Information Addicts

You probably know that RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and is a convenient and more productive way to view your favorite websites (for more info on RSS click here.)
If you’re anything like me, then chances are you will have dozens of RSS feeds that you view every day, via a feed reader.
There are many feed readers available, Netvibes, (which is the one I love to use) is just one of them.

The other night I decided to do a search on the Internet to see if there were any other ways that you can make use of RSS feeds, and guess what? There is, take a look below at what I found, there are some fantastic websites that make excellent use of RSS feeds.

The first website I came across was called Feed Journal, which allows you to subscribe to your favorite feeds and then convert them into a PDF file, which is designed to mimic a printable news paper, and it looks quite cool.

Whats the point of this you may ask? If you haven’t time to read your feeds straight away, you could save the PDF file to a Flash drive, or any other media, to read later offline, or on any other PC. You could also print out the PDF document to read during the day, rather than having to stare at a computer screen,which is easier on your eyes. I found Feed Journal rather fun and easy to use. You have the option to add or delete any RSS feed, choose as many columns as you wish, I chose 4 and then Feed Journal instantly converted the feeds into a newspaper style document. Click here to take a look, its excellent for long or news articles.

Next on the list is a website called SendMeRSS which simply forwards your feeds to your email. This a great idea for anyone who prefers to follow up their RSS feeds via email, or who maybe unable to access a feed reader. SendMeRSS will check for updates around every two hours, so whenever something new gets published you will instantly receive an email.
SendMeRSS is compatible with most webmail services, Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail, Fastmail, etc. You can also subscribe and read feeds from your mobile phone or PDA. Click here to go to the website.

Pingie allows you to send RSS feeds to your mobile phone for free. You simply enter your mobile number, the feed address, hit submit and Pingie will forward it to your phone. Your RSS feed is then displayed as a SMS (text) message. There is nothing to install, but it only works in the US at the moment.

FeedBlendr, instead of having multiple feeds strewn all over the place, with FeedBlendr you can combine them into one. Again this is a very simple website to use, just give your blended feed a title and enter each RSS address, podcast, or any other type of feed including videos into the boxes. FeedBlendr will automatically create just one feed link address, of which you can add to your favorite reader or even view straight from with your browser, pretty neat.

Feedoor is very similar to FeedBlendr, the main difference is that you have to subscribe to it, which one you choose will be a personal choice.

Wigitize, this is one of my favorites as it allows you to add feeds to your blog or website. Enter the URL (web address) and Wigitize displays the feed on the right, you then have several options to change how it is shown on your blog.

Then all you do is copy the code that is created for you, and paste it somewhere on your blog or website. I have used it to create ‘My favourite websites of the month’ which is shown on the left hand side.

Feed Crier
Get the latest news, weather, blogs, and more delivered free to your instant messenger. There’s nothing to download or install, no spam, and never any spyware.

* Real time alerts when your favorite sites are updated.
* Nothing to download, nothing to install.
* Works with your existing instant messenger.
The above is taken from Feed Crier website, it works very well, give it try. Click here to go to the website.

Feedity. Have you ever visited a website and tried to add it to your RSS reader only to find out that you can’t subscribe to it, because the site doesn’t support RSS feeds? I have on many occasions, which makes it difficult to get automatic updates from the website. Feedity will take virtually any web page, and convert it into a fully formed RSS feed, which allows you to keep up to date with your favorite websites. You have the choice of a free version (which I use,) and two paid versions which give you various options such as how often the feed is updated. Its a handy tool to have, click here to go the website.

Have I missed any out? Let me know in the comments box.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 16th, 2008 at 1:00 pm and is filed under PC Tips, PC Software. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.