Can You Read My Feed?

-
I bet you didn't know that today was RSS Awareness Day did you? :) Someday it may be as big as Casimir Pulaski Day. (Love to hear some Sufjan) I digress. Back to the post...

A feed is a format for delivering frequently updated content to readers. RSS, otherwise known as Really Simple Syndication, is one way to deliver feeds to readers. There are feeds for all kinds of things. You can get feeds for weather updates, for "This Day in History", for comic strips, and even for google searches. They are getting more powerful all the time. But the most common use of RSS is to share blog feeds.

So how do you "subscribe" to a feed or read a feed? Well of course you need a "feed" reader! :)

There are tons of feed readers out there, but they basically break down into 2 camps: Desktop Readers and Web-Based Readers.

Desktop Readers download content onto your computer. This way you can take what you're reading with you wherever you go. You also can search these feeds quickly. The downside is, if you are low on space, over time desktop readers may really start to eat some space. Some common desktop readers would be SharpReader (the first feed reader that I ever used), FeedDemon, RSSOwl, and even built-in browser feeders for Internet Explorer 7 and Firefox and Safari.

Web-Based Readers on the other hand may be somewhat slow, depending upon your connection. The upside is they won't take up as much space, and they will probably "interface" well with other web products. Bloglines has some really nice features, but Google Reader is my favorite because it works well with Gmail, Blogger and even Google Talk. And Google Reader has tons of quick keyboard shortcuts.

Once you know what feed reader you want to use, then you have to add a subscription to a feed. On most pages that serve "feeds" you'll see an icon similar to the one at the top right of this post. If you click this, it will open up the address for the feed subscription. Just copy and paste that address into the feed reader of your choice and you should be good to go.

For a more thorough explanation, check out RSSDAY.ORG or check out the video clip below.

Comments

Christina said…
Yay for RSS! Yay for Sufjan!
1:23 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Music Tuesday - 2 Free Album Giveaways

-
Image
I've had a lot of fun giving away music throughout the year, but what's amazing is how many times no one would take me up on the offer. So with all the money I've saved, I'm going to try giving away two album downloads on iTunes. Of course, as with all giveaways, there is a catch. Here's this one... This giveaway will be a drawing. In order to participate you need to share what you think is your favorite song or favorite album that you heard in 2008 . (The song/album can be from any year, but this year is when you really came to enjoy it.) You will need to post your comments on the blog -- facebook comments won't count. I will draw from the names next Tuesday, December 23rd, and the two winners will receive one free email gift certificate for $10 from iTunes for the music of YOUR CHOICE . So you can get an album or you can choose 10 different songs if you wish. Here's my favorite album of the year: Room to Breathe from Andy Gullahorn . This album is...
Read more

A New Adventure

-
Image
It's been about 13 years, but my wife and I are moving again. This time we're taking along a couple of kids that we picked up in that last 13. There are tons of emotions, lots to do and very little time to accomplish it all. (Sorry, but the blog has to suffer - it's just not that high on the priority list right now) We are headed to Noblesville, Indiana . We are going to help start a new Free Will Baptist Church on the North East corner of Indianapolis. The name of the church is The Heights . We are so excited about the promise of this new beginning. We are being joined by 3 other families. Kevin and Debbie Scott: Kevin and Debbie went to FWBBC with me and Wendy. They have 3 kids, and are hosting the initial church services in their home. Their hospitality is amazing. Kenny and Anna Panduku: We just met Kenny and Anna for the first time this past week. They opened up their home to us, and Isaiah was thrilled to watch the NCAA championship on Kenny's "fa...
Read more

Are We The New Freaks?

-
Image
I don't know anything about Carl Trueman, but JT (Justin Taylor) from Between Two Worlds has highlighted a couple of his posts these past few days. Here's what's scary... It appears Mr. Trueman and I were watching the same edition of the Rachel Maddow Show and it stirred both of us the same way. He wrote this piece after watching that show. I wrote my own "Troubled" parts 1 and 2 after I saw the show. I have been really thinking about what I see because of this incident and lo and behold Mr. Trueman has another post, Goodbye Larry King and Hello Jerry Springer , and it is exactly what I've been thinking. He words it so well. I wish I could have done the same. Here are a couple of quotes... What is becoming increasingly clear is that the day is probably not far off when those who regard homosexual practice as wrong will be consistently presented as the moral, cultural and intellectual equivalents of white supremacists... You can have the hippest soul patch i...
Read more