RSS – feed syndication

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a family of web feed formats (“feed” or “web feed” or “channel”) used to publish frequently updated content including, but not limited to, blog entries, news headlines, and podcasts. contains either a summary of content from an associated web site or the full text. RSS makes it possible for people to keep up with their favorite web sites in an automated manner that can be piped into special programs or filtered displays

Trap the dynamic sprites and draw them in – hold them static in your universe

Basically RSS/feeds/atoms are the equivalent of the TV remote – for the internet. Just as you no longer have to leave your armchair to change the TV channel – you no longer need to keep returning to your favourite news or blog sites to check for updates – the information will be ‘fed’ to you.

So how do I keep up to date?

• RSS content can be read using software called an “RSS reader”, “feed reader” or an “aggregator”.
• When you visit a website, news article or blog – look for the feed symbol. You can subscribe to the feed by entering the feed’s link into your chosen reader or by clicking an RSS icon in a browser which will initiate the subscription process.
  • A simple ‘feed’ link in your address bar  – to copy and paste into readers such as iGoogle or page flakes
  • Direct you to add the feed link to your favourite feed reader, common with feed providors such as Feedburner.com

What is the best way to read the feed?

So – you have drawn the sprites in, they are at your beck and call, eager to facilitate your knowledge acquisition and viewing pleasure. The viewing options are endless…

Feed readers (and there are many) are a personal choice. I find the most useful readers are incorporated into your personal start page, allowing you to rev up your day with a rapid review of all that is new in the atom world. Your home page becomes more than just a long list of updated hyperlinks with the inclusion of games, animations, music and news to help manage your digital life

Try a few out and find which works best for you and interacts with the suite of products you are most familiar with such as My Yahoo, My MSN, netvibes etc

I use Pageflakes as a great stand alone application and iGoogle to incorporate Gmail, Google calender and other Google applications. Great YouTube video instructions on how to get the best from iGoogle

These incorporated applications will become even more efficient and effective with the development of GoogleChrome browser – soon to be released.

With most ‘home page management systems’ the addition of RSS feeds is simple. For example with iGoogle – simply click on the ‘add stuff’ button (upper right of page) and then click the ‘add feed or gadget’ button (bottom left) – this will provide a spot for you to add your ‘copy and paste’ URL for the feed of your choice

With Pageflakes there are already a huge number of applications and feed for you to choose from and great ways to make your private or public pageflakes page highly individual. To add a feed to Pageflakes directly from the URL, just use the ‘menu’ button (upper right) and then ‘add RSS feed’ bottom left in the menu screen.