Feed the Net!

Feeds are the new lifeblood of the Internet. If you listen to this podcast any way other than visiting sixtysecondtech.com and clicking play, then you are using a feed. Feeds have become so ubiquitous that you may not even know you use them.

Feeds are XML files, while they are human readable, that’s about as fun as a trip to the dentist, so I don’t recommend trying it. Instead, feeds are consumed by software. Readers, like Google Reader, consume feeds from blogs and other sources and present the content in a single place for you to peruse. Podcatchers, like iTunes, consume feeds and download the podcasts they describe (like this one) to your audio player of choice.

Feeds generally come in two flavors, RSS or “Really Simple Syndication” and Atom, which was designed by people didn’t like RSS. While RSS is the more commonly used format, Atom is considered by most to be the more complete and technically accurate format. Thanks to services like feedburner.com most website owners never have to worry about which format they need to publish. Feedburner allows you to publish your feed once and it takes care of the translation.

So, if you’ve got a website, especially one with content that regularly changes, go ahead and feed the net.

My name is Cal Evans and I am, your sixty second tech.