Really Simple Syndication

It's come to my attention that some people — *cough* my wife *cough* — remain unfamiliar with the glory that is RSS. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication, and it's as easy as its name makes it sound. You know that little orange icon that shows up all over the internet? That's the RSS icon, hanging out to let you know you have the option of subscribing to a "feed". Feeds are an easy way to get updates from sources you care about, like news sites or your friends' blogs.

RSS readers take the feeds you're interested in and put them all in one place, saving you the time and hassle of remembering to check each site individually. Think of it like creating your own online newspaper or magazine — you pick the articles, so it only displays the information you want to read (like my blog posts, for example). Personally, I use Google Reader (also check out their gadget for your iGoogle page).

Once you've signed up for Google Reader, just add the feeds that interest you by clicking on the RSS icon and selecting "Add to Google".

To subscribe to this blog, it's actually even easier — I recently added Blogger's "Followers" widget to the sidebar on the right. If you enjoy reading my posts, I'd encourage you to become a follower. Thanks! Enjoy the world of RSS.