Post #1 RSS starting out!

I have to say that this is a totally new tool for me! I know that it provides you with new information from a site, but the rest is a mystery. It’s a good thing there is a book to go with this course!

Here are some things I learned from reading chapter 5 in Richardson’s book.

-RSS means really simply syndication…..what does syndication mean??

-content comes to you instead of you going to get it

-uses a software called aggregator or feed collector

-it checks the feeds you subscribe to frequently, collects the new content

-when you want to see the new feeds you go to your aggregator and read, share or delete

Richardson mentions some reasons why you should use RSS. The first is so that you can read more content from more sources in less time.  The other reason is that the aggregator will let you know when someone on the internet has published a key word that you are interested in. This would be useful if you were doing a project in school and wanted all the new info on that topic coming to you instead of doing a search yourself. With all this new information coming to you, RSS may be adding to your information overload …..not easing it!!

Signing up: I believe I signed up earlier in the term??? I’m not totally sure ??

I followed the steps on page 73. I went to Google Reader and logged in using my account that I have with Google. What a surprise!! Guess what? I do have an account!! There were 290 feeds there for me from CBC news! I had a feeling I signed up….but I had no idea how to get the feeds! Now, I know what is going on.  I went in and deleted most of the messages….or whatever they are called. Next Richardson said to add subscriptions! I did a search for the Weather Network and Environment Canada but nothing came up?? I did a search for some other topics, but I didn’t find anything I want to subscribe to. I think I will leave this for now, do some more readings, and play with this RSS!