How to keep up on your blogs...

I have quite a few blogs I read and, as I have mentioned before, quite a few podcasts that I listen to as well.

One of the challenges it keeping up with the things you are interested in. The web has a solution. It is called RSS which stands for "Really Simple Syndication". If you look at the bottom of the info bar (to the right at the time of this writing), you will see a small image that looks like . Clicking on that image gives you a pretty ugly looking page with my blog articles on them.

Using one of several programs known as feed aggregators, you can, however, subscribe and be notified when new items are posted. This also works for podcasts as well.

Some of the aggregators I have found and use are:

• Mozilla Thunderbird - Largely used for email, it will also subscribe to RSS feeds as well. This is not a recommendation because most people like what they are using for email but that is one possibility. Your current email program may have something like this.
  
• WinPodder - I just took that program for a short spin. The interface is pretty easy to use and, one big selling point, is free. It comes pre-subscribed to several podcasts, including one of my favorites... Coverville.
• Bloglines, Google Personal page, Live.com - All these are web based. Bloglines is probably one of the easiest to get set up. The others have varying degrees of ease.
• RSSPopper - If you are a user of Microsoft Outlook, have a look at the RSSPopper extension. It creates a folder where all your feeds go. This also works in Outlook Express.

While the aggregators mentioned above are freeware of some sort (open source or availble on the web), you may find they dont meet you needs. There is a list of new aggregators here. See if you find something that will work for you.