I was just getting the hang of RSS, and then disaster struck. I was presented with choices so baffling they sparked a mini-breakdown. Last week, while in the act of subscribing to a feed, I was presented with the following option: would I like to have the RSS go to my Google homepage as normal, or would I like it to go to Google Reader?
Google Reader? When did this happen? I opted for Google Reader because it was all shiny and new. Then I faltered: would I remember that Google Reader even existed? Well, I thought, best I put a link to the new RSS over at my Google homepage too, just to be on the safe side, as well as adding it to my bookmarks in a folder reserved for these special occasions. Just to further muddy the waters, I also thought it politic to have a link to the feed in my Google Notebook. You can't be too careful.
But, almost inevitably, I began to fret. All these alternative routes to the same feeds left me feeling more paranoid about missing out on breaking news than ever before.
By last night, I could see the sheer idiocy of my actions and subsequent confusion. I'd spent more time faffing, checking that these RSS feeds actually existed in all of their manifest locations than actually reading them. Therefore, I made the brave decision to import all of them into Google Reader.
But it has become patently obvious that the latest device from Google Labs does little more than could be achieved over at their homepage. And this deserves retribution.
I now find it joyous - and this is where the breakdown's kicking in - to have an RSS feed from Google Reader appear on Google Reader, thus allowing it to keep tabs on itself. This can be likened to a dog chasing its own tail, but this is scant revenge for the paranoia I've had to endure recently.
Not only that, but I can ridicule Google Reader still further. Once I'd achieved the above, the page also presented me with the following option via the settings menu: would I like to set this feed as Google Reader's start page? Sublime. I've now set as the start page over at Google Reader the actual RSS feed from Google Reader. The page now opens with a feed from itself which takes up the whole screen.
This is what I've been reduced to. I actually derive enjoyment by ridiculing an inanimate RSS reader. It's hardly surprising that I'm a mess. I feel I've been wired up to the national grid for nigh on a week now.
The paradox? I've been left with no option than to walk away from the computer and buy myself a copy of the Guardian just to find out what's really been going on out there.
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