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Q: What is a 'blog' and do you have
one?
A:
Yes I have a blog. You can click
on 'Blogs' in the header.
A blog or
'weblog' is simply a way of publishing up to the minute content on a
topic that will be of interest to certain people. I have
finally established a Tutorials training 'Photoshop' blog because it
will allow me to give you access to free and valuable information on
several Photoshop related topics which will be of interest to you.
Just go to the
Photoshop Blog address and you will be able to search through
the categories and look at the content postings to find the
information that is most relevant to you pertaining to Photoshop!
Q:
What are these buttons?
  
A:
The buttons are showcasing that I
now have RSS feeds available for you. Let me talk about RSS in
case you're still learning about it and what it can do for you.
Q:
What
is RSS or 'feeds' and how do I use them??
A: I just recently (finally) took the
time and found out about it myself. It stands for 'really
simple syndication' or 'rich site summary' and is a form of publishing quality content on
the internet that is delivered straight to the end user (you!).
When you have an RSS reader (Firefox
has it, mymsn, myYahoo, and some independent readers out there...) you can now choose from many different RSS feeds which deliver quality content that you would want to learn
from right to your RSS reader.
With RSS you can pick and choose the
type of free (or paid) content that will be automatically delivered
each time something new is updated from that content provider.
RSS feeds usually originate from blogs.
With RSS, content
publishers can 'syndicate' and get their
'up-to-the-minute' information out to people across the
internet fast. They are essentially the same thing
as 'news aggregators' that get information out very fast
to anyone who has their 'feed'.
So when you have an RSS reader and
have entered the URLS of the RSS feeds that you want (say,
Photoshop, stock tips, gardening, news, weather, etc.) the latest
updated content will be delivered straight to you instead of you
having to go out and visit the blog itself from the different
sources.
You only have to enter the RSS feed
address one time once you find out what it is from the source who
offers it and of course can delete it at anytime.
This is a huge direction that
information content delivery for the consumer is moving towards on the
internet and it's here to stay! RSS feeds are short snippets
(usually the title of each post) from information sources that YOU
want and YOU choose to be delivered to you; and you always get up to
the minute latest information!
If you want to read an article, a ll
you do is click on the link of the post (the Title) in your 'reader'
and it will take you to that article.
Q:
But how do I use those buttons to get your Photoshop RSS feed (up to
the minute blog posts)?
A:
You must first have a program that you use which allows RSS
feeds. In the program that you use you would just enter the
RSS/XML address that you are given to their 'add RSS feed' option.
All you are doing is just using the
address I am giving you when; so you just right click and 'Copy
Shortcut' to get that address of the xml/rpc/opml data (don't even
worry about the technical stuff) and then just paste it into your
RSS reader's 'add RSS feed' (or something like that) page.
Then you will get my Photoshop blog &
RSS feed for the latest information.
Q: Why is it a funny
looking page when I go to that address?
A:
To view the blog itself you will have
to go to the blog address. The address/URL that is on the RSS
icon is the page of data that would stream through your RSS feeder
service to show you the content. So if you click on the actual
icon itself you will just see a funny looking page; don't worry
about it.
Remember you are just copying this
URL/address and using it to 'add RSS feed' to whatever service you
are using as described above.
Then you can be assured that you will
receive my (or any other) RSS feeds as long as you have the correct
address.
Q: So how do I
use a 'my Yahoo' button?
A:
In this case, if you
click on it you will be taken straight to your Yahoo account, asked
to login and then just click on one more link there to easily add
the RSS feed without having to find it yourself. The same with
MSN.
Remember that the RSS button has the
link you want to copy and then go back to your reader to 'add RSS'
by 'copy shortcut' and then pasting in your program that allows you
to add RSS feeds.
This is good stuff to know if you love
the internet. Make sure you join my RSS feed once you get a
reader to get the latest Photoshop and training information!
Q:
How do I get an RSS reader?
A:
If you have a free or paid
Yahoo or MSN you can add RSS feeds there. There are other
readers available as well. You can find out about some
top RSS readers here.
Here are some more of them on this
link where you will have to copy and paste the URLS:
RSS-Readers.net
You can also put any RSS feed on your
computer with the next version of Windows and Google desktop 2 or
this:
www.bigbold.com/rssdigest/
Q:
What is Atom?
A:
Atom is the other main
standard of RSS/aggregation or 'syndication format' next to RSS 2.0.
It's just a slightly different way of showing the XML data. As
long as your reader can accept Atom you're fine. iPod's
podcasting uses RSS 2.0.
Q:
Can I start my own content syndication or blog?
A:
Yes. It's pretty much
free. Go to www.blogger.com
or www.wordpress.org to start
your own blog. With WordPress your blog is hosted on your
server and it has more features than google's blogger.com (which is
easier to use though). It will take a little while to get used
to but then you just start posting quality content related to the
subject you're focusing on. Search engines love blogs!
WordPress will generate your static
RSS link once you have it installed so you can get your content out.
Q:
What is PodCasting?
A:
Podcasting is basically audio delivery through the RSS (2.0) format.
The same way that other content is delivered, audio files can also
be delivered (as .mp3's). You don't have to have an iPod in
order to subscribe to someone's podcast method of audio content
syndication.
Many RSS readers also support
podcasting as well all you have to do is add the podcast link from
that content provider to get your audio information.
So yes, if you love Photoshop make
sure you go to
and bookmark the blog itself at this link:
http://www.tutorialstraining.com/photoshop_blog/
or if you have an RSS reader, then add
the xml URL:
http://www.tutorialstraining.com/photoshop_blog/feed/rss2
to your system. Now you will be
getting up to the minute Photoshop related information daily!
On the blog itself you can browse
across topics that you are interested in. This allows me to
get valuable Photoshop information out to you at anytime and fast!
Very soon I will also be starting a
Photoshop Podcast RSS syndication. I will keep everything free
unless in the future I start a separate blog system with a higher
level of information then you'd have the option to upgrade and pay
for that (I'm not near ready for that yet). |
