1. RSS and XML Seoul Computer Club 10 December 2005 Stephen D. Carroll SDCarroll@gmail.com

2. 2 Terms  XML – extensible markup language  RSS – really simple syndication  Syndication – making part of a website available via RSS  Aggregator – a program that collects (and displays) syndicated RSS feeds.

3. 3 XML  Markup language, like HTML  Structured format  Data describes itself XML Widget 200 1.99 HTML Hello World Annoying!

4. 4 RSS  A defined XML Standard for sharing news.  RSS file is stored or created on server.  File Header contains static information about the source of the information.  File Body contains dynamic information, all surrounded by matching start and end tags. Versions:  Rich Site Summary (RSS 0.91)  RDF Site Summary (RSS 0.9 and 1.0)  Really Simple Syndication (RSS 2.0) FYI

5. 5 RSS Header Body

6. 6 Syndication  Your favorite newspaper contains:  AP/Reuters news  Comics  Sports news  Weather forecast  Horoscope  You already get most of your news from a variety of sources, compiled (aggregated) into one product (by the newspaper editor).

7. 7 Personal Syndication, I  I want:  Sports News (Yankees, Giants)  Local News (Northern NJ, NYC)  National News (Defense, politics, economy)  International News (SE/NE Asia)  Weather Forecast (Seoul)  Microsoft News (Windows/Exchange)  Financial News (NASDAQ quotes, SEC info)  Misc. stuff (my interests and hobbies)  Who will publish “my” newspaper?

8. 8 Personal Syndication, II  I used to visit more than 25 sites to see “what’s new” – some are updated daily.  New products  New press releases  New tech manuals  New patches  New news  It takes hours to visit all these sites – subscribing to 100 RSS feeds delivers all the updated content to my desktop.

9. 9 RSS Aggregator  A program that collects (and displays) RSS feeds.  Three major types:  Web based  Plugins  Browser-based  Outlook  Standalone programs

10. 10 Aggregator: Web based  RSS feeds are collected and displayed when you browse to their website:  BlogLines(demonstration)  Google Reader(demonstration)  NewsGator Online  My Yahoo!

11. 11 Aggregator: Plugins  You install a program on your computer that collects RSS feeds and displays them in your browser:  Pluck (IE/FF)  Onfolio (IE/FF)  Optimal Access (IE)  FireFox (screenshot)  Opera(screenshot)  Safari(screenshot) Natively support RSS

12. 12 Aggregator: Plugins  You install a program on your computer that collects RSS feeds – and displays them in Outlook:  NewsGator  IntraVnews

13. 13 Aggregators: Standalone  You install a program on your computer that collects and displays RSS feeds:  RSS Bandit  Feed Demon  Sharp Reader  Radio Userland  NetNewsWire (Mac)

14. 14 How does it work?  Content is created…  Weather report, stock quote, news item, other  Content is syndicated…  …by the content provider.  Syndicated content is compiled…  …by your aggregator.  You read the content.

15. 15 What kind of content?  Somewhere, somehow, some data has been created, changed, or republished.  Tuesday’s forecast is for snow.  Tuesday’s forecast is for rain.  One share of Google costs $456.78  President Bush did (this) today.  Microsoft published a Knowledge Base article.  My company filed quarterly earnings report with the SEC.

16. 16  Visit your favorite websites  See any of these logos?  Websites displaying these logos have an RSS feed available.  Clicking on them will subscribe you to their content. Where do I find RSS feeds?  FireFox Live Bookmark  Raw XML/RSS file links

17. 17 Demonstration, Bloglines.com  Free. Setting up account is simple.  Adding a subscription is painless.

18. 18 Demonstration, Bloglines, II  Once subscribed, articles are available:  …to add subscriptions.

19. 19 Demonstration, Google  Free, but accounts are limited. reader.google.com

20. 20 Firefox Live Bookmarks  Built into FF browser  Click the icon to subscribe. A new Bookmarks folder is created to display the feed. olderver.1.5+

21. 21 Opera  Opera reads RSS feeds natively: To subscribe to newsfeeds, go to a page which offers newsfeeds and click the "RSS" button inside the URL field on Opera's address bar. Once you have subscribed to a feed, a "Feeds" menu will appear in the menu bar. You can also right-click in the mail panel to subscribe to feeds if you have created a mail account.

22. 22 Safari (Mac)  Safari also reads RSS feeds: Click the RSS icon and Safari automatically displays the feed. Bookmark the RSS feed so you can return to it later. Safari lets you aggregate feeds easily. Create a folder of your frequently viewed RSS feeds from a single window, then browse everything in one cleanly formatted page.

23. 23 OPML  Outline Processor Markup Language  Lists of RSS feeds.  Uses:  Exchanging RSS lists between aggregators.  Backing up your RSS subscription list.  Sharing your RSS subscription list. Example: http://www.rokus.net/my.opml

24. 24 OPML contents  XML file (self-describing data):  Title:Site’s name  Description:Created by author  xmlUrl:RSS Feed address  htmlUrl:Site’s web address

25. 25 Summary  XML is a file format: self-describing data.  RSS is a specific (defined) type of XML.  Used most commonly for news syndication.  Syndication is publishing RSS feeds.  Aggregation is receiving RSS feeds.  3 types of aggregators display RSS feeds.  How you read your news is up to you.  OPML files contain lists of RSS feeds.

26. 26 Your Homework  Set up an account at bloglines.com  Add the following feeds (copy/paste):  http://xml.weather.yahoo.com/forecastrss?p=KSXX0037&u=f  http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/usatoday-NewsTopStories  http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/the_dilbert_blog/index.rdf  http://www.rokus.net/backend.php (Much easier once this brief is posted to SeoulCC.org)  Visit http://www.engadget.com  Scroll down and click here  Go to bloglines.com and start reading!

27. 27 RSS and XML QUESTIONS? SDCarroll@gmail.com http://www.rokus.net