Every day people put virtual truckloads of information into the public domain. Books are published. Newspapers printed. A lot of that ends up on the Internet as well, along with the words of bloggers and other online denizens. All of these people make content public so that others can hopefully benefit from it.
Once it is out in the public domain, who owns it? Well, the author of course, or in some cases, their employers. That makes sense when we're talking about a web Wage. But sometimes, in order to make it easier for people to find and read the information, it is delivered as an RSS feed. RSS breaks down the information into article-sized chunks and streams it out so that news-reading tools can grab it and display it for users.
MyTVRSS
Create your own TV RSS Feed using MyTVRSS. Select your favorite shows below, and then click Create feed to generate your own personalized RSS feed. We will then alert you through the RSS feed the day an episode is aired.
National Intelligence Adopts RSS
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which controls 16 federal agencies that make up the U.S. intelligence community, is engaged in a technological revolution of sorts.
On at least one technological front, the office on Tuesday broke out an RSS feed on its flashy, newly designed public web site.
By their very nature, regularly updated sites that advertise jobs are ideal platforms for RSS technology. The feeds should be categorised or customisable to your interests and always be free for you to access. Jobseeking is an ideal candidate for RSS technology.
Choose a Domain Choosing a domain is one of the first steps in establishing an online presence. Changing a domain after-the-fact can be time consuming, and can be harmful to search engine ranking, so it is best to get it right the first time around. Follow these simple steps to select a domain name that will represent your online brand...
3rd Party Feeds May Incur Liability Issues A French court has punished web publishers because of snippets of text that appeared on their sites via an RSS reader. It is believed to be the first time that a website operator has been held responsible for content delivered by a third parties RSS feed.
Bloglines will count anyone who is currently subscribed to your blog even if they have not viewed your blog feed ever as a subscriber. Google will count anyone who is currently subscribed to your blog even if they have not viewed your blog feed ever as a subscriber. Microsofts Live.com does not appear to share subscriber numbers. Netvibes will count anyone who is currently subscribed to your blog even if they have not viewed your blog feed ever as a subscriber. NewsGator will count anyone who is currently subscribed to your blog even if they have not viewed your blog feed ever as a subscriber. Pageflakes will count anyone who is currently subscribed to your blog even if they have not viewed your blog feed ever as a subscriber. Rojo will count anyone who is currently subscribed to your blog even if they have not viewed your blog feed ever as a subscriber. Yahoo requires that the subscribed user has viewed (logs into My Yahoo or Yahoo Mail) your feed within 30 days to be counted as a subscriber.
Blog Posts that Attract Attention
Blogs are now a dime a dozen, and bloggers need to make their blog posts stand out. Developing a blog following is not as easy as it once was. Learn how to write blog posts that attract readers and retain their attention. Follow these guidelines to cultivate readers...
Avoid Duplicate Content Penalties
While it may still be debatable whether all the major search engines currently employ a duplicate content penalty, all have made it abundantly clear that they do not have any desire to provide search results that rehash the same content over and over. Actively avoid any potential penalties by taking a proactive approach to building unique content.
China Assures No Internet Blocking During Olympics China is progressing well toward the Olympics with fewer than 130 days remaining, and organizers have given assurances that Internet and media access will meet Olympic standards, an International Olympic Committee official said last week.
Clickz Takes on the Issue of Blog Credibility Organic search results credibility and trustworthiness have always been widely debated. When SEO (define) first became a hot tactic in online marketing, search engines results became littered with spam -- doorway pages, link farms, you name it. Now that the search engines have become smarter and their algorithms increasingly complex, they are much better at weeding out spam.
But how do you define spam? Is it sites that provide no inherent value (e.g., a page full of links or ads) or content that's potentially invalid, unproved, or biased? The answer to that question probably depends a lot on who you ask.
Here is another article from a different source a few months ago:
Credibility online is becoming more and more of an issue. Anyone can have a blog or post to a forum and anyone can edit wiki entries. Web surfers are beginning to comprehend that just because it is in print does not necessarily mean that it is true. In fact, in today's online world, the collective truth might be the closest thing we can get to the real truth. Peer policing and social bookmarking have become common in the online world.
Human nature invariably prompts a level of trust;if it is written, it must be true. We live in a generation where we expect authors, editors and publishers that are qualified to write on various topics. What qualifications are required to post a blog, write an online article, or edit a wiki? Some web surfers may find the answer startling: None. Expertise is no longer a prerequisite. Wikipedia is a popular online reference, that frequently obtains top ranking in search engines as a reference source. How many Wikipedia readers realize that Wikipedia can be edited by anyone at anytime, regardless of their qualifications.
Performing Better Searches
Performing and perfecting search engine results can save web surfers lots of time and energy. Understanding the nuances of searching allows researchers to immediately drill down and locate the information they are seeking, without having to wade through a myriad of irrelevant search results in the process. The increasing complexity of search engines has made understanding search engines a necessity for those who spend any amount of time online. The following search tips are standards that will work in most of the major search engines.
Blogger Ordered to Pay for Libel
A Malaysian court has ordered a top blogger and editors of an opposition newspaper to pay 2.2 million dollars in damages over libel claims by a university head, reports said last Thursday.
Syria is Cracking Down on Web
Syria is cracking down more on Internet use, imposing tighter monitoring of citizens who link to the Web, as well as jailing bloggers who criticize the government and blocking YouTube and other Web sites deemed harmful to state security.
OSHA Using RSS Feeds
OSHA has implemented Really Simple Syndication Feeds to provide OSHA customers a personal, direct channel for receiving the latest news and information from the OSHA Web site.
The feature allows users to track updates and connections across their LinkedIn network via their favorite RSS Reader. For example the feed shows when people in your network connect with other people, make recommendations or update their LinkedIn status.
Top Podcast Tips for a Great Sound
What defines a good podcast? Make no mistake -- there is a difference between a good podcast and a not-so-good podcast. A high-caliber podcast is much more than just decent content. The sound quality, and the way a podcast is recorded, will impact the value of the podcast as well. Podcast structure and pre-planning are also important; do not skimp on the production, as it too can make or break a podcast.
I have a question for any RSS gurus out there: Is there a way to set up my RSS feed so that it does not get published immediately?
The answer is yes, you can use FutureRSS a PHP script to schedule the RSS feed. You can prepublish content weeks or even months in advance, knowing that the content will automatically be displayed at the appropriate time.
89 Year Old Political Blogger
With little money or manpower, a barely literate 89-year-old Malaysian grandmother running for parliament in Malaysias general election has turned to cyberspace to reach out to her voters with a Facebook profile and her own blog.
But a lawyer for the Burlington, Conn., school told the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday that administrators should be allowed to act if such comments are made on the Web.
Avery Doninger, 17, claims officials at Lewis S. Mills High School violated her free speech rights when they barred her from serving on the student council because of what she wrote from her home computer.
The Software Industry Conference is a three day event, that culminates with the Shareware Industry Awards ceremony. There are also dozens of informative, educational breakout sessions covering a wide variety of topics. And if that is not enough there are three nights jam packed with plenty of time to mingle with other attendees, exhibitors, and sponsors including an Exhibit Night featuring the best software development products and services.
Attendee registration is only $199 if you register before April 1st!
Website Purpose
When designing a website, it is important that webmasters ask some general questions before they begin the design process...
Real Estate Video Podcast
The use of technology can define the success or failure of a business. This is no more evident than in the real estate industry. Realtors who flocked to the latest technologies, adopted them, and applied them in order to enhance and sell property, are still prospering.
Web Graphics, Photos and Templates Web Design Elements are topic specific CD ROMs that contain graphics, hiqh quality photographs and web templates about a specific industry. Great solution for small businesses looking for an online identity.
Places to Get Blog Post Ideas
The best blogs and feeds are those that contain unique, fresh, compelling, content. So where do these prolific posters get their ideas? I talked to a handful of bloggers to determine where their inspiration originated for their content.
Not surprisingly, ideas for blog posts or RSS feed items originate or are influenced by other web content. The following are venues for finding your online muse:
TalkDigger Ego Search Tool TalkDigger is another Ego Search tool, enter a search word or phrase and subscribe to the feed generated. The feed ill update each time TalkDigger locates the defined keyword online.
Political Feeds - Locate political feeds and podcasts for politicians. PolFeeds - Collection of candidate RSS feeds.
TSA Blog Invites Complaints
The Transportation Security Administration wants to know why we can not all just get along.
So, on Thursday, the agency launched a blog to open a dialog with travelers and to reconcile the perceived need for security with the desire for unhindered transit.
A day after its launch, the site's premiere entry has more than 330 comments. Those posting range from enthusiastic TSA employees who think the blog is a great idea to aggrieved travelers who want their civil liberties restored to an inventor who believes he has the answer to fungal infections arising from checkpoint shoe removal.
Church of England Goes To Internet
The Church of England said Saturday it will turn to social networking websites and blogs to spread a new twist on Lent this year.
Instead of giving something up in the run-up to Easter, the Anglican church is encouraging Internet surfers to take on new challenges.
Among the ideas posted online will be suggestions like go a day without gossiping and leave a thank-you note for your postman.
RSS Mixers
More and more internet users are getting familiar with the concept of RSS feeds and its uses. This has resulted in number of online and offline services to help in better RSS Management. Feedburner and Feeblitz lead the way in RSS Management services.
Many a times you want to read content from different sources. While there are tools to filter RSS feed content, tools to mix, blend and Mash-up multiple RSS feeds are more important. They help you grab multiple RSS feeds and create a single customized RSS feed. Here are 10 tools worth checking out… RSS Mixers
RSS Scripts Directory Large selection of popular RSS Scripts for manipulating and publishing RSS feeds. Filter scripts, prepublish feeds, convert the feeds to html or merge multiple RSS feeds. Also extract information in a database and make a feed.
Software Deal of the Day is a new site that offers software applications at a significantly reduced price for only twenty-four hours. Each day a new software deal is available. If you cannot resist a great deal then Software-DOD.com is for you!
Software-DOD.com features popular software titles. The software discounts range from 10-90% off of list prices, and the software is only available at that price for twenty-four hours! Software-DOD.com also contains second chance offers. The second chance offers are still discounted and designed for those that miss the deal of the day offer, but the second chance offer is not as deeply discounted as the deal of the day offer.
Many of the software applications on the Software-DOD.com website even have trial versions available, which allows website visitors to try the software prior to making a purchase decision.
Interested visitors can preview the applications that will be available on the Software-DOD website for the coming week. Additionally, deals are easy to monitor because RSS feeds are available that contain the daily specials, the second chance offers, and a preview of applications that will be featured on the Software-DOD.com website.
Other webmasters and publishers can also syndicate the Software Deal of the Day offers, and integrate the discount offers into their own websites. Software-DOD.com provides the tools to make the integration process painless for webmasters. The offers will dynamically update each night as the new offers become available. Providing such great software deals are sure to endear webmasters to their website visitors.
Software developers interested in this new distribution channel are encouraged to submit their software applications for consideration. With economic concerns looming individuals and businesses alike are tightening their spending. Software Deal of the Day is a win for every everyone. Additional details available at http://www.software-dod.com
Advice For Getting More Out of RSS RSS may sound like a distress signal along the lines of SOS, but its real purpose is to make accessing Web information simple. An abbreviation for Really Simple Syndication, it allows you to get all the updated headlines and podcasts in one place, without having to sift through individual Web sites. You can put all your feeds together in an RSS reader, which will become your all-in-one destination for news and information.
RSS Feed Etiquette
Attempts have been made to create best practice documents and specification clarifications. We felt it would be helpful to provide general guidelines for those constructing an RSS 2.0 feed. In general, the following are guidelines for constructing an RSS feed. It is good to get into the habit of validating the RSS feed, either with software, or with an online validator.
BidVertiser for Feeds
BidVertiser, a site-targeted pay per click advertising network, has now entered the RSS market by offering web publishers a new way to monetize their RSS/ATOM feeds - BidVertiser Ads for Feeds.
NewsGator Client Applications are Now Free! As part of an effort to help bolster its enterprise business and provide more relevant content to users, NewsGator Technologies Inc. today announced that all of its consumer RSS client applications are now available without charge.
The list of free applications includes NewsGator Inbox, FeedDemon, NetNewsWire and NewsGator Go for Windows Mobile, Blackberry-Java, iPhone and HTML mobile applications, as well as NewsGator Online, the company said. All include free synchronization across the Web, desktop and mobile devices, NewsGator said.
Greg Reinacker, NewsGator chief technology officer and founder, said that the move was driven by the company's desire to boost corporate sales. NewsGator has found that the more individual users run its client products, the easier it is to sell its server-based products, he said.
Search engines love websites that are continuously updated with fresh content. As a website owner, if you want to achieve or maintain a good search engine ranking, then your goal should be to continually provide updated keyword–based content on a regular basis to your website. Naturally, if you're providing the content yourself, this takes a lot of work. Let me show you how you can get fresh, keyword-based content updated on your site on a daily basis with no work on your part using RSS feeds and PHP, and most of all, the search engines will love it!
Reflections of 2007
The lens through which viewers receive their news has changed. The images of struggle are no longer frozen in time; technology has helped preserve and personalize these conflicts by producing moving tributes to the conflicts of humankind.
The strife and internal conflicts that marred the globe in 2006 continued into 2007: Mynamar (Burma), Palestine and Lebanon all continue to struggle with internal conflicts in their borders. The differences between 2006 and 2007 are not obvious; however, under close examination, it is evident that several external struggles have been transformed into internal conflicts. In 2006, many countries attempted to influence their neighbors. This was evident with Iran attempting to influence the turmoil in Iraq, and Syria attempting to control Lebanon. Both struggles have evolved into internal personal conflicts in 2007.
More Chinese Censorship
China has announced tough new rules to crack down on the explosion of audio-visual content on the Internet, reiterating that sex and politically sensitive material will not be tolerated.
Only state-controlled entities will have the right to operate websites that post audio-visual content, according to the rules, placing into doubt whether Chinese will have access to foreign video sharing sites such as YouTube.
RSS Micro RSSMicro is an RSS search engine. RSSMicro uses ajax and an interactive database to retrieve RSS feeds based on keyword searches.
Cool Technology Predictions for 2008 Top 10 Winners Predicted for 2008
1. Video
2. Healthy
3. Long Tail
4. Buy USA
5. Rich Internet / Interactive Web / Semantic Web / Web Services
6. Aggregate and Attention Data
7. Power of the People
8. Going Green
9. Biometrics and Big Brother
10. Prosthetics / Bionic
Top 10 Losers Predicted for 2008
1. Lead
2. Squat Toilets
3. DRM
4. China
5. Skinny is Out
6. Blockbuster / Netflix
7. Orbo
8. MySpace fell to Facebook
9. Privacy
10. Piracy
Internet Marketing Resolutions Internet Marketing Resolutions for the New Year
Starting a New Year is all about self-reflecting. Most individuals celebrate the incoming year by looking back, determining what goals were met and what goals fell short. Most who have made past resolutions then look forward and resolve to do better in the coming year.
Like any Internet marketer, I have a long laundry list of things that I intend to get to... invariably each year the list grows longer, and rarely do I make any significant headway on new projects, ideas, or marketing techniques. I resolve for that to change in 2008! I have compiled a list of Internet Marketing resolutions for the coming year. If your list is already too long, consider saving time and using the list below.
1. Track and Measure
Before launching any advertising campaigns, be sure to determine how the campaign will be tracked. I will determine exactly how much money we need to make from the campaign in order for it to be effective and worth the effort.
2. Investigate Pay Per Review
I resolve to take a closer look at pay per review websites like PayPerReview, ReviewMe, and PayPerPost and to discern whether the model will be effective for marketing software.
3. Make Video Tutorials
It is time! Being a tad on the shy side, this item keeps finding its way to the bottom of my marketing list. However, it is time to utilize videos and use them as marketing tools, websites like YouTube can help raise awareness of products and help instruct our users.
Using RSS to Monitor
You can use ZapTXT to monitor topics on your favorite news sites, classified listings, job postings, blogs, sports teams or just about anything else you can think of. Simply create a feed and recieve notification any time the keyword appears!
Google is developing an online publishing platform where people can write entries on subjects they know, an idea that's close to Wikipedia's user-contributed encyclopedia but with key differences.
The project, which is in an invitation-only beta stage, lets users create clean-looking Web pages with their photo and write entries on, for example, insomnia. Those entries are called knols for "unit of knowledge," Google said. Google wants the knols to develop into a deep repository of knowledge, covering topics such as geography, history, and entertainment.
More Venture Money for NewsGator NewsGator Technologies, the provider of a desktop RSS news feed reader, has raised $12 million in its fifth round of venture capital, led by new investor Vista Ventures.
Previous backers Mobius Venture Capital and Masthead Venture Partners also participated.
Founded in 2004, Denver-based NewsGator now claims over 1 million users of its service, which is available through partners like USA Today, FeedDemon and NetNewsWire, as well as through corporate RSS readers and via mobile devices.
eBooks has RSS Feeds
The eBooks website has added RSS feeds. Simply select the category and place the appropriate feed into your aggregator.
Blogger Arrested for Comments Bloggers and free speech advocates are calling on prosecutors not to file charges against a teacher arrested for allegedly posting an anonymous comment online praising the Columbine shooters.
Some were disturbed by the post police say James Buss left on a conservative blog, but other observers said it was a sarcastic attempt to discredit critics of education spending.
The suburban Milwaukee high school chemistry teacher was arrested last week for the Nov. 16 comment left on http://www.bootsandsabers.com, a blog on Wisconsin politics.
Reputation Management
The Internet is a bit like the old wild west, and sadly, people often post material about an individual, product, company, or service that is inaccurate or simply nasty. Businesses and individuals alike are struggling with how to best deal with online inaccuracy and defamation. The normal steps for dealing with defamation typically involve litigation, but this is not always realistic for Internet-based situations since the Internet is global, and not managed or governed by any single set of laws.
If you have the good fortune of being located in the same legal jurisdiction as the offending poster and their website hosting company, you might be able to successfully prosecute them; or at the very least, you might be able to get the webpage with the offending material taken down by the website host. Keep in mind that most defamation court cases require that you show that actual harm was done by the offending material, which can often be difficult.
Create Professional RSS Feeds
More and more companies are using RSS as a means to communicate, so having an RSS feed that is professional and well polished will help differentiate your company from your competition. What makes an RSS feed professional? Follow these simple steps to polish your RSS feed and take it to the next level...
1. Feed Image
Add an image to your RSS feed. The image will be displayed by many feed readers each time your feed is displayed. This will help build and reinforce your brand or image in the minds of people who read your RSS feed. Adding an image to an RSS feed is relatively easy, and adds a level of professionalism.
RSS Submit
RSS Feed submission software, RSS Submit, automates the process of submitting your RSS feeds to the RSS search engines. A free evaluation download is available!
RSSCalendar is Aquired
Lookout Software, LLC., a developer of Microsoft Outlook calendar sharing application for users without Exchange Server, OfficeCalendar; and a new AJAX time tracking solution for SMEs, Office Timesheets; announced today that it has acquired RSSCalendar, an online event and calendaring syndication solution.
Information Overload
As employees struggle to read an increasing amount of work-related material, some companies have turned to RSS technology to improve productivity.
With RSS servers and readers designed for workplaces, IT departments set up internal information feeds that employees can subscribe to, a delivery mechanism that, for some information, can be more precise and effective than e-mail.
RSS Icon Sets
This article discusses RSS and gives a huge variation of RSS icon sets and buttons. The idea is that icon design will influence feed subscriptions and adoption.
RSSTalker Tracks Amazon Price Changes RSStalker.com provides RSS feeds to track price changes of Amazon.com products. Generate a feed for a single product or for an entire wishlist. Add it to your favorite aggregator and you will be automatically notified when the price changes.
The Influence of the Internet on Politics and Future Leaders
Can, and will, the next generation of politicians exploit the communication mediums available to them? Will the new communication mediums have the power to influence public opinion? Will politicians be the victims of technology, or will they use it to their benefit? Will one party benefit from the use of the technology more than another? All reasonable questions, considering the role technology plays in todays society.
The staggering distribution numbers, through channels like iTunes, YouTube, or podcasting websites, indicate that technology could play a critical role in the upcoming elections. Technology could be the deciding factor in the 2008 US Presidential race, and while distribution has never before been as accessible as it is to today's politicians and political candidates, politicians have far less control over the news and media than their counterparts in previous years.
Cool List of Blog Types and Definitions
As with any new technology, blogging has its own jargon. We are all familiar with business blogs and personal blogs. Here are definitions of other types of blogs.
Anonoblog - a blog run by an anonymous author(s). The blog may display some information about the author(s), but not reveal the authors true identity.
Audioblog - A blog that mainly publishes audio files (music or podcasting) sometimes with text and keywords for search engine optimization.
Blawg – Commonly called lawyer blogs. These are generally by lawyers, law students or law professors and focus on commentary about the law. Blogging Definitions: Types of Blogs
I was generally very happy with the service, which has been free so far apart from paying a few dollars for the redirect. But when I tried to log into this blog on Wednesday, all I saw were the chilling words account suspended. The blog itself was still up, but I couldn’t log in to change anything or export it. I emailed wordpress technical support and started backing up the text of all the articles I had not backed up already.
Then the images started disappearing from the blog.
Then the blog disappeared altogether, replaced by a message saying that it had been suspended for violations of terms of service. Apparently wordpress can shutdown your blog at any time without warning, without right of appeal and without giving a reason.
Realtors and RSS Feeds
RSS feeds are becoming an essential tool for Realtors, who are struggling in a declining market. Real estate offices that adopt technology as a marketing tool will remain one step ahead of their competition.
Censorship Lawsuit At first, Liu Xiaoyuan just fumed when his online journal postings disappeared with no explanation. Then he decided to do something few if any of Chinas censored bloggers had tried. He sued his service provider.
Google Buys Microblogging Startup Jaiku On Tuesday, Google made yet another move in mobile social networking. This time, the acquisition target was Finnish startup Jaiku, a company that develops a mobile phone application that lets people send messages, view Web feeds, and even blog.
Syndication Lawsuit The Associated Press filed a lawsuit against VeriSign Inc. over its Moreover news aggregation services in a case reminiscent of a dispute between news services and Google News.
The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Thursday, seeks to stop Moreover, which is owned by VeriSign, from publishing the news content of the Associated Press.
DipNote
U.S. diplomats are revealing their personal sides on the new State Department blog. Although the blog, launched Sept. 25, has its dull aspects it lives up to its promise of providing glimpses of diplomatic work and what it is like to serve overseas.
China appears to have finally gotten wise to RSS as of late—reports have been popping up from our readers and around the web of not being able to access FeedBurner RSS feeds as early as August of this year. More recent reports tell us that the PSB appears to have extended this block to all incoming URLs that begin with feeds, rss, and blog, thus rendering the RSS feeds from many sites—including ones that aren't blocked in China, such as Ars Technica—useless.
Technology and Politics
On the internet, power is in the hands of real Americans: the housewife in her living room, the student in his dorm. Rather than creating the perfect ten second sound bite, candidates must let go and have a real conversation. Interactive. Up close and personal. Maybe as candidates are forced back to earth and voters gain a stake in the process, America will become the voice of the unschooled as well as the educated, the poor as well as the rich, men and women of all ages and every race. After all, isn’t that what democracy is supposed to be?
Bloggers Able to Get News Out Savvy young bloggers in Myanmar are breaking through the military juntas tight Internet controls to post photos and videos of swelling anti-government protests, experts said Tuesday.
The government blocks almost every website that carries news or information about the Southeast Asian country, and even bars access to web-based email.
But an army of young techies in Yangon works around the clock to circumvent the censors, posting pictures and videos on blogs almost as soon as the protests happen.
Creative Commons License to Be Tested in Court One of the strangest legal cases in recent months erupted last Friday, but it's one that could have serious ramifications to anyone who posts material online, or even those who find their face in pictures making their way to the web. Get this...
A Texas teenager making a peace symbol with her fingers (or a V) was photographed by her youth counselor, who posted in on the photo-sharing service Flickr. The counselor chose the creative commons license, as many people do, which says that photos can be used in other materials provided they are attributed to the photographer. So Virgin Mobile Australia (the cell phone company) did just that: It grabbed her picture, cropped it, and turned it into an ad campaign.
AccuWeather RSS Feeds Accuweather is now offering RSS feeds. My only question is what took so long? There have been tools around for quite some time that can dynamically convertdatabases to RSS feeds. It seems Accuweather was just a little late to the party. Afterall Weather.com has had feeds for dare I say years? I know I should be applauding their efforts because there are of course other weather portals that do not provide RSS feeds, I just have a hard time understanding the difficulty. Weather is a natural for RSS.
Common Errors that Kill Search Ranking
Tricking the search engines just does not work. The search engines do not look kindly upon webmasters who attempt to deceive the search engines about the content contained on a webpage.
RSS feeds offer a unique channel for distributing content that can help expand your audience to people beyond those who visit your web site.
But RSS feeds can also be an important part of a search marketing campaign. Well optimized feeds can also gain prominent placement on search engine result pages, attracting even more traffic.
Are Bloggers The Media?
According to a recent post the Federal Election Commission does not think so --
DailyKos, an influential political Web site that serves as a virtual bulletin board for liberals, qualifies as a media entity exempt from federal campaign finance regulations, the Federal Election Commission said Tuesday.
The FEC said the Web site, operated by blogger Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, cannot be regulated as a political committee and can freely post blog entries that support candidates.
Conservative blogger John C.A. Bambenek had argued in a complaint last month that the site should comply with campaign finance laws because such entries amounted to a gift of free advertising and candidate media services.'
Is China Telecom Blocking FeedBurner?
It has been reported that people who are using China Telecom are unable to access FeedBurner feeds. FeedBurner, which was acquired by Google Inc in June of 2007, powers hundreds of thousands of blog, podcast and news feeds. According to statistics as of August 27, 2007, Feedburner is feeding 535,003 publishers who’ve burned 913,490 feeds.
Provide Dynamic Content Using RSS Feeds
This article will you how to get fresh content updated on your site on a daily basis with very little work on your part using RSS feeds and PHP.
Email vs RSS Feeds
The debate rages on comparing email and RSS feeds. Lets face it their are benefits associated with each and downsides as well. Email and RSS really are different communication mediums and they are designed for different purposes.
RSS Pros
1. Subscriber Control - you choose what you want to receive
2. Privacy - no need to release private information in order to subscribe (in most cases)
3. Scannable - easy to scan, saving time
4. No Filtering Issues - nothing is lost to spam filters
5. Reach - syndication expands a companies reach
RSS Cons
1. Tracking - RSS is very difficult to reliably track
2. Metrics - accurate reporting is near impossible
3. Adoption - RSS adoption is still limited, not everyone has an RSS reader
Email Pros
1. One on One - designed for personalization
2. Compatibility - everyone can send and receive email
Email Cons
1. Spam - emails are lost in spam filters
2. More Spam - noise to sound ratio overwhelming
Perhaps this over simplifies the comparison but it clearly shows that the two communication methods excel in different areas.
Chinese Blog Policy Reporters Without Borders criticized the Chinese government for what the press advocacy group considers a move to end anonymous blogging in the communist country.
The government, through the Internet Society of China, recently drafted a pact that was signed by at least 20 major blog service providers in the country, including Yahoo and Microsoft.
The pact stops short [of] the previous project of making it obligatory for bloggers to register, but it can be used to force service providers to censor content and identify bloggers, the group said in a statement. The pact, unveiled Wednesday, signals an imminent new wave of censorship and repression, the group said.
Blogger Update Adds Video
Googles Blogger team this week solved a technical problem with the blog publishing and hosting service and introduced a new feature that gives publishers the ability to upload videos to their sites.
Search Engine Optimization for Blogs
Use your blog to help your website attract traffic. Attention to search engine optimization details could mean the difference between popular and unpopular.
This information guide is intended as my way to introduce the whole concept of RSS to Australians who have heard of rss and would like to know more.
I suspect that as it is around the world, only a very small percentage of people understand and actually use RSS - and Australia is no different. In fact, anecdotal evidence shows that the use of RSS is well under 10%.
The reason behind The Beginner Guide to RSS is that mainstream Australia - even those frequently using the web - are not taking up rss usage in numbers that was hoped for. In other words, there is still a long way to go to educate people on the advantages of using rss to manage their online information. I hope this guide goes some way in helping this along.
RSS Field Explanation
This chart contains detailed information about the fields contained in an RSS feed. Feed creators can use this to assist with feed creation.
Government Bloggers
Every U.S. presidential candidate has a Web site, of course, but when the top Democratic hopefuls were asked on Saturday whether they would appoint a White House blogger if elected, all of them said yes.
Common Errors that Kill Search Engine Ranking
Tricking the search engines just does not work. The search engines do not look kindly upon webmasters who attempt to deceive the search engines about the content contained on a webpage.
1. Cloaking
Cloaking a website is a stealth technique used to provide a copy of a web page to search engines while providing an alternate copy to website visitors. The website copy provided to the search engine is optimized and not always reflective of the real content contained on the webpage.
What is a Blogathon?
During the Blogathon, people update their websites every 30 minutes for 24 hours straight. For this, they collect sponsorships. Pledges can be a flat donation, or a certain amount for every hour the blogger manages to stay awake.
Blog for Legislation
A blog launched this month has teamed with a U.S. senator in an effort to write new broadband legislation, and so far participants have given the process high marks.
OpenLeft.com, a blog focused on liberal issues, has been hosting a wide-ranging discussion on broadband policy since Tuesday. Senator Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat and assistant majority leader in the Senate, has joined the discussion, saying he'll use the ideas from OpenLeft to craft broadband legislation.
RSS Higher Value than Blogs
RSS has the highest value among Web 2.0 technologies, according to a Forrester Research report released Friday.
The research firm surveyed 275 IT decision-makers online between April and June.
Twenty-three percent of those surveyed report substantial business value for RSS. One in three uses RSS for marketing purposes. Podcasting came in right behind RSS, with 21% reporting substantial business value.
By contrast, only 11% said blogging delivers substantial business value. Fourteen percent said their company does not measure Web 2.0 business value at all. Of those that do measure, the majority look at traditional metrics such as ROI and total cost of ownership.
Banks and Financial Institutions are Using RSS Feeds
Financial institutions are reaching out to clients using RSS feeds. While banks and financial institutions are usually slow to adopt new technology, that is not the case with RSS adoption. More and more professionals are using RSS in innovative ways, to stay ahead of their competition.
1. Bank Rate Changes
Bankers are using RSS to communicate bank rate changes. Feeds are updated regularly to reflect changes to adjustable rate mortgages or the interest rate for CDs.
example:
Federal Reserve http://www.federalreserve.gov/feeds
2. Stock Monitoring
Stock analysts monitor stock market changes using RSS feeds. As specific stocks and bonds rise and fall RSS feeds are updated. Many of the tools allow you to customize RSS feeds selecting the stocks or mutual funds that you wish to monitor.
example:
Smart Money - http://www.smartmoney.com/rss/
NewsGator Released iPhone RSS Reader
NewsGator Technologies, Inc., announced the availability of NewsGator Mobile for iPhone, a free reader that complements the design and interface of the iPhone. NewsGator Mobile for iPhone is free for existing NewsGator NewsGator Online accounts.
Best Software for 2007 Decided
The WINNERS for the 2007 Shareware Industry Awards have been announced! Take a look at the best software for 2007 in each category! Most have evaluation versions available for download.Web 2.0 did not make much of a showing in the results, though Google Map and a few others did receive recognition.
TurnHere and Pheedo Partner
TurnHere, Inc., an online video solutions platform, and Pheedo, an RSS marketing company, today announced a strategic partnership focused on the mass distribution of authentic, highly engaging online video content via real-time, RSS feed-powered technology.
Google Reader Security Hole
A DigitalPoint Forums member points to a vulnerability within Google Reader that enables blog owners to add code to their blog that will allow any visitor to automatically subscribe to the RSS feed.
OPML 2.0
Dave Winer has posted a draft specification of OPML 2.0 .
#9 RSS Cache , the rss2html Cache module reduces bandwith and speeds up the process of displaying RSS feeds as html web pages.
CustomRSS CustomRSS is a highly customizable Google Gadget for your personalized Google homepage. CustomRSS is a widget and it has lots of options for customization.
This website provides RSS Feeds for stock photos. As new photos are added to the directory, the RSS feeds are updated. If you are looking for specific types of photos you can simply subscribe to the RSS feed.
Receiving the latest news, product Ratings and reviews, buying advice, and much more from Consumer Reports has never been easier. These free feeds include headlines, summaries and links back to ConsumerReports.org for full articles. With our RSS feeds, you can get the expert, independent consumer product and protection information you've come to expect from Consumer Reports - when you want it and how you want it.
25 Up and Coming Web Sites
Think that all of the great Web sites have already been invented? Think again. The Internet is evolving in new and inventive ways thanks to mashups that pull data from all over the Web. Check out these 25 up and coming Web 2.0 technologies.
Auto Discovery Code Generator
Many webmasters struggle with the auto-discovery code that should be added to the header of an HTML web page to automatically indicate to web browsers that an RSS feed for the contents is available. There has been debate, and of course controversy on how the code should be formed, making it ever more confusing for webmasters.
The solution, use a free online tool that will auto generate the code that can then be inserted into your website.
Education and RSS
Academia has embraced RSS as a means to educate, but scrutinizing how educational institutions are using RSS feeds in their daily routines show RSS is utilized can vary across different industries.
1. Share Resources
Academics are using social bookmarking websites to share quality websites that relate to their area of expertise with colleagues and students.
2. Class Blogs
From elementary schools to university blogs, online journals have flourished. Instructors have used blogging as a teaching tool. Helping students learn writing and reporting skills while understanding how to use technology. Many educational bloggers use RSS as a means to syndicate blog posts.
3. School Schedule Sports Schedule
RSS feeds can be used to communicate events scheduled on or off campus to prospective and existing students. Subscribes of a schools calendar feed receive notification as new items are added to the calendar.
Whats Up Feed Monitoring Whats Up is a graduation project, but they might have some trademark issues with the popular network monitoring software by the same name - WhatsUp
Whats Up? is an application that tracks a large number of RSS news feeds. The sources of these feeds are displayed on this world map. Whenever any of the news feeds releases a new article, its title immediately pops up. Instead of listing previously released news, this application shows news as it is released, so you can see what is up right at this moment in the world.
Why Did Google Purchase FeedBurner?
Feedburner currently manages 721,000 feeds from 423,000 publishers, including many major mainstream news publications, including USA Today, Dow Jones and Reuters.
Although many seasoned RSS users have a standalone RSS reader of choice, many people use Firefox to read their RSS feeds. Besides the standard Live Bookmark feature, there are several more advanced RSS addons for Firefox out there, some of them being developed for years now. Time to round them up and see what they have to offer.
Great RSS Usage
This stock photo website uses RSS to notify subscribers when new photos are added to the website. Subscribers can choose feeds based on categories or subscribe to see all the newest photos.
URLFan RSS Ranking Website URLFan takes on Alexa using a different algo to rank websites. According to their website URLFan is an evolving experiment designed to discover what websites the blogosphere is discussing all in real time. It does this by cultivating the content of thousands of RSS feeds and parsing billions of pieces of information.
BlueSky Bought RSSFwd
Blue Sky Factory, an email marketing service providers, announced that it has acquired RSSFWD, a provider of RSS to email technology solutions. The RSSFWD service converts RSS content into HTML email format, and deploys updated content directly to the inbox of subscribers. Currently utilized by more than 30,000 active and unique users, the service polls more than 32,000 unique RSS feeds, deploying 4 million emails per month worldwide. Blue Sky Factory will operate RSSFWD as an autonomous service as a complement to their current offerings.
MonitorThis! - OPML of Ego Feeds
Ego searches have increased in popularity and more and more businesses are using them to monitor publicity. MonitorThis allows you to setup ego search feeds with 22 different engines at the same time. It creates an OPML file for each of the engines.
Another option is to merge all the feeds using a tool like RSSmesh so you have all the ego feeds in a single feed. You can even filter out duplicates.
Feed Displaying Service RSS2HTML.com is a free service that uses different layouts and templates to display the contents of RSS feeds as HTML web pages.
More on Ego RSS Search Feeds
Setup ego search feeds and receive notification any time a specific brand, product name, company name, or word is mentioned in major search engines or blog engines.
Actionable Tips on How to Create a Podcast Interview
Conducting a successful podcast interview can be a tricky proposition for a podcaster starting out. Once you have determined individuals that will appeal to your target audience contact potential interviewees and arrange a time to conduct the interview. Following this guide will insure that the interview goes off without a hitch.
Staff members at Col. Mitchell Paige Middle School are making it easier for parents to discover what goes on there day to day
.
In moves considered to be progressive by county and state officials, the school's technology department staffers have added RSS feeds and podcasts to the school Web site. Now, parents can subscribe to RSS feeds that deliver updates from the school's Web pages to their computers, and they can listen to class lessons via podcasts, or Web broadcasts.
While the Internet still retains some of the wild wild west feel, increasingly Internet activity, and particular blogging, is being shaped and governed by state and federal laws. For US bloggers in particular, blogging has become a veritable land mine of potential legal issues, and the situation isn’t helped by the fact that the law in this area is constantly in flux. In this article we highlight twelve of the most important US laws when it comes to blogging and provide some simple and straightforward tips for safely navigating them.
News Sites Have Poor RSS Implementation A new study from the International Center for Media and Public Agenda, looking at 19 top news sites, released today concludes that RSS feeds work very poorly for anyone who uses news for more than infotainment.
Cited as among the best users of RSS: The Los Angeles Times, ABC News, Christian Science Monitor, BBC World Service and Fox News.
Among the worst: Al Jazeera, The Guardian and The New York Times.
Each feed item:
links directly to the article
displays the domain of the article as the author
displays the current number of Diggs
displays the current number of comments (and links to the Digg page)
provides links to DuggMirror, DotCache, Coral Cache, and Google Cache
optionally embeds videos from Youtube, Google Video, and Metacafe directly in the feed
can be filtered out based on the number of Diggs, by setting minimum and/or maximum limits
PHP Script for RSS Filtering RSSFilter is a PHP script that filters the contents of an RSS feed. The filters can be defined by the publisher so that the resulting RSS feed contains only the information they want. RSSFilter uses rules to filter the items that are included from a feed in the resulting feed.
Cyber Debates
The 2008 presidential contenders may soon be slugging it out in cyberspace, with pioneering online-only debates being planned for early next fall, a new media partnership says.
The political blog Huffington Post, online portal Yahoo and Slate Magazine will host the debates — one for Democratic candidates, one for Republicans — sometime after Labor Day, with PBS host Charlie Rose serving as moderator, the sponsors planned to announce Monday.
More on RSS Security
RSS is growing at a lightening speed. What was once only known as a "techie tool", RSS is becoming a tool that is continuously being used by the general population. Along with the good comes, the not so good. And while some have mentioned the emergence of RSS spam, where content publishers dynamically generate nonsensical feeds stuffed with keywords, the real concern relates to security. While an annoyance to the search engines, spam in RSS feeds pales in comparison to the possible security concerns that could be in RSS' future.
Security Implications Related to RSS.
As RSS gains momentum security fears loom large. As publishers are quickly finding innovative uses for RSS feeds, hackers are taking notice. The power and extendibility of RSS in its simplest form is also its achilles heel.
Justia - Legal Feeds Justia, a legal information company, has created a number of great free legal resources over the years, this latest one, Justia Regulation Tracker, parses the daily Federal Register put out by the various agencies, comissions, and departments of the Government, and makes the information searchable, and puts the information out via RSS.
Full vs Partial RSS Feeds FeedBurner has made an interesting comment about partial feeds on the official FeedBurner blog. According to Rick there appears to be no significant difference in clickthrough rates between full and partial RSS feeds. This is particularly interesting because one of the major arguments for using a partial feed was the assumption that it would drive more readers to your site.
Add PodSafe Music to Podcasts
Adding music and sound effects to a podcast does not need to be difficult. There are a number of podsafe music directories that allow for podcasters to locate theme music or sound effects to enhance their podcast. This new industry understands the complexity of licensing professional music and the majority of these repositiories provide royalty free music clips for podcasters to use in their shows. Music and show sound effects give show a professional edge and really make it difficult for listeners to discern the difference between a hobby and a studio broadcast.
FeedBurner will be working with AOL to manage hundreds of the company's RSS, podcast and video feeds consisting of news, sports and entertainment content. Additionally, all Time Warner properties including HBO, New Line Cinema, Time Inc. and Warner Bros. Entertainment can take advantage of FeedBurner's services.
RSS is Really Simple Savings
This article in the Hartford Courant does a great job detailing how users can save money with RSS from the Dollar Stretcher to Consumer Reports. RSS can help save money.
Bloggers Choice Awards
Nominations appear to be open for the Bloggers Choice Awards. You must login in, to nominate blogs in more than 30 categories. Winners will be announced June 2nd.
Law.com Search Results
Law.com has launched a new search engine for locating legal information. The Quest search engine is said to bring law professionals more relevant information on legal topics. It is really too bad that the search results are not available via an RSS feed. :-(
Internet publisher Tim O'Reilly, credited with coining the phrase "Web 2.0," and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales triggered torrents of vitriol by proposing a "Blogging Code of Conduct" to impose civility on the Internet.
Drafted Blogging Code
OReilly posted a draft of a blogging code of conduct. All of it appears common sense, that said those who are current offenders are not likely going to adopt it and there is not practical way to enforce such a code.
We celebrate the blogosphere because it embraces frank and open conversation. But frankness does not have to mean lack of civility. We present this Blogger Code of Conduct in hopes that it helps create a culture that encourages both personal expression and constructive conversation.
1. We take responsibility for our own words and for the comments we allow on our blog. We are committed to the "Civility Enforced" standard: we will not post unacceptable content, and we'll delete comments that contain it. We define unacceptable content as anything included or linked to that: - is being used to abuse, harass, stalk, or threaten others - is libelous, knowingly false, ad-hominem, or misrepresents another person, - infringes upon a copyright or trademark - violates an obligation of confidentiality - violates the privacy of others
Cool Use of RSS
Receive notification in an RSS feed as new web logos become available in this web logo directory. The RSS feeds are categorized so you can receive notification in a specific category or you can subscribe to a feed of ALL new logos.
There are Reports that Digg Pipes Are Clogged
In the Yahoo newsgroups there are reports that Digg might be blocking Yahoo Pipes from using their content in a pipes mash. Another possibility is that the Digg feeds are corrupt, this is something that we have encountered on occasion.
Converting RSS to HTML Web Pages
Robin Good has put together a great piece that discusses the various options available to individuals interested in converting RSS feeds to HTML web pages. He did not however mention the very popular rss2html.php script that is freely available.
"... I do think it's harder in some ways for women to blog. For women with families, it's constantly in the back of your mind that you're putting not just yourself but to some extent your family in the public eye," she said. It has long been accepted that online behaviour differs from the behaviour people would exhibit in the real world due, largely to the anonymity it allows.
Sam Sethi agrees that blogging can bring out the worst in people. These young geek guys they feel that that they can say what they want and do it with anonymity. It can bring out the worst character behaviour because they feel that they are hidden.
About a year ago I had a conversation with Robert Scoble and suggested something similar. As a celebrity blogger, Scoble said at the time he did not feel self-conscious about publicizing appearances at conferences. I wonder if his view has changed.
The protection offered by online anonymity is a growing problem. But even if the there is a blogging code of conduct, who or how could or would it be enforced? Perhaps a blogging code of conduct is simply a fancy way of saying blogging etiquette? Either way those who choose to abuse it, are unlikely to pay attention.
RSS Component Available Free of Charge
An RSS VCL Control and ActiveX components makes it simple for software developers to communicate with users from within your software application! Integrate the RSS components into your application, to communicate with users. Use standard RSS feeds and provide users. All you have to do is add the component to your existing project. Set the URL to your RSS feed, and let it do the rest. You can then ask the control for types of information from your RSS feed. Send sales messages, tech support tips and notify users of new releases and product launches. The RSS Component is now available free of charge. Simply contact the manufacturers and you will receive an unlock code free of charge.
CNET Debates Who Fathered Blogs
Blogs are 10 years old, and CNET decided to dig into the origin of the blog. Interesting exchange:
Was the first blogger the irascible Dave Winer? The iconoclastic Jorn Barger? Or was the first blogger really Justin Hall, a Web diarist and online gaming expert whom The New York Times Magazine once called the "founding father of personal blogging"? Or did all three merely make incremental improvements on earlier proto-blogs?
Profiting From Podcasts
Podcasts started out as fun ways for ambitious garage DJs, independent musicians and talk show hosts, who had not ventured into radio broadcasting as a way to show their stuff and make a name for themselves. What started as a hobby for many, has turned into a lucrative profession for some.
Not surprisingly, podcasters, just like radio stations, have looked for ways to profit from their on-air dialogue.
