QandAs: Tech

What is RSS?

Answer:
RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication.

RSS is basically a system of web feeds of frequently updated web content like blogs, podcasts, news headlines, and more. RSS automatically attends to the user's favored (subscribed to) sites by bringing in feeds of new updates and changes from those sites. Welcome to "real-time-global-knowledge" at your fingertips!

To use RSS feeds, users subscribe to them by entering feed links into a "feed aggregator", which is software designed to collect and organize inputs from the various feeds, as well as their various formats.

RSS (version .90) was originally developed by Netscape, for use in building portals for connecting to news site headlines. Netscape ultimately withdrew from their efforts in building portals, and UserLand Software took over instead. Another entity came up with another format for RSS, which UserLand was not pleased with because they were not party to the format changes. UserLand responded with more updates; bringing the originally designed RSS to version 2.0 through several intermediate releases.

Some of today's web browsers are equipped with RSS feed-aggregator capabilities, including Mozilla Firefox and Apple Safari browsers. If you use either of these browsers, for an easy way to keep up with the latest and greatest information updates from your favorite web sites, blogs, newswires, etc., take advantage of the RSS options.

RSS is also the friend of webmasters and bloggers who seek to increase traffic to their web sites. By feeding frequent and meaningful updates to subscribers, increased traffic follows. RSS data reach extends beyond the PC/Internet connection, to PDA's and cell-phones; broadening opportunities as technology expands.

RSS quite simply seems to represent the growing passion and need for immediate and fresh information, demanded by an ever changing, ever faster-paced, ever information-hungry society; ironically, one without adequate time on their hands to fully appreciate just how important and how truly amazing and truly powerful "real-time-global-knowledge" can be. RSS promises to support such demands, moving forward. And, with any luck, we'll all learn how to filter and absorb it all, too!

Enjoy the RSS ride!