September 16, 2008 at 00:23

Information management or how to curb RSS



    What is RSS, many of the readers know. As Wikipedia says -
    a family of XML formats for describing news feeds, article announcements, changes to blogs, etc. Information from various sources presented in RSS format can be collected, processed and presented to the user in a form convenient for him by special aggregator programs.

    Most of all I like the decryption Really Simple Syndication - a very simple acquisition of information . In this article, I will not go into the details and history of RSS, but rather concentrate on using this powerful tool.


    But still a little history


    Previously, we had to “extract” information on the Internet in various ways:


    If we wanted to find out the weather, we went to the site, found the necessary information or subscribed to the mailing list by mail. If we were interested in whether someone answered the comment, again we had to constantly go to the site. The user was isolated in the “information vacuum”.

    However, with the advent of RSS, everything has changed:


    Today, the user is the center of the information system , which adds much more information management capabilities and saves a lot of time. On the other hand, the volume of information received has also grown with RSS. How to deal with them - now we find out.

    RSS aggregator (RSS reader)


    The most well-established way to use RSS is with RSS readers : Google Reader, Bloglines, NewsGator, etc. Today, the most common are Internet applications, because they are free from the disadvantages of desktop programs. News feeds (feeds, feeds) on the Internet RSS readers are always relevant - no matter what device you read them on (although the same Snarfer can synchronize your RSS library, but only through Bloglines). The device can be your working and home computer, player, smartphone and any device that supports this format. Choosing an RSS reader is a matter of taste, but they are not arguing about them;)

    Tips for beginners:
    1. Add channels gradually ;
    2. It is not worth reading ALL the news that they managed to read - they managed to. Anyway, if you are subscribed to several sources of similar subjects, thanks to the echo-chamber effect, you will not miss anything important. In short, don't be afraid of the “Read All” button;
    3. Allocate a certain time for reading news - for example, 15 minutes at the beginning of each hour. Reading feeds is akin to a drug;
    4. If you don’t have time, but really want to read, keep the articles you are interested in ;
    5. Remember to add tags and folders as the collection grows;
    6. Do not be afraid to delete news feeds ;


    IM and Twitter



    It's no secret that sometimes you need to receive news faster than anyone (bloggers, reporters). To do this, you can configure your Gtalk / ICQ / MSN or Twitter accounts to receive RSS. For IM services you can use:

    Add channels very carefully . With my 160 channels, I got news every second .


    The most interesting blogs and news resources can be added to Twitter. Usually on sites you can find out the nickname of a person registered on Twitter, by subscribing to which, the news will come immediately to you.

    We filter


    Over time, the library will grow so much that there simply will not be enough time physically. Here RSS filters will help us . The most famous:
    http://www.aiderss.com
    AideRss - based on algorithms , highlights the most important and discussed news.


    http://www.feedhub.com
    FeedHub - to learn based on your interests , you vote “for” or “against” and gradually should receive only those articles that interest you.


    http://www.feedhaus.com
    FeedHaus - based on your tag cloud, you only get relevant information.

    Hyper powerful keyword filtering system - almost like Google Alerts - only with advanced features -Filtrbox . Are you wondering who is talking about you, where was your site mentioned, or when is your favorite band coming to your city? No problem - set up and enjoy.

    Listening


    No time to read? Well, several services will solve this problem. On the road or behind the wheel - it is great to pass the time and stay at the peak of awareness.

    Experimenting


    What if the site does not have an RSS feed ? Then services such as

    Setting them up is easy enough.

    For more exotic purposes (for example, you are looking for a designer’s work and would like to receive updates from 10 sites and answers to your requests in one feed), Yahoo! Pipes and FeedInformer .

    Want to get Google search results in RSS (maybe your site came first :)? feedmysearch.com

    For fans



    Snackr - with this application you will always keep abreast. After all, the news line is always on the screen.

    Are following


    Let's say that by the nature of your activity you have to constantly monitor several sources . Services such as Netvibes , Pageflakes , etc. are most suitable for you . On one page you can arrange several important sources and check, say, after 20 minutes. You can add feeds from your experiments here.


    Using some of the proposed methods (who like what), you can significantly increase productivity and forget about boredom.

    Image credits: lifehacker.com, google.com, snackr.net
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