Tyler's Blog Death of Destiny

Lifeskills Series #1: RSS

Potentially the biggest individual-driven problem of our generation is a lack of time. However, there are other problems that we face. Today, I'm just focusing on one of the big ones. So in the first of what I'm randomly calling the Lifeskills Series (where I'll be sharing tips for time management and such things), I'll be discussing RSS feeds.

I have no clue how many people are aware of RSS feeds, let alone what they enable. I myself just found out about them earlier this year.

RSS (commonly known as Really Simple Syndication) feeds are a form of webspeak (sort of. It's an easy way for me to phrase it. XD) that automatically updates when a website updates. They are all over the place. This blog (and mostly all blogs, for that matter) are set up with RSS, so is Facebook, GMail, many news websites, etc.

And all in all, I've said nothing so far. I've simply provided a definition. So how does this help at all?

Most of us know how it feels to go on a website to check something quick... ...only to end up browsing around looking for other updates for extended periods of time (time that could be spent doing more productive tasks). It then becomes an exponential problem when you have to check multiple websites to get all of your daily information intake. This is where RSS feeds come in.

To actually use RSS feeds, I introduce an RSS aggregator. There are many available online. Personally, I switch between iGoogle (www.google.com/ig) and Netvibes (www.netvibes.com). What these aggregators do is they take all the RSS feeds of your choice and they let you arrange them all, organized as you like, on a single page. This way, you don't need to check 20 websites for updates on a daily basis. You can simply go to the aggregator and check all the sites at the same time (checking important updates, skipping less important updates, and ignoring sites that don't have updates for you to look for). It's actually a very valuable piece of technology to save time while surfing the internet. I definately recommend it for people who use e-mail, Facebook, check blogs (and comments), etc.

On my aggregator, I have my e-mails, Facebook notifications, all the blogs I read (and their comments), my to-do lists, my calendar, my Nike+, and the weather.

Hopefully this is a useful piece of information to some of you. If you have any questions or additions, leave a comment and I'll adjust accordingly.

Sequel: Goals