RSS stands for Real Simple Syndication. I won't go into full detail here on the origin and how RSS has become the standard today for businesses getting their information as this is so well documented on other sites, including Medicare, who uses RSS quite extensively. We all know what a nightmare it can be to navigate the site, so why not take advantage of the RSS feeds they offer to keep updated on the items you need.

As the Internet has evolved with the amount of information available today, we have evolved past the standard of "saving a site as a favorite" to get the news we need today. Yes, you can still save a site as a favorite and this is still a good thing to do, but ask yourself this one questions, "Do I have time to click and check for updates on 20 or more sites a day to get the updated news I want?" Chances are you will probably say no. I know I do not have the time and prefer a process that will automate news items for me. In other words, using an RSS feed is pretty much a "no brainer" for me to receive the timely information I need.
Any website that offers news, including blogging services will usually have a link to subscribe. Once you have subscribed to this page you will receive an update when the page is updated, in other words, one click.
RSS Feed software will give you the title of the article along with a few lines previewing the content, and from there you can decide whether or not you want to read the entire article, and if not, simply delete.

RSS Feed software can help you with preferences too. There are a couple links to a couple that I used and prefer, but there are many more available. If I have not read the article as an example, by using Attensa, it is automatically deleted as set up in my preferences, so I do not have a back log of unread articles sitting there. Attensa integrates with Outlook as well as in the browser. I-Fetch is a good alternative for a desktop/browser application for those who are not using Outlook. In a very simple browser format even Google and Yahoo have simple preferences to add pages to their RSS formats. If you work in a company network environment whereby you cannot add software, using Google or Yahoo for RSS feeds will usually work for you as they do not require any software to function. The new operating system from Microsoft, Vista, incorporates RSS feeds in the browser as well as Outlook 2007, so if you have either product you are set. Internet Explorer 7 also has RSS options. Take a look around if you have updated and look for the orange RSS Icon.

IF YOU ARE MANUALLY SIFTING THROUGH A BUNCH OF "FAVORITES" EACH DAY TO RETRIEVE THE VITAL NEWS INFORMATION YOU NEED, CONSIDER USING RSS FEEDS. YOU WILL FIND IT IS EASY TO ADD AND DELETE SUBSCRIPTIONS AND IT WILL GIVE YOU SOMETHING BACK THAT IS VERY VALUABLE - YOUR TIME AND AT THE SAME TIME GET THE NEWSWORTHY ITEMS YOU NEED!

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