The Hindu : News feed sharing service

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Feb 23, 2004

Business

Business

News feed sharing service

THIS WEEK's focus is on the new on-line service created to help netizens share their RSS-based news feeds with others.

Active web sites/blogs publish new content snippets through RSS-based newsfeeds that can be read by newsreaders. Rather than hopping from site to site for relevant information, a savvy netizen first reads the new content information available on his favourite news feeds (either through the news aggregator installed on the desktop or via an on-line news aggregator service like Bloglines) and then moves over to its source if he finds the content useful.

The feeds subscribed by a netizen depend on his interests on specific subjects and other needs. But it is likely that he may be missing out many relevant feeds related to his area.

Also, he may be reading feeds from resourceful sources, some of which might be of use to other netizens with similar interests. So, a tool that enables netizens to share their news feed subscription list with others will their Net life further. Here we will have a look at the service `Share your OPML,' created with this purpose in mind.

Share Your OPML

An RSS-based news feed is an XML type file created for sharing new content details available on a site. These news feeds subscribed by a netizen can together be combined into a single file, called the news feed subscription list.

This subscription list file is created using another file format called `Outline Processor Markup Language' (OPML- http:// opml. scripting.com/).

Many news aggregators have a built in feature that allows you to create an OMPL-based subscription list automatically.

For example, to create an OPML file with the popular news aggregator SharpReader (http://www.sharpreader.net/), use the option `Export Subscriptions,' available under the `File' menu. As most of the on-line news aggregation services feature a tool for creating OPML files, users of such services can also create OPML files.

For example, a Bloglines (http://bloglines.com) user can generate an OPML file through the `Export Subscriptions' option available on the `Manage Subscriptions' page.

Apart from the facility to create an OPML file, mainstream desktop aggregators also provide the tool to import OPML files from external sources. So, by exchanging OPML files, netizens can share their news feeds with one another.

This aspect is used by the on-line service `Share your OPML,' where anyone can host his OPML file for others to share.

To host your OPML file on to the `Share your OPML' server, access the link at: http://feeds.scripting.com/ and register with the service.

After registration, log-in to the service and upload your OPML file. While you upload the OPML file, make sure that the `Sharing' button is enabled.

Other people's feeds can be read here: http://feeds.scripting.com/viewSharedFeeds. The file that contains all the OPML links shared by the users is currently available at: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/blogs/opml/users/index.opml.

For more technical details, check out: http://feeds. scripting.com/sdk.

Now, what to do if you do not have a news aggregator or you do not use an on-line aggregator, but still want to share the news feeds of the sites you regularly read? People with such a need may use the free on-line service `OPML Generator' (http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/xml/make_opml.cgi), designed to generate an OPML file instantaneously. To create an OPML file with this service you should have information on the RSS-feed URLs of your favourite sites. The service will create an OPML file on the fly, using the RSS feed URLs entered by you into its input form. The author of the service has released its source code also (http://www.downes.ca/code/make_ opml.txt).

CompleteRSS: News

feed search engine

To get a list of RSS feeds related to a specific subject, we enlist the service of a news feed search engine. Another search possible with RSS feeds is for feeds with news items that contain a specific keyword (item search). The search engine `CompleteRSS' is a cute service that can be used to do both type of searches — RSS feed search and item search — discussed above. For more details: http://www.completerss.com.

Soople: Google expert

search made easy

Though a large majority of netizens uses Google everyday, many of this search service's powerful/valuable features are hardly touched by them. For example, if you are looking for a set of MS-Word files that contain a particular text, you will get relevant search results by using the `filetype:' operator in your search string. To restrict the search to a file type, use the `filetype:' command followed by the name of the file format (for example, the search string `filetype:doc globalisation' will lead you to a set of links to the Word documents containing the word `globalisation'). At present Google Supports 12 file types (http://www.google.com/help/faq_filetypes.html) that include `Portable Document Format' (pdf), Microsoft Excel (xls), and Lotus 1-2-3 (wk1, wk2 and wk3).

Another useful tool is the `define' operator that can help search for the definition of a word or phrase (search string example: `define:outsourcing.' Check out: http://www.google.com/help/ operators.html.

An ordinary user may not be keen to learn all the Google operators/tools or perhaps may not always be remembering some of them. In that case take a look at the service `Soople' (http://www.soople.com/soople_int.php) which can be used to invoke a search with different Google operators without the user having to know any of them. The site provides separate interfaces for the Google's various popular operators and a user can select the one that suits his search objective.

In this regard you may also note that Google offers special search services that enable searchers to "narrow'' the search by concentrating on a specific topic. For example, if your target is Linux related sites only, use the link: http://www.google.com/linux. Likewise, to narrow down the search to universities use: http://www.google.com/options/universities.html. Check out: http://www. google.com/options/ specialsearches. html.

J. Murali

Email the author at:

murali27@satyam.net.in

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