What is it? Quid Sit?
RSS or Really Simple Syndication is a tool that helps you read your favorite web sites.
RSS readers simply take the articles from the news sites and blogs you read and puts them all in one place.
They are applications that one either downloads to one's computer, or one which can be accessed online or from a mobile device.
What are its fucntions? Quae officia?
They exist to provide you with an easy way to read all your favorite websites in one place.
What are its parts? Quae partes?
One has the RSS reader, and then one chooses the RSS feeds one wants to read. It is quite a simple process.
So you need to choose an application to do it. So either look at the Lifehacker article or take my suggestion.
I, as always am a big fan of Google. Google provides all your important online services in one place with one account. So I would recommend Google reader . It is web based, so it is wherever you go.
Firefox users may also enjoy Sage, an easy add-on that goes right on your browser bar and allows you to access them at any time. It is lightweight so it won't drag on your browsing experience.
There are other non-web applications available if that is your style such as NetNewsWire for Mac OS X
or FeedDemon for Windows.
How is it done?
See below for mobile devices Ipad/Iphone/Android.
On your computer:
After having downloading, installing or signing up:
Click on the RSS Link on any web page.
They usually look something on the left. However the main thing to look for is the RSS symbol on the right.
With my blog as an example, we will add your very first RSS Feed.
The top one that says posts will be a feed that gives you updates on all the posts that are made tothe blog. The All comments one will update you on comments made on this blog.
So click on the Posts button. When you click on it a little menu will pop up giving you options to add to several online RSS services. In that case, as long as it is one of the ones listed simply click the one that matches your service. For us that is the Add to Google button.
Then you will have to option to either Add to you Google homepage or Add to Google reader. When you click add to either of those you may be prompted for your password, or if your already signed in, it will ask for permission.
As far as Google reader goes, that is it!
If you are using another service you will want to click on the Atom button. that will bring up a copy of the page and on top there will be a prompt asking you to subscribe using a particular service. Click the drop down box and select the appropriate service.
If you just installed a non-web based reader it may already show up there, mine shows MS Outlook because that is a common program used for data management. If it does not show up click choose application and select your reader. Go through the motions it asks and you will be set up!
This also works the other way around. From Google reader click the red subscribe button and enter the website you want a feed from. So type in New York times for example and it will give you list of the different columns you can follow.
All readers work basically the same way with some variation.
Mobile devices
This is great to have as you ride the Looper.
There are many apps out there to choose from. Google on android offers its standard one that links with your feeds on you Google account. This article goes in depth but gReader is the option I use.
Iphone & Ipad already has Newsstand pre-loaded, which is a great option. Newsstand also syncs with your Google Reader account!
Happy reading!
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