It's official- I have completely moved my RSS reading over to Google Reader. For a months now I have resisted moving away from my desktop reader, RSS Bandit, and while I still believe it to be the best desktop reader (so long as you are looking for something light weight with no web counterpart), despite it's problems. The problems, such as problems with searching, the inability to properly negotiate with deleted posts, and issues loading advanced applications (like movies), are ones that most readers have so I never really blamed it. RSS Bandit is easy to sure, super fast, and is able to let me plow through a "river of news". For some time I have used Google Reader as my mobile/travel reader, but resisted the urge to completely switch over. I don't have a single good reason why I did not switch- I am a dedicated Gmail and Gcal user and like Reader's design a lot- perhaps I just did not want to let Google infiltrate every aspect of my online life. Anyway, I rigged a OMPL file from RSS Bandit and translated it to Google (after some work in Textpad because the two don't get along) and then got to customizing Reader to my liking. This basically consisted of turning on all the privacy settings (turning off all the sharing settings), organizing my feeds into four basic categories, and then refamiliarizing myself with the keyboard shortcuts. The whole process took about 30 minutes, and I have to say I am very happy with the move. Google Reader has its problems and there are a few things I miss about using a desktop reader, such as always having to have another browser tab/window open for Reader, but overall my reading experience is much better. Not only am I now a lot more efficient, but I can do a important things that my old reader could not, like star posts (to save for later), share items, quickly change my tags, and access my news from anywhere. Also the ability to use different views is a big help, though I am a firm believer in expanded view. As for Google Reader's shortcomings, there are more than a few, but I will save those for another post.