As of July 1, one of Google's most popular applications will be gone for good: Reader.


Google Reader allowed users to scan their favorite RSS feeds in one central location. Some believe this marks the end of the RSS era. But most are just citing that privacy concerns were the major contributing factor to Reader's demise.

With Reader out of the picture, it has been a race to build the next best news aggregator for the internet. There are many contestants, including a rumor application by Digg, but one seems to be taking the internet by storm--Feedly.

After Reader's eminent death was announced, Feedly added 50,000 new users in a mere 48 hours!

Here's what happened in the world of social media and tech:

• Facebook Helps and Stresses Out Job Hunters - One’s close Facebook friends may help more than casual acquaintances, though these intimate friends can also cause you some stress, according to a study by the social media giant.
• Pinterest Begins Rolling Out New Site Design - After a three-month test period with select members, Pinterest announced Monday that it will begin rolling out a new site design to the rest of its 48 million+ users.
• More Than 500,000 Google Reader Users Migrate to Feedly - Feedly, a news aggregator which promised to make the migration from Google Reader — which is being shut down on July 1 — seamless, has already seen an influx of over 500,000 Reader users.
• T-Mobile Sends Invites for Mysterious Event - T-Mobile sent invitations to the press Monday for an "exclusive" event to be held next week. Although it didn't elaborate on details, it appears to be about the company's future after the wireless provider officially merges with MetroPCS.
• Google Could Be Uniting All It's Chat Services - Google will soon unify all its disparate chat services under a single banner called Babble, a new report says. The new service will be integrated throughout all of Google's communication products, which are sometimes incompatible with each other.
• Google Adds Search Filter for GIFs, Transparent Images - Google's new search filter for GIFs is the latest great way to kill time on the internet.
• Klout Opens Platform for Business Analytics - Klout for Business will give businesses a complimentary set of analytics with pointed insights into how and where influencers are engaging with their brands in social media.
• Major Security Flaw Uncovered with Apple ID - Major security hole allows Apple passwords to be reset with only email address and date of birth.

And here are some cool things from some cool bloggers:

• Monitoring your kids on Facebook? That's so 2009 by Anne Flaherty
• I, for One, Welcome Our Google Glass-Wearing Cyborg Overlords by Chris Taylor
• Is Instagram Facebook's Savior? by Jake Duhaime

79% of companies believe events are an important form of marketing for their business. Attending events can be extremely beneficial to your company and brand -- but can also be overwhelming.

Determining a plan to get the most out of events you attend, before, during and afterwards, is critical in making the time and money spent on event tickets worth it. That's where Twitter can help.

HubSpot put together this ebook to help you get the most out of the events you attend with Twitter. After reading this 31-page ebook, you will be able to:

• Set goals that help you prepare for an event efficiently 
• Use Twitter to generate leads during event conversations and sessions 
• Start valuable conversations 
• Track your potential customers 
• Measure event success with calls-to-action

Right now Carrot is all the rage when it comes to to-do apps... and Carrot has an attitude problem.

That's right... upset he/she gets!

Simply add in the tasks you need to complete and once you complete them swipe to the right to cross them off your to-do list. Don't complete them fast enough and Carrot gets pissed.

Carrot also doesn't like it when you touch it's eye ball (aka ocular sensor... the blue or red orb on the screen).


But if you complete your tasks, Carrot will award you with prizes and boost your levels of accomplishment.


And like I said, don't complete your tasks and Carrot gets angry!


 But then once you start completing your tasks, Carrot starts warming up to you and eventually might compliment you... or at least boost you to the next level.




Thanks, Carrot.


BTW, the levels in Carrot are arbitrary as far as I can tell but it still a fun game (which I'm assuming is the point).

Personally, I think Carrot is a great app to manage your to-dos and tasks, especially if you're motivated by rewards. And even if you don't have tasks to complete, it's still kind of fun messing with Carrot and up making it upset--just like messing with Siri... it never gets old.

There are some things I wish Carrot was better at such as push notifications, geolocation reminders, or the ability to add more detailed notes to your task.

But overall, it's fun and they've done a great job at giving Carrot a personality (more like attitude) that is intriguing to the user.

This has been a rough month for the City of Detroit, which has come from a long time of financial hardship, poor leadership, and bad decisions which have left it the butt of many jokes.

First, former Detroit major Kwame Kilpatrick was found guilty of a bunch of charges, including racketeering, fraud and extortion after a five-month public corruption trial. Then Michigan's Governor Synder took control of the city and appointed an Emergency Financial Manager, Kevyn Orr, to hopefully fix Detroit's growing deficit.

Both of these things lead to a firestorm of jokes and ridicule throughout the internet.


An example of the light came a few days after all the drama on  March 13, 2013 or as we like to call it Detroit Day, a reference to Detroit's infamous area code 313 and the date 3-13-13.

Detroit supporters filled the internet with 313 love using the hashtags #DetroitDay and #313Love sharing what they love most about this amazing city.

Some of the more notable responses included:

We love the community that inspires us in #Detroit. We try to celebrate all of you as much as possible with some sparkle. #313Love #313Day
— Tapper's Jewelry (@TappersJewelry) March 13, 2013

I love that #Detroit is every thing I thought it wasn't... #313Love
— Joanna Dueweke (@JoDueweke) March 13, 2013

It's gritty but there is something undeniably beautiful about this city #Detroit #313Love instagr.am/p/SvYqmbAmwR/
— Kaity Fischer (@KaityFischer) December 2, 2012

It's 3-13! #Detroit Day! We love the D! twitter.com/939theriver/st…
— 93.9 The River (@939theriver) March 13, 2013

There's a lot of people out there that believe that are great things to come for the city of Detroit and it's great to see that we're overcoming obstacles and still coming together to make a difference.

Will the jokes ever end? Probably not. But maybe if the Detroit supporters are loud enough on the internet and take time to promote the positive things that are happening (and will soon to be happening in the future) we can snuff out the negative press and replace it with the amazing strides the city is making. Together we can all be part of it's revival in some way, shape, or form!

Here's what you've missed this week:

• Pinterest Introduces Web Analytics - Pinterest Web Analytics gives site owners insights into how people are interacting with pins that originate from their websites.
• Tumblr Updates iOS App - Tumblr has updated its app for iPhone and the iPad to version 3.3, bringing several nifty updates, including a new camera app.
• Netflix Adds Facebook Integration in the U.S. - Netflix users in the U.S. this week will for the first time see video recommendations from their Facebook friends.
• Facebook Working on Incorporating the Hashtag - Facebook is working on incorporating the hashtag, one of Twitter's most iconic markers, into its service by using the symbol as a way to group conversations. It is unclear how far along Facebook's work on the hashtag is and the feature isn't likely to be introduced imminently.
• Dropbox Acquires Email App Mailbox - Dropbox has announced that it has acquired email app Mailbox after the app hit the market nearly one month ago to critical acclaim.
• Polaroid Plans To Produce The Instagram Camera By 2014 - no joke.
  

Just over a month past due... but it's always better to be late than never, right?

I think this same scenario happened last year, my friend Annie's blog reminded me that it was my birthday and I should set some goals for myself. So here they are, my 26 goals by my 26th birthday...

1. Plant a garden
2. Hit 1,000 followers on Twitter
3. Attend a Murder Mystery dinner
4. Create a documentary
5. Take a glass blowing class
6. Adopt a dog
7. Start saving for a vacation overseas with the boyf
8. Enroll in another graduate program
9. Build a private yoga oasis in my house
10. Take my dog hiking
11. Be happy
12. Learn to cook better (or at all)
13. Eat healthy and take my vitamins
14. Learn to use power tools (safely)
15. Volunteer more
16. Install solar panels or wind turbines at my house
17. Get my picture taken with Grumpy Cat
18. Attend another TED event
19. Live more simply
20. Spend more time outdoors
21. Start the classes to become a yoga instructor
22. Have an ice cream social with home-made ice cream
23. Run a marathon... just kidding
24. Rewatch all of Lost
25. Pay the rest of my student loan off in full
26. Be part of something big!

Here's what you may have missed this week:

• Five-Year-Old Spends $2500 on Apps in Under 10 Minutes - The 5-year-old asked his parents for the password to the family iPad to download a free game, only to accidentally rack up more than $2,500 in add-on purchases on his mother's credit card.
• iPhone 5S Launch Rumored for August, iPads in April - Tech site iMore is reporting sources close to Apple say the company is giving "serious consideration" to launching its fifth edition iPad next month, possibly alongside the iPad Mini 2. Meanwhile, the iPhone 5S will likely debut in late summer.

Learn how to design a social media strategy that meets your company’s unique needs, resources and goals. We will walk through a 9-step road map that includes identifying your audience, selecting the appropriate social network, training employees and creating an editorial calendar.

Discover:

• Recap: The 10 steps to designing & executing your company's social media strategy 
• A case study of a B2C Michigan-based small business that excels at social media 
• A case study of a B2B Michigan-based medium-sized business that excels at social media

Here's what you've missed this week:

• Pope Benedict XVI Tweets Final Farewell - Pope Benedict XVI, the first pope with his own Twitter account, tweeted a final goodbye Thursday morning before taking the almost unprecedented step of retiring from the papacy.
• T-Mobile USA Reports First Customer Growth Since 2009 - The company, however, also noted that “challenges persisted unchanged” in the region as revenues declined by 1.4% to to €3.8 billion ($5 billion) and service revenues specifically were down by nearly 10% to $4.1 billion, as the carrier sits tight and waits for a marketing deal with Apple to kick in this year.
• Google Has Closed Registrations For Their #ifihadglass Pre-Order Ploy - Google has officially shut down registrations for its #ifihadglass round of Google Glass pre-orders/applications.
• Apple Patent Would Use The iPad’s Built-In Magnets To Turn The Tablet Into An In-Car Entertainment System - A new patent application by Apple published by the USPTO this week describes a stand for the iPad that uses magnets to hold the Apple tablet in place.
• Apple 'iWatch' Patent Tips Wearable Touch-Screen Device - Channeling 1990s fashion, a recent Apple patent reveals a wearable video device with a flexible touch-screen display and a "slap bracelet" mechanism.