RSS Feeds

We have just added three new RSS Feeds to the site for anyone who uses RSS [Really Simple Syndication] The three feeds currently are; News Articles Forum If you have an RSS reader or you just use your web browser, you can subscribe to any or all of the feeds to keep you up to date with what's happening in the wonderful world of Coastguards of Yesteryear.

What is RSS?
RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. It provides an easy way to gather and display information from varied and multiple sources, including news stories, updates to Web sites, business and stock statistics, and new posts to blogs.

You may have noticed the little orange RSS or XML icons inviting you to "syndicate this page" on some of the sites you visit regularly. Does this look familiar?

Why should I use RSS?
In short, RSS is a timesaver.

For example, lets say that you visit a number of sites (such as national news sites, industry sites, tech news sites, or other sites related to your job) several times daily. Rather than spending 4 - 5 minutes scanning each site looking for new information, you can subscribe to RSS feeds for those sites and the new articles will be delivered to you as they become available.

What are RSS feeds and how do they work?
Think of RSS feeds as targeted headlines for Web surfing. They are compiled, updated, and distributed in Extensible Markup Language (XML). Each feed contains a list of new articles from a site with a title, summary, and link to the full article for each item. So, if you are interested in reading a particular article that has just been posted to one of your favorite sites, you simply click the corresponding link.

To read these feeds, you need a tool called a feed reader or news aggregator. It maintains a list of the Web feeds you syndicated, checks them at regular intervals for updates, and displays their contents in a readable format. All feed readers track what you've read previously and highlight new content for easy scanning.

How do I get started?

1. Get a feed reader. There are two types:

• Web-based: With this type of reader, you can check your feeds from any computer, which is very convenient but it comes at a cost: limited functionality and speed.



• Application-based: With this type of reader, you get a more polished and full-featured product, but it lacks mobility.

Free Readers;

RSSReader - www.rssreader.com
NewsGator - www.newsgator.com
Google Reader - www.google.com/reader

As always, suggestions and ideas are welcome.

Regards,
Philip

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