I was talking to jaime the other day, how ive started using google reader for keeping up to date on all the websites i like to scan daily.
but what is an RSS, and what is google reader you ask?
Well, Rss feeds are basically a stripped down version of the information posted in blogs. its a universal standard, that can be read by any number of RSS feed aggregator. one such aggregator is google reader.
now, its still in beta, as many of google products tend to be, but its revolutionized the way i get info off the web.
lets say you read 1 website or blog a lot, and you check back to it often every day for new updates. well, what you would do is go to http://www.reader.google.com, sign in with your gmail account (if your not using gmail, well, thats an issue you better not tell me) and you can add any RSS feed to it.
Now, you keep google reader open, much like you keep gmail open during the day to see if you get new e-mails, and when a new news story is posted to the website you check, you get the news article in google reader. WOW!
now, where this really shines, is, if you check more than one website per day. lets say 10! you add all your RSS feeds to google reader, and bam. your not having to go all over the internet anymore to check for new content. the new content comes to you the minute its posted.
Now, this is great for sites that post a lot of content, but its also awesome for checking sites that hardly ever post content. an example.. me… the past me. im trying to be more consistent. anyways, you go to andrewlyon.com, and at the bottom of the page is a little RSS feed button. well, hit that bad boy, and add it to google reader!
now, whenever i update the blog, be it of often or not often, you will know straight away. This is where feed aggregator really shine, cause they are doing all the work for you. if someone is inconsistent in posting, i tend to not check that site after a while, even though it may be getting updates slowly.
this might not be for everyone, and google reader is not the only one out there you can use, but its definatly one of the best. also, not every website has an RSS feed. all blogs do, because thats what they are actually based around, and most modern websites do too. you can also search for new and exciting feeds in your reader, to broaden your horizons.
hope this helps someone out there, i know it changed the way i surf the web now.