RSS feeds

gChambers

If you gather information from multiple Web sites regularly and it's getting to be a lot of work, RRS feeds may be the answer for you.

RSS is an efficient way of gathering minute-by-minute updates from many places – news sites, Web logs or any other sites that change frequently -- without having to go to each one.

RSS delivers the first 80 or 100 words of text to you in an XML format. It sends a new version each time the site is updated. You only need to go to the site if you want the full text.

Using RSS, which stands for “really simple syndication,” requires that the site of origin has RSS capability. This is usually denoted by a small orange rectangle with "XML" in it. Look for it somewhere on the Web page.

Content providers like Slashdot, the Motley Fool, Wired News, and Linux Today have been adopting RSS as a means of circulating headlines and links to new stories on their sites.

RSS feeds are on news sites like Reuters , The New York Times, Washington Post, USAToday and The Christian Science Monitor . You can limit the feed by topic, such as business, sports or healthcare.

To receive the RSS feed, you need an RSS reader, or aggregator, which is often available for free. You can find links to aggregators at Abbe Normal's Weblog/Wiki , News Aggregators Directory , http://www.bloglines.com and Lockergnome's RSS Resources .

Some well known aggregators are Newsgator, Feedreader, AmphetaDesk and Omea Reader.

You will also need to set up a Web page to receive the RSS feed. You can find a Web page at sites such as NewsIsFree . My Yahoo users can add RSS feeds directly to their personal page.

Bloggers that have RSS can then post RSS headline on their Web log, says Anton Zuiker , a North Carolina blogger.

“You can also turn around and syndicate it yourself, just like a newspaper might run an AP-sourced news briefs section,” he says. “So if you had a website of your own and wanted to include my blog content, you could use the RSS feed and dump the headlines onto your website home page. ”

Zuiker says the software that creates Web logs usually includes software for RSS aggregators.

What's next for RSS? A few providers, such as Denver-based Newsgator, will send updates to your cell phone or handheld. Also it will search for you name and send you a link each time.

Scott Young , president and CEO for Userland Software, a Danville, Calif.-based company that provides RSS software, reports that 140,000 magazines and journals are publishing with RSS feeds.

Young says a promising next step is corporations' use of RSS for internal communications, as an alternative to e-mail.

“RSS transcends individuals and their e-mails,” he says.

Unlike e-mail, it can be stored in one location as an archival source. Young says Userland has helped companies like Wells Fargo, Motorola and Schlumberger to set up such systems.

Some people, however, still prefer to use e-mail. Newsgator will send you an e-mail message showing your RSS links.

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