RSS

Published September 9, 2005 | By ttpn

I’m sure you’ve all been reading about RSS, Really Simple Syndication. Some of you are probably using it. Others know it has something to do with getting ‘feeds’ on a subject you’re interested in, but have no idea beyond that.

Let’s quickly discuss RSS and then given an example of an application that I use.

RSS provides a convenient way to syndicate information from a variety of sources, including news stories, updates to a web site or even source code check-ins for a development project.

Regardless of the purpose for which the RSS file is being used, by watching this XML file, you can quickly and easily see whenever an update has occurred. Of course, viewing the RSS feed in Internet Explorer and hitting F5 every few minutes is not the most efficient use of your time, so most people take advantage of some form of client software to read and monitor RSS feeds.

There are many different RSS clients available, but here are a selected few that we tested our feeds with and that you may find useful:

Whenever you see this (or most often ) it should link to an RSS feed that you can subscribe to via your RSS client.

I chose SharpReader because it was the first one on the list. Let me begin with a caveat. Like internet gaming and IM, RSS can easily become an addictive time-waster.

But if you have self-control, it can be a useful tool for gathering information – The latest in New Orleans, or computer news in a particular subject, as two examples.

First link to SharpReader