Feedly sees 500,000 new users since Google Reader closure announced

The news that Google Reader is to be closed down for good later this year has hit a lot of us really hard. For many it's the go-to way of getting their daily news fix, and for others -- including everyone on staff here -- it's an integral tool to help us get through the working day. There will be alternatives, but we will miss Google Reader. 

One such alternative is Feedly, and the team has announced a huge influx of new users. In the first 48 hours since the announcement by Google, Feedly has seen 500,000 new Google Reader users join their ranks. Not bad numbers, considering the service is supposed to be in decline. Feedly also has clients for iOS, Chrome, Safari and Firefox, so it's got a big chunk of the bases covered. The reason behind the influx is most likely the fact that Feedly is developing their own system to transition Google Reader users over seamlessly when turn off day finally arrives. 

Feedly has also announced how they're coping with the increased user base, including massively increasing their bandwidth and adding new servers. And, if you're all about function and less about fashion, the Feedly team has also written up some sweet tips on how to make it less pretty and more functional. Great stuff.

[Source: AndroidCentral]

Activist, RSS creator Aaron Swartz dead at 26

On Friday, the 26-year-old polymath Aaron Swartz was found dead in his apartment, the result of an apparent suicide. Swartz contributed his intellect and effort to an astonishing number of technologies and political causes, including collaborating on Reddit'searly development.

At the age of 14, Swartz co-authored the 1.0 version of theRSS specification, enabling millions of news sites and blogs to share their posts easily and consistently.

Swartz was deeply involved in the development of the Creative Commonscopyright alternative licenses, and founded DemandProgress.org to help defeat the legislative overreach of the proposed SOPA law.

Prior to his death, Swartz was facing fines and a possible lengthy prison term if convicted on charges that he illicitly downloaded huge quantities of journal entries from the non-profit JSTOR archive via a laptop stashed in an MIT closet. JSTOR had declined to press charges, but MIT and the Massachusetts prosecutor on the case did not follow its example. Swartz also acknowledged suffering from depression at times.

[Source: TUAW - Click here to read the full story]