Sabbatical and RSS

Alright, apparently I've taken [another] two week sabbatical from blog posting. This is not entirely my fault as I've been very distracted at work by a situation I'm unable to post about...at least not yet (hopefully soon). But be that as I may, I feel I owe my roughly 7 readers an updated entry. Plus a Lady called me on it in the last post's comments :-) But before I get into my monologue, this Thumb Thing is interesting. As though reading a book weren't "high-tech" enough...it's cheap, but I think I'd feel a little lazy using it.

Today I'll be introducing RSS readers to all you that have asked about it (Java, I know that at least you should be interested). I know my twin wrote about it a while back, but I'll detail it out a little more. RSS is basically a way for websites to broadcast, very simply, when they have updated content on the site. It's a stripped down web document that doesn't look like much if you just visit it, but if you have an RSS reader you will be alerted to the updates, making it so you don't have to visit everyday and physically check the site yourself. This is good for various websites, news sites, and particularly blogs. I actually have a large number of blogs that I visit *only* when they update, and I know that because my RSS reader checks them all in a about 10 seconds and lets me know who has new posts.

If you'd like to try an RSS reader, you can download a stand alone one or, if you use Firefox (and I hope you do), you can download an extension that allows you to check RSS feeds directly from the browser. Very easy, very useful, and very free. I will be covering the Firefox extension I use and how to get it, but there are several other extensions worth looking at. I use a Firefox extension called Sage, which is a lightweight RSS reader.

First, open Firefox and goto "Tools -> Extensions" using the menu bar at top. A smaller window will pop up detailing your current installed extensions. Goto the lower right corner and click on the link that says "Get more extensions." This will send you to the Mozilla/Firefox extensions webpage. On the upper right side type "Sage RSS" into the search box --- make sure you're searching only the "Extensions" and not the "Entire Site" by changing the dropdown box beside the search box. Sage should be your second result, so click on it. Feel free to read the description and user comments, but at some point click the "Install Now" link, at which point Firefox will download and install Sage for you. Close and restart Firefox.

Once back in Firefox hit ALT+S and a side bar should appear on your lefthand side (hit ALT+S again to make it disappear - or just click the X) . Goto a blog you read and hit the magnifying glass. If there is an RSS feed in the new window, select it and click "Add Feed." It'll appear in the list. Click it and you're browser window will show a quick text version of the content on the site/blog. Click the title of the blog or the actual post to go to the site. I have 24 websites/blogs I currently keep track of, and it takes me no time at all to check only the updated ones. To check if any thing on your list has updated you'll have to click the refresh icon beside the magnifying glass. The sites that go bold have new content.

Hope that helps someone out there. It's useful. Keep in mind that Sage only updates blog posts or new articles and does *not* indicate new comments to blog posts. But if you know which posts you're watching comments on, then it's still easy to get there.