Important First Step

1. Emerging Technology: RSSUnderstanding and Using RSS Center for Faculty Development and SupportSteve Sloansteve.sloan@sjsu.eduhttp://sloantech.blogspot.com/

2. Important First Step • Please be sure you signed in!

3. Goals • Define and Discuss Emerging Technology and where RSS fits into it • Define key terms associated with RSS • Provide an overview of the technologies associated with RSS • Discuss how RSS, and related technologies, can be a way to manage information • Discuss possible ways that RSS and related technologies may evolve • Subscribe to and view an RSS feed

4. What is Emerging Technology?What are some other emerging technologies? • The adjective emerging has 3 meanings • Coming into view • Coming into existence • Coming to maturity • Internet + Weblogging • The read-write web • Dan Gillmor, “We the media” • User enabling software-hardware • Common computers over 1 billion instructions a second (Super Computers, “Lethal Weapons”) • Media creation applications such as iMovie, iPhoto etc. • Portable devices • OQO, Sony devices, Nokia and “Scoble” phones • Always-on broadband in the home • Cable-DSL • Ubiquitous connectivity, “digital dial tone” • 802.11, Cellular, RSS, (wireless plus download) • See: • www.answers.com • www.bushin30seconds.org

5. Emerging Technologies • Portable Phones, an emerging technology of the past • Portable phones once niche players in telecommunications • Hard to use • Cumbersome • Expensive • Now considered one of the three things everybody has • Wallet/purse • Keys • Portable phone • Continuing to change face of society, this tech is still emerging

6. Understanding ET“Disruptive Technology” • Sustaining verses emerging “disruptive” technologies • Disruptive, in this case, means products and technologies that disrupt established solutions and markets, but sustain the underlying process • In an educational setting this can be viewed as methods that offer easier, faster, better and/or cheaper ways improving learning outcomes See: The Innovator's Dilemma, Clayton M. Christensen

7. Impact of Disruptive Technologies • At turn of the 20th Century the steam train was the transportation system of choice to meet underlying need to get from place to place • Safe • Comfortable • Fast • Relatively convenient • Internal combustion engine could not compete in core market and developed in niche market

8. Impact of Disruptive Technologies • By end of 20th Century, internal combustion engine has replaced steam engine in what was steam engine’s core market • Steam engine has become niche player • Railroads have declined, focused on freight, and are no longer a predominate mode of long distance travel • Disruptive Emerging Technologies • Change markets, processes and paradigms • Existing paradigms are not secure • Start and develop in niche and often obscure markets

9. Emerging Technologies and RSS • Emerging technologies work together to improve underlying processes • People need to create, communicate, collaborate and learn • Wikis, weblogs, and podcasts generate RSS feeds • RSS in turn enables repackaging and delivery of content to a variety of client platforms • RSS is a subset of Emerging Technology • Other technologies are a subset of RSS

10. Understanding RSS • All you need to know: • Keeping it simple! • Good functional definitions • RSS (pronounced "arr-ess-ess") is a web syndication protocol primarily used by news websites and weblogs • Format for delivering summaries of regularly changing web content • RSS is the format for repackaging and viewing content from changing websites

11. Terms: RSS • Really Simple Syndication • A family of XML based web-content distribution and republication (Web syndication) protocols primarily used by news sites and weblogs. • Other definitions • Rich Site Summary • RDF Site Summary

12. RSS: A technical definition • More than you need to know: • RSS is a file format that allows anyone with a website — from large media companies to individual commentators — to easily "syndicate" their content, similar to how comic strips and popular columns are syndicated by their owners to hundreds of newspapers. Except that on the Web, the RSS syndication is usually free, and the content that is syndicated is often not the full entry, but excerpts and links back to the originating website.

13. Terms: Weblog • A weblog, Web log or simply a blog, is a web application which contains periodic, reverse chronologically ordered posts on a common webpage. • Such a Web site would typically be accessible to any Internet use • The changing nature of weblogs, and their reverse chronological ordering, makes them especially suited to RSS feeding

14. Terms: Feed • A file document, in XML format, associated with a changing website, typically a weblog • As with all XML documents, RSS documents employ a set of tags that describe elements of the text • Typically these files are updated dynamically as the site changes

15. Terms: Aggregation • A program that reads an RSS or an Atom feed is called an aggregator • Aggregator programs collect data from multiple feeds and consolidate them into a simple to navigate view • Aggregators are typically constructed as extensions to a Web browser, as extensions to an email program, or as standalone programs • An aggregator program is also called a reader

16. Terms: Syndication • Making Web feeds available from a site so other people can display an updating list of content from it • Focuses on changing content • For example: one's latest forum or weblog postings, etc. • This originated with news and blog sites but is increasingly used to syndicate any information

17. Terms: XML • Extensible Markup Language • A general-purpose markup language for creating special-purpose markup languages • It is a simplified subset of SGML • Capable of describing many different kinds of data • Its primary purpose is to facilitate the sharing of structured text and information across the Internet • Languages based on XML allow programs to modify and validate documents in these languages without prior knowledge of their form • This allows information sharing between many platforms • The basis for the Microsoft® .Net Framework

18. How does RSS work? • Feeder • The XML format file is typically updated dynamically by a web application that lists and links changes to a web site • Reader • A program known as an RSS aggregator, or feed reader, checks RSS-enabled feeds on behalf of a user and displays any updated information that it finds

19. Standards(RSS and Atom) • Many flavors of RSS • .9x, 1.x, 2.x • Atom (a fork in the road!) • Rooted in RSS • Not backwardly compatible with any of the previous RSS versions • Feedburner™ converts Atom to RSS

20. RSS 2.0 and enclosures • Allows for attachments called “enclosures” • Podcasting • Download based • Videocasting • Mediablogging • Mobile blogging (moblogging) • Download, not streaming

21. Consuming an RSS feed • Each feed is like a food • Each feed is unique • The reader is like a meal • A well rounded meal is an aggregation of foods • An RSS reader is the program that presents the information feeds • The reader provides the user interface

22. Feeds A typical RSS feed Headlines Content

23. Many faces of RSS

24. How do RSS readers differ? • Three basic types of client side applications • Extensions to a Web browser • Extensions to an email program • Standalone programs • Can be Web applications • Can have widely different user interfaces

25. Web based readers • Bloglines • Your RSS feeds can be shared • You see what the people you read read • My Yahoo • NewsGator Online • Free • DiVX connected devices

26. Local RSS readers • Different 3rd party readers for PC + MAC • Hundreds of readers • List too long to include

27. The real-time web • Technorati • Uses RSS to track the popularity of weblogs by keeping track of links between them • Attention.xml • Extends the RSS reader by focusing on what people are reading and what information matches the profile of what you normally do read

28. Future of RSS • Will replace E-mail & Web browser • Social groups and human relations will be mapped and extend into RSS • XFN, FOAF and Rojo • Rich content can be delivered via download, using RSS • Ability to deliver rich content will grow • Podcasting • Videocasting • Mobile devices

29. Mobile devices and RSS • Portable devices with always-on connection will grow market for download based media • Ability to create, post and access information nears ubiquity

30. Secure RSS? • Is there such a thing? • Transparency not always desired • Secure RSS 2.0 and SSH/SSL encryption technologies could be employed • Private channels • One to one • One to few • One to many • RSS = “Digital Dial Tone”

31. Transparency • By nature RSS is transparent • This can be good or bad • May violate privacy • Invites the world into the classroom • Some solutions for this • Use application layer security (SSL/SSH) • Secure RSS? • Do we adapt to provide more transparency, or do we adapt the tool to provide greater security? • Route around nature of Internet may make it difficult to not be transparent • Like it or not, the world is getting more transparent and information ubiquity is becoming the norm • Easier to spread information than to verify it • Increases need for trusted sources

32. RSS Pitfalls • Get all the news you want, and none you don’t? • Folks can subscribe to channels that only fit their world view • Increase polarization • More Red vs. Blue • Raising the bar on information compilation • Increase expectations, stress and anxiety • Aggregation aggravation • Overload

33. Exercise: get aggregating! • www.newsgator.com • Create an account • Subscribe • www.sjsu.edu/rss • Itsupport.sjsu.edu • You are aggregating

34. My Favorite Feeds • Bob Scoblescoble.weblogs.com “The human aggregator” • VersiontrackerBoth windows and mac • ItconversationsTreasures of information • Backup BrainDori Smith & her husband • The Big PictureSJSU Alpha Prof Dennis Dunleavy

35. Contact info and conversation • SJSU • Steve.sloan@sjsu.edu • (408) 924-2374 • General • Skype/AIM: ssloansjca • Web: www.edupodder.comMain Geek Blog: sloantech.blogspot.com • (408) 605-0692 • S_sloan@mac.com

36. Final Tasks • Part 2 of RSS • Podcasting! • Thursday, May 5, 10-11:30 am • Please do evaluations • This will be available on-line • www.edupodder.com • SJSU Sessions

37. www.sjsu.edu/cats/2003/showcase/