News Feeds and News Readers / Feed Readers allows news to be delivered directly to your computer; it’s a communications channel that you choose to sign up for.

It’s great when News gets delivered to you, if it’s not interesting, you just ignore it, no action needed, if it is interesting, a single click will show you more info.

There are lots of types of News Feeds though, and by that, I mean they are often written in different computer languages…

So, how to subscribe to the news you want with the minimal of fuss and no knowledge of these arcane computer languages?

Let’s take FirstSigns as an easy example.

We create a single piece of News, yet we distribute it in several ways.

First, we publish it in the FirstSigns Blog (Web Log = WeBlog) at www.lifes-signs.blogspot.com

This Blog is available on the web to everyone, just go there and browse like any website.

Our Blog is automatically distributed as an Atom News Feed; and so, people with Atom News Readers can subscribe to our Atom Feed; cool huh?

Our Newsfeed is available from http://feeds.feedburner.com/FirstSigns but should be read by a News Reader, rather than viewed on the web.

What’s RSS? It stands for Really Simple Syndication, nice huh? RSS allows loads of News Readers to read the FirstSigns News Feed.

Get a FREE News Reader

RSSOwl from www.rssowl.org/ is the News Reader for everyone, Mac, Linux, Windows and Solaris, such clever people! Atom? Yes.

BottomFeeder from www.cincomsmalltalk.com/ again, this is an News Reader for literally everyone! Atom? Yes.

News Monster from www.newsmonster.org/ for serious users who want an easy interface, cool with Mozilla Browsers. Atom? Maybe not.

News Gator from www.newsgator.com/ online News Reader, subscription required rather than just a download. Atom? Maybe not.

Shrook for MAC OS X from www.fondantfancies.com/ claims to be advanced, looks a bit like iTunes! Atom? Yes.

What is an RSS feed?

RSS is a format used to syndicate news and other web content. This includes news organizations such as The New York Times and Wired, but also covers blogs and other types of content. Sites that offer RSS content are accessible through a news aggregator / news reader, which feeds and displays new items from each news feed you track.

What is a blog?

A blog is a journal, a running log of thoughts and commentary that an author (‘blogger’) publishes on website. Blogging software allows bloggers to update their weblogs whenever they want, even from mobile phone, and by email etc.. People reading the blog can respond and comment on blog entries.

You can contact the Directors of FirstSigns from the Directors Page and email FirstSigns on info@firstsigns.org.uk and you may contact the Webmaster on webmaster@firstsigns.org.uk.