Last week I noticed that a couple friends showed up in my Google reader and I can see things that they are now sharing. This is a nice little feature as I like to send others things I find interesting. If you not using Google Reader for your Feed subscriptions I would certainly give it a try if I were you. Use caution when subscribing to feeds though. You might turn into an information junkie like me. 
Another new feature I noticed is that you now have the ability to update a profile to share with your friends. Looks like Google is trying to make feeds more social. They have a little work to do t make these new features better but they’ll get there. Go and check them out. Google Reader
How did you do the icons on your toolbar?? Is that a firefox plugin?