Google Case File IOT02: Case of the Unread Items

As I've mentioned before, one of the reasons I drank the Google Kool-Aid a long time ago is that they have some of the only software so complex that it regularly exhibits behavior that I simply can't explain. I have this pet theory (or maybe I read it somewhere) that Google has developed into the first networked intelligence. I know more, but fear Blogger would only delete my post if I were to publish it.

But I digress.

For today, let's just take the case of my Topher's linkblog. Topher has been following my linkblog for a while now; frequently I convince him to try a service shortly after I declare it The Coolest Thing Ever, and Google Reader was not a hard sell after it's incredible upgrades last year. Of course, as soon as I set him up I subscribed to his Shared Items feed, but for a while he didn't use them much. Recently however, he decided to emulate my for- tags and share a for-me feed (no, I'm not linking to that... god only knows what that boy might send me). That's when things got weird.

It seems that two items in his shared feed and one in his for-me feed just refused to become unread in my Google Reader. Eventually we traced the for-me item down to an old post regarding a Mythbusters bloopers reel on Youtube [Ed Note: can't find the link right now, ironically -- Topher?], and once he removed it my Reader returned to normal for that feed. The Shared Items problem was more recalcitrant, however, and even GReader admitted there was a problem:

Now obviously this is not particularly a usability issue, at least not for me. It does however trigger my OCDUI tendencies, which made me investigate further. It seem that if I go to the home screen, It will actually show me the two "unread" items:

Funny thing is, these are both links I'd seen before, on feeds that I read, and I'm pretty sure that I shared one or both of them. Not that I can find them now, of course; as has been lamented in nearly every forum on Earth, the lack of search in GReader is deplorable. And while the Google Co-op Hack and ensuing Greasemonkey script are cool, they don't really excuse it. I really have to think that some company out there must have the necessary technology to index large amounts of text for quick searching by many users at a time. If only Google could partner with them...

Anyway, it seems likely that once I tell Topher what items are bugging the system, [Ed Note: it's the XKCD Katamari comic and the Lifehacker DIY Warhol, if you're curious.] he'll be able to remove them fairly easily. Which still raises the question, where and how did the wires get crossed?

I suppose I'm pretty unlikely to find out, and knowing Google the entire issue will completely disappear with absolutely no warning nor fanfare by about half past whenever. Still, it's curious. Is anyone else using Google Reader to subscribe to Topher's Shared Items? Do you see the same behavior. Let me know...

[Another Ed. Note: Special thanks to CyberWare, which pointed me to FastStone Capture for the screenshots above. Beautiful piece of software. Installed in about 60 seconds, worked immediately, almost zero-interface and it sits in the system tray when I don't want it. Oh yeah, and it's free.]