More RSS

I was just kidding when I said on to the next thing.
The next assignment asks us to look at feed searches. At each site I used the same search words and only Google Blog Search came right up with what I was actually looking for. I love how Google seems to read my mind. Topix.net came in second place followed by Technorati and then Syndic8. Aside from h8ing their mashup of letters and numbers, I didn't like Syndic8's look, which was so boring and outdated that I wouldn't trust it to find the latest news. The Feedster link didn't work, so I didn't go there.
I don't know if I will use these searches in "real life," but it's nice to know that they're out there. What helped me most when finding feeds I wanted - like from The Columbian - was to search bloglines for the feed. I looked at The Columbian's website and didn't want to try as hard to find it as they wanted me to.
As far as use of RSS goes, I can see how it would be really beneficial in the workplace as a substitute for mass email and for newslettery-type information. As far as library patron use, I think it would be a neat to have library updates and events information. Honestly, though, I think that other websites hold more possibilities. I get feeds on Facebook and MySpace anytime any of my friends touch their pages; I know if there are new pictures, new comments, new blogposts, and I think that kind of social networking could be more helpful for patron outreach than RSS feeds. Then again, I'm not yet sure how these things are all related nor am I up to the social networking part of the course yet. So...Cheers!

Bloglines and RSS

I have always had a fondness for "RSS" since it is so close to my initials, but I never really knew what it was until today. It surprises me a little, since I think of myself as, for the most part, up to date on internet trends. At least I am not alone.
So I set up my bloglines account. Another account. Already I have two (or more) email addresses, a Facebook account, a MySpace account (and it looks like I will opening another), this blog, a flickr account, my online bank account, and, it seems, a million other places where I have to remember a login and password. Can I attach some of these places to bloglines and let it tell me what's new without my accounts growing stale?
While many people end up spending too much time on the internet checking all of these things I tend to go the other way and not get on at all because it takes too much time to check up on everything. Bloglines might be a time saver. I subscribed to the local weather and the local newspaper, and Entertainment Weekly's dailies which always clog up my email and just get deleted, and then had seven more to subscribe to finish this discover 2.0 assignment. Seven things I didn't know I was missing out on! In a way Bloglines might just be a more efficient way of wasting my time. Some more time with it will tell.
Meanwhile, in my feed from EW, I learned that many old movies are moving into the public domain and are now available legally on sights like Internet Archive where I just spend some time watching an old Felix cartoon, which streamed very smoothly. Over the weekend I tried to watch Pinocchio online at watch-movies.net and couldn't because it was so slow. Maybe that's a karma thing - I'm not sure about the legality of that site.
Anyway, I'm feeling pretty good about RSS, so on to the next thing!