Like many, I much prefer the (free) FeedDemon RSS Reader over the one built into Opera. And, one thing that has long annoyed me in Opera is the inability to send feeds to my default RSS Reader (something FF3 and IE do very well).
Nick Bradbury, the creator of FeedDemon, wrote a blog post in 2004 outlining how to add a “Send to FeedDemon” context menu option in Opera[1]. Still, I didn’t find it to be the complete solution I was looking for
So, here’s how I send RSS feeds from Opera to FeedDemon:
Step 1: Add the Send to FeedDemon Button
Since FeedDemon is intelligent enough to pick up the default feed, this works fine for 98% of my cases.
However, if a site has numerous feeds and you don’t want to pick the default, then the Button isn’t the ideal choice. So, here’s a few alternative ways to accomplish the task.
Step 2: (optional) Disable Mail (and, thus, Opera Feeds)
This will prevent the annoying ‘Do you want to subscribe to this feed in Opera’ popup.[2] However, it will also disable the RSS icon that is displayed in the address bar when a feed is found.
Go to Preferences (Alt+P) -> Advanced Tab –> Programs.
Select “Add…”.
Under Protocol, type feed:http .
Select “Open with other application” then Choose the FeedDemon.exe path (note: if FeedDemon is your default feed reader, this step isn’t absolutely necessary. Still, I like setting this so that even if another broswer/app steals the feed protocol, FeedDemon will always be used.)
Step 4: Add the ‘Send to FeedDemon’ context menu.
Open Windows Explorer and browse to ‘C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Opera\Opera\profile\menu’.
Go to Opera Preferences (Alt+P) –> Advanced Tab –> Toolbars and select ‘Opera 9.5 + FeedDemon’ from the Menu Setup.
Step 5: How to Use.
Click the ‘Send to FeedDemon’ button while on the website. Or…
Right-click in the whitespace of this webpage and select “Send to FeedDemon” from the menu. Or…
If the link uses the feed protocol, clicking on the link directly will open the feed in FeedDemon. Or…
In some cases (like with FeedBurner, for example), you will be redirected from the main website to a page where you can select the RSS reader of your choice.
This tweak initiates the User’s logon/startup sequence before locking Vista/XP; thus, speeding up the OS startup process while maintaining the security provided by the login screen.
What it solves: Traditionally, you turn on your computer and wait a few minutes. Then, you log into windows and wait a few more minutes. This tweak eliminates that wasted time by allowing you to turn on your computer, go work on something else for a few minutes, come back, login and begin working immediately because your profile and startup programs have already loaded! It is particularly useful for people who are the sole or primary user of their PC and use the login screen purely as a security mechanism.
I couldn’t find a streamlined step-by-step guide online so I figured I’d put one together myself. Sources are credited below.
In Vista, Click Start, typenetplwizin the search field, and hit Enter. In XP, Click Start, click Run, type control userpasswords2
(This loads the Advanced User Accounts control panel).
Uncheck the Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer option.
Click Apply.
Enter your password into the Automatically Log On dialog box that pops up and click “OK“.
The WP-Profilactic Plugin publishes your LifeStream or informs readers where to find you online by parseing your aggregated online activity feed from Profilactic.
If you want to keep friends in-the-know on your life online, then you need a way to aggregate your online activities. But, with the number of social sites on the web today, it’s hard to manage one’s own online identity/activies, much less that of friends.
If your friends care to know what books you’re reading, what music you’re listening too, what restaurants you love, etc., then services like FriendFeed, Plaxo Pulse & Profilactic - commonly referred to as “lifestreams” - are a great way to keep friends in the loop. (Compare Services at lifestreamblog.com)
As I searched for a solution to aggregate my lifestream to my blog, I came across Kieran Delany’s WP-SimpleLife plugin for WP. It did exactly what I wanted; however, adding new services was somewhat tedeous (others agreed. So, I began searching for a simpler solution.
My search of online aggregators led me to Profilactic. The noticable initial diffirentiator between Profilactic and the others (w.r.t. what I needed) was the large number of supported sites (175 at the time of writing this), the ability to include your own RSS feeds, and the title formatting. All the other LifeStream Services post items to the feed in a consolidated format (i.e., UserX posted three links on delicious); whereas Profilactic displays the title of each post individually so that users can see exactly what I bookmarked without having to go the services’ website to read the rest of the content.
So, I forked K’s SimpleLife plugin and came up with WP-Profilactic. Visit the Project Page to download. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at prof…@opindian.com).
I think Life of Pi pits the Dreamer verses the Realist. As Pi states to those who don’t believe his story, “I know what you want. You want a story that won’t suprise you. That will confirm what you already know. That won’t make you see higher or further or differently.” (pg. 381)
Martel states early in the book that Pi’s story “will make you believe in God.” There is certainly plenty of religious symbolism and I think it has the potential to inspire inquiry into religion if the reader is curious and searching; but, for me, it wasn’t a make-me-believe or reaffirm-my-beliefs kind of story.
I’d summarize the religious storyline as follows: There are many ways to explain the story of our life, our love, our universe; God always makes for the better story.
I recommend this as a great fiction read.
Some of my favorite quotes:
“[Fear] is life’s only true opponent. Only fear can defeat life.” p161
“It is important in life to conclude things properly. Only then can you let go. Otherwise you are left with words you should have said but never did, and your heart is heavy with remorse.” p316
“Thank you. And so it goes with God.”
“Love is hard to believe, ask any lover. Life is hard to believe, ask any scientist. God is hard to believe, ask any believer. What is your problem with hard to believe?… If you stumble at mere believability, what are you living for?” p297
A Long Way Gone gives a completely new meaning to “casualties of war.” The stories Ishmael recalls in this book are some of the most gruesome I have ever heard. The suffering he describes makes me question how much any civilian policy-maker (or I) understands about suffering, sacrifice, and survival.
What happens to the psyche of a child who has no positive support structure? And, what good comes from a society that is afraid of its children? Children are supposed to be pure and innocent, right? Since war clearly corrupts that innocence, can a child of war every restore his/her sinlessness - at least mentally?
The primary things I take away from this book are that children should not to be faulted for the suffering they unjustly bear and that even the most tormented children should not be given up on. While this book is about Ishmael’s personal journey, perhaps the most inspiring element is the fact that the world is full of caring souls who make all the difference in the world to children a long way gone.
August 19, 2008 : : Permalink
Like many, I much prefer the (free) FeedDemon RSS Reader over the one built into Opera. And, one thing that has long annoyed me in Opera is the inability to send feeds to my default RSS Reader (something FF3 and IE do very well).
Tags: Opera, optimization, Software, tweaks
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