Useful: Really Simple Syndication
I’m reading lots for the sake of business. This includes reading lots of internet news articles and trying to decipher what’s useful. In doing this, I learned a bit more about RSS.
If you’re using Bloglines, you’re using a version of Really Simple Syndication (RSS). If you’re using my.yahoo.com for a news browser, same thing. There are lots of variant products out there. NetNewsWire and Gator are a few other RSS apps out there. But the one I found that I really ended up liking was Thunderbird.
Are you using Firefox as your browser? The folks who did Firefox also made an email application called Thunderbird. The email is probably decent, too, but I’m not using it. I’m using the RSS part of it. But I’ll go you one better.
I read an article about a really neat idea. Do you have one of those tiny USB drives? Some folks call them thumb drives. They’re little portable storage devices that plug into computers via a USB port. Well, I read this idea of putting your own portable applications on there, especially a portable web browser and an RSS reader. This guy named John Haller made teeny tiny versions of Firefox and Thunderbird and that’s what I’m using. Portable Thunderbird.
This thing rocks. Now, I can read through lots of blogs and articles and informational posts in no time. I highly recommend you using a tool like this to get the most out of your browsing time. If you’re busy and have a limited time to surf such information, it’s a great method to keep in touch with the blogs you like. (By the way, if folks are blogging but don’t offer a built-in RSS feed, you can usually make your own, using a free website called feedburner.com). I highly recommend them, too.
I had a great weekend. I took the kid swimming Saturday morning and I went running Sunday morning. Kat and I played Yahtzee at the kitchen table Saturday night and I drank a few Sam’s Summers. What a fine beverage. By the way, check out the book I’m reading about a guy who started his own brewery (right column at my site).
QUESTION: Are any of you (or people you know) either information architects or usability engineers? Let me know.
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