MyScript Calculator for Android

This is a nice little calculator.

Even works fine without a stylus on a smartphone as well...

Get it from the play store here.

Beyond Google Reader - Part 2

(see, I told you, this might become a series).

Of the many companies that now claim to come to the rescue of Google Reader EOL victims, the one that stuck out is digg.

Of all !!

I wanted to leave digg for more than a year now... because it became irrelevant, pointless and even annoying. But I never even bother enough to take the time to close my account there.

So, do i see digg becoming the "backbone" of RSS or just lets say a replacement for Google Reader ? not for me.

Delicious for example - though they did not "come out" yet - would be a much better choice for this.

Beyond Google Reader - Part 1

I'm pretty sure this will become a series, so I decided to call this post here part 1 ...

After Google announced the shutdown of Google Reader two days ago, the internet was of course full of rants and stuff. Some even declared RSS dead. Yeah, right... Whatever.

I want to stick to RSS (as a style of receiving and consuming news, articles and posts) for as long as possible. And I need my reader synchronized between devices.

Always.

Here's why.

1. I start with Reeder on my iPad in the morning (at home);
2. then on the train & underground on my commute to work I usually continue reading a lot (or rather quickly browse through the headlines) on my Android Phone using Google Reader (ahem). Interesting articles which I really want to read on a proper screen are save to pocket.
3. And then at work (as well as at home) there is always one browser tab open with Google Reader. 

So I have this one feed of news wherever I am.
Therefore I need the (almost) instant synchronization of the read/unread state between devices. And this is what Google Reader did perfectly.

Google Reader is was not only a front-end / user-interface, but also this great back-end synchronization service (or rather: central repository). Reeder, Feedly, Pulse, Flipboard, ... they are were all relying on this infrastructure.
This now needs to be replicated or picked up by someone else.

A new hope:
In the aftermath of thurday's EOL announcement, Feedly (which I was using a bit already on my Android) said, they were actually anticipating this move by Google, and already starting building their own backend infrastructure, essentially cloning on the Google Reader API. And more importantly, that they will open this to others.

So my hope is now that

1. Feedly will do the backend service 
2. existing clients like Reeder (unbeatably, to me),  Flipboard, ... will use this service and concentrate on the GUI. (This of course includes Feedly, the client, as well)

In the meantime, if you are facing a situation like mine, I suggest you try feedly.

Go and get the Chrome or Firefox plugin, the iOS app, or the Android app. Or all. Here.

Fingers crossed.

Google reader to be discontinued

Google, are you nuts ???

What am I to do after July 1st ??