Never heard of RSS? I’ll forgive you. RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a technology that allows you to read a “feed” from your favorite site without the need for a browser. The “feed” is usually a brief summary of what is on the site, often even without images.

Even though you don’t need your browser, you’ll still need an “RSS reader”. These readers can be dedicated programs for your PC, they can be pocket applications for your mobile phone, or they be web applications (like Google Reader).

If you’ve never heard of RSS, it’s most likely that you also don’t have an RSS reader (though if you use Mozilla Firefox or Thunderbird you’d have one without knowing).

A reader asked me this morning how he could keep up with updates on a site without the need for an RSS reader. Even though I’ve got an RSS reader on my PDA, I still have a few sites I prefer to get via email once a day; so I use RSS FWD.

This free service reads the RSS feed for you, then forwards it in an email. You can select the frequency of these emails and whether you want images or just plain text.

Next time you visit a web site, look for a link to the “RSS feed” or click on the RSS logo (seen here on the left) usually found somewhere on their site.

Then pop on over to RSS FWD, give them that link and your email address, confirm your signup, and you are good to go.

There are millions of RSS feeds, from the local weather to your favorite travel technology site. Have you found a great way to use this service for something travel related? Drop us an email at tips@traveltechtalk.com.

Source: RSS FWD