What is RSS and How Do I Use It?

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You’ve probably heard the term RSS, but you might not know what it means. In fact there are several different explanations for what RSS stands for, though the most common is “Really Simple Syndication.”
Basically, RSS is a way to “subscribe” to blog. With RSS, you can sit back and have blog entries delivered to you, instead of using your Web browser to visit a blog to see what’s new. In RSS jargon, a subscription is called a “feed,” because it’s a stream of information that your RSS reader “consumes” and displays for you to read. It’s a bit like receiving email messages.
Here’s an example of an RSS feed: I have a blog, called Mad Professor (madprofessor.net), where I review books, tools, toys, software, movies, and music. One way to read the blog is by visiting the Web site, which looks like the screenshot on page 28.
Another way to read Mad Professor is by subscribing to its RSS feed. The image on page 29 shows what Mad Professor looks like in an RSS reader.
I’m a devoted RSS user. I have RSS subscriptions to a couple of hundred different blogs, and I can go through them very quickly using my RSS reader program. Instead of having to visit all those site individually, I can browse a list of headlines from all my subscribed feeds in one window. If I’m not interested in a headline, I don’t bother reading the post. (Most RSS reader also allow you to browse complete posts, but keep in mind that some blogs only publish their headlines to RSS to keep you clicking through to their sites-and bring in some ad revenue while you’re at it.) And I prefer the clean, spare look of RSS to the many over-designed, slow-loading blogs out there. (Why do so many bloggers think yellow text on a purple background is cool?