Where do you want to go today?

Do you remember that tag line in a series of Microsoft commercials a few years ago? I thought it captured the excitement of the growing internet where one could visit websites from around the world. This exploration seemed to fit my appreciation of adventure travel--always something new to explore.

Perhaps it is because I am older or have less time now, but I am more inclined now to have the world come to me, rather than me go explore the world. That is were RSS feeds (fun 3-min video explaining an RSS feeds) have a role. One of the biggest benefits of Web 2.0 features is that you can have more of the world come to you, and it is fairly easy to set up. All you need are some interesting sites that you want to get information from, and access to one of the many free RSS readers, such as MyYahoo, iGoogle, NewsGator, or Netvibes (they are kind of like sports teams-there are a lot of them and everyone has their favorite!).

I happen to use Netvibes and here is a page you can view from it. You will see that I have multiple headings or tabs to organize the feeds that are on that page. Once I find a feed that may be worth my time I add the feed and then leave it to the the site to keep "feeding" me new information. If I find that the feed is not quite what I expect, I delete it and find something more valuable.

In the 18 months that I have been using Netvibes, I find myself spending much less time exploring the web, and when it do it is specifically because the feed summary interesting enough for me to follow the link to learn more.

So that is a quick introduction to RSS feeds, and how "pushed" information can help you informed, but without having to travel through too many websites to get what you want.

Happy exploring!

Tim