What is RSS? In a world heaving under the weight of billions of web pages, keeping up to date with the information you want can be a drag. Wouldn't it be better to have the latest news and features delivered directly to you, rather than clicking from site to site? Well now you can, thanks to a very clever service, RSS. There is some discussion as to what RSS stands for, but the majority plump for 'Really Simple Syndication'. Put plainly, it allows you to identify the content you like and have it delivered directly to you. It takes the hassle out of staying up-to-date, by showing you the very latest information that you are interested in. Simply look for the RSS icon to identify content that we have made RSS ready. Not all websites currently provide RSS, but it is growing rapidly in popularity and soon many will. What is Podcasting? Podcasting is a method of publishing via the Internet, allowing users to subscribe to a feed of new files (usually MP3s). It became popular in late 2004, largely to automate downloading of audio onto portable players or personal computers. The word "podcasting" is a portmanteau that combines the words "broadcasting" and "iPod." The term can be misleading since neither podcasting nor listening to podcasts requires an iPod or any portable music player. For that reason, since September 2004 various writers have suggested reinterpreting the letters POD to create "backronyms" such as "Personal On-Demand."[1] However, the word is rarely presented as "PODcasting." Podcasting is distinct from other types of online media delivery because of its subscription model, which uses the RSS 2.0 XML (or RDF XML) format to deliver an enclosed file. Podcasting enables independent producers to create self-published, syndicated "radio shows," and gives broadcast radio programs a new distribution method. Listeners may subscribe to feeds using "podcatching" software (a type of aggregator), which periodically checks for and downloads new content automatically. Some podcatching software is also able to synchronise (copy) podcasts to portable music players (such as iTunes). Any digital audio player or computer with audio-playing software can play podcasts. The same technique can deliver video files, and by 2005 some aggregators could play video as well as audio. If you are interested, you can learn more about it here or here. How do I start using RSS feeds? In general, the first thing you need is something called a news reader. There are many different versions, some of which are accessed using a browser, and some of which are downloadable applications. All allow you to display and subscribe to the RSS feeds you want. Once you have chosen a news reader, all you have to do is to decide what content you want. If you click on the icon you can subscribe to the feed in various ways, including by dragging the URL of the RSS feed into your news reader or by cutting and pasting the same URL into a new feed in your news reader. Some browsers, including Firefox, Opera and Safari, have functionality which automatically picks up RSS feeds for you. For more details on these, please check their websites. How do I get a News Reader? There is a range of different news readers available and new versions are appearing all the time. Different news readers work on different operating systems, so you will need to take this into account when you make your choice. Windows Newz Crawler FeedDemon Awasu Mac OS X Newsfire NetNewsWire Web BloglinesMy Yahoo! NewsGator