RSS Feed Now Available

For those readers who forget to visit the blog from time to time, or who would like to be notified automatically when a new posting is available and have it delivered either to your mailbox or your web browser, I've enabled RSS feeds from this blog.

In the words of the all-knowing Wikipedia:

RSS is a family of Web feed formats used to publish frequently updated content such as blog entries, news headlines or podcasts. An RSS document, which is called a "feed", "web feed", or "channel", contains either a summary of content from an associated web site or the full text. RSS makes it possible for people to keep up with their favorite web sites in an automated manner that's easier than checking them manually.

RSS content can be read using software called a "feed reader" or an "aggregator." The user subscribes to a feed by entering the feed's link into the reader or by clicking an RSS icon in a browser that initiates the subscription process. The reader checks the user's subscribed feeds regularly for new content, downloading any updates that it finds.

If you use Firefox or a recent version of Internet Explorer or Safari as your web browser you are already able to read RSS feeds. When you visit this blog Firefox puts a little orange symbol on the right hand side of the location bar. Safari puts a little "RSS" indicator there, and Internet Explorer uses the same orange symbol as Firefox, although I think in IE it appears in the tool bar. In any of these browsers you can click on the RSS indicator and subscribe to the feed, and from then on your browser will go out and periodically check for new content. Check your browser's online help (try searching for RSS) for more information.

If you use Thunderbird to read email it's also RSS-enabled and will deliver new content right to your mailbox. Instructions are here. If you use Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express there are RSS plugins available from a variety of sources, both free and commercial.

By the way, there are literally thousands of sites on the web with RSS feeds -- most major news and sports sites, many weblogs, etc. They all work the same way.

Leave a comment on this post and let me know if you get the RSS feed to work, and if you find it useful.