Blogger Joins the Hubbub Via The PubSubHubbub Protocol

We have been working with the PubSubHubbub protocol for a while now to adopt it for Feedotopia. Now that Blogger has adopted it, we will have instant updates from millions of blogs under Blogger wing.
Basically the PubSubHubbub protocol turns web feeds in to real time streams and as developers adopt the protocol, feeds will appers in readers in near real time.
Google Reader, my favorite reader has also implemented PubSubHubbub. You can find a link to at the bottom of this article.

The protocol in a nutshell is as follows:

• An feed URL (a "topic") declares its Hub server(s) in its Atom or RSS XML file, link rel="hub" ... . The hub(s) can be run by the publisher of the feed, or can be a community hub that anybody can use. (Atom and RssFeeds are supported)

• A subscriber (a server that's interested in a topic), initially fetches the Atom URL as normal. If the Atom file declares its hubs, the subscriber can then avoid lame, repeated polling of the URL and can instead register with the feed's hub(s) and subscribe to updates.

• The subscriber subscribes to the Topic URL from the Topic URL's declared Hub(s).

• When the Publisher next updates the Topic URL,, via. the publisher software pings the Hub(s) saying that there's an update.

• The hub efficiently fetches the published feed and multicasts the new/changed content out to all registered subscribers.

The protocol is decentralized and free. No company is at the center of this controlling it. Anybody can run a hub, or anybody can ping (publish) or subscribe using open hubs.

Blogger Buzz: Blogger Joins the Hubbub
Official Google Reader Blog: PubSubHubbub support for Reader shared items

Tags: feedotopia, PubSubHubbub protocol, Atom, RSS

Learning through RSS at OpenLearn

RSS versions of the OpenLearn units are being made available at OpenLearn Units as RSS). I have been keeping in touch with open university The Open University, best known as OU has made strides in offering various courses for people from all over the world.
It is exciting, to my mind at least, to see the RSS versions of each of the OpenLearn course units (this is still in the process of implementation).

Here's an example: a course unit on Babylonian mathematics (via RSS).

You can find the full list here: OpenLearn Units and thier RSS unit content feeds.

The feeds are also reachable from each course unit landing page (example):

Tags: OpenLearn, rss, open university, OU

RSS 2.0 Specification

Have you ever wondered what RSS 2.0 specification is. I did not until I had to look it up for some of the work we do at FEEDotopia.
So here is where I read it at; RSS 2.0 at Harvard Law
Contents at the site;

• What is RSS?
• Sample files
• About this document
• Required channel elements
• Optional channel elements
• Elements of
• Comments
• Extending RSS
• Roadmap
• License and authorship

Tags: RSS, RSS 2.0, RSS 2.0 Specification

Feedburner is in Google oven now.

This Techcrunch article explains, what was a rumor for sometime now as to be a fact. Rumors about Google acquiring RSS management company Feedburner from last week, started by ex-TechCrunch UK editor Sam Sethi, are accurate and are now confirmed according to a source close to the deal. Feedburner is in the closing stages of being acquired by Google for around $100 million. The deal is all cash and mostly upfront, according to our source, although the founders will be locked in for a couple of years.

The information we have is that the deal is now under a binding term sheet and will close in 2-3 weeks, and there is nothing that can really derail it at this point.

Update;

Google official blog explains the deal and a audio file, the discussion with feedburner CEO.

Tags: feed tech, feedburner, rss