Some people might notice that the RSS feed for this entry is longer than usual. I have recently come to understand the wonders of RSS aggregation and, friends, it is good. The AP has a timely piece on RSS this weekend.
When I first started this blog a year-and-a-half ago I was prompted by MovableType to choose my settings for syndication. This was somewhat mystifying - would anyone really be interested in reproducing what I had to say? Once chompy.net - an online RSS aggregator of-sorts set up by my friends Jacob and Chris - came about, I began to understand. Kind of.
I really enjoy writing this blog and the more I get into it, the more I want to see what other people have to say. At first I stuck with friends blogs, then the majors, falling in love with Josh Marshall's Talking Points Memo and Eric Alterman's Altercation on Slate. But I kept finding more and more interesting sites until I could no longer find the time to check them out on a regular basis. But then the RSS aggregator entered my life.
I recently downloaded a copy of NetNewsWire and it's making my life seem whole again. A quick Refresh and I can see which friends, pundits, and useful info sites (Wireless, Apple, etc.) have recently added posts. When blogs are configured correctly, I can even read an exerpt or - best case scenario - entire blog entry right within my RSS aggregator app. Think of it as a Web site that comes to you.
That said, I've increased my RSS feed to 75 words in an attempt to not overwhelm chompy.net or deny the general theme of my posts to anyone that might use a reader to view my site. In the future I anticipate creating a complete stream but, in the mean time, I encourage the rest of you to check it out....