The more we learn to develop, the more developing that needs to be learned.

I believe the internet is great because it forces us to read. Whether it’s email, news, web logs, informational sites, instant messenger – we are always reading.

We all have our favorite web sites that we read on a daily or weekly basis. We like sites that are updated frequently, and that change often. We want the latest and greatest stories, news, reports, or personal thoughts from the web sites we visit.

Thankfully, all web browsers allow us to bookmark our favorite web sites, so we don’t have to type in each address manually, every time we visit. Sometimes we make one of our favorite sites our home page, to save ourselves from even having to click on the bookmark. And some web sites can even email us their updates, so we barely have to open the web browser at all!

Still, this is not enough. As we surf the web each day, we discover more web sites that we really like, and want to visit again.

So what do we immediately do? We bookmark the new site we just discovered, which gives us a warm and fuzzy feeling, because we know we never have to type the address in again, or frantically search for it at Google. We keep bookmarking new sites in this manner, until our bookmark list is a mile long.

And as each new day begins, we sit down at our computers, and attempt to visit each and every bookmark to see if the sites were updated with new content. Some bookmarks we get to, others we don’t have time for. And still other bookmarks just sit there and stare at us, waiting for us to click on them – waiting for their turn to play.

Wouldn’t it be easier if we could go to one location – one web site, that had ALL updates, from ALL of our bookmarks, whenever they were updated? What if the news and updates were fed into this one location, instead of us having to go and get them? Wouldn’t that make life so much easier?

It would make life easier, and the good news is that it does exist. It is possible, and relatively simple, to have all the information from thousands of web pages (if we so desire) fed into one single application. This way you don’t have to manually visit each web site, which saves mounds of time.

Thanks to a new technology called RSS, all of this can successfully be done. And now I’m going to tell you exactly what RSS can do for you.

RSS can retrieve news headlines, web log updates, informational updates – just about any type of web site update or headline you can imagine. It takes these updates, and feeds them into a single application.

I’ve included a screenshot of the RSS software that I currently use on my Mac. Take a look at how simple it is.

Now, I’m going to explain a few terms and ideas, and then I want you to look at the screenshot again, and things will make more sense.

The screenshot I just showed you is one example of an RSS aggregator. An RSS aggregator is a piece of software or a web page that goes out and gathers all new updates or headlines from all the web sites that you subscribe to. An RSS aggregator saves you the time of manually visiting each web page, and instead it brings all the updates to one location. An RSS aggregator is sometimes called an "RSS Reader," or a "Headline Viewer."

You may be wondering, "Since all the updates get pulled into my RSS aggregator, that must mean I never have to visit my favorite web pages again, right?" Wrong. You still have to go to each web page. BUT... an RSS aggregator will tell you TWO things before you even visit the web page:

• You will know IF the site has actually been updated.
• You will know if the new update is worth reading.

You see, an RSS aggregator tells you if the site has been updated, and allows you to preview the update (news article, web log entry, etc.) before you actually visit the site. If you LIKE the preview, and you want to read more, THEN you go and visit the particular web site.

Now, some web log entries are so short, there’s no point in previewing it. Sometimes you can read full articles in the RSS aggregator. It all depends on one thing – the RSS syndicator, which we will discuss next.

An RSS syndicator is the web site that you subscribe to. This site, matthom.com, is an RSS syndicator. I provide the updates, which are then fed into the aggregator. In order for me, as the web developer of this site, to ALLOW for this whole process to happen, I have to create a brand new directory on my server, and inside that directory, create an XML file that holds all my web log updates. Once I do this, my web site is said to be syndicated. If you do not have your own web log, you don’t have to worry about this. For those of you who do have your own web log, and would like to "syndicate" it, please contact me, and I will help you. I would like to keep this article geared towards the RSS reader, rather than the RSS developer.

Now, please take another look at that same screenshot that I showed you earlier. Do things look a bit more familiar? The LEFT column shows all the web sites (syndicators) that I am subscribing to. The TOP box shows the articles from that web site. The BOTTOM box shows the actual article, or article preview.

And that’s all there is to it. For your convenience, I have included many links to RSS aggregators that you can download and start using right away! Most of them are free, but some do charge a small fee. If you have questions about anything RSS related, feel free to contact me anytime.

• Feedreader
• AmphetaDesk
• Headline Viewer
• News Is Free
• Radio UserLand (very nice)
• NetNewsWire (what I currently use)

Try them out and see what you think. It’s a new way to keep informed and save time.