RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a way for a site to publish it's updates. RSS readers can read these notifications and display a listing of the updates to you, the user.
It's sort of like having a special 'inbox' for emails announcing updates to your selected websites.
Many applications and websites support RSS feeds. You can add RSS feeds to your My Yahoo! page, Firefox has several RSS extensions such as Sage, there are sites that deal w/ RSS feeds such as Feedster and FastBuzz. Thunderbird even allows you to set up RSS feeds similar to your inbox.
There are also stand alone applications for RSS feeds like Pluck, RSSReader and SharpReader.
Different readers allow you to subscribe to a feed differently. Using Firefox w/ Sage, for example, you can drag-and-drop the RSS icon into your RSS feed folder and it's done.
What's the benefit?
You can use RSS feeds to see if there's anything new at a given site before visiting the site. This wouldn't be a big help if you only had one RSS feed. However, if you have several sites you check routinely, this can cut the time down tremendously.
It gives you more of an 'at-a-glance' view of all your monitored sites. Imagine if when you went to click on your bookmark for a site that it also said right then if the site had changed and how.
Also, depending on the RSS reader you use, it can tell you when you have a new update on the site.
Sites with RSS Feeds
There are many sites w/ RSS feeds. To know if a site has an RSS feed, look for an "RSS" link on the site or a button/icon w/ RSS, ATOM or XML on it.
One cool use is to set the RSS feed for a news search on a site. At Yahoo! News you can search on a topic in the news and then subscribe to that feed using the XML icon.
A lot of news/info/blog sites have RSS feeds that can help you keep up to date on the info you want.
It's a collection of tech info that's updated regularly. You can see if/when it's been updated in your reader, see the title of the updates and a short summary and then decide if you want to load the site or that post or nothing.
Bottom Line
RSS readers allow you to see the latest updates to sites (and possibly be notified) at-a-glance without having to go to all your sites and load them. It's like peaking into many sites from a single place.
Bear Cahill is a software engineer in the Dallas, TX area and runs a few websites including: The Armchair Geek (thearmchairgeek.com), http://www.webpagehostinginfo.com, http://www.gotocollegeonline.com and http://www.videoexchange.org
Publish freely if this resource box is included and links maintained as links.
Before September 1995, Microsoft Windows was an MS-DOS program. DOS... Read More
Several software companies design programs for preventive maintenance. Most of... Read More
In our case ? we serve Microsoft Business Solutions ERP... Read More
Although we don't know whether Microsoft ever envisioned such a... Read More
SOFTWARE PIRACY We regularly hear reports... Read More
Passwords protect your most sensitive personal, financial and business information.... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains serves multiple industries in the... Read More
Since Version 8.0 Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains & Great... Read More
The vast majority of us will have, at some point,... Read More
IBM Lotus Notes Domino and Microsoft CRM (Client Relation Management)... Read More
Great Plains Inventory Management (IV) module gives your business a... Read More
If you copy something from a Web site or elsewhere...... Read More
Before September of 1995, Microsoft ignored the Internet because their... Read More
Are you lost in the mess of documents that get... Read More
Bad News - the Threat is Bigger than it SeemedHow... Read More
If you are software developer or database administrator - we... Read More
According to a survey conducted by InfoTrends/CAP Ventures entitled "Content-Centric... Read More
Manufacturing in the USA is far away down from mid... Read More
If you're online using a dialup Internet connection, you'll probably... Read More
Now that spyware is the single most dangerous threat to... Read More
MSN messenger is a pretty cool invention. I mean I'm... Read More
Spyware, what it is and what it does. Basically, spyware... Read More
I started using PIP (Picture It Publishing) Platinum 2002 right... Read More
Great Plains Fixed Assets Management module is a robust tool... Read More
In order to implement VLANs in a network environment, you'll... Read More
Case study: A secretary using Corel WordPerfect 7 is often... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains, former Great Plains Software Dynamics... Read More
It is possible that if one avoided all sources of... Read More
ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) Overview covers What is ERP, Brief... Read More
There are two approaches for application integration:? Programmer's approach ?... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is marketed for mid-size companies... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains was purchased from Great Plains... Read More
The title of "software engineer" has got to be among... Read More
NOTE: Please take time to read on - it may... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains has Project Accounting module where... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions Navision serves both European and American megamarkets.... Read More
What is a Web Database?A web database is a database... Read More
TikiWiki is open source software - it is written in... Read More
Corporate ERP/MRP selection might be tough one, especially considering very... Read More
This article illustrates the best practices to improve the performance... Read More
Are Spreadsheets Robbing your Enterprise of Competitive Advantage?'90% of "average"... Read More
What is Snort?Snort is an open source network intrusion detection... Read More
Microsoft bought Navision, Denmark based software development company, along with... Read More
Microsoft Great Plains has full-featured Manufacturing suite of modules: Capacity... Read More
COMMAND LINE FUNCTIONA powerful command line script processor has been... Read More
How many steps does it take you to locate and... Read More
Bad News - the Threat is Bigger than it SeemedHow... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is marketed for mid-size companies... Read More
To all web designers out there, this article is for... Read More
In this small article we will be looking at the... Read More
Find out why Spyware Removal from computers is important and... Read More
Some introduction into Great Plains Software products, now Microsoft Business... Read More
User interfaces and accessibility are some of the most important... Read More
We all already got used to computer monitoring both at... Read More
The intentions of this short tutorial are not to teach... Read More
Research bears that less than 70 percent of development projects... Read More
DBxtra is a powerful query and reporting tool that hides... Read More
Hey Guys! Don't raise your eyebrows or fear by hearing... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is Dexterity-written application and currently... Read More
Microsoft Great Plains is one of three Microsoft Business Solutions... Read More
IBM Lotus Notes Domino and Microsoft CRM (Client Relation Management)... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains was purchased from Great Plains... Read More
After almost two decades of existence, Quark has become the... Read More
Do you remember that frustrating feeling when you find an... Read More
Microsoft Great Plains could be tuned and setup to fit... Read More
Let's say that you have a software project that's under... Read More
Software |