MacMini (running Plex) -> HDMI -> TV
iPad (Airplay) -> MacMini (AirServer) -> HDMI -> TV
iPad
I only watch the news and live sports broadcasts these days.

8 months sounds insanely bad - I can't even imagine! I ripped a back muscle a couple of months back - it was excruciatingly painful the next day and to top it off I had a cough at the same time. Even if I coughed at half-strength it was like someone jabbing a thick needle up my spine... without a doubt, the worst pain I've experienced in my life (I've sprained both ankles several times and on one occasion, twisted my knee.) I was scared to go to sleep lest I coughed at full strength while asleep. I got through the thing relatively unscathed, considering everything that could have gone wrong.

I'd been told that back muscles heal quickly but was surprised to see just how quickly they did. I could do push-ups two weeks later... probably earlier, if I'd been foolish enough. Which is why eight months sounds super-serious! ... glad you're through that phase!  :up:

I'm going with Bazqux.com  (a 30 day trial after which you're charged $9, $19 or $29 a year for the same service, you get to decide what it's worth) over Feedly's freebie.

Note: My intent here isn't to trash Feedly. Despite my dislike for some things, I may end up using it if Bazqux throws a nasty surprise at me down the line. I may come across as a little enthusiastic in my praise for Bazqux - they're all valid points, but compounded by the fact that I'm justifying paying (albeit very little) for something when there's a free alternative available.


Here are my reasons for picking Bazqux over Feedly:

I love the aesthetics. Feedly's look (colors/ text spacing): not so much to my taste.

Bazqux has fewer options but just the essential ones, IMO - all placed neatly in a drop down menu on the main page. Feedly throws everything and the kitchen sink on a separate settings web page.

Bazqux has all its sharing options in a little dropdown menu, Feedly has some individual sharing icons and then an expanding menu with more options. There are some social media options in settings too, so I don't know how much of this can be customized but the point is: why unnecessarily complicate what should be straightforward functionality? I could probably delve deeper into the options and see if I can do something to fix things but there's a larger point to make here - it's design decisions like this that put me off a service. And it's the simplicity & functionality of the other service that makes one really love it.

Resize the browser beyond a certain point and Feedly loses the left hand feeds panel, not so with Bazqux.

Bazqux is snappier.

Feedly hasn't outlined a monetization plan - they're free, a double-edged sword. I'm not one to shun a free service but am gravitating towards the "you get what you pay for" camp these days.

Bazqux has an easily accessible OPML export function, it saves an .xml file to disk - nice and easy. As of now, Feedly doesn't seem to have any known way to export your data if you decide to switch services.

If you're looking for a Google Reader replacement, I would strongly recommend taking the Bazqux 30 day trial for a spin.

Edit: I'd mentioned in one of my earlier posts that Bazqux didn't have support for starred and tagged items. The developer's added that functionality now and it works well.