Finally, I’m Scanning the Web through Newsgator

I finally set up Newsgator to better keep tabs on the web after looking into RSS a few weeks ago. I may be one of the last to do this so apologizes for sounding like a novice but we all have to learn sometime. Newsgator is an RSS feed service that scans blogs and other sites that you list for it and sends the updates to your Outlook mail box in folders that you set up for each site. I picked it because of the Outlook connection and I am very pleased so far. Newsgator has a one time $29 charge to down load the tool.

There is also AmphetaDesk, a free, cross platform, open-sourced, syndicated news aggregator with many ethusiastic fans according to the web site full of testimonials. Feedreader is another open-source aggregator that supports all major RSS formats. It works under Windows 95 and later versions. In addition, there is Bloglines, another “free service that makes it easy to keep up with your favorite blogs and newsfeeds. With Bloglines, you can subscribe to the RSS feeds of your favorite blogs, and Bloglines will monitor updates to those sites.”

Radio UserLand, a web publishing and weblog tool, has an integrated news aggregator. Its site says “UserLand built its first news aggregator in 1999. It was the first aggregator built on the now-popular format called RSS, a flavor of XML, which was co-developed by UserLand and Netscape. Click here to read the history of UserLand's news aggregator (by Dave Winer).”

There are also some blog search engines like Technorati and BlogPulse where you can look for stuff. Once you find some good stuff, the best bet to put all worthwhile sites into an aggregator like Newsgator so you do not have to go back on your own again.

Comments

[Kathleen Gilroy]

I a Mac gal and want to put in a plug for my favorite Mac newsreader: Shrook (http://www.fondantfancies.com/shrook/); It is a desktop client with multiple panels, a nice folder system for organizing feeds, and good graphics for tracking what you have read, haven't read, and want to read again. Shrook is about $20 with a 30-day free trial. I've also used Netnewswire for the Mac, has a free lite version.

[Bill Ives]

Thanks for sharing this. There is more on Apple blogging in a post I did on May 24 on the Harvard Beckman Blog meetings - Blogging at Beckman.