Bored? Use a FeedReader

Did you know that ...

Do you ever feel really bored when online, with no webcomics to read, all blog updates read, and even tired of staring forever at your unchanging facebook / myspace / orkut page? Most of the time, people would revert automatically to playing a game available online at shockwave.com, gamehouse.com, onemorelevel.com, or other places. However, I use a different solution. Use a FeedReader.

What do I mean by that? If you are ever lacking in things to do online, you can use a n online feedreader (I suggest Google Reader) to subscribe to a feed such as HowStuffWorks.com, Slashdot, or Reddit. These feeds are always there, ready for you to read, yet still easy to setup and no downloading required. Just pop a few rss feeds from your favorite howto sites into the reader, and voila, instant reading material. The next time you feel bored, just head on over to your feedreader and go through all your accumulated items. If any seem interesting, just read it. If not, then try again later.

An alternative solution is to use a separate email account to subscribe to newsletters. My favorite sources include about.com (containing a virtual world's worth of information), PCMag, PCWorld, and other sister / brother sites. Free email accounts are available through many sources, although I recommend GMail (now available free and no strings attached, and no loops to jump for getting an account, either! :) ) for it's labeling capabilities, conversation threading (although that feature probably won't be used much just for reading newsletters), and excellent spam-filtering.

Finally, if you're really bored, you can always goto the Optical Illusions Etc. blog and stare at those pretty things until your eyes fall out. ::wink::

Well, now you know!