Now, tell me, aside from the implications for personal taste, does this sound right to you: “The Beatles is a great band”?

db

PLEASE CORRECT your verb tense usage. It is unsettling to read your posts and have to stumble through your verbage because of improper grammar; I literally cannot focus on your message because my brain is busy EDITING your work–so your point is lost. If you will:

Distinguishing between Present Perfect and Present Perfect Progressive verb tense: use present perfect tense to indicate actions begun in the past and either completed at some unspecified time in the past or continuing in the future, i.e: ‘Uncontrolled logging has destroyed many forests.’ (NOT:have destroyed)

Use present perfect progressive to indicate an ungoing action begun in the past and continuing into the present, i.e: ‘The two sides HAVE been trying to settle the case out of court.’ (NOT: has been trying) The subject is the ‘two sides’. (Basically the correct English usage for a modifier is that it comes AFTER the subject, not before).

MOST importantly, as EVERY credible writer is aware: your subject MUST agree with the verb in order for the verb to work as a modifier. Now: your headline, in its current state, suggests that Google Reader is plural (more than one) because you are using reveal in its active tense AND as a modifier (after your subject) but because Google Reader is in fact NOT many persons, or many events taking individual action, but is a SINGLE unit operating on or for something else, your headline should read:

Google Reader Reveals Subscriber Numbers to Feeds–the s must be added to Reveal because you have constructed your clause so that Google Reader is your subject, NOT subscriber numbers. Likewise, Bloglines is NOT many persons or events but is ONE single entity; thus, its modifier MUST be active and (present perfect): ‘…Bloglines HAS been showing subscriber numbers for years now ‘ (NOT: have been). You could use have ONLY if your subject is passive (THEY have been showing subscriber numbers for years.) But because your subject (Bloglines) is active and present, and in this instance, is operating as a SINGLE entity, not many, you must obey the rules of basic English grammar and apply the correct verb tense as a modifier.

Thanks to: The Everyday Writer (third edition). Might I also suggest you purchase this valuable resource and keep it at your beck and call. Now, back to the important business of writing and imparting wisdom to the knowledge-seekers. *;-)
Keep writing (just do it well).

Dr. Sophia H. of Georgia State University
(www.gsu.edu)

db

I sure do hope that I can attract as much subscribers as you.

Cheers,
Carlo Selorio

Here is how to get those numbers for a particular blog feed in 3 steps: http://pimm.wordpress.com/2007/10/14/how-to-get-the-number-of-feed-subscribers-via-google-reader/

Will definitely keep an eye on this topic.

Also, the point here is that this numbers are public for any feed. If a website does not use Feedburner you could estimate their RSS readership unless using a reader like Bloglines or not Google Reader.