This blog has a link on the left to an RSS Feed. You have probably seen those terms, along with XML and Atom, in a number of other different places as well. The following images, and variations of them, may also look familiar:

RSS is a method for moving content around online, but for the average person there is a more specific use. If you find that you visit blogs and websites on a regular basis to see what’s new, RSS can be a huge help. It allows you to get a list of all the new stories or announcements from your favorite sites in one place. You simply subscribe to the blogs and websites of your choosing and automatically receive the updates as soon as they are posted online.

The list is created by an RSS Reader, also called an Aggregator. That Reader is always out looking for anything new on your favorite sites and brings it all back in summarized form to a single place for you to view whenever you want. If something interesting catches your eye, just click on the item in the list and you will be taken to the full story.

There are many RSS Readers to choose from. Here are a few FREE web-based options (meaning you can view your list of updates wherever you have access to the Internet):

• Bloglines
• Google Reader (you must have a Google account for this one)
• MyYahoo
• NewsGator
• Rojo

All of these are very similar, so you can either pick the first one on the list, or examine them all and decide which one looks the best. Once your RSS Reader account is all set up, look for the symbols above to find the feed on a particular website. Then just follow your RSS Reader’s instructions for adding new feeds to your list.