RSS Sync - Decent RSS/RDF Reader

[Jonathon Watkins]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://home.worldonline.dk/viksoe/rsssync.htm' target='_blank'>http://home.worldonline.dk/viksoe/rsssync.htm</a><br /><br /></div>If you want to take up-to-date web based information with you and don't really like Avantgo, then PPCT reader Daniel suggests that you take a look at RSS Sync. Why? Because "RSS Sync is a Pocket PC 2003 ActiveSync Extension. It synchronizes RSS/RDF news to your PDA - effectively creating an offline newsreader. RSS is an acronym for Really Simple Syndication. It is what it claims to be: a quick and easy way to create and use "syndicated content" such as news headlines and announcements. You read this data in a program called an aggregator, which provides it to you in a simple form. This program updates your PDA with headlines and text from RSS data collected from the internet." <br /><br />"There are literally thousands of RSS newsfeeds available on the net, ranging from headlines from the major newspapers to private diaries and people who have something interesting on their mind. The sync program updates RSS data at scheduled intervals. Data is then synchronized to the PDA, where it can be viewed in the RSS Viewer aggregator. The headlines are stored in a small database on the PDA, so you can carry the information with you anywhere and examine it without being connected on the internet.."<br /><br />As Danniel says, it's "better than Avantgo as it can be used with any site that provides RSS/RDF data." So there you go. Check it out. 8)

[Steven Cedrone]

Hmmm...

Seems to me, we need a really comprehensive list of Pocket PC related RSS feeds! :wink: I may have to start a "project"...

Steve

[Kevin Remhof]

I installed RSS Sync last week. Definitely a nice app. Very easy to install and use. But... (there's always a but, isn't there?)... I feel a bit let down by RSS. Yes, it gives you a great alternative to AvantGo. The feeds are just so darn small though. Take Slashdot for example. All you get is the headlines. You can't do anything else.

I'm not giving up on RSS yet. I need to figure out how best to use it first. I want something like AvantGo without having to use AvantGo's slow servers. Plus, RSS Sync is amazingly fast. That, I could get used to.

[Paul Martin]

I've had the same problem with the small feeds. Because my device is not connected, I sync the RSS feeds, just like Avantgo. I've been disappointed with several that all I get is the headline or a one-sentence description...no story. Perhaps I'm missing the point of RSS?

[garishkernels]

I agree that there often is no more than a short description of the item in the RSS feed... but
while I believe that this is intentional it is by no means required. There is quite a variance
between different feeds... for example The Motley Fool generally only provides a title, with no
additional information, whereas Techdirt often provides quite a lengthy summary. Either way,
I believe the intent is to (in many cases) allow you to decide if you are interested enough to
read the full content from the website. Seems like many new technologies, people are still working out how to best utilize it's abilities.

I noticed that RSS Sync is an extension to ActiveSync and just wanted to let people know that there are several applications to retrieve RSS feed directly from the PocketPC. I am aware
of three: PocketFeed (http://www.furrygoat.com/Software/index.html) PocketRSS
(http://www.happyjackroad.com/AtomicDB/pocketpc/pocketRSS/pocketRSS.asp), and Egress (http://web.newsguy.com/GarishKernels/egress.html).. As the author of Egress, I will readily admit my lack of objectivity but I believe it's the best of the bunch.

-Karl

[popabawa]

garishkernels - I'd never heard of Egress before today and I'm just playing with the demo now. Very impressed!

Very quick to update and very intuitive, you may well even see $10 prised from my stingy fingers before too long!

One comment though, could the headline be word-wrapped like the rest of the story text?

Cheers, Iain.

[Mike Temporale]

Does anyone know if this has a desktop componet to it? I prefer to read my RSS's on my laptop, but sometimes I'm busy and want to read when I'm on the go. Currently, I have one program for the PPC and another for the desktop. This causes such a headache because stories you've read on one are marked as unread on the other! :cry:

[Bruce Babcock]

Mobipocket reader has a news reader that is RSS based. You may need the Pro ver. (There are 18 PDA feeds as of now, plus over 200 other feeds) you need to buy into there enews subscription in order to add your own feeds. I haven’t bought into that yet, I have a hard enough time keeping up with the free stuff.

One idea for someone out there would be to add tivo ability to learn what you are interested in reading a bought [forget this subject][get more of this article][look for more RSS feeds on subject]

[rclyne]

I've had the same problem with the small feeds. Because my device is not connected, I sync the RSS feeds, just like Avantgo. I've been disappointed with several that all I get is the headline or a one-sentence description...no story. Perhaps I'm missing the point of RSS?

One of the problems with RSS is that some sites rely on advertising so they only put a little of the article in the RSS feed (e.g. OSNews). Other sites put a much larger part or all of the of the article in the feed. There does appear to be a limit to the article size in this particulat feed reader.

Sites normally only put a little of the article in a feed to force you to go to the site so that the site gets advertising revenue.

Richard

[rpommier]

Egress (http://web.newsguy.com/GarishKernels/egress.html).. As the author of Egress, I will readily admit my lack of objectivity but I believe it's the best of the bunch.
-Karl

So far so good with Egress for me, one issue though. Have you seen the feed from this site pocketpcthoughts.com/xml ? It only shows headlines in Egress but has headlines and text using PocketFeed.

Is there a setting I'm missing?

[Jason Dunn]

I've had the same problem with the small feeds. Because my device is not connected, I sync the RSS feeds, just like Avantgo. I've been disappointed with several that all I get is the headline or a one-sentence description...no story. Perhaps I'm missing the point of RSS?

RSS is an interesting struggle in the dynamics between "Information is Free" and "Web sites require your support".

From a publishers point of view, if I give our entire stories via RSS, I'm not getting your visit to my Web site, I'm not getting you to load banners, and thus I earn no income from it. Sure, it's technically possible to load a banner into an RSS feed, but if you're offline and can't click it, I'm just scamming my advertisers to pretend that that banner impressions counts for more than branding. If no advertising money was coming in, Pocket PC Thoughts would shut down within a week - subscriber income isn't enough to keep up afloat because less than 0.5% of all people registered in our forums are subscribers. I'm not complaining mind you, just stating my point of view as a publisher.

[popabawa]

So far so good with Egress for me, one issue though. Have you seen the feed from this site pocketpcthoughts.com/xml ? It only shows headlines in Egress but has headlines and text using PocketFeed.


Yup, same here. No settings to change as far as I can see....

[Kevin Remhof]

From a publishers point of view, if I give our entire stories via RSS, I'm not getting your visit to my Web site, I'm not getting you to load banners, and thus I earn no income from it.

Good points! Is it possible to make an RSS feed subscriber-only? (Not asking for this, just curious if it can be done) I'd be interested to see if people would be willing to pay for this and other sites' RSS feeds.

[popabawa]

Good points! Is it possible to make an RSS feed subscriber-only?

How about offering subscribers the full story via RSS and the non-subscribers just get a taster?

(If it is, indeed, possible).

Iain.

[ctmagnus]

Checking RSS instead of email this morning ;)

My two issues with RSS Sync are it truncates stories that PocketFeed doesn't, and the ActiveSync conduit isn't as easy to set up as I would like.

[garishkernels]

My apologies to anyone who has already tried Egress. I had a parsing bug which caused the descriptions of items in this site's RSS feed to be missing.
I have an updated version (1.1.5) available at the URL in the previous message. If you install the revised version and delete the file "//MyDevice/MyDocuments/Channels/PocketPC Thoughts" and then retrieve all, the descriptions will be back. Sorry for the inconvenience.

-Karl

[Jason Dunn]

Good points! Is it possible to make an RSS feed subscriber-only? (Not asking for this, just curious if it can be done) I'd be interested to see if people would be willing to pay for this and other sites' RSS feeds.

Hmm....yes, I'm sure that's possible. I'll look into it, because that's something I'd certainly be willing to offer subscribers.

[freitasm]

I installed RSS Sync last week. Definitely a nice app. Very easy to install and use. But... (there's always a but, isn't there?)... I feel a bit let down by RSS. Yes, it gives you a great alternative to AvantGo. The feeds are just so darn small though. Take Slashdot for example. All you get is the headlines. You can't do anything else.

I'm not giving up on RSS yet. I need to figure out how best to use it first. I want something like AvantGo without having to use AvantGo's slow servers. Plus, RSS Sync is amazingly fast. That, I could get used to.

I've noticed that some sites have only the headlines, while others instead of the summary put the link and the whole page loads. :roll:

I rather use the other RSS feed reader because I'm independent of ActiveSync and can actually download the feeds at any time I'm connected.

[Qman]

Hmmm...

Seems to me, we need a really comprehensive list of Pocket PC related RSS feeds! :wink: I may have to start a "project"...

Steve

I'll second that! :wink:

[rpommier]

My apologies to anyone who has already tried Egress. I had a parsing bug which caused the descriptions of items in this site's RSS feed to be missing.
I have an updated version (1.1.5) available at the URL in the previous message. If you install the revised version and delete the file "//MyDevice/MyDocuments/Channels/PocketPC Thoughts" and then retrieve all, the descriptions will be back. Sorry for the inconvenience.

-Karl

Sold! thanks for the update Karl! Hope you sell a tone of 'em. I've weened myself off of Pocketfeed and find your solution 10x better!

[freitasm]

My apologies to anyone who has already tried Egress. I had a parsing bug which caused the descriptions of items in this site's RSS feed to be missing.
I have an updated version (1.1.5) available at the URL in the previous message. If you install the revised version and delete the file "//MyDevice/MyDocuments/Channels/PocketPC Thoughts" and then retrieve all, the descriptions will be back. Sorry for the inconvenience.

-Karl

Sold! thanks for the update Karl! Hope you sell a tone of 'em. I've weened myself off of Pocketfeed and find your solution 10x better!

Egress looks pretty good, just posted in the software list at Geekzone, but... Is there any way to import a OPML list from my desktop? I use Sharpreader and I have a huge list of feeds that I read...

[SeanMcLeod]

Does anyone know if this has a desktop componet to it? I prefer to read my RSS's on my laptop, but sometimes I'm busy and want to read when I'm on the go. Currently, I have one program for the PPC and another for the desktop. This causes such a headache because stories you've read on one are marked as unread on the other! :cry:

I use Newsgator on my PC to download the RSS feeds I subscribe to. Newsgator dumps the RSS feeds into Outlook folders. I then just use regualr ActiveSync Inbox syncronisation which allows me to read the feeds on either my PC or my PPC and they stay in sync.

[garishkernels]

My apologies to anyone who has already tried Egress. I had a parsing bug which caused the descriptions of items in this site's RSS feed to be missing.
I have an updated version (1.1.5) available at the URL in the previous message. If you install the revised version and delete the file "//MyDevice/MyDocuments/Channels/PocketPC Thoughts" and then retrieve all, the descriptions will be back. Sorry for the inconvenience.

-Karl

Sold! thanks for the update Karl! Hope you sell a tone of 'em. I've weened myself off of Pocketfeed and find your solution 10x better!

Egress looks pretty good, just posted in the software list at Geekzone, but... Is there any way to import a OPML list from my desktop? I use Sharpreader and I have a huge list of feeds that I read...

In general, you can overwrite /MyDevice/MyDocuments/Channels/myChannels.opml with an OPML file with a compatible format and Egress will be perfectly happy. That said, I took a look at SharpReader's export format and made a small change to Egress such that it can directly consume the exported file in this manner. So, if you retrieve the latest version (1.1.6), simply follow the above directions and you should be good to go. If you have any problems, just drop me a line.

-Karl

[iPaqDude]

I kind of hate to admit this... but is there a forum that does "RSS for Dummies"?

I keep reading about RSS feeds, but have not really looked into them. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[freitasm]

My apologies to anyone who has already tried Egress. I had a parsing bug which caused the descriptions of items in this site's RSS feed to be missing.
I have an updated version (1.1.5) available at the URL in the previous message. If you install the revised version and delete the file "//MyDevice/MyDocuments/Channels/PocketPC Thoughts" and then retrieve all, the descriptions will be back. Sorry for the inconvenience.

-Karl

Sold! thanks for the update Karl! Hope you sell a tone of 'em. I've weened myself off of Pocketfeed and find your solution 10x better!

Egress looks pretty good, just posted in the software list at Geekzone, but... Is there any way to import a OPML list from my desktop? I use Sharpreader and I have a huge list of feeds that I read...

In general, you can overwrite /MyDevice/MyDocuments/Channels/myChannels.opml with an OPML file with a compatible format and Egress will be perfectly happy. That said, I took a look at SharpReader's export format and made a small change to Egress such that it can directly consume the exported file in this manner. So, if you retrieve the latest version (1.1.6), simply follow the above directions and you should be good to go. If you have any problems, just drop me a line.

-Karl


That was very fast for a new version. It worked 100% by copying the .opml file. Buying it soon :D

[MadBison]

To the original poster of this thread

Thank you very much for a great laugh. I went to the site where RSS Sync is hosted. I am a developer who uses the .Net tools and technologies, so I clicked on the .Net link.

And there is an Assembler to MSIL compiler!!! :-) Any Developers would get the joke...

The link:
http://home.worldonline.dk/viksoe/asmil.htm

David
PS. Thanks for all the RSS reader tips, I have always read RSS feed on the PC, could be handy to view them on the run.

[SassKwatch]

RSS is an interesting struggle in the dynamics between "Information is Free" and "Web sites require your support".
*IF* the majority of PPCT fanatics got their daily fix of same via the RSS feed, would not the bandwidth required to maintain the site be reduced significantly...ergo reducing, or maybe just keep in check, your costs to run the site.(??)

I'm just sorta wondering out loud if it would be possible to create/maintain a site as useful as this via RSS...exclusively. *IF* the bandwidth needs/costs could be kept to a minimum thusly, I wonder if an almost totally subscription based site could be even a little profitable.(??)

[ctmagnus]

*IF* the majority of PPCT fanatics got their daily fix of same via the RSS feed

What?!? No forums? :crazyeyes:

[SassKwatch]

What?!? No forums? :crazyeyes:
Oh yeah, forgot about that little factor.

[keelinlee]

Mobipocket reader has a news reader that is RSS based. You may need the Pro ver. (There are 18 PDA feeds as of now, plus over 200 other feeds) you need to buy into there enews subscription in order to add your own feeds. I haven’t bought into that yet, I have a hard enough time keeping up with the free stuff.

One idea for someone out there would be to add tivo ability to learn what you are interested in reading a bought [forget this subject][get more of this article][look for more RSS feeds on subject]

You don't need Mobipocket Reader Pro ! You need Mobipocket eNews Creator, and only to create your own channels. It is not the same software. The free Mobipocket Reader is OK, you can subscribe to all eNews channels if you wish with the free program.
As of today, there are more than 600 channels (in all languges) available.

[jwf]

http://www.mobilerss.net/
and
http://www.bloglines.com/

Have PDA format sites. They are web based RSS aggregators which can be used as AvantGo channels.