RSS Feeds, Pod Casting, and Wiki's

(No, they are not out of a SciFi Movie)

RSS (Really Simple Syndication)

RSS is a way that publishers can share web content like headlines and text, using XML files. The XML file (RSS feed, channel or stream as it may be called), consists of a list of items containing a headline, some text, and a link to the web page that contains the rest of the article. This information for each article is placed within a set of html-like tags. The xml file is then registered through any of the various RSS news feed aggregators. Readers use a feed reader or an RSS news aggregator to subscribe to and read the feeds they are interested in. Some newer browsers include the feed reader. Whenever the content is changed in the xml file, all the users subscribing to that particular RSS feed will receive the new content.

Subscribing to an RSS Feed within a website is a great way to add fresh content to the site. It is also very helpful to write articles on your website and register the article as a feed for others to read, bringing quality traffic in to your site through that article. A website is considered 'syndicated' when it has an RSS Feed.

Pod Casting

Pod Casting is similar to RSS Feeds except that it is audio files and not readable text. The pod cast must be listened to on an mp3 player (like the known Apple iPod, hence the name). Podcasts can be music, seminar lectures, or homemade talk shows. There are websites that offer pod feeds that you can subscribe to. Subscribers will automatically receive the audio files downloaded to their computer where they can be transferred to their portable MP3 player and then listened to at their convenience.

Anyone can create a podcast with the right software, a computer, a microphone, a website, and sufficient bandwidth. Any computer can download a podcast. The podcaster must be careful not to include any copyrighted material in their podcast. Podcasting may be enticing because it is not subject to regulation by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), so it it free from censorship.

The allure of podcasting is having the choice of exactly what one wants to listen to, uncensored, and at a time when it is convenient.

Wiki

A wiki is server software that allows users to make and edit web page content using any web browser. It can be edited by anyone viewing the page, and not just the creator. Wikis can be especially useful during emergencies or natural disasters. During Hurricane Katrina, the 'Katrina Wikis' were used to provide updates from residents on the scene and allowed people to post names of missing relatives, or post their own names to show they had survived.