(Credit to photopia).

Basically, RSS formats news posts/blog updates/thread posts for delivery in a standardized feed based system. Chances are that if you’re reading this you either know what RSS is, or more likely, are actually reading this in an RSS reader yourself. For those of you new to RSS, or still searching for a setup that works for you, I though I’d describe my setup and how I arrived at it for you here…and just so’s were clear about the finances involved, every one of the products covered in this post are absolutely free.

FYI: Those of you new to RSS looking for a more involved primer on the basics of RSS should look at this detailed guide.

Previously, I’d used Google Reader, which is an online based reader, and has many advantages over a typical RSS program that’s downloaded to your PC like FeedReader or BlogExpress. The obvious one is that its accessible from any internet equipped computer, and since its web based, is also cross platform compatible. As it happens, this wasn’t a feature that I rarely had opportunity to make use of, since 99% of my usage is performed on my Sony Vaio, be it docked or around and about. The most useful feature that I miss in my current setup that Google Reader does have is its capability to quickly scroll through hundreds of items at a time, albeit with the caveat listed below in “C”. (I use the Logitech Dinovo Edge -current street price about $150- for this; it has a “touch circle” that is particularly apt for scrolling with a continuous circular motion down long pages, like Google Reader’s main page with all your news items). My problem with GReader, as its known, was trifold.

A)- I couldn’t read my feeds offline. Although my Vaio TZ notebook has a built in Sprint Rev. A broadband card with an active unlimited data plan ($60 per month with a 2 year contract), there are certain scenarios that I frequently find myself in where I do not have a connection or signal. Those times are precisely when I like to catch up on my feeds, and since GReader is web based, it obviously made for a serious problem.

B) No Windows Mobile accessibility. I often find myself without my trusty Vaio laptop, and just my Windows Mobile phone of the day. Unfortunately, Google Reader doesn’t have a mobile access option, (yet), as opposed to Gmail and Picasa Mobile which are compatible with IE Mobile, so I can’t view or update my feeds on my device.

C) Caching problem when reading at high speed. Since Google Reader is web based, after scrolling at high speed through a number of items, GReader hits the end of its cache and needs to update, which makes for an annoying pause. I’m a big fan of the whole “My computer should work as fast as I do”, and when it doesn’t, I start to get ticked off and try to figure out how I can make it go faster.

Clearly, GReader wasn’t an option for me.

After some investigation, I found a great alternative that offers a solution to problems A and B, and sort of to C, and it goes by the NewsGator moniker…

NewsGator’s FeedDemon, formerly a paid for solution but now gone free, has a downloadable PC client, as well as a Windows Mobile compatible application, called NewsGator Go!, which performs well, all things considered.

Like almost all WM RSS readers, its a bit sluggish, especially when switching items/feeds.

FeedDemon has a “PreFetch” option that allows it to download, in addition to the feeds themselves, a specified number of links out of the post as well.

This is really convenient for users (like me) who frequently find themselves without a connection. In addition, aside from access on my mobile and PC, NewsGator has a web option. The kicker here is that NewsGator synchronizes the read status of items across all the feeds. This allows me to access and read my feeds from anywhere, and lets me knock off feeds whenever I have downtime. Should I wish to save an item or pursue a news bit further at a later date, I can conveniently “Clip” it for later viewing (NewsGator’s version of bookmarking/starring),and it will show up in a special “Clipped” folder. For the record, NewsGator also offers more options for accessing your feeds, such as through Outlook (similar to the built in RSS Feeds), or on your Blackberry/Java device. They also happen to have a Mac client, not that I care in the least way. If you’re still on the fence here, I’d recommend looking at this guy’s deeper look into NewsGator, where he lists ten specific features unique to NewsGator vs. Google Reader.

Understand that this setup is in many ways specific to me. In other words, it may very well be that for your use case, a different setup involving GReader or another reader may be more efficient. I am not harping on Google Reader categorically, and do not want letter bombs or hate mail detailing the many reasons why I don’t know anything about tech (most of them probably true anyway). A personal RSS setup will by definition vary from person to person for maximum efficiency. Take the time to study the different option out there, and you’ll end up with a setup that suits you.

So that’s that. That is how I access and keep up to date with the latest feeds. Should you be interested in subscribing to the MobileOfficing.com feed, simply look at the upper left hand corner of the homepage, where I’ve integrated a number of quicklink Chicklets to add MobileOfficing.com’s news feed into a number of different readers with a single click using a cool Wordpress plugin called Chicklet Creator. Enjoy!

GoodSync isn’t a new program, and many of you have likely heard of it before. More likely, you’ve heard of their parent company, Siber Systems, who develops the famous RoboForm application for automatically memorizing passwords and such. Among GoodSync’s intended applications are Bi-Directional Syncing among various PC’s, One-Way Syncing, automatic Removable Device Syncing (think MP3s and Photos on a flash drive), syncing data to and from web servers and Outlook and Quickbooks data syncing. Personally, I tested GoodSync by having it perform a scheduled One-Way Sync- also known as a backup- of the blog you’re reading this on.

I setup GoodSync to run through a scheduled backup of my blog weekly, and had the entire thing up and running with nary a niggle in less than 10 minutes. In case you’re wondering, it was a FTP>Local Drive backup process, and since I am baiscally clueless when it comes to FTPs, this demonstrates how incredibly easy to use this backup program is- which is my favorite part about it. It is, in my opinion, scalable up the user chain, so more advanced users can do some more nifty things as well. I also played around with using a removable drive for automatic two way syncing of my SPB Wallet file, and it worked a treat! A simple quick guide from GoodSync to getting setup is available over here.

Some other interesting features are update notifications (although for some reason this takes you to Download.com- doesn’t Siber System’s have enough bandwidth?), multiple language support, command line support, customizable GUI, and more.

GoodSync comes in two flavors. Free is basically the same as Pro, with the caveat of a 100 file lockdown and maximum of 3 jobs allowed. The Free version also performs as a Pro version for the first 30 days. You can see a full breakdown of the differences by clicking here.

The Free version is, believe it or not, free, and Pro costs $29.99; can be purchased directly from Siber Systems here.

UPDATE: As far as paid solutions go, another cool syncing tool is SugarSync, which syncs to a hosted server by SugarSync. Web Worker Daily has a review here.

Small, non-resource intensive, unbelievable useful, and free. What else could a body ask for?

Vista Battery Saver is one of the most useful utilities I have on my taskbar at the moment. It’s a small app that runs in the background (at about 4MB or so), waiting until the proper moment to jump into play…and believe me, there are many times that I thank my lucky stars that its there.

I originally got turned on to it by this thread over at Notebookreview.com (Number 20)- a must read by the way, if you’re a Vista notebook user.

As it happens, this utility was written specifically for Vista, and its function is simple:

Whenever you plug your charger in/out, VBS automatically turns SideBar and Aero off/on. More importantly, however, it has the ability to switch power profiles upon charger in/out as well. This means that instead of having to manually switch power profiles back and forth, it will be done for you automatically.

For me, the savings in time alone make it worth, not to mention the battery life savings of having SideBar/Aero turned off automatically!

To grab VBS, head on over here to download it for free!

(Photo credit on beginning of post to gonzolo_ar).