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05.05.08 Cadillac Laps the Ring! 7:59.32 John Heinricy a lap of the legendary Nordschleife Pick of the Week A wonderful Salisbury Bungalow 4.30.08 Albert Hofmann Remember April 19 - Bicycle Day 04.47.08 DLMWeb live cam A test of the Ustream.tv Kart Race at OVRP - 8hrs - June 21 2008 01.14.08 Random Motorsport and Car Related Videos YouTube Ad Test 01.07.08 Juan Manuel Fangio Video From the director of Chariots of Fire More.. |
8.23.05 The lead article of The Berkshire Eagle's E-Life has quoted yours truly, and accurately, I might add. But a quick look at Google shows that I am not that easy to find as described in the article. Well, gimme 24 hours and that will not be the case. This journal page shows how to use a blog-like journal to quickly get a very specific "text string" found in the information indexes (that's what Google really is, and getting found by web searchers who may be "Googling" a wide range of inquiries is a built in function of all DLMWeb content management sites) In an clear and concise article by Jack Dew, I am described as "Berkshire-based Web designer David Minton". Jack cut to the chase quite well when he quoted me as saying, "RSS is astounding. It is an invited channel to your inbox. It is such a sea change in how we receive information." Call me today at 413-528-6764 to discuss how to add this as an element of your existing website, or to make plans to get a new site that includes this technology (as an integral part of the other "killer ap", business blogging). http://berkshireeagle.com/elife/ci_2964815 World Wide Web made personal By Jack Dew, Berkshire Eagle Staff Berkshire-based Web designer David Minton thinks RSS just may be the biggest thing since e-mail. Why, then, haven't you heard of it? RSS — which stands for either "really simple syndication," or "rich site summary," depending on whom you ask — is a way for Internet users to get content from their favorite Web sites or blogs fed automatically to their computer's desktop or to a Web page they can visit online. So users can configure their own news service, essentially, building it with feeds from the New York Times front page, which could sit next to baseball updates from ESPN and a picture from your cousin's blog of his new German shepherd. It all happens automatically when an RSS "reader" goes out and pulls the content the user wants off the Web and delivers it to one place. Customizing content In other words, RSS feeds let users decide what content they want and what they don't. Unlike e-mail, it is impregnable to spam and unwanted advertisements. Unlike Web sites, it filters out unwanted stories, only sending the content the reader asks for. "RSS is astounding," said Minton, a Great Barrington Web designer who has been encouraging all his clients to embrace the technology. "It is an invited channel to your inbox. It is such a sea change in how we receive information." When one of Minton's clients sends e-mail to a customer, he likens that to "pushing" — sending unsolicited content because the recipient has indicated in the past that she might like to receive it. But when someone signs up for an RSS feed, he likens it to pulling — the customer herself is actively asking for the content and takes ownership of it in a way that strengthens the connection between her and the provider. That makes it a far more efficient and effective way to stay in touch with loyal patrons. "This is radically different than something coming into my e-mail inbox, where it may get filtered," he said. Relatively unknown If you haven't heard of RSS yet, you aren't alone. A survey conducted between May 4 and June 7 by the Pew Internet and American Life Project found that only 9 percent of respondents said they "have a good idea" when asked if they knew what RSS means. Sixty-five percent said they were "not really sure," and 26 percent said they had "never heard the term." Regardless of the slow public adoption of RSS technology, Web sites are pushing forward, expecting that people will eventually catch up. National Public Radio and the New York Times are typical of this push; both offer dozens of different feeds to subscribers, with categories ranging from entertainment to business to politics to world news. The technology has also been quickly adopted by bloggers, who can feed their readers an update every time they post something new on their Weblog. To access RSS feeds, users need an RSS "reader." There are dozens available on the Internet for a variety of operating systems. Some are free, some are not. The technology review Web site CNET gave Pluck (www.pluck.com) it's editor's pick for its "ease of use and flexibility." Mac users can use the RSS reader that comes with the new version of Safari — Apple's own Web browser. For a list of other RSS readers, try blogspace.com/rss/readers. To subscribe to an RSS feed, users need only follow the instructions found in most reader's help files. To determine whether a favorite site offers RSS feeds, look for an orange button with the letters "RSS" or "XML" on any Web site. (XML stands for Extensible Markup Language, and is the computer language used for RSS readers, but that is far more than most of us need or care to know). Jack Dew can be reached at jdew@berkshireeagle.com or at (413) 496-6241. | ||