Put News Headlines On Your Site or Blog

The world is starting to love RSS. If I had my way, my toaster would serve up RSS feeds. Actually that's not a bad idea, hmm. Anyway, people love a site that serves up relevant news feeds. It's sticky and it's about as low maintenance as you can get. But how do you do it on the cheap? Or better, for free? It's easy thanks to a site called RSS Digest.

Step 1: Go find an RSS feed you want to put on your site. I use Newsisfree.com, but there are many out there, including: Syndic8, 2RSS, Feedster Feedfinder, Moreover.com, etc.

Step 2: Go to RSS Digest and paste the URL for the newsfeed (e.g., http://xml.newsisfree.com/feeds/83/11083.xml) into the first field.

Step 3: Click the "Create the Code" button and follow the onscreen prompts for setting up your feed. When you're done you'll have a snippet of code that you can paste into your blog or web page that will wow your site visitors and make you look really smart.

I use RSS Digest on this very blog in fact. You'll see the headlines on the lower right side of the screen there. It took me all of 15 minutes to add them. Which gives me plenty of time to go work on that toaster...

All the Music You Can Handle

There's no better site for music information than the All Music Guide. It contains a huge database of artists and just about everything you might want to know about them, including biographies, discographies, in depth reviews, music samples, chart information, similar artists, influences, and a whole bunch of unique features like "Explore by Mood." You have to register (for free) to get at all the good stuff.

The site is very usable, with a simple tabbed layout for each artist. I really like being able to see ratings for all an artist's albums at a glance along with similar artists an influences. Coupled with a service like Rhapsody or iTunes, you can ensure the albums you buy won't disappoint.

http://www.amg.com

Movie Title Screen Database

One of the many great things about the Web is that people can share their obsessive labors of love with the world. Apparently Steven Hill really digs movie screen titles, which are screen captures of the title screens that appear before every movie. While the interface isn't the greatest (basically click on a letter and scroll WAY down until you find the movie you're looking for), the collection is pretty darned impressive. I looked up a few of my favorite obscure movies and they were there (even "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai!)

Check out the collection at Steven Hill's Movie Title Screens Page.