Chinese,and another wants a burger and Mexican. Instead of running tothree different places, you call a delivery service that goes toall of them and brings it to you. What could be easier ingetting a meal without cooking it or fetching it?RSS, XML, RDF, and Atom are the food delivery guy of theInternet. The content they deliver is mixed and cooked elsewhereon the Internet just like the meal isn't made on your door stepand the acronym fellows bring the content to you via software oran online application. Instead of trying to remember all theplaces where you like to go to get the latest news, it all comesto you once you order your food. What to Do with the Funky CodeClick on any of those orange or blue RSS, XML, or RDF buttonsand you see unreadable text. Some of it is readable, but readingbetween the is slow and difficult. In this case, you'vegot the raw ingredients of...

... the content known as a feed. To makeit easily readable, download a feed reader that can interpret(aggregate) the ingredients or sign up for an online servicethat can do the same.When the software or application is ready to go, click on theorange or blue button (or "Syndicate This Page," or whatever isalong these lines) and copy the resulting URL from the addressbox. Paste it into the application to cook the ingredients whereit's delivered to you ready for your enjoyment. Lockergnomeoffers step-by-step instructions to making this happen. Syndication Isn't Just for BlogsSyndication is a not a new concept on the Internet, but it'sgrowing in popularity as more Web sites and newsletters arechurning content to turn it into syndicated files, which are fedinto an aggregator. Think of it as the content that's ready totravel anywhere it needs to go. Grab the feed and feed it to theaggregator, another way of bookmarking (or creating a favorite)a site because you wish to come back again another time. But howoften did you go back to the site through your bookmarks /favorites?I don't use bookmarks often, but I regularly use the aggregator.Instead of schlepping from site to site in search ofinformation, I have it all in front of me via the aggregator.The feeds are sorted in folders by topic for easy finding. IfI'm writing about the latest virus or worm, then I open thesecurity folder with the security-related feeds and scan them.Scanning content through aggregators is easier than on a Website because it's in one folder with headlines and maybe a shortsummary. On a Web site, you're only getting the benefit of thatsite's news and no where else. The folder has news from over tenresources including blogs, news sites, and newsletters.Any content can be syndicated. It's a matter of having thebackend process in place, which is dependent on the applicationused for managing the content. If a site doesn't have suchresources, then there is software for entering content to createa file with the feed for posting on the site.Most aggregators have exporting capabilities so the feed can beshared with others interested in the same topic. If you'reinterested in my security feeds, I can export them into, in mostcases, an OPML file and you can import it into your aggregator. So What Does This Have to Do with Newsletters?Spam filters are preventing readers from getting newsletters orthey get lost in the spam pool. Offering a feed for thenewsletter is a compromise. Readers can get the content, onlyinstead of it coming to the email box, it comes through theaggregator. It's a way around spam. Like everything else, it hasits advantages and disadvantages:Advantages:* Filters can't stop the newsletter from reaching itsdestination. * The recipient will get it - if the server is down, it'lldownload next time and email can get lost. * The feed can be syndicated providing more exposure for yourcontent. Disadvantages:* Rely on readers to open aggregators like they open emailclient, but some aggregators are built-in with an email clientlike NewsGator and there are online aggregators like Bloglines,which can be your home page.* Metrics won't be as complete, but it's still there through thelinks (this is changing as we get more tools). * Not as pretty as HTML-based newsletters. If the feed is automatically created, what have you got to lose?You're providing another way for your readers to get yourcontent just like you can get pizza in different ways: go to therestaurant, have it delivered, or make it at home. Moreapplications are adding syndication capabilities, which make theprocess effortless. Some have said they won't read somethingunless it has a feed.As for looks, already I've seen an example of a feed gettingstyled and that capability will be available for everyone soonenough.Syndication works better than bookmarks. With bookmarks, youclick on a site that might have the security information andarrive there to find it doesn't. So, back to the bookmarks toclick on another site. Lather, rinse, repeat. With aggregators,there is no jumping from site to site. Scan the headlines rightthere until you find what you need.There was a time when we didn't have the option to have pizzadelivered to our doorstep. When we're too tired, we know we canrely on the delivery guy. In term of content, expect to see itshow up at your doorstep more often than the pizza guy plus it'scheaper with the cost only coming from the software though thereare many free options available. Syndication is here to stay andshould be added to a company's communication toolbox rather thanas a replacement. Witness it by watching for RSS, XML, RDF, andAtom out there....