BBC, CNN, NPR — move over! The Octothorp Press is now serving news feeds of the Wasted-Domain Wishlist and the Boilerplate Series.

The news junkies among you already know about RSS, which (believe it or not) stands for "Really Simple Syndication." I won't get into technical details here, because all that most people need to know is that RSS lets them aggregate lots of news sources and read their headlines (and usually lead paragraphs) in one place.

I've just come across a very nifty screensaver that grabs any RSS feeds of one's choice and scrolls them across the screen, along with a beautifully rendered analog clock. It's called Mac3DWatch, and it's so well implemented that I think it gives you yet another reason to buy a Mac. But for me, it's also been a good reason finally to get into RSS.

Not only am I using it to peek at BBC, NPR, Slashdot, and InterVarsity headlines — I couldn't resist getting into the game myself. So if the lack of an RSS feed has been keeping you from staying up-to-date with my Wasted-Domains Wishlist and the Boilerplate Series, your wait is over. Now you can syndicate the latest dozen items from each list here and here, respectively. Enjoy!

first published Sep 11, 2004