Internet Explorer 7.0 to have full Support for RSS Feeds
In the latest article from Brian Livingston he reports that the next version of IE will have full support for RSS feeds. He quotes another interesting statistic that only 4% of internet users have experience with RSS feeds. When Internet Explorer supports the easy subscription of RSS feeds this will kick RSS usage into high gear! This is really exciting news!
I highly recommend reading Brian's stuff. Past articles are stored on his site.
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Saturday, June 25, 2005
Variable Data Information Printing
I always learn something new at the Committee meetings and today was no exception.
There was an interesting discussion of the evolution of Variable Data Information Printing.
This is the first time I had heard of this. From what I am told there are some really cool systems out there that will allow clients to ‘build’ their own ads from a preselected options of images and text and actually create the printer ready files for the print house. The example given was for Chevrolet working with their agency to offer this ‘self service’ option to their dealers around the country. Another example was a network of hospitals that had their budgets dramatically cut. This type of system allowed their agency to keep them as a client.
One committee member had just launched a ASP based product called Ad Builder. The cost was $7500 to set up and then about $1000 a month to run. He said this was a very robust system that allowed the client to swap out creative as well as text and was meant for producing ads publication. Other systems mentioned that offered this kind of functionality were Saepio, BrandBuilder, Pica9. Other systems were mentioned for direct mail application variable data in the 50,000 to 250,000 print run size was iWay. He said this cost about $1000 to set up and then ran about $150 a month. This sounds interesting and I will continue to investigate.
I always learn something new at the Committee meetings and today was no exception.
There was an interesting discussion of the evolution of Variable Data Information Printing.
This is the first time I had heard of this. From what I am told there are some really cool systems out there that will allow clients to ‘build’ their own ads from a preselected options of images and text and actually create the printer ready files for the print house. The example given was for Chevrolet working with their agency to offer this ‘self service’ option to their dealers around the country. Another example was a network of hospitals that had their budgets dramatically cut. This type of system allowed their agency to keep them as a client.
One committee member had just launched a ASP based product called Ad Builder. The cost was $7500 to set up and then about $1000 a month to run. He said this was a very robust system that allowed the client to swap out creative as well as text and was meant for producing ads publication. Other systems mentioned that offered this kind of functionality were Saepio, BrandBuilder, Pica9. Other systems were mentioned for direct mail application variable data in the 50,000 to 250,000 print run size was iWay. He said this cost about $1000 to set up and then ran about $150 a month. This sounds interesting and I will continue to investigate.
Yet another interesting IT committee meeting today.We had a representative from Apple in to discuss the goings on and the future direction for Apple and Intel Patrick Dennard was available to answer questions.
Timeline and strategy moving forward:
As the whole world now knows by now, Steve Jobs announced at the latest Word Wide Developers Conference that Apple is switching from the PowerPC chip to an Intel chip.
Why switch to Intel? The quick answer is that Apple had issues with IBM’s production cycle and missed release deadlines because the chips were not ready. Patrick told us that apple was convinced that the future roadmap laid out by Intel would allow Apple to continue to increase its functionality and processor speed and meet its production goals.
Apple’s plan is to roll out the Intel processors to the consumer first in 2006 (Mac Mini and iMac etc.) and then to the G5 Desktops (or what ever they will call them then) in 2007 soon to be followed by XServe. There are no definitive answers as of yet, but the general consensus is that Apple will be using some sort of 64 bit chip (though probably not Itanium). Patrick told us that apple has been running OS X on Intel processors essentially since the initial release so that the OS is essentially ready for prime time. The decision to make the announcement 2 years early was to give time for the developers to port their apps over to the new platform. Apple has an app called Rosetta that will translate the PPC application binaries to run on the new Intel platform. According to Patrick, there will be a ‘slight’ lag time in starting up the applications through Rosetta, but from what he says, he doesn’t think it will impact the performance once the application has launched. Personally I’m not too sure about this. My guess is that this is going to be a fairly processor intensive process and will degrade performance in non-native MacIntel applications.
We had quite a bit of time to ask questions and there was quite a lively discussion. I asked if he had heard of the Robert Cringely article on how the WWDC announcement is leading towards an Intel purchase of Apple. Patrick had not heard of this and brushed it off saying that there have been rumors of other takeovers from Disney and Sony etc… One committee member asked if he should wait to purchase new server hardware. Of course the answer from the SALES rep was it depends on your application and do you want to wait for 3 years to add hardware? As time goes on it will be interesting to see how Apple handles this question and also to see how it will impact overall sales. Some on the committee were anxiously awaiting the release of the G5 powerbook. Well, the answer that came back was there ISN'T going to be one. Another member asked about OS X running on non-apple x86 boxes. The answer was, it will probably be possible, but OS X will only be supported on MacIntel hardware. Another committee member said there are ALREADY hacks out there to get OS X running on non-apple hardware, so this will be inevitable as Apple migrates away from the PPC chips.
Concerns of DRM at the hardware level making it more difficult for agencies to do their job
There was quite a lengthy discussion on the concern that Intel has digital rights management built into the hardware. There was a lively debate about the legality of this with issues of copyright law and basic tenets of the constitution thrown out as reasons both for and against it. The basic concern is that hardware manufacturers can dictate the use of the installed software. I wasn’t too clear on the really strong opposition to this, but I will continue to investigate so that I can form a proper option. I look forward to continuing this discussion with my fellow committee members.
Continuing problems with SMB
I took this opportunity to vent about my issues with using SMB to connect to my windows file server. Essentially I bitched at the SMB implementation that Apple implemented (i.e. SAMBA doesn’t have these problems). Patrick tried to convince me that the solution was to switch to XServe. Well, I can tell you that isn’t happening any time soon and I am still angry that I had to invest additional funds in a 3rd party product (AdMitMac) to get SMB to work. He said he would put me in touch with a support engineer at Apple to discuss. We shall see what comes out of it.
Issues with AD integration
A few members mentioned that they had problems integrating XServe and OSX into their Active Directory environments. Although other committee members stated they had only minor problems and that essentially everything worked properly. The Apple rep said that he never recommends integrating Mac with AD without having an Apple consultant involved (not 3rd party). He said that there are 5 in the country and they charge about $1800 a day to come on site. They not only fix your integration issues, but also document all the changes and train the staff. Patrick recommended going directly to Apple for consulting because they have direct access to the system engineers to more efficiently solve any issues that may arise.
Concerns about non-responsive sales reps
No names were given, however this seemed to be a common problem among several committee members. One member said that Apple lost a $50,000 sale because of poor response from their Apple rep. Patrick mentioned that they have a renewed interest in the enterprise market and to forward the reps names so he can investigate.
Concerns about 16 month upgrade cycle and the process and cost involved for upgrades
One committee member voiced concern about the 16 month upgrade cycle for OSX for both clients and servers. He voiced frustration about both the upgrade costs and the time and effort it took to implement. Patrick said that OS X is now a much more mature product and that he has been told the upgrade cycle will not be as aggressive going forward, however he could not give us any more detail.
Concerns about Quark
Concerns about the time it took for Quark to upgrade to OSX came up. The question was asked about the next migration to MacIntel. The rep politely answered they are available to support all of their vendors, but they will NOT do the programming for them. This then launched into the discussion of the migration to Indesign. The general consensus was in many agencies there is a migration away from Quark to InDesign. InDesign is seen as a viable alternative to Quark Xpress so if Quark drops the ball again this could severely impact their install base and could be another nail in their coffin.
Recommendation to Attend WWDC:
Patrick strongly encouraged each of us to attend the next World Wide Developers Conference. He said that this is a rare opportunity to have access to the Apple engineers. One committee member seconded this and told us how he was able to talk to one Apple programmer to solve his problem.
Timeline and strategy moving forward:
As the whole world now knows by now, Steve Jobs announced at the latest Word Wide Developers Conference that Apple is switching from the PowerPC chip to an Intel chip.
Why switch to Intel? The quick answer is that Apple had issues with IBM’s production cycle and missed release deadlines because the chips were not ready. Patrick told us that apple was convinced that the future roadmap laid out by Intel would allow Apple to continue to increase its functionality and processor speed and meet its production goals.
Apple’s plan is to roll out the Intel processors to the consumer first in 2006 (Mac Mini and iMac etc.) and then to the G5 Desktops (or what ever they will call them then) in 2007 soon to be followed by XServe. There are no definitive answers as of yet, but the general consensus is that Apple will be using some sort of 64 bit chip (though probably not Itanium). Patrick told us that apple has been running OS X on Intel processors essentially since the initial release so that the OS is essentially ready for prime time. The decision to make the announcement 2 years early was to give time for the developers to port their apps over to the new platform. Apple has an app called Rosetta that will translate the PPC application binaries to run on the new Intel platform. According to Patrick, there will be a ‘slight’ lag time in starting up the applications through Rosetta, but from what he says, he doesn’t think it will impact the performance once the application has launched. Personally I’m not too sure about this. My guess is that this is going to be a fairly processor intensive process and will degrade performance in non-native MacIntel applications.
We had quite a bit of time to ask questions and there was quite a lively discussion. I asked if he had heard of the Robert Cringely article on how the WWDC announcement is leading towards an Intel purchase of Apple. Patrick had not heard of this and brushed it off saying that there have been rumors of other takeovers from Disney and Sony etc… One committee member asked if he should wait to purchase new server hardware. Of course the answer from the SALES rep was it depends on your application and do you want to wait for 3 years to add hardware? As time goes on it will be interesting to see how Apple handles this question and also to see how it will impact overall sales. Some on the committee were anxiously awaiting the release of the G5 powerbook. Well, the answer that came back was there ISN'T going to be one. Another member asked about OS X running on non-apple x86 boxes. The answer was, it will probably be possible, but OS X will only be supported on MacIntel hardware. Another committee member said there are ALREADY hacks out there to get OS X running on non-apple hardware, so this will be inevitable as Apple migrates away from the PPC chips.
Concerns of DRM at the hardware level making it more difficult for agencies to do their job
There was quite a lengthy discussion on the concern that Intel has digital rights management built into the hardware. There was a lively debate about the legality of this with issues of copyright law and basic tenets of the constitution thrown out as reasons both for and against it. The basic concern is that hardware manufacturers can dictate the use of the installed software. I wasn’t too clear on the really strong opposition to this, but I will continue to investigate so that I can form a proper option. I look forward to continuing this discussion with my fellow committee members.
Continuing problems with SMB
I took this opportunity to vent about my issues with using SMB to connect to my windows file server. Essentially I bitched at the SMB implementation that Apple implemented (i.e. SAMBA doesn’t have these problems). Patrick tried to convince me that the solution was to switch to XServe. Well, I can tell you that isn’t happening any time soon and I am still angry that I had to invest additional funds in a 3rd party product (AdMitMac) to get SMB to work. He said he would put me in touch with a support engineer at Apple to discuss. We shall see what comes out of it.
Issues with AD integration
A few members mentioned that they had problems integrating XServe and OSX into their Active Directory environments. Although other committee members stated they had only minor problems and that essentially everything worked properly. The Apple rep said that he never recommends integrating Mac with AD without having an Apple consultant involved (not 3rd party). He said that there are 5 in the country and they charge about $1800 a day to come on site. They not only fix your integration issues, but also document all the changes and train the staff. Patrick recommended going directly to Apple for consulting because they have direct access to the system engineers to more efficiently solve any issues that may arise.
Concerns about non-responsive sales reps
No names were given, however this seemed to be a common problem among several committee members. One member said that Apple lost a $50,000 sale because of poor response from their Apple rep. Patrick mentioned that they have a renewed interest in the enterprise market and to forward the reps names so he can investigate.
Concerns about 16 month upgrade cycle and the process and cost involved for upgrades
One committee member voiced concern about the 16 month upgrade cycle for OSX for both clients and servers. He voiced frustration about both the upgrade costs and the time and effort it took to implement. Patrick said that OS X is now a much more mature product and that he has been told the upgrade cycle will not be as aggressive going forward, however he could not give us any more detail.
Concerns about Quark
Concerns about the time it took for Quark to upgrade to OSX came up. The question was asked about the next migration to MacIntel. The rep politely answered they are available to support all of their vendors, but they will NOT do the programming for them. This then launched into the discussion of the migration to Indesign. The general consensus was in many agencies there is a migration away from Quark to InDesign. InDesign is seen as a viable alternative to Quark Xpress so if Quark drops the ball again this could severely impact their install base and could be another nail in their coffin.
Recommendation to Attend WWDC:
Patrick strongly encouraged each of us to attend the next World Wide Developers Conference. He said that this is a rare opportunity to have access to the Apple engineers. One committee member seconded this and told us how he was able to talk to one Apple programmer to solve his problem.
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Sign the petition telling Congress to save NPR and PBS:
http://www.moveon.org/publicbroadcasting/
The House of Representatives is about to vote on whether to slash funding for NPR and PBS, starting with "Sesame Street," "Reading Rainbow" and other commercial-free children's shows. If approved, this would be the most severe cut in the history of public broadcasting, threatening to pull the plug on Big Bird, Cookie Monster and Oscar the Grouch.
The cuts would eliminate more than $200 million for NPR, PBS and local stations immediately, with more cuts likely in the future. The loss could kill beloved children's shows like "Clifford the Big Red Dog," "Arthur," and "Postcards from Buster." Rural stations and those serving low-income communities might not survive. Other stations would have to increase corporate sponsorships.
The House will vote on the cuts as soon as Tuesday. Can you help us reach 1 million signatures calling on Congress to save NPR and PBS?
http://www.moveon.org/publicbroadcasting/
Read the New York Times story on the threat to NPR and PBS at:
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=753
http://www.moveon.org/publicbroadcasting/
The House of Representatives is about to vote on whether to slash funding for NPR and PBS, starting with "Sesame Street," "Reading Rainbow" and other commercial-free children's shows. If approved, this would be the most severe cut in the history of public broadcasting, threatening to pull the plug on Big Bird, Cookie Monster and Oscar the Grouch.
The cuts would eliminate more than $200 million for NPR, PBS and local stations immediately, with more cuts likely in the future. The loss could kill beloved children's shows like "Clifford the Big Red Dog," "Arthur," and "Postcards from Buster." Rural stations and those serving low-income communities might not survive. Other stations would have to increase corporate sponsorships.
The House will vote on the cuts as soon as Tuesday. Can you help us reach 1 million signatures calling on Congress to save NPR and PBS?
http://www.moveon.org/publicbroadcasting/
Read the New York Times story on the threat to NPR and PBS at:
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=753
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Snapple's attempt at the world record Ice pop ends in a sticky yucky mess.
Too bad they didn't hire Mason ;-). We helped Bruegger's with the worlds largest bagel
The bagel was sliced and served to fair visitors who were able to make donations to help benefit food banks in Syracuse, Rochester and Albany, New York.
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Our client Gowrie, is a corporate sponsor for High Hopes Therapeutic Riding. It looks like a really cool program for special needs kids.
The Mason Team are making progress on the Blogging front. The OPML reading list project continues to move forward (we have a status meeting tomorrow).
I had a meeting with the executive committee this morning
Here is the agenda:
1. Overview of project (RSS reading lists by industry category with each containing the Mason blog)
1. Jack perform a 15 minute demo of the Bloglines.com feed aggregator system
2. 5 minute discussion to finalize the name of the blog (working title: "Brand Trail")
3. 5 minute discussion to decide if we are hosting this on mason23.com or on a separate URL
4. 20 minute discussion on the process - content, time to read Feeds, post articles, case studies, commentary cross post on other blogs
5. 10 minute Q&A
Meeting notes:
I had a meeting with the executive committee this morning
Here is the agenda:
1. Overview of project (RSS reading lists by industry category with each containing the Mason blog)
1. Jack perform a 15 minute demo of the Bloglines.com feed aggregator system
2. 5 minute discussion to finalize the name of the blog (working title: "Brand Trail")
3. 5 minute discussion to decide if we are hosting this on mason23.com or on a separate URL
4. 20 minute discussion on the process - content, time to read Feeds, post articles, case studies, commentary cross post on other blogs
5. 10 minute Q&A
Meeting notes:
- All executive committee members will sign up for a bloglines.com account to aggregate our RSS feeds and will share them with the group.
- The name of the mason blog will be "Brand Trial"
- The blog will be hosted on mason23.com/blog
- Fran and Norm will put together a blogging mission statement to be ready for 3pm on Monday
- Charlie and the team will start to generate topics for brand trial
- Anyone in the agency can submit a post for the Mason blog. The decision was to have it filtered through one of the Executive committee to make sure it is framed around the notion of brand trial
- Harry will be assigned a block of time each month for research, posting and cross posting on the subject of brand trial
Sunday, June 19, 2005
As we all venture into the world of Blogs and RSS feeds it's always good to learn from the mistakes of others. Here is another post on Ketchum PRs press release that is rather interesting:
Dear Ketchum, welcome to the blogosphere. http://blog.basturea.com/archives/2005/06/18/poor-ketchum/
Dear Ketchum, welcome to the blogosphere. http://blog.basturea.com/archives/2005/06/18/poor-ketchum/
Steve Rubel has an interesting post on something he calls linkblogging.
This sounds like it would be a good idea in addition to our OPML downloads so that people can continue to keep up-to-date with the new blogs we add to our list. This is also a good way for our clients to start to get into blogging to drive traffic to thier sites.
Here is a link to Steve's linkblog: http://tpwireservice.com/
And here is Robert Scoble's http://scobleizer.com/linkblog/feed/
This sounds like it would be a good idea in addition to our OPML downloads so that people can continue to keep up-to-date with the new blogs we add to our list. This is also a good way for our clients to start to get into blogging to drive traffic to thier sites.
Here is a link to Steve's linkblog: http://tpwireservice.com/
And here is Robert Scoble's http://scobleizer.com/linkblog/feed/
Thursday, June 16, 2005
More progress on the OPML project.
Mark has started collecting Lists for:
Cool!
Mark has started collecting Lists for:
- Airlines
- Women's sports/basketball
- Healthcare equipment/drugs
Cool!
Finding the RSS Feed for a Website
The websites you already read may have an RSS feed. So you want to find it. Go to BlogStreet’s RSS Discovery tool and enter in a website. It will return the feed for you.
If that doesn’t find the RSS feed, go to the website whose feed you’re looking for; if it has one, then it probably includes a link to it.
This information is from http://www.faganfinder.com/search/rss.shtml
Directories
Syndic8
Syndic8 is a directory of RSS feeds. You can search, or browse the directory
News Is Free
News Is Free is an online news aggregator and a directory of RSS feeds. You can search, or browse the directory. News Is Free also provides scraped RSS feeds for a number of websites.
BlogStreet’s RSS Directory
BlogStreet contains a number of blog-related tools. The directory lists the RSS feeds organized alphabetically.
Your Favourite Blog
Many blogs include a blogroll (links to other blogs). Many blogrolls also contain links to the RSS files of those blogs. A good way to find RSS feeds that you’re interested in is by folling links from the blogs you already read.
Search Engine Queries
A number of search engines allow you to view their search results in RSS format. This way, you can monitor the results for a subject that you are interested in.
Daypop
Daypop is a search engine for news, blogs, and RSS feeds (the last is powered by News Is Free). Perform a search, and the result has a link to its RSS feed at the top right of the page.
Feedster
Feedster is a search engine for RSS feeds. Perform a search, and the result has a link to its RSS feed at the top of the page.
BlogDigger
BlogDigger is a search engine for RSS feeds. Perform a search, and the result has a link to its RSS feed at the top right of the page.
Technorati
Technorati is a real-time search engine that keeps track of what is going on in the blogosphere - the world of weblogs.
The websites you already read may have an RSS feed. So you want to find it. Go to BlogStreet’s RSS Discovery tool and enter in a website. It will return the feed for you.
If that doesn’t find the RSS feed, go to the website whose feed you’re looking for; if it has one, then it probably includes a link to it.
This information is from http://www.faganfinder.com/search/rss.shtml
Directories
Syndic8
Syndic8 is a directory of RSS feeds. You can search, or browse the directory
News Is Free
News Is Free is an online news aggregator and a directory of RSS feeds. You can search, or browse the directory. News Is Free also provides scraped RSS feeds for a number of websites.
BlogStreet’s RSS Directory
BlogStreet contains a number of blog-related tools. The directory lists the RSS feeds organized alphabetically.
Your Favourite Blog
Many blogs include a blogroll (links to other blogs). Many blogrolls also contain links to the RSS files of those blogs. A good way to find RSS feeds that you’re interested in is by folling links from the blogs you already read.
Search Engine Queries
A number of search engines allow you to view their search results in RSS format. This way, you can monitor the results for a subject that you are interested in.
Daypop
Daypop is a search engine for news, blogs, and RSS feeds (the last is powered by News Is Free). Perform a search, and the result has a link to its RSS feed at the top right of the page.
Feedster
Feedster is a search engine for RSS feeds. Perform a search, and the result has a link to its RSS feed at the top of the page.
BlogDigger
BlogDigger is a search engine for RSS feeds. Perform a search, and the result has a link to its RSS feed at the top right of the page.
Technorati
Technorati is a real-time search engine that keeps track of what is going on in the blogosphere - the world of weblogs.
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
We are getting started with our OPML project today. Here are our next steps:
1. Get a bloglines account setup
2. Create folders in the blogline account for industry segments
3. Start searching in the following areas for RSS feeds
a. Food (restaurants, quick casual/quick serve)
b. Insurance
c. Banking/Financial Services
d. Woman's Sports/Woman's Basketball
e. Healthcare (drugs, equipment, Insurance, Hospitals, Government)
f. Airline Industry
4. Search feed aggregators such as feedster, technorati, feedburner and newsgator (and what ever other ones you find out there)
5. Add feeds to the blogroll on bloglines
6. Probably one of the best ways to find qualified RSS feeds is to look at the links on highly relevant blog sites. Add the RSS feeds where applicable.
Once we have a listing of RSS feeds by category we can start to look at which ones we want to keep and which ones we want to delete. After that we can create the industry OPML files to be posted on our website
Interesting links with backgroud information on RSS:
About Syndication, RSS, and Other Web-Altering Chemicalshttp://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/aboutrss
White Paper - RSS: The Web's Next Big Thing?http://www.mediathink.com/rss/whitepaper.asp
1. Get a bloglines account setup
2. Create folders in the blogline account for industry segments
3. Start searching in the following areas for RSS feeds
a. Food (restaurants, quick casual/quick serve)
b. Insurance
c. Banking/Financial Services
d. Woman's Sports/Woman's Basketball
e. Healthcare (drugs, equipment, Insurance, Hospitals, Government)
f. Airline Industry
4. Search feed aggregators such as feedster, technorati, feedburner and newsgator (and what ever other ones you find out there)
5. Add feeds to the blogroll on bloglines
6. Probably one of the best ways to find qualified RSS feeds is to look at the links on highly relevant blog sites. Add the RSS feeds where applicable.
Once we have a listing of RSS feeds by category we can start to look at which ones we want to keep and which ones we want to delete. After that we can create the industry OPML files to be posted on our website
Interesting links with backgroud information on RSS:
About Syndication, RSS, and Other Web-Altering Chemicalshttp://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/aboutrss
White Paper - RSS: The Web's Next Big Thing?http://www.mediathink.com/rss/whitepaper.asp
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
I did a quick Google search on OPML list aggregation and found this interesting software at http://www.lonopono.com/index.html Their system allows you to drag and drop OPML lists. Do other aggregators do this too?
This will be an important aspect of our OPML industry list project.
This will be an important aspect of our OPML industry list project.
Monday, June 13, 2005
Big news on the RSS front for Mason today. Three new things to announce!
1. As part of our standard operating procedure, we will be RSS enabling all of our clients news pages. We launched Brueggers today and will be adding it to other clients in the near future. Feel free to add the feed! I'm sure our Brueggers team will have more news on this. I will be sure to post it when they do.
2. We are starting work on putting together an OPML library organized by industry category with hand picked RSS feeds selected by our staff. Our plan is to post these OPML libraries on our website along with a tutorial on how to use RSS feeds and feed aggregators. Hopefully people will find this to be beneficial. Our goal is to help industry segments have access to the most relevant information in a timely fashion.
3. The plan is to have more then just little old me posting blog articles. We have started the planning phases to implement the Mason Blog. I should have more news on this tomorrow afternoon.
I was off on Friday and haven't had a chance to review my blogroll. I will try to go through it tonight to post any other interesting info.
1. As part of our standard operating procedure, we will be RSS enabling all of our clients news pages. We launched Brueggers today and will be adding it to other clients in the near future. Feel free to add the feed! I'm sure our Brueggers team will have more news on this. I will be sure to post it when they do.
2. We are starting work on putting together an OPML library organized by industry category with hand picked RSS feeds selected by our staff. Our plan is to post these OPML libraries on our website along with a tutorial on how to use RSS feeds and feed aggregators. Hopefully people will find this to be beneficial. Our goal is to help industry segments have access to the most relevant information in a timely fashion.
3. The plan is to have more then just little old me posting blog articles. We have started the planning phases to implement the Mason Blog. I should have more news on this tomorrow afternoon.
I was off on Friday and haven't had a chance to review my blogroll. I will try to go through it tonight to post any other interesting info.
Friday, June 10, 2005
Macintel
Robert X. Cringely's latest column speculates that Apple and Intel are going to merge.
Check it out here. Now in addition to Wintel, we'll have Macintel!
He always has thought provoking posts.
By the way, I'm a HUGE Cringely fan and own both computer history series "Triumph of the Nerds" and "Nerds 2.0.1" I recommend getting these out of your local library if you are a PC history buff like me.
Robert X. Cringely's latest column speculates that Apple and Intel are going to merge.
Check it out here. Now in addition to Wintel, we'll have Macintel!
He always has thought provoking posts.
By the way, I'm a HUGE Cringely fan and own both computer history series "Triumph of the Nerds" and "Nerds 2.0.1" I recommend getting these out of your local library if you are a PC history buff like me.
I took the day off today to work around the yard. We decided to plan some vegetables this year, so I was digging out about 500 pounds of rocks and listening to Valerie Richardson's show on WPKN
She had a fantastic interview with Brendan Hanrahan. They talked about the natural history of Connecticut and about his book "Great Day Trips in the Connecticut Valley of the Dinosaurs".
Check out the Road to Discovery series of guides to the Natural History of Connecticut.
She had a fantastic interview with Brendan Hanrahan. They talked about the natural history of Connecticut and about his book "Great Day Trips in the Connecticut Valley of the Dinosaurs".
Check out the Road to Discovery series of guides to the Natural History of Connecticut.
Thursday, June 09, 2005
Here is an interesting BusinessWeek article from the May 2, 2005 issue:
Six Tips for Corporate Bloggers
Six Tips for Corporate Bloggers
As we go down this road of evaluating corporate blogs have been asked "why?"Here are a few reasons (among many)
- Show leadership in your area of expertise and market it as an advantage
- Personal Conversation with Prospects and Customers (allow feedback)
- Build a stronger relationship with customers and generate a dialog
- Announcements not worthy of press releases can be published
Can you think of any others?
Our media department gave a great presentation on alternate forms of media meant to augment traditional media outlets. It was a great presentation and I think we all walked away with new ideas for our clients.
Here are some of the topics covered:
• Product Placement
• Product Integration
• Interactive Entertainment
• Video Game Advertising
• Cellular Phone Advertising
• Word-of-Mouth
• Buzz Marketing
• Nightlife Advertising
• Building and Street Displays
• Mobile Advertising
• Aerial Advertising
• In-Hand Advertising
• Airport Advertising
• Sports / Entertainment Venues
• Health Club Advertising
• Movie Advertising
• Grocery Store Advertising
• Shopping Mall Advertising
• Digital Advertising
• Parking / Transit Tickets
• Restroom Advertising
• Gas Station Advertising
Some of these things are new and some have been around for a while, but it was great to see them put together in one presenation. Very Cool Stuff! We should get this up on our website too!
Kudos to Becca, R2 and G for doing such a great job.
Here are some of the topics covered:
• Product Placement
• Product Integration
• Interactive Entertainment
• Video Game Advertising
• Cellular Phone Advertising
• Word-of-Mouth
• Buzz Marketing
• Nightlife Advertising
• Building and Street Displays
• Mobile Advertising
• Aerial Advertising
• In-Hand Advertising
• Airport Advertising
• Sports / Entertainment Venues
• Health Club Advertising
• Movie Advertising
• Grocery Store Advertising
• Shopping Mall Advertising
• Digital Advertising
• Parking / Transit Tickets
• Restroom Advertising
• Gas Station Advertising
Some of these things are new and some have been around for a while, but it was great to see them put together in one presenation. Very Cool Stuff! We should get this up on our website too!
Kudos to Becca, R2 and G for doing such a great job.
I've been thinking wouldn't it be great for us to create RSS feed 'reading lists' based on industry segments such as food, insurance, financial etc...
This is possible with OPML (Outline Processor Markup Language) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OPML that allows these RSS feeds to be downloaded into feed aggregators such as bloglines.com. Here is the spec document on how to create these lists:http://feeds.scripting.com/powerOpmlGuidelines. We could put these reading lists together and then post them on our website to be downloaded into their feed aggregator.
I think this would be a great service to offer! It would be great for clients, prospects, media reps, editors and anyone interested in a particular segment. And NO, it wouldn't have to be all BLOGS. It would include RSS feeds from companies in the industry, trade journal web sites, and even traditional media web sites.
This is possible with OPML (Outline Processor Markup Language) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OPML that allows these RSS feeds to be downloaded into feed aggregators such as bloglines.com. Here is the spec document on how to create these lists:http://feeds.scripting.com/powerOpmlGuidelines. We could put these reading lists together and then post them on our website to be downloaded into their feed aggregator.
I think this would be a great service to offer! It would be great for clients, prospects, media reps, editors and anyone interested in a particular segment. And NO, it wouldn't have to be all BLOGS. It would include RSS feeds from companies in the industry, trade journal web sites, and even traditional media web sites.
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
I just finished watching the BBS documentary that was filmed by Jason Scott of textfiles.org fame. It took me a while to get through it all considering its 3 DVDs chock full of interviews. It really is an amazing story and a real important piece of computer history. BBSs were the blogs of their day.
It really brought back some memories how I got my start in BBSs back in the early 90s. I always had computers through high school and college, but I never had a modem until 1991 when I received a hand-me-down IBM 286 with a 20mb hard drive. That was cool and all (no more swapping floppies when I wanted to spell check my WordPerfect documents!) . But the big news was the Hayes 2400 baud modem that came with it! Now the world was at my fingertips. I soon discovered the world of BBSs and started calling every local number I could find! This was our only connection to the online world until we got our AOL account in 1994. This is about the time that the Internet started to take hold and marked the death toll for the BBSs.
I highly recommend this documentary for anyone interested in the evolution of computer networking and software development .
Here's a breakdown of the episodes:
Baud introduces the story of the beginning of the BBS, including interviews with Ward Christensen and Randy Suess, who used a snowstorm as an inspiration to change the world.
Sysops and Users introduces the stories of the people who used BBSes, and lets them tell their own stories of living in this new world.
Make it Pay covers the BBS industry that rose in the 1980's and grew to fantastic heights before disappearing almost overnight.
Fidonet covers the largest volunteer-run computer network in history, and the people who made it a joy and a political nightmare.
Artscene tells the rarely-heard history of the ANSI Art Scene that thrived in the BBS world, where art was currency and battles waged over nothing more than pure talent.
HPAC (Hacking Phreaking Anarchy Cracking) hears from some of the users of "underground"
BBSes and their unique view of the world of information and computers.
Compression tells the story of the PKWARE/SEA legal battle of the late 1980s and how a fight that broke out over something as simple as data compression resulted in waylaid lives and lost opportunity.
No Carrier wishes a fond farewell to the dial-up BBS and its integration into the Internet.
It really brought back some memories how I got my start in BBSs back in the early 90s. I always had computers through high school and college, but I never had a modem until 1991 when I received a hand-me-down IBM 286 with a 20mb hard drive. That was cool and all (no more swapping floppies when I wanted to spell check my WordPerfect documents!) . But the big news was the Hayes 2400 baud modem that came with it! Now the world was at my fingertips. I soon discovered the world of BBSs and started calling every local number I could find! This was our only connection to the online world until we got our AOL account in 1994. This is about the time that the Internet started to take hold and marked the death toll for the BBSs.
I highly recommend this documentary for anyone interested in the evolution of computer networking and software development .
Here's a breakdown of the episodes:
Baud introduces the story of the beginning of the BBS, including interviews with Ward Christensen and Randy Suess, who used a snowstorm as an inspiration to change the world.
Sysops and Users introduces the stories of the people who used BBSes, and lets them tell their own stories of living in this new world.
Make it Pay covers the BBS industry that rose in the 1980's and grew to fantastic heights before disappearing almost overnight.
Fidonet covers the largest volunteer-run computer network in history, and the people who made it a joy and a political nightmare.
Artscene tells the rarely-heard history of the ANSI Art Scene that thrived in the BBS world, where art was currency and battles waged over nothing more than pure talent.
HPAC (Hacking Phreaking Anarchy Cracking) hears from some of the users of "underground"
BBSes and their unique view of the world of information and computers.
Compression tells the story of the PKWARE/SEA legal battle of the late 1980s and how a fight that broke out over something as simple as data compression resulted in waylaid lives and lost opportunity.
No Carrier wishes a fond farewell to the dial-up BBS and its integration into the Internet.
Listen to good music and help with Autism Research. What's better then that?
I LOVE this Beck sample! http://www.dimensionmix.com/funky%20BK.mov
Beck, Stereolab, the Eels, Irving and the Apples in Stereo are among a slew of artists who will be covering the tunes of electronic-music pioneers Bruce Haack and Esther Nelson as part of the forthcoming LP Dimension Mix. Haack and Nelson founded the Dimension 5 record label, which has released several children's records and influenced the field of electronic music. Produced by Rich Harris and set for release by Eenie Meenie Records, a portion of the album's sales will go toward the charitable organization Cure Autism Now. Look for the disc to hit stores August 23. ...
Check out http://www.dimensionmix.com/ for all the details
I LOVE this Beck sample! http://www.dimensionmix.com/funky%20BK.mov
Beck, Stereolab, the Eels, Irving and the Apples in Stereo are among a slew of artists who will be covering the tunes of electronic-music pioneers Bruce Haack and Esther Nelson as part of the forthcoming LP Dimension Mix. Haack and Nelson founded the Dimension 5 record label, which has released several children's records and influenced the field of electronic music. Produced by Rich Harris and set for release by Eenie Meenie Records, a portion of the album's sales will go toward the charitable organization Cure Autism Now. Look for the disc to hit stores August 23. ...
Check out http://www.dimensionmix.com/ for all the details
Here are some basic definitions to get you up to speed on RSS and Blogging that I found very helpful.
Aggregator
Two main types of aggregators: web-based aggregators and desktop/software aggregators. Web-based aggregators allow individuals to subscribe to feeds online and read feeds in a web browser. Desktop aggregators are software programs installed locally that updates when feeds are updated. The aggregator shows new information and allow for users to read feeds.
Atom
An XML-based file format. Although Atom is not the same as RSS, it has similar functions. FeedForAll will convert Atom feeds to RSS v2 feeds.
Blog
Blog is short for weblog. A weblog is a journal that is frequently updated and intended for general public consumption. Blogs generally represent the personality of the author or the Web site.
Feed
A feed is a machine readable (usually XML) content publication that is updated regularly. Many weblogs publish a feed (usually RSS). Readers can subscribe to these feeds to automatically check for updates
Feed Validator
Tests the formatting of feeds to ensure that they are correctly formed.
OPML
OPML an XML-based format that allows exchange of outline-structured information between applications running on different operating systems and environments.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OPML
RDF
Resource Description Framework. The frameworks for RSS version 1. The RSS v1 format is quite different from all other RSS versions.
RSS
Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary
Syndicate
To supply information or content for simultaneous publications in several periodicals or web sites
Weblog
An online journal or diary that is frequently updated (also referred to as a blog).
XML
eXtensible Markup Language. RSS is based on XML.
Aggregator
Two main types of aggregators: web-based aggregators and desktop/software aggregators. Web-based aggregators allow individuals to subscribe to feeds online and read feeds in a web browser. Desktop aggregators are software programs installed locally that updates when feeds are updated. The aggregator shows new information and allow for users to read feeds.
Atom
An XML-based file format. Although Atom is not the same as RSS, it has similar functions. FeedForAll will convert Atom feeds to RSS v2 feeds.
Blog
Blog is short for weblog. A weblog is a journal that is frequently updated and intended for general public consumption. Blogs generally represent the personality of the author or the Web site.
Feed
A feed is a machine readable (usually XML) content publication that is updated regularly. Many weblogs publish a feed (usually RSS). Readers can subscribe to these feeds to automatically check for updates
Feed Validator
Tests the formatting of feeds to ensure that they are correctly formed.
OPML
OPML an XML-based format that allows exchange of outline-structured information between applications running on different operating systems and environments.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OPML
RDF
Resource Description Framework. The frameworks for RSS version 1. The RSS v1 format is quite different from all other RSS versions.
RSS
Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary
Syndicate
To supply information or content for simultaneous publications in several periodicals or web sites
Weblog
An online journal or diary that is frequently updated (also referred to as a blog).
XML
eXtensible Markup Language. RSS is based on XML.
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Search Engine Optimization - Descriptions and Definitions
Everyday, the Search Engines average 300 MILLION searches. In a recent Forrester Research report 81% of consumers on the Internet find products and services by using the Search Engines.
Two Types of SEO:
1. ORGANIC SEO (AKA Traditional SEO)
- Results appear in regular listing area. Patience is required for this type of result. Sometimes there is too much competition to break into the top rankings
2. PPC (Pay-Per-Click)
- Bidding for sponsored placement in search engines such as Yahoo and Google. Good for quick traffic and for keywords that have too much saturation. This technique is not as easy as one might think. Keywords need to be highly targeted, descriptions need to be optimized and campaigns need to be continuously managed.
LEGAL SEO Techniques -
Keyword-rich content
Optimize key places on the page and throughout the site structure
Legitimate link development
Optimize and wait.
ILLEGAL SEO Techniques - Definitions
Cloaking - any of several means to serve up a different page to the search-engine spider than will be seen by human users - is one of the most controversial methods of search engine optimization. To wit, cloaking can be an illegitimate attempt to mislead search engines regarding the content on a particular Web site
Link spam - Occasionally a problem for some search engines such as Google, which can be fooled into assigning higher relevance to a site based on thousands of inbound links that weren't properly "earned" by the site
Link farms - The main purpose of a link farm is to deceive the indexing programs of Internet search engines that assign rankings according to the number of pages that link to a specific page. If the link farm works as planned, the search engine will believe that the promoted page is hugely popular because of all the pages that link to it and give it a high ranking
Everyday, the Search Engines average 300 MILLION searches. In a recent Forrester Research report 81% of consumers on the Internet find products and services by using the Search Engines.
Two Types of SEO:
1. ORGANIC SEO (AKA Traditional SEO)
- Results appear in regular listing area. Patience is required for this type of result. Sometimes there is too much competition to break into the top rankings
2. PPC (Pay-Per-Click)
- Bidding for sponsored placement in search engines such as Yahoo and Google. Good for quick traffic and for keywords that have too much saturation. This technique is not as easy as one might think. Keywords need to be highly targeted, descriptions need to be optimized and campaigns need to be continuously managed.
LEGAL SEO Techniques -
Keyword-rich content
Optimize key places on the page and throughout the site structure
Legitimate link development
Optimize and wait.
ILLEGAL SEO Techniques - Definitions
Cloaking - any of several means to serve up a different page to the search-engine spider than will be seen by human users - is one of the most controversial methods of search engine optimization. To wit, cloaking can be an illegitimate attempt to mislead search engines regarding the content on a particular Web site
Link spam - Occasionally a problem for some search engines such as Google, which can be fooled into assigning higher relevance to a site based on thousands of inbound links that weren't properly "earned" by the site
Link farms - The main purpose of a link farm is to deceive the indexing programs of Internet search engines that assign rankings according to the number of pages that link to a specific page. If the link farm works as planned, the search engine will believe that the promoted page is hugely popular because of all the pages that link to it and give it a high ranking
Wondering what all the fuss is about Google and Yahoo's record profits? Dan forwarded me some great insights of the importance of integrating Pay-Per-Click advertising with your traditional SEO
Pay Per Click (PPC) Optimization and Management
A recent study by JupiterResearch sighted a 34% increase in paid search from 2003 to 2004 (2.6 billion in advertising in 2004), and predicting an increase to 5.5 billion in 2009. The paid search market is filled with companies that understand PPC can provide an effective way to boost sales and generate leads. However, most companies are not equipped to effectively manage and monitor a successful PPC campaign.
What should you look for in a company to help manage your pay-per-click campaigns? You need to look for a company that provides clients with the experience to effectively manage all aspects of PPC management, including:
Extensive keyword research to ensure clients are effectively utilizing their PPC budget and not targeting keywords with low conversion rates.
- Writing titles and descriptions that target relevant users and enhance visibility in the search engine.
- Reporting on campaign performance including click-thru and conversion rate tracking
- Monitoring all of the advertisement campaigns and creating new ads to ensure priority placement and performance.
- Monitoring keyword status and making adjustments for the best performance
Dan, our resident SEO expert put together some interesting things to consider when selecting a company to help with your SEO program:
Organic (natural) SEO - Search Engine Optimization
In order to reach the complete online audience companies must engage in both paid advertising and organic search engine optimization. A developing trend within organizations is to only undertake one of these types of advertising which can substantially reduce your online visibility. In a recent study by iProspect it found that over 60% of all clicks occurred in the organic listings (the regular listing area on the page). The result of this and other studies clearly shows that companies must pursue organic search engine optimization as part of their SEO strategy.
What should you look for in an SEO provider? A company that provides clients with the marketing knowledge and experience to research, optimize, and effectively manage all aspects of organic search engine optimization, including:
* Extensive keyword research to uncover highly targeted and niche keywords that are relevant to your customers
* Integrate keywords into key areas of the page, file, and image structure
* Optimize specific areas of the page content with the appropriate keywords
* Establish links with reputable and relevant websites
* Submit the site to the top search engines
* Write and optimize a description for submission to the major directories
I often equate SEO to growing a bonsai tree. It takes quite a bit of trimming and grooming to keep it growing right. An integral part of and SEO program is ongoing maintenance.
Maintenance should include:
* Continuously search for relevant linking opportunities
* Monitor competitors, including any possible spamming tactics that effect your website rank
* Monitor changes or trends in the search engine algorithm (the way a search engine determines the rank of a website) and make adjustments when necessary
* Recommendations on where content development is needed to promote the performance of a keyword
* Tracking and reporting of the selected keywords within the major search engines.
Organic (natural) SEO - Search Engine Optimization
In order to reach the complete online audience companies must engage in both paid advertising and organic search engine optimization. A developing trend within organizations is to only undertake one of these types of advertising which can substantially reduce your online visibility. In a recent study by iProspect it found that over 60% of all clicks occurred in the organic listings (the regular listing area on the page). The result of this and other studies clearly shows that companies must pursue organic search engine optimization as part of their SEO strategy.
What should you look for in an SEO provider? A company that provides clients with the marketing knowledge and experience to research, optimize, and effectively manage all aspects of organic search engine optimization, including:
* Extensive keyword research to uncover highly targeted and niche keywords that are relevant to your customers
* Integrate keywords into key areas of the page, file, and image structure
* Optimize specific areas of the page content with the appropriate keywords
* Establish links with reputable and relevant websites
* Submit the site to the top search engines
* Write and optimize a description for submission to the major directories
I often equate SEO to growing a bonsai tree. It takes quite a bit of trimming and grooming to keep it growing right. An integral part of and SEO program is ongoing maintenance.
Maintenance should include:
* Continuously search for relevant linking opportunities
* Monitor competitors, including any possible spamming tactics that effect your website rank
* Monitor changes or trends in the search engine algorithm (the way a search engine determines the rank of a website) and make adjustments when necessary
* Recommendations on where content development is needed to promote the performance of a keyword
* Tracking and reporting of the selected keywords within the major search engines.
Just signed up with ping-o-matic
This is a service that notifies the following feed syndicators that my blog has been updated:
Weblogs.com
Blo.gs
Technorati
Feed Burner
Syndic8
NewsGator
Feedster
My Yahoo!
PubSub.com
Blogdigger
BlogRolling
BlogStreet
Moreover
Weblogalot
This is actually a good list of feed search engines/feed agregators.
It will be interesting to see how this works!
This is a service that notifies the following feed syndicators that my blog has been updated:
Weblogs.com
Blo.gs
Technorati
Feed Burner
Syndic8
NewsGator
Feedster
My Yahoo!
PubSub.com
Blogdigger
BlogRolling
BlogStreet
Moreover
Weblogalot
This is actually a good list of feed search engines/feed agregators.
It will be interesting to see how this works!
RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication.
This is an XML file that is used to create a web feed.
A good place to figure out what RSS is used for is to look at my blog roll (list of web logs I read) at http://www.bloglines.com/public/jcnork.
As you will see, I get updates from the New York Times, CNet and Wired through RSS feeds. You will also see quite a few bloggers including Robert Scoble from Microsoft and other "industry blogs". But I also use it for updates from my family. I get notified when any of my family posts pictures on nork.com, or when my brother Michael writes in his online journal or when my favorite tech writer, Robert Cringely posts a new article.
I have been talking to PR about posting their news releases for clients as RSS feeds so that reporters can be notified instantly when a press release is posted. We will also be implementing a blog for head PhD of the Advanced Development Lab at Speedline Technologies to post information on his latest research. RSS can also be used for when our clients post newsletters on line. It can be used to be notified when a new video has been posted (vlog) or a new audio file (podcast) have been posted.
Shel Isreal is publishing a book on blogging and is posting chapters online as he goes http://redcouch.typepad.com/weblog/. He summarizes the keys to blogs as:
Blogging's Six Pillars
How it all happened is only relevant of course, if its occurrence actually matters, and in the case of blogging we see five reasons why it matters a great deal. Scoble has previously published these as Blogging's Five Pillars. We added one for good measure. Blogs are:
(1) Publishable. Anyone can publish one. You can do it cheaply and often. Each posting is instantly available worldwide.
(2) Findable. Through search engines, people will find blogs by subject, author or both. The more you post the more findable you become.
(3) Social. The blogosphere has been called on big conversation. Interesting topical conversations move from site-to-site, linking to each other. Through blogs, people with shared interests build friendships unrestricted by geographic borders.
(4) Viral. Information often spreads faster through blogs than via a news service. No form of viral marketing matches the speed and efficiency of a blog.
(5) Syndicatable. By clicking on an icon, you can get free home delivery of the RSS-enabled blogs you like into your email software. RSS lets you see if a blog you subscribe to was updated saving you search time on information that interests you. This process is considerably more efficient than the last-generation method of visiting one website at a time, then each page of that website to see if there have been any relevant changes since your last visit.
(6) Linkable. Because each blog can link to all others, every blogger has access to the tens of millions of people who visit the blogosphere every day.
7-17-05 Funny- this was my second blog post and I didn't know about spell check yet! I am number ONE on MSN for people who spell Really Simple Syndication WRONG - Realy Simple Syndication heh notice the one 'l' ;-)...
This is an XML file that is used to create a web feed.
A good place to figure out what RSS is used for is to look at my blog roll (list of web logs I read) at http://www.bloglines.com/public/jcnork.
As you will see, I get updates from the New York Times, CNet and Wired through RSS feeds. You will also see quite a few bloggers including Robert Scoble from Microsoft and other "industry blogs". But I also use it for updates from my family. I get notified when any of my family posts pictures on nork.com, or when my brother Michael writes in his online journal or when my favorite tech writer, Robert Cringely posts a new article.
I have been talking to PR about posting their news releases for clients as RSS feeds so that reporters can be notified instantly when a press release is posted. We will also be implementing a blog for head PhD of the Advanced Development Lab at Speedline Technologies to post information on his latest research. RSS can also be used for when our clients post newsletters on line. It can be used to be notified when a new video has been posted (vlog) or a new audio file (podcast) have been posted.
Shel Isreal is publishing a book on blogging and is posting chapters online as he goes http://redcouch.typepad.com/weblog/. He summarizes the keys to blogs as:
Blogging's Six Pillars
How it all happened is only relevant of course, if its occurrence actually matters, and in the case of blogging we see five reasons why it matters a great deal. Scoble has previously published these as Blogging's Five Pillars. We added one for good measure. Blogs are:
(1) Publishable. Anyone can publish one. You can do it cheaply and often. Each posting is instantly available worldwide.
(2) Findable. Through search engines, people will find blogs by subject, author or both. The more you post the more findable you become.
(3) Social. The blogosphere has been called on big conversation. Interesting topical conversations move from site-to-site, linking to each other. Through blogs, people with shared interests build friendships unrestricted by geographic borders.
(4) Viral. Information often spreads faster through blogs than via a news service. No form of viral marketing matches the speed and efficiency of a blog.
(5) Syndicatable. By clicking on an icon, you can get free home delivery of the RSS-enabled blogs you like into your email software. RSS lets you see if a blog you subscribe to was updated saving you search time on information that interests you. This process is considerably more efficient than the last-generation method of visiting one website at a time, then each page of that website to see if there have been any relevant changes since your last visit.
(6) Linkable. Because each blog can link to all others, every blogger has access to the tens of millions of people who visit the blogosphere every day.
7-17-05 Funny- this was my second blog post and I didn't know about spell check yet! I am number ONE on MSN for people who spell Really Simple Syndication WRONG - Realy Simple Syndication heh notice the one 'l' ;-)...
Monday, June 06, 2005
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