I was sending an email to one of my uncles about using Google Reader. And then I realized it could be of help to others as well. Hence, this blog post.

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Definition – from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Reader

Google Reader is a Web-based aggregator, capable of reading Atom and RSS feeds online or offline.

RSS / Atom feeds – Definition from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_feed

A web feed (or news feed) is a data format used for providing users with frequently updated content. Content distributors syndicate a web feed, thereby allowing users to subscribe to it. Making a collection of web feeds accessible in one spot is known as aggregation, which is performed by an aggregator. A web feed is also sometimes referred to as a syndicated feed.

Basically, RSS/Atom feeds are a mechanism to subscribe to content from your favourite websites like Time Magazine website etc.

Steps:

1) Use your Gmail id to log in to http://www.google.com/reader/
2) Go to your favourite website(s) and check for the RSS/Atom feed link. E.g. http://www.time.com/time/
3) On this site you can find RSS on the top right.For this example, http://www.time.com/time/rss

4) Here you will get a list of links to subscribe to, like Top Stories, Most Viewed, Politics, etc.
5) Select the news you want to subscribe to and click on Subscribe.

6) You will get a pop-up (in this example).
7) In the pop up page click on Google. It will take you to another page where you have to select Add to Google Reader.

You are done. Now you can find the latest news in Google Reader where you can read the articles in your free time.

9) Basically the RSS/Atom feeds ensure that when any website (which supports feeds) is updated it will get automatically updated in your Google Reader.
10) The advantage here is that you dont have to remember all the websites you like to visit. But you can subscribe and read at your leisure.

For most other sites if you can’t find the RSS/Atom feeds use the following steps.E.g http://edition.cnn.com/ (CNN site)

1) Copy the URL/Link from the browser address bar. For this e.g. it is http://edition.cnn.com/.
2) Go to Google Reader and click on the ‘Add a Subscription’ button on the top left.
3) Paste the link in the resulting box (http://edition.cnn.com/) and click on the ‘Add’ button

4) Google Reader will automatically trace out the Rss/Atom feed and subscribe you to the feed.

5) You are done for reading articles in your leisure time.

Hope this helps. Enjoy!!!

P.S:- You can also follow the articles I (or anyone else) subscribe to by going to http://www.google.com/reader/view/#profile-search/anwin. In this case my profile will be the search result. You can also search for other people you know who use Google Reader in this resulting page.