What is RSS?

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. It’s a technology which allows people to receive automatic updates when new content is posted on blogs, news headlines, podcasts, or any website that publishes a feed.

Software that reads an RSS feed is alternately called an RSS reader, feed catcher, or news aggregator. Subscription is free, and there are many ways to subscribe.

Most newer browsers have feed catchers embedded in them already, while others have plugins that can be added on. I use infoRSS for Firefox, but there are many options available. Or there websites such as Bloglines and Google Reader which allow users to subscribe to feeds that can be accessed from anywhere. Wikipedia has a list of feed aggregators here.

The orange image on the left is a standard icon used to indicate that a feed is published by a website. Some browsers will show it in the address line, and clicking on it will give you the option to subscribe to the feed.

Plutonica.net has a feed for entries and another for comments posted to the blog – you can even subscribe through LiveJournal or via e-mail.

Subscription methods: