Archive for October, 2006

The folks at Attensa make a slick RSS aggregator that integrates with Outlook and provides a River of News-style view with priortization based on what feeds you use the most.

Not too long ago, they released version 2.0 of the Attensa for Outlook product. Along with a ton of other great features, it includes synchronization with the Windows RSS Platform, so when you hit that RSS button in IE, the feed can automatically show up in Attensa -- which is great if you're using Attensa as your primary RSS reader.

This has been one of our guiding principles in IE7 -- you don't have to read your feeds in IE. By using the open APIs of the RSS platform, developers of innovative new RSS readers like Attensa can gain access to the orange button in IE7 that Steve Rubel loves.

Attensa works with Outlook 2000, Outlook XP and 2003 (Outlook 2007 support is in the works). If you're an Outlook user, you should definitely check it out. It's free -- so it's an easy choice if you're looking to try out something new.

- Sean

Writely will be undergoing scheduled maintenance this Tuesday, October 10th starting at 9pm PST.

We would prefer that you don't try to edit your documents around this time, as the site may go up and down unexpectedly for short periods -- it could be unpleasant. If you need something else to do at that time, here are some ideas:

• In North America, check out the first game of the World Series playoffs.
• In South America, go to sleep -- writing after midnight is not advised!
• In Europe, spend some extra time savoring your cup of morning coffee...
• In Asia, check out the featured videos on You Tube (or Google Video, if you prefer ;).
  

Once the maintenance is finished, we'll post again to let you know.

One question we get asked occasionally is:

How do I back up my feed list?

Well, it turns out that there is a standard way to save a feed list in a single file for backup or other purposes. It's called OPML, and IE7 supports importing and exporting feed lists via OPML.

Here is the step-by-step process for backing up your feed list to an OPML file in IE7:

1. Click on the Add button (the star and plus button next to the Favorites Center button -- Alt-Z is the keyboard shortcut).
2. Click on Import and Export in the menu.
3. In the wizard, select Export Feeds from the list of options and click Next.
4. Select where you'd like the file to be put (by default, it's called feeds.opml, in your Documents folder)
5. Finish up the wizard.

The OPML file generated will contain your entire feedlist, including any folders you may have created. Simply repeat the process (selecting Import Feeds) to restore a feed list.

As I noted above, OPML is the standard way to save a feed list, and it's supported by pretty much every aggregator out there. You can use the steps above to save your feed list to use in another aggregator or to import a feed list created by another aggregator.

Since IE7 uses the RSS platform, you can also use this technique to import or export lists of feeds from and to any application that uses the RSS platform.

Oh, and by the way -- IE7 is coming this month.

Sean

Last week, the team decided to move our weekly featured question re-caps from Fridays to Mondays because “Mondays seem less likely to have something come up at the last minute.” We should know better than to make sweeping claims like these.

Now it’s Monday morning, and we just received verification that Senator Hillary Clinton is asking the Answers community for help to find ways to “prevent and someday eradicate breast cancer.” What better way to kick off Breast Cancer Awareness Month? Many lives have been affected by breast cancer, so it will be interesting to see what the community comes up with for this one.

Featured Questions Re-Cap

I’ve always wondered whether there are individual sign language alphabets for each of the languages spoken around the world. It seems logical to have one universal sign language, but it’s much more complicated than that. This best answer from millowner87’s explains why.

New mothers understandably have a lot of questions and concerns regarding their bundles of joy. The desire to do things “the right way” often combines with the worry of doing harm. Katbeek asked about baby swaddling and whether or not there are any dangers in continuing to swaddle past a certain age. BabyRN’s best answer will hopefully help put some new mommy fears to bed.

Tazzy G’s question about the system used to create airline flight numbers falls into my “Now that you mention it, I’ve always wondered about that” category. Have you ever wondered about this? The question is still in voting, so take a look and cast your vote for best answer.

I spill things…a lot. So, any question dealing with stain removal interests me. I’ve never had to clean coffee stains from a mattress, but chances are I eventually will, so I’m filing IB M’s best answer away for future reference.

Were there any questions and answers that you found helpful last week? Did you find any answers that you couldn’t find elsewhere? Feel free to share them by posting a URL in your comment below.

Mario