Google Gears is an open source browser extension that enables web applications to provide offline functionality. For those of you who, like me, haven’t played with the API, there is an easy way to just use it and see it in action : Google Reader. If you use Google Reader to read your feeds and want to read them offline (while you are in the train for example), you can. In Google Reader there is a link in the upper menu called Offline When you click on it a pop up will show up proposing you to install Google Gears (in Beta version, but well, that‘s Google, we‘re used to it). Click yes, download an installer and execute it.

The menu Offline has now changed to an icon. When you click on it, Google Gears synchronises your feeds.

Close your laptop, go to the train station, take a sit, switch on your laptop again and go to http://www.google.com/reader. Google Gears does the rest. Just read your feeds as you would normally do, star the ones you like, and so on. When you get an internet connection back, just click on the icon again and it will synchronise back with your Google Reader.