Tài liệu 20.2. RSS: The Missing Manual doc

20.2. RSS: The Missing Manual

In the beginning, the Internet was an informational Garden of Eden. There were no

bannerads, pop-ups, flashy animations, or spam messages. Back then, people thought the

Internet was the greatest idea ever.

Those days, unfortunately, are long gone. Web browsing now entails a constant battle

against intrusive advertising and annoying animations. And with the proliferation of Web

sites of every kind—from news sites to personal weblogs (blogs)—just reading your

favorite sites can become a full-time job.

Enter RSS, a technology that lets you subscribe to feeds—summary blurbs provided by

thousands of sources around the world, from Reuters to Apple to your nerdy nextdoor

neighbor. You use a program like Safari to "subscribe" to updates from such feeds, and

then read any new articles or postings at your leisure.

The result: You spare yourself the tedium of checking for updates manually, plus you get

to read short summaries of new articles without ads and blinking animations. And if you

want to read a full article, you can click its link in the RSS feed to jump straight to the

main Web site.

Figure 20-9. The Length slider controls how much text appears for each RSS blurb;

if you drag it all the way to the left, you're left with nothing but headlines. To

change the number and order of the articles being displayed, use the search options

on the right. And if you feel a sudden desire to tell your friends about an amazing

RSS feed you've just discovered, use the "Mail Link to This Page" link in the lower￾right section of the window.

Note: RSS either stands for Rich Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication. Each

abbreviation explains one aspect of RSS—either its summarizing talent or its simplicity.

20.2.1. Viewing an RSS Feed

So how do you sign up for these free, automatic RSS "broadcasts? "Watch your address

bar as you're surfing the Web. When you see a blue RSS button appear (identified back in

Figure 20-1), Safari is telling you, "This site has an RSS feed available."