Google Reader is easily the most popular web-based RSS reader, but if you've ever tried subscribing to an RSS feed that required password authentication, you're out of luck in Reader. Weblog Digital Inspiration demonstrates a clever trick to circumvent this problem.

Even though Google Reader doesn't support password protected feeds, Google's FeedBurner does—and what's more, it can turn it into a private(ish) feed that you can then subscribe to in Reader. Check out the video and the link for more details.

The only caveat is that the necessary username and password will be in the feed's url—which, with FeedBurner's NoIndex option, shouldn't be indexed in search engines, but many still may not feel comfortable having, say, their Gmail or Twitter password in a public feed URL (and rightfully so). This workaround is still pretty useful for, say, private blogs and other such things.