RSS: Magical News Syndication
What is 'RSS' and why is it so magical? RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication, which suggests it's simple but doesn't explain much. RSS is a format for distributing and gathering content across the internet, including newspapers, magazines, and blogs.
RSS is news you choose.
Publishers and webmasters use RSS to distribute news feeds that include links, headlines, and summaries. The New York Times, ABC News, and CNN, as well as this and most RYO Websites, are among many sites that now deliver updated online content via RSS.
By selecting the sources you want, your news page is much more personal.
Suppose you add an RSS "feed" from this website to My.Yahoo! or My.MSN. When you're signed in, you'll see headlines in the appropriate areas of your personalized pages.
Because you told it what you wanted to see, it gets the headlines that are of interest to you. As the RSS feed is updated the content in the reader or aggregator updates with the new information. At any point, you can remove a feed and no longer receive information from that source.
Ultimately, you are choosing the news and content you wish to view.
In addition to online "news aggregators" like My.Yahoo!, My.MSN, NewsGator and Bloglines, there are many stand-alone software programs used to collect, update, and display RSS feeds. Many are free. Some work from within your web browser or email client, while others work on your desktop.
You can incorporate RSS content into weblogs for non-commercial use.
You've probably seen that little orange XML button on websites and wondered what it means. It indicates that content is available for RSS feeds. Again, like much of the computer world, it's confusing that "XML" means "RSS." So some websites, like this one, include the "RSS Feed" explanation, too. Others have orange "RSS" buttons.
What exactly does this button do? Does clicking on it subscribe the feed? It doesn't. If you click that button, you'll see a rather confusing page of code that's readable by the RSS news reader, and isn't intended for you. You must have a feed reader program installed on your computer. Then you add the link to the feed reader's subscription list. Then the reader will pull the latest entries from the website.
Many sites that offer RSS, like this one, have “auto discovery” links in the page header that allow programs like feed readers and browsers like Firefox to automatically detect the location of your feed and pull it out. A little orange button makes it happen. (Firefox creates a "bookmark" for the website, with bookmarks for the most recent articles automatically updated.)
Some websites make it even easier to add their feeds if you're using a web-based aggregator. Just like you see on this website, there are buttons for My Yahoo, My MSN, NewsGator, and Bloglines. Clicking those buttons will take you to those services, so you can add their feeds with a quick click. See, finally it really is getting simple!
Podcasts
So much to read and so little time? Download audio files of stories to your portable MP3 player.
Some websites offer audio downloads called Podcasts. Hear the latest news, features, and commentary on your computer, iPod, or MP3 player. Often these are offered through RSS feeds so programs are automatically downloaded to your computer as they are released. Software on your computer can then "synch" the programs to your iPod or MP3 player so you can listen on your own time schedule.
How do I subscribe to a feed?
It's easy. Log into MyMSN, MyYahoo!, Google Reader, NewsGator, or Bloglines and click the relevant button:
for MSN 
for Yahoo! 
for Google 
for NewsGator 
for Bloglines
The benefit of using them is two-fold:
- A web-based service means your favorite feeds will remain available when you change computers.
- Search engines (will) provide tools to organize feeds by topic and relevance rather than by site and date.
The drawback is of course your loss of privacy. If you dislike the idea that Google knows too much about you, use MSN or Yahoo! and get a regular RSS reader so your own computer gets the feeds:
Getting an RSS Reader
If you want to get started with RSS News and you don't want to use an online service, you can install software on your computer.
Examples of popular desktop RSS readers are: Omea Feed Reader, Awasu Reader, and NetNewsWire. To search for an RSS news reader, click here. Be sure to choose one that runs on your computer, PC, Mac, or Linux.
Thunderbird is a free RSS/Mail reader for Windows, Max OS, and Linux systems. Thunderbird gives you IMAP/POP support, a built-in RSS reader, support for HTML mail, powerful quick search, saved search folders, advanced message filtering, message grouping, labels, return receipts, smart address book LDAP address completion, import tools, and the ability to manage multiple e-mail and newsgroup accounts.
Finding Feeds
In order to find topic-specific feeds, conduct a search on the RSS search engines available at RSS Locator or RSS Specifications.
What are the terms of use?
Our RSS feeds are provided free of charge for use by individuals for personal, non-commercial uses. Attribution to the source website must be provided in connection with your use of the feeds.
We also reserve the right to require you to cease distributing these feeds at any time for any reason.
