Electric newspapers through your geeky mailbox

Every saturday morning, a copy of my local rag (The Argus, it's not life changing, but it's local and I love it. Don't judge me, I can see you judging me from here.) drops to the in my hallway. I stagger down the stairs, I open the door and lean down to pick up the milk and the paper, then retreat unsteadily to the kettle.
I like this process, I'm not about to change it, but it's not the only way I get my news hit these days. I peruse the websites of the BBC, Piston Heads, and a wide range of websites that make me chuckle.

For some time now, there's been a brilliant way to keep up to date though. Whatever the content, and whatever (gizmo) you decide to read with.
However, it seems to just be used by us nerds, and I think you lot'd really like it too! So, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the glory of RSS feeds!
Cue the tumbleweed.

Honestly though, it's great. Lunchtime comes around, and I just wander over to Google Reader and catch up on the internet at large.
I've set it up to feed me all the news articles I might like to see from various sources. It shows me what's going on in my social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. New stuff for sale on eBay that I might care to place a bid on, the latest books for my Kindle App that might be of interest, how the traffic's doing on the M25, gigs, films, recipies....... Phew, my fingers ache from typing all this stuff. You get the point, all the information I'd like to keep tabs on, delivered, categorised, and summarised for my reading convenience.

The fact that I can then download the Google Reader app onto my Android phone, or just browse to the mobile version of the site, means that Google was always going to be my favourite.
That's not to say it's your only choice of course, you can even subscribe in your browser. FireFox, Internet Explorer and all the main contenders all support it.

So I'll finish here with a little list of RSS feeds you could consider subscribing to (including all of mine of course!), and a little list of ways to read them.
I must stop here, I could rant on and on about the many reasons you need RSS in your life. The main one being that in this speedy, on demand, instant gratification world, it fits right in. Cheesetastic.

Don't forget, whenever you see the RSS icon (it looks like this , so keep your eyes peeled), you can click it to subscribe!

Some feeds for you to peruse....

• BBC News, UK Edition - UK newsfeed from the good old BBC. They just summarise each article, and you click it to read it.
• Latest news from The Guardian - These guys actually deliver full articles via RSS, great if you're on the move!
• Private Eye - Ian Hislop and his merry men, taking on the world at large.
• The Argus - Well I couldn't let you go without cramming a bit more of this down your RSS hole now could I?
• News Biscuit - It's like the news, but there's something different about it...
• Radio Times tv highlights - What's good on TV tonight dear? Dunno love, I'll check the RSS.
• Piston Heads car stuff - The latest and greatest news in the world of motoring
• Kindle Bestsellers - OK, well just 'cos they're selling well, doesn't make 'em good. Still, might be nice.
• One Sentence stories - Does what it says on the tin, people send in a story. It's only a sentence. The published ones end up in here!
• White Ninja Comics - He's a Ninja. He's none too bright. I like it.

Some feeds I made m'self!

• This Blog! - Well it had to be, really. By the way, blogs and RSS go together like peas and carrots. Just so's you know. Like a blog? RSS it.
• FossWeb.net website updates - Little changes I make to the site, that I think you might like.
• My Flickr photos - Photos I put on the internet, get spoonfed to you right away. Nice.
• My Twitter feed - Tiny drunken announcements. Usually.
• YouTube videos - Whatever videos I upload, you'll hear about 'em first.

Some things to read some feeds....

• Google Reader - Despite a few annoyances, this is my favourite by far.
• Your web browser does it. If you've got the latest versions of FireFox, Internet Explorer, Safari, Opera etc. You can use 'em all to read your feeds!
• Your e-mail client does it too. Thunderbird, Lotus Notes and Microsoft Outlook to name but a few.
• iTunes - yes, it's true. Use your iTunes account to read your stuff!
• The WikiPedia RSS reader comparison is good, but only if you're taking this terribly seriously.