At Mullies we have recently discussed RSS feeds as a way to keep up to date with websites and articles of interest. Here’s the link to the last item RSS - It's really simple For those who prefer their news in an email/newsletter format below is a way to subscribe to feeds and have them delivered to you via email. I know some of you like to hoard, I mean archive, all your articles and storing the pdfs would be a great way to do that. To use this service you will need to copy the url/address for the feed and paste it into the service at the Tabbloid site. So if Google Reader or another RSS reader application doesn’t float your boat you might prefer this – give Tabbloid a go
RSS Feeds are probably the best way of receiving updates from favorite websites and services. They are however still more of a thing for the technical inclined Internet users and largely ignored by the average users. They do have a few other limitations like only being viewable in applications that support RSS News Feeds. One option that has become popular in recent months is to create pdf documents out of RSS News Feeds which solves the accessibility problem. Tabbloid is a relatively new Internet service that can turn RSS News Feeds into pdf documents and send those news digest right to the user’s inbox. This is done by pasting RSS News Feed urls into the form on the main Tabbloid website. The service will check the feed, display a preview of the last news items that have been posted and ask the user to accept or reject it. If the user accepts the feed it gets added to the list of feeds that will be processed. It is possible to add multiple feeds which would then all be used to fill the pdf document. Options exist to generate the pdf right at the website or set delivery options to receive the pdf document in the inbox. The possible intervals are hourly, daily or weekly. Source: Get Magazine Style RSS News Feeds Delivered To Your Inbox
Site: http://www.ghacks.net/2008/11/04/get-magazine-style-rss-news-feeds-delivered-to-your-inbox/
Don’t know what RSS is? It stands for “Really Simple Syndication” and it lets you read all your favourite blogs and news sites from one place by pulling content from them. That means you don’t need to keep visiting tons of websites to check for new content. RSS Feeds have rapidly replaced the old ‘email newsletter’ as a way to communicate with people who are interested in your website. And they work as an update announcement every time you add or change something on a site – For that reason they work particularly well with sites that have content in small chunks like blogs etc Here is a short video that explains RSS in plain English and helps you get started: RSS Feeds have rapidly replaced the old ‘email newsletter’ as a way to communicate with people who are interested in your website. And they work as an update announcement every time you add or change something on a site – For that reason they work particularly well with sites that have content in small chunks like blogs etc. Really savvy operators, like say the Mulligrubs website, offer a way to subscribe to updates via either RSS or email Subscribing to RSS feeds will be discussed at this weeks Mullies meeting along with lots of other items of interest plus the usual Q&A - See you there :) Notes:
Idea for the post and initial text and video link found at the Digsby Blog A more technical description of RSS from Wikipedia RSS is a family of Web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works – such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video – in a standardized format.[2] An RSS document (which is called a "feed", "web feed",[3] or "channel") includes full or summarized text, plus metadata such as publishing dates and authorship. Web feeds benefit publishers by letting them syndicate content quickly and automatically. They benefit readers who want to subscribe to timely updates from favoured websites or to aggregate feeds from many sites into one place. RSS feeds can be read using software called an "RSS reader", "feed reader", or "aggregator", which can be web-based or desktop-based. A standardized XML file format allows the information to be published once and viewed by many different programs. The user subscribes to a feed by entering the feed's URI into the reader or by clicking an RSS icon in a browser that initiates the subscription process. The RSS reader checks the user's subscribed feeds regularly for new work, downloads any updates that it finds, and provides a user interface to monitor and read the feeds. The initials "RSS" are used to refer to the following formats: "Really Simple Syndication (RSS 2.0)", "RDF Site Summary (RSS 1.0 and RSS 0.90)", or "Rich Site Summary (RSS 0.91)". RSS formats are specified using XML, a generic specification for the creation of data formats. Although RSS formats have evolved since March 1999,[4] the RSS icon ("
") first gained widespread use in 2005–2006.
RSS is the way of the future for distributed content like newsletters, podcasts and such. in case you don't now anything about it here's some information, Also check out the Wikipedia link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS. Rather than a separate program like Feedreader or Thunderbird to use as a Feed Aggregator I just use Google Reader in my browser. I find this the easiest to use and you can access it from any browser. http://www.google.com/reader/view/
RSS is a tool that lets you select the kind of information you need and have it displayed on your desktop – as soon as it appears. The most widespread use for this is to follow the latest news of your choosing. But in addition to news, RSS can be used to keep track of all kinds of useful things. If it’s information and it gets updated, it’s probably available via RSS.
First, an introduction: RSS is a family of web feed formats, and stands for Really Simple Syndication. It’s an XML-based tool that lets you to subscribe to feeds from your favourite websites and receive hot-off-the-press, customised information.
But it’s not just for news. Any information source that can be split into discrete items can be syndicated via RSS, and this is where it really shines. TV guides, auction items, job vacancies, flight schedules, product releases, blog updates and French lessons – the list is endless, and setting it up is as simple as adding the right feed to your aggregator.
Feeders, Aggregators & Co.
Programs known as feed readers or aggregators grab RSS feeds from various sites and display any recent articles they find.
With thousands of sites now RSS-enabled and with more on the way, RSS has become a visible success story. HP sees a real value in being able to deliver fresh content too. Press releases, feature stories and special offers can be sent directly to interested readers via RSS feeds.
Communication made personal with RSS
At HP.com, RSS feeds are identified with a small orange button that says either RSS or XML. Although RSS/XML readers will soon be part of every browser and e-mail client, for now you need a separate reader, or a browser such as Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer 7.0 (which both integrate RSS). A variety of RSS readers are available for different platforms. Some popular aggregators include Amphetadesk (Windows®, Linux®, Mac), FeedReader (Windows) and NewsGator (Windows – integrates with Outlook).
The benefits of RSS
The benefits of using RSS are relevance, speed, completeness, convenience and privacy.
Speed: RSS feeds send notifications whenever new material is available. There’s no need to trawl numerous websites in search of information you require, saving you time and effort.
Relevance: RSS content summaries contain summary information without overwhelming you with details. Simply click on the item in the feed to access more information.
Completeness: RSS ensures that you are always up to date on topics that interest you. Every new development is reported directly in your feed, and you don't miss a thing.
Convenience: With RSS, you control the flow of information by specifically selecting content. If the quality of the content declines, you simply remove the feed from your aggregator.
Privacy: RSS eliminates the risk of receiving spam and avoids the need to join each site's email newsletter.
Regardless of how obscure your interests or profession are, RSS is a fantastic time-saver and a convenient way to get the information you need, when you need it. RSS: The most underrated tool on the net
This is a brief introduction to some of the aspects of what people refer to as Web 2.0 (or Web version 2). It is really amazing what tools are available via the Internet for free We've all heard of Web 2.0, but what does it mean? I think of it as the Interactive Internet. It encourages collaboration between users and is driving the trend towards more interactive websites.
The Internet as we have come to know it has been around for over ten years now. To date it has principally been used for searching, browsing and reading static information.
Now it is evolving into something quite different. We are now in what is being coined the “Web 2.0 era”, where the Internet is now about interactivity.
No longer do Internet users want to just look at and read a page they want to interact, leave comments, upload music or photos and be involved in the Internet community.
The Internet is no longer solely the domain of the technical expert. With the increase in user friendly interfaces, it is now possible to get involved even if you have limited technical knowledge.
What tools make up Web 2.0? Web 2.0 can be defined as the set of technologies which enable collaboration and sharing between Internet users. These can be web pages, web-based communities or hosted services such as social-networking sites, wikis, blogs and podcasts.
These tools, such as blogs, make it easier for anyone to get their material online, even if they have no knowledge of HTML.
Blogs are online diaries or journals created by individuals or companies and stored on the Internet. Blogs generally consist of text and images appearing in chronological order with the most recent entry shown at the top of the page.
Wikipedias are online encyclopedia maintained by users. They allow people to contribute to and add definitions or topics.
Social networking include sites like MySpace and Facebook. Here, people put up a public profile about themselves. They can add their favorite photos, music and website links and choose to share these with friends only or the general public.
Podcasting. A 'podcast' is an audio file or series of audio files that can be shared with others. You can subscribe to a podcast in much the same way as you subscribe to an email newsletter.
Interactive websites: Web 2.0
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