RSS

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication, a method for allowing Internet users to automatically obtain up-to-date information from their favorite sources.


The concept was conceived in 1999, but unknown to most of us until 2004, the year of the weblog. The bloggers who hounded the presidential candidates and humbled Dan Rather used RSS to broadcast their words.
Now,nearly every media company in the world is imitating them, with RSS ''feeds" sent from their websites to millions of subscribers.

2007 is shaping up as the year of the podcast and the vlog -- audio and video programming created by independent authors and posted on the Internet.
Again,it's RSS time. A fan of Al Franken need never miss his radio show.
He can use a bit of RSS-based software to check for each new episode and automatically download it for later listening.

Consumers can enjoy the benefits of RSS without paying a dime. Software to let you subscribe to RSS website feeds can be downloaded free; one such program is built into the popular Firefox Internet browser.
You can also get free podcasting and vlogging programs.
The latest version of Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes software includes listings for about 20,000 podcasts.
Click a button, and the iTunes music player locks onto the correct RSS feed and downloads the podcasts of your choice.