It’s gotten rather drowned out in the roar of disapproval over Google Reader’s fate, but Google is actually shutting down several products.

Meanwhile, Mashable has a bunch of alternatives to Google Reader. I’m trying Newsblur. Phil Bradley also has a list of alternatives.

Speaking of running away from Google’s free services which may be axed at any minute, TechCrunch has an article about an alerts service called Mention, which describes itself as “Google Alerts on Steroids.” Checking it out.

HootSuite has launched a developer program.

Like Instagram? Check out 10 Instagram Companion Apps for power users.

The USDA’s “Food Desert Locator” is now the “Food Access Research Atlas” and as you might expect has gotten a revamp: “The new name better reflects what this tool shows us. Now, the Food Access Research Atlas has updated estimates of food desert census tracts using 2010 census data, and offers several additional distance measures to visualize access to supermarkets. For example, in the original measure, a household was considered to be facing an access challenge if it was more than 1 mile from a supermarket in urban areas of the country or more than 10 miles from a supermarket in rural areas. With the updated Atlas, users can also map low-income and low-access areas using distances of one-half mile and 20 miles.”

Is Facebook going to add hashtags to its Graph Search?

A new California bill would allow students to take open online courses for credit: “In short, the bill will allow CA students, enrolled in CA public colleges and universities, to take online courses from a pool of 50 high enrollment, introductory courses, offered by 3rd parties, in which CA students cannot currently gain access from their public CA university or community college.” Good morning, Internet…