I’ve recently discovered a way of checking if I have new email, job search updates, blog updates, latest weather, news…the list is endless…all in one place instead of visiting several websites individually. There are several “feed readers” that do this, but the one I’ve tried is http://www.netvibes.com.

What is a feed reader, you may ask? Until recently, I’d never heard of them either. Basically you create your own page within a website, such as netvibes.com, and then collect the RSS feeds from your favourite websites or blogs and add them to this page. I don’t know how this works in technical detail, but all you need to know is that it is dead easy to do.

For example, if you wanted to add this blog as a feed, you would click on the “Add content” button in netvibes.com and enter this url: http://www.how-to-be-a-bad-artist.com/index.php and from then on you will know whenever I add something new. Or you could click on the icon that says “RSS” (top right on this page) and choose which feed reader you want to add it to. You will also see a similar symbol on other websites that update their content on a regular basis. I have found, however, that it doesn’t always work on all browsers (the software that enables you to access the internet such as Internet Explorer), but it seems to work on most. You can also add your email accounts and Facebook and know straight away when someone has sent you a message. Couldn’t be easier. Go on give it a try…