How do you RSS?

I'm starting to get a question of, how does one keep track of a blog without having to check it every day and/or add it to their favorites? Well, there's an easier way.

It's called RSS Feeds.

For example, if you click http://warlocc.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default and go to that page, there's a yellow box at the top that can tell you more about feeds, and has a little link that says "Subscribe to this feed". That allows you to subcribe to it with your web browser. Now, in the case of Internet Explorer 7 (if you're using IE6, it's time to upgrade. Get the new one HERE) you're basically just setting up a second list of favorites. Not much more productive than normal favorites.

Other browsers, such as Firefox, Safari, and Opera, also have their own RSS features worth exploring.

However, the bonuses start to add up if you have feed readers, like the ones from Newsgator.com. These allow special AddOns to your existing programs, such as Microsoft Outlook, or standalone software, to read blogs and feeds. If you have Microsoft Windows Vista (the latest operating system), you can use widgets in the SideBar to read feeds and blogs (like the ones you added to IE7- see what's happening there?).

My personal favorite for Windows XP is called Desktop Sidebar. You can get it HERE. It works with Windows 2000, Windows XP, and even Windows Vista. I use it on my laptop to keep up with everything from the weather to e-mail to even feeds of other sites. I will admit that if you're anything like my parents, it will be a little bit tricky to set up. But it does come with a help file and I'll tell you what- if you do decide to try it and have trouble, drop me a line with your question(s), and I'll help you figure it out.

All in all, if you're really interested in trying to track blogs regularly (feel free to track mine, I could use the clicks!), there are a lot of options for doing it. Even just doing a Google search for "RSS" can give you a lot of information and options.