 3 Overall I found NewsGator Inbox to be a tool that performed as expected for the most part and made it very easy for me to review and manage my posts in an environment where it is difficult to download full-up programs and where too much internet usage can draw unwanted attention, specifically at work.http://www.twonsolo.com/2009/08/newsgator-inbox-review_17.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Twon)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472737279040117941.post-5980330033217339434Wed, 29 Jul 2009 04:19:00 +00002009-07-28T21:19:54.611-07:00ReviewsNewsGator OnlineOnline ToolNews AggregatorsRSS ReaderRatings Ease of Use:    3 User Interface:     4 Performs as Described:    3 Overall:    3 Overall I found NewsGator Online to be a very well put together  tool that performed well under pressure.   There were a few things that did not work as I expected but I liked the layout and the ability to customize my view to match my preferences pretty http://www.twonsolo.com/2009/07/newsgator-online-review.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Twon)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472737279040117941.post-4790850606576507633Tue, 28 Jul 2009 04:59:00 +00002009-07-27T21:59:33.815-07:00IntroductionNow that I have reviewed the inner workings of a few RSS readers, I feel more confident in developing the criteria by which to rate the online services and tools that I will review.  I have broken it down to four categories.  This way we will keep in simple and easy to understand.  The categories are: Ease of Use User Interface Promised Performance Vs. Actual Performance Overall http://www.twonsolo.com/2009/07/rating-system.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Twon)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472737279040117941.post-2552678232389376043Wed, 15 Jul 2009 05:18:00 +00002009-07-14T22:18:37.191-07:00Desktop ApplicationNews AggregatorsFeedDemonRSS ReaderUser GuidesIf you like to work offline, you will really find this next tool very useful.  FeedDemon has built in a tool called Prefetching that will basically download links and images for each of your posts so that they are all available for you to review when working offline. Basically what it is it goes out and gathers all the information that you might need for each post.  As I said this includes imageshttp://www.twonsolo.com/2009/07/feeddemon-prefetching.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Twon)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472737279040117941.post-2147046254878477085Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:26:00 +00002009-07-08T07:28:04.365-07:00Desktop ApplicationNews AggregatorsFeedDemonRSS ReaderUser GuidesAs I was reviewing the Clippings function within FeedDemon, I ran across an interesting tool.  You have the ability to setup your own RSS Feed that you can share with all your friends, your family, your teachers, anyone really.  It is simple to setup and easy to use. The first thing that you have to do is decide which  existing Clippings folder will generate the RSS feed or you can create a new http://www.twonsolo.com/2009/07/feeddemon-send-rss-feed-with-clippings.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Twon)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472737279040117941.post-6480397227690506957Sat, 04 Jul 2009 01:00:00 +00002009-07-06T10:28:38.241-07:00Desktop ApplicationNews AggregatorsFeedDemonRSS ReaderUser GuidesJust to finish out the series and follow the theme, today I took a look at the Clippings function within FeedDemon. This is very similar to that found in the NewsGator Online version (for more info check out an earlier post, NewsGator Online – Review (Cont’d) from Feb 23rd, 2009). Between the flagging options and the Clippings function, FeedDemon makes it easy for you to keep or identify articleshttp://www.twonsolo.com/2009/07/feeddemon-clippings.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Twon)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472737279040117941.post-713477260426570153Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:00:00 +00002009-07-06T10:27:47.313-07:00Desktop ApplicationNews AggregatorsFeedDemonRSS ReaderUser GuidesWe have briefly skimmed over the Watches a couple times in previous posts, but we have never really jumped in with both feet. Today we will look at the capabilities built into this function and how easy it is to use. As is indicative of the other tools in FeedDemon there are multiple ways with which to setup a Watch. The first is to go through the File Menu. Then select the sideways arrow next http://www.twonsolo.com/2009/07/feeddemon-watches.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Twon)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472737279040117941.post-444583190405849874Thu, 02 Jul 2009 01:00:00 +00002009-07-06T10:26:55.047-07:00Desktop ApplicationNews AggregatorsFeedDemonRSS ReaderUser GuidesAs with the majority of tools within FeedDemon, you have full control over your views. What I mean is that you have the ability to change how you see your Folder Tree or Subscriptions list. There are a couple of ways to access the different views that are available. There is the standard functionality where you go to View and then highlight ‘Views’ which will present you with a drop down list ofhttp://www.twonsolo.com/2009/07/feeddemon-views.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Twon)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472737279040117941.post-225298886631536363Wed, 01 Jul 2009 01:00:00 +00002009-06-30T21:21:11.786-07:00Desktop ApplicationNews AggregatorsFeedDemonRSS ReaderUser GuidesSo I found that exporting files is a whole lot simpler then importing them within FeedDemon. There are far less options for one thing. I guess that is because there is not much that you need to do in order export the folders and feeds. When you select Export from the File menu (see more about the file menu here) you will launch the export window. It is a very simple window with a list of http://www.twonsolo.com/2009/06/feeddemon-exporting.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Twon)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472737279040117941.post-3753537129389882877Tue, 30 Jun 2009 01:00:00 +00002009-06-29T20:25:08.826-07:00Desktop ApplicationNews AggregatorsFeedDemonRSS ReaderUser GuidesSince today’s post is about Importing it probably should have been one of the first post. However in this particular series it seems to fit best as one of the follow up postings. Anyway Importing feeds can serve as a valuable tool. When you first setup FeedDemon you can use the import function to pull in all of your feeds. This is especially helpful if you are transferring from an online http://www.twonsolo.com/2009/06/feeddemon-importing.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Twon)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472737279040117941.post-303481206276189302Mon, 29 Jun 2009 01:00:00 +00002009-06-28T22:02:27.302-07:00Desktop ApplicationNews AggregatorsFeedDemonRSS ReaderUser GuidesAs I said last time there were several aspects of FeedDemon that I indicated I would cover at a later date. This time we will look at the next item on the list which is Feed Properties. So the first thing that you have to do is select one of the feeds from your folder tree or subscription list. Then there are two ways to get to the Feed Properties. The first is through the Edit Menu at the http://www.twonsolo.com/2009/06/feeddemon-feed-properties.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Twon)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472737279040117941.post-7932197959154087180Sat, 27 Jun 2009 21:25:00 +00002009-06-27T14:25:31.737-07:00Desktop ApplicationNews AggregatorsFeedDemonRSS ReaderUser GuidesAlong the way as I explored FeedDemon and developed the user guide pages I said that I would provide more information on some of the topics in later posts.  The Auto Discovery tool is one of those topics that I saved for later.  The Auto Discover is an RSS icon that has been turned into a button on the Reading Pane Tool Bar.  As I stated in the post about the Reading Pane Tools it is an http://www.twonsolo.com/2009/06/feeddemon-feed-auto-discovery.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Twon)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472737279040117941.post-1011863817350847274Tue, 23 Jun 2009 02:30:00 +00002009-06-22T22:27:14.739-07:00Desktop ApplicationNews AggregatorsFeedDemonRSS ReaderSo in reviewing my previous posts to see if I missed anything, I realized that I never went over how to add a subscription. This is a relatively easy process and there are a couple of ways to do it. The first is with the Subscribe button that is at the top of the the Folder List, also known as the Subscriptions section. You can click the button to launch the add screen, or if you click on http://www.twonsolo.com/2009/06/feeddemon-adding-subscriptions.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Twon)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472737279040117941.post-619884324277353095Sat, 20 Jun 2009 16:30:00 +00002009-06-20T13:49:34.243-07:00Desktop ApplicationNews AggregatorsFeedDemonRSS ReaderUser GuidesIt comes as no surprise that the FeedDemon team has made the toolbar over the Show News Items column fully customizable. As with the other toolbars within FeedDemon there are several options for icons, buttons and boxes to help shape and mold your user experience to best fit your needs. The default toolbar comes with the standard tools and is very minimalist. In order to start customizing http://www.twonsolo.com/2009/06/feeddemon-customize-show-news-items.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Twon)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472737279040117941.post-2590316339860472691Thu, 18 Jun 2009 05:10:00 +00002009-06-20T13:49:08.040-07:00Desktop ApplicationNews AggregatorsFeedDemonRSS ReaderUser GuidesAs we discussed in the previous post about Customizing the Reading Pane toolbar, the Show News Items basically gives FeedDemon more of an email feel. To activate the Show News Items function you can simply select the icon once you have activated it to the Reading Pane toolbar. Keep in mind that this icon will be active when you have a feed selected in the folder tree. Another way to activate http://www.twonsolo.com/2009/06/feeddemon-show-news-items.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Twon)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472737279040117941.post-1866912818127032936Wed, 03 Jun 2009 04:00:00 +00002009-06-20T13:48:03.905-07:00Desktop ApplicationNews AggregatorsFeedDemonRSS ReaderUser GuidesToday we will look at the options in the toolbar above the folder list. Similar to the capabilities that were built into the reading pane tool bar for customization, the Folder List Tool bar is also fully customizable. When you are looking at your tool bar simply click the down arrow at the far right end. This will open the add buttons option. When you select this a new list of buttons http://www.twonsolo.com/2009/06/feeddemon-folder-list-tool-bar.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Twon)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472737279040117941.post-171178380087518020Mon, 01 Jun 2009 03:00:00 +00002009-06-20T13:47:16.944-07:00Desktop ApplicationNews AggregatorsFeedDemonRSS ReaderUser Guides To close out the the tool bar, lets talk about the Help Menu. The help options are varied and seem to have something for everyone. There are several tools here to help you if you need it. The first option is the online help. This launches a webpage like experience inside of the reading pane and offers several links to help topics to help you understand each of the functions. These are a http://www.twonsolo.com/2009/05/feeddemon-help-menu.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Twon)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472737279040117941.post-3510136306652821859Sun, 31 May 2009 03:00:00 +00002009-06-20T13:46:53.745-07:00Desktop ApplicationNews AggregatorsFeedDemonRSS ReaderUser GuidesWith all the options packed into FeedDemon, hopefully we will be able to finish out our discussion today. So as I pointed out yesterday when you select the options from the list and the Options window opens the default is the General options which we discussed yesterday. There are however several tabs across the top. The next one after the General tab is the Reading Tab. This is the options http://www.twonsolo.com/2009/05/feeddemon-tools-menu-options-vol3.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Twon)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472737279040117941.post-2259949306760720539Sat, 30 May 2009 03:00:00 +00002009-06-20T13:45:58.637-07:00Desktop ApplicationNews AggregatorsFeedDemonRSS ReaderUser GuidesSo it seems that FeedDemon has a plethora of options available for you to make it your own. When you first select Options from the menu a new window opens. You will notice several check boxes, several buttons and several tabs. The default tab will be the General tab. The check boxes on this tab pertain to actions that FeedDemon can do automatically, such as update feeds, collapse folders http://www.twonsolo.com/2009/05/feeddemon-tools-menu-options-vol2.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Twon)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472737279040117941.post-1308197680394017539Fri, 29 May 2009 04:44:00 +00002009-06-20T13:45:00.477-07:00Desktop ApplicationNews AggregatorsFeedDemonRSS ReaderUser GuidesIn the last few posts we have discussed the Tools Menu. Picking up where we left off during the last post we will continue with the section of the tools menu containing the options. The first option is the Internet Properties. When you select this option it will basically open the Internet Options window. This will be the Internet Options from your default web browser. So if you use http://www.twonsolo.com/2009/05/feeddemon-tools-menu-options-vol1.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Twon)0