As of 9:26AM ET today, the RSS reader Feedly has been taken down by a second distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack, presumably from the same hackers that attempted to extort the company for money yesterday. On the off-chance that you, like us, kind of need an RSS feeder to use during work hours, here are some quick alternatives.
Firstly, we hope you still have your OPML or XML file left from when you had to move all of your data over from Google Reader to another RSS feed reader—and we’re assuming that many of you do have it buried away somewhere and just don’t realize it, because Google’s reader didn’t bite the dust until July of last year. If you’re able to find it, then you’re golden. If not, it might still be worth signing up with a different reader temporarily and building a small list of sites you usually follow just in case.
Got an OPML? Great. Here are some places to flee that are (hopefully) big enough to handle the traffic.
While we thought that this alternative was going to boot out all its Google+ refugees due to traffic concerns, an unnamed benefactor kept it from closing its doors. So yes, it’s still completely free to use and is currently accepting new users, though hopefully the influx of Feedly users won’t cause it to go under again.
Digg reader opened not long before Google shut its doors, and it’s surprisingly great. It’s currently accepting new users, though you have to sign up through Twitter, Facebook, or Google if you don’t already have a Digg membership.
Surprise! AOL’s still a thing. It’s still in beta for some reason, but they’ve fixed that bug we first griped about last year that didn’t show us recent posts unless they were from a few hours ago, and the design is simple enough that you won’t have a problem figuring it out. Again, currently accepting new members, but like The Old Reader, this one’ll let you create a profile that isn’t based on an already existing social media platform.
Still miss Feedly? We do too. Hopefully this is only temporary until Feedly returns, unless you end up really liking one of these other alternatives and decide to make a permanent switch (I’ll admit it, Digg Reader is pretty great). But as Josh from Feedly notes on the blog, your data should all be safe from these nefarious attackers once the site is able to fend them off. So take heart, OPML-less people! Your feed is out there somewhere waiting for you.
(via Feedly)
