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What are
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| Have
you seen them
yet? The little
orange graphics
that say XML
or RSS? Have
you ever wondered
what the heck
they are? Yeah,
me too. And,
being as curious
as a cat, I
had to find
out! |
|
| It
wasn't hard
to get most
of the info
I needed. All
I did was search
for RSS at Google
and a ton of
resources came
up. RSS stands
for Really Simple
Syndication.
Hmmm...really
simple? Yeah,
it really is
pretty simple
and it makes
keeping up with
news, sports,
entertainment
and business,
well...really
simple. |
|
| Basically,
what happens
is, say you
read the Wall
Street Journal,
CNN and ESPN
everyday. You
also read a
couple of business
newsletters
weekly or when
they get delivered
to your email
inbox and you
read your niece's
blog (short
for weblog [web-log])
that gets updated
'whenever'.
Okay, so you
go to each of
the websites
each day and
do your thing,
right? Well,
if those sites
offer an RSS
Feed (which
they do - look
for the little
orange RSS or
XML graphic)
then you can
have their content
or articles
sent directly
to your computer.
No more going
through multiple
websites, it's
all delivered
to you in an
RSS Reader right
on your computer.
And oh, there
are also web
based readers
as well, you
just choose
the one you
prefer. |
|
| Now,
what's so great
about that?
Well, let's
take a one of
my websites,
http://www.navicosoft.com,
as an example.
Let's say you
set up all your
news sites,
newsletters
and blogs so
you can read
them in your
RSS Reader and
then you find
out that Gift
Basket Wholesale
Supply has a
blog that's
updated whenever
new items are
posted to the
site. AND...that
blog has an
RSS Feed...voila!,
you add Gift
Basket Wholesale
Supply's RSS
Feed to your
RSS Reader and
you don't have
to worry about
checking the
site for new
merchandise
ever again.
Now, you're
notified automatically
by way of a
posting to their
blog that is
delivered to
your RSS Reader.
Isn't that wonderful?
How many of
your suppliers
offer this service?
Well, if I were
you, I'd find
out because
your life could
get a whole
lot easier!
And what's so
great about
an RSS Feed
is you don't
have to deal
with any sp@m,
you only get
the content
you ASK for!
Cool, huh? |
|
| Okay,
so now what
are you supposed
to do? You want
to start reading
your news and
business reports
in an RSS reader
but you don't
know what to
do or how to
get started.
Well, I did
the research...I
found The Best
resource for
you to use to
get started.
It's CNET, a
wonderful techie
site that takes
techie info
and breaks it
down for the
rest of us.
There's a page
that explains
RSS, and there's
a great video
as well. You'll
also find links
and reviews
to all the different
readers (be
careful, some
are frëe, some
are not). You've
gotta go there
and chëck it
out. Below are
direct links
to both the
pages mentioned. |
|
| Have
you seen them
yet? The little
orange graphics
that say XML
or RSS? Have
you ever wondered
what the heck
they are? Yeah,
me too. And,
being as curious
as a cat, I
had to find
out! |
|
| It
wasn't hard
to get most
of the info
I needed. All
I did was search
for RSS at Google
and a ton of
resources came
up. RSS stands
for Really Simple
Syndication.
Hmmm...really
simple? Yeah,
it really is
pretty simple
and it makes
keeping up with
news, sports,
entertainment
and business,
well...really
simple. |
|
| Basically,
what happens
is, say you
read the Wall
Street Journal,
CNN and ESPN
everyday. You
also read a
couple of business
newsletters
weekly or when
they get delivered
to your email
inbox and you
read your niece's
blog (short
for weblog [web-log])
that gets updated
'whenever'.
Okay, so you
go to each of
the websites
each day and
do your thing,
right? Well,
if those sites
offer an RSS
Feed (which
they do - look
for the little
orange RSS or
XML graphic)
then you can
have their content
or articles
sent directly
to your computer.
No more going
through multiple
websites, it's
all delivered
to you in an
RSS Reader right
on your computer.
And oh, there
are also web
based readers
as well, you
just choose
the one you
prefer. |
|
| Now,
what's so great
about that?
Well, let's
take a one of
my websites,
http://www.GiftBasketWholesaleSupply.com,
as an example.
Let's say you
set up all your
news sites,
newsletters
and blogs so
you can read
them in your
RSS Reader and
then you find
out that Gift
Basket Wholesale
Supply has a
blog that's
updated whenever
new items are
posted to the
site. AND...that
blog has an
RSS Feed...voila!,
you add Gift
Basket Wholesale
Supply's RSS
Feed to your
RSS Reader and
you don't have
to worry about
checking the
site for new
merchandise
ever again.
Now, you're
notified automatically
by way of a
posting to their
blog that is
delivered to
your RSS Reader.
Isn't that wonderful?
How many of
your suppliers
offer this service?
Well, if I were
you, I'd find
out because
your life could
get a whole
lot easier!
And what's so
great about
an RSS Feed
is you don't
have to deal
with any sp@m,
you only get
the content
you ASK for!
Cool, huh? |
|
| Okay,
so now what
are you supposed
to do? You want
to start reading
your news and
business reports
in an RSS reader
but you don't
know what to
do or how to
get started.
Well, I did
the research...I
found The Best
resource for
you to use to
get started.
It's CNET, a
wonderful techie
site that takes
techie info
and breaks it
down for the
rest of us.
There's a page
that explains
RSS, and there's
a great video
as well. You'll
also find links
and reviews
to all the different
readers (be
careful, some
are frëe, some
are not). You've
gotta go there
and chëck it
out. Below are
direct links
to both the
pages mentioned.
|
|
| How
To Read RSS
Feeds |
| http://reviews.cnet.com |
|
| RSS:
Feel The Need
For Feeds? Video
(you'll have
to wait a second
while the video
downloads) |
| http://www.cnet.com/av/video/flash/rss_tutorial.html?tag=video |
|
| And
lastly, I want
to tell you
what I use to
read my RSS
Feeds. |
|
| First,
the desktop
RSS Reader I
use is called
FeedReader.
It's very similar
to an email
program and
even makes the
same tah-dah
sound that Outlook
Express makes
for a new email
when a feed
is updated.
The best thing
is...it's frëe,
all you have
to do is download
and install
it. Here's the
link: |
| |
| http://www.feedreader.com |
|
| Second,
I also like
to use MyYahoo.
To use MyYahoo,
you just have
to sign up for
an account at
Yahoo.com, it's
frëe. Most people
already have
one anyway.
If you use Yahoo
Mail or participate
in Yahoo Groups,
you already
have an account.
Just go to Yahoo.com,
be sure you're
signed in and
clïck the MyYahoo
button at the
very top of
the page. |
|
| MyYahoo
will let you
customize your
page and pulls
only the information
you want to
read. To add
an RSS Feed,
clïck on the
Add Content
link, when you
get to the next
page clïck on
the 'Add RSS
by URL' link
that's right
next to the
'Find' button.
On the resulting
page you can
enter the RSS
Feed URL. (Don't
worry, the video
mentioned above
will tell you
how to get the
feed URL, remember,
there's a link
above to CNET's
video). It's
that simple!
|
|
| Lastly,
there is one
other RSS Reader
that I've heard
great things
about, it's
called FeedDemon.
CNet has it
as one of its
top rated readers
and I've talked
with a few friends
that say they
couldn't live
without it.
I guess, it's
worth looking
at, huh? Here's
the link: |
|
| http://www.feeddemon.com |
|
| So,
I hope now you're
as curious as
I was about
RSS! Believe
me, it's the
way you'll be
handling all
the internet
content you
read on a regular
basis, so go
get started
today and get
a jump on your
friends! |
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