Using Thunderbird as an RSS Feed Reader

You can make Thunderbird your RSS feed reader so that your mail and RSS feeds are in the same program.

Step 1: Set up an RSS/Blog account.

1. In Thunderbird, go to File → New → Account.
2. Select RSS News & Blogs. 
3. Click Next.
4. Enter the account name (eg. My RSS Feeds) and click Next and then Finish.

Step 2: For each RSS feed you want to add, subscribe.

1. In the folders pane, right-click on the new account (eg. My RSS Feeds).
2. Click Subscribe.
3. Click Add and enter the URL for the feed and click OK.

Note: This does not include listservs.

Thanks to Nicole Ortmann, Email Migration Assistant, I-Tech, for submitting this tip.

Tagging and Addict-o-matic

On the Web, tags are keywords that users themselves assign to content.  Tags can be used in blogs, photo sharing sites like Flickr and Picasa, video sharing sites like YouTube and Vimeo, social bookmarking sites like Delicious, and microblogs like Twitter.  In Twitter, a hashtag is simply a tag with a pound sign or "hash" in front of it, as in #ala10.

There is no central authority or official set of tags, but if many users begin to use the same tag for the same topic across all Web content, the information can be aggregated to a fuller picture of participants' experiences.

One way to view the aggregate all of this content is with a site like Addict-o-matic:

1. Go to http://addictomatic.com
2. Enter a tag (ex: Chile or ala10)
3. Click the Create button. 

A custom page is created based on the tag you entered.  Based on the activity of a particular tag—I tried Chile for one page and ala10 for another—you might have some of the following:

• Twitter "tweets",
• FriendFeed updates,
• Wordpress, Twingly, and Bloglines blog searches,
• Google, Bing, Yahoo!, and Ask.com searches,
• Digg articles,
• Flickr images,
• YouTube and Truveo videos,
• and more!

Here's a Tip: If you are planning an event, like a conference or an open house, use Addict-o-matic, to check to make sure the official tag you want to promote is not being actively used by another group with a very different topic in mind.

Really Fun Web 2.0 Tutorials

Check out these really fun Web 2.0 Video Tutorials "in plain English" from CommonCraft Productions who, according to their website, create “short videos that make complex subjects and ideas easy to understand.”

• Wikis in Plain English
• RSS in Plain English
• Social Networking in Plain English
  
• Social Bookmarking in Plain English

They also have good blog posts on:

• What are the Differences Between Message Boards and Weblogs?
• Comparing Social Networking to Online Communities

Creating RSS Feeds

RSS, which stands for "Really Simple Syndication" or "Rich Site Summary" is a great web tool that is easy to set up and makes your web life a lot easier. It pulls together in one place news feeds for all of the web sites that you select. Every time one of your pre-selected sites is updated ... Presto... your RSS feed is also updated. RSS saves you from having to repeatedly visit favorite websites to check for new content.

Here's a great video from the Information Today blog that will have you creating RSS Feeds in only minutes. Enjoy!