RSS is the latest buzzword in Internet publishing. If you haven't heard about it, settle in for a second, because techno-geek Dave is going to give you a primer.

RSS is a system for delivering content over the Web. Because RSS does not use email for delivery, readers don't have to worry about the content getting blocked by Spam filters. Recipients can display the feed on their computers using an RSS Reader. (I'll list a couple of free ones at the bottom.)

Publishers can allow also Web-site owners to display the feed on their Web site, giving the site additional content, and giving visitors another reason to visit the site.

RSS for Web Site Owners
AuctionBytes has set up an RSS feed on its site containing our daily auction news headlines from the Newsflash newsletter. Here are a few examples of different formatting of the same news feed:

http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abnews2

http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abnews3

http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abnews4

If you operate your own Web site, you can have our auction news headlines display on your site. Simply right-click on one of the example pages, view the source, and copy and paste the code into one of the pages on your Web site. Voila! Instant auction news headlines for people to read on your site. Each story, when clicked on, will open up in a new window, so that your visitors won't leave your site.

RSS for Reading on Your Desktop
You can bypass the Web and read our latest story headlines with an RSS Reader, which is a desktop application. There are several free readers available. Here are two of the more popular ones:

http://www.feedreader.com/index.php
http://www.disobey.com/amphetadesk

These feed readers are designed for 32-bit operating systems, but I had some difficulty getting them to work correctly under Windows 98. They seemed to work fine on a Windows XP machine. Simply follow the directions (sometimes very sparse), and when you're asked for URL for the direct feed of our NewsFlash, enter:

http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/news.rss

For those of you who have no interest in another computer acronym and learning a new geek concept, don't worry. At this point, RSS is simply a way to offer readers an additional way to receive our news headlines. AuctionBytes Newsflash will remain an email newsletter and will still archive stories in a searchable fashion on our Site. (AuctionBytes-Update is not affected at all.)

We think RSS may soon be coming to a computer near you!

RSS Resources

Good article by Danny Sullivan about RSS with lots of links: http://searchenginewatch.com/sereport/article.php/2175271

A lot more info on RSS: http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss

Easy tutorial on setting up an RSS Feed: http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/website/view.cgi?dbs=Article&key=1059503386

A place to get free RSS content: http://www.syndic8.com

AuctionBytes thread to discuss RSS: http://digbig.com/3ccy