What is an RSS feed? Crucial, that's what.

So you don't use an RSS feed. Not a pleasure to meet you either, Mel Gibson.

If there's anything in the "series of tubes" that can prevent you from being the closest life form to a neanderthal, it's this. RSS feeds help you keep up with everything you read online at once and even lets you organize your feeds in sub-folders. Warning: If Fox is your sole news source or you don't fact check web pages, then this application is not going to work for you. If you want a goulash of the latest information so fulfilling that you will cry tears of joy (and a little blood) then an RSS feed is right up your alley.

I'm going to keep this simple and I have included some snippets of my own account to help us along. There are many RSS readers but I like Google for an abundance of reasons. In light of that let's start with Google Reader - link

Go ahead and sign in with your gmail account. If you don't have one, you should really consider getting one. With it you can access every Google tool out there with the same sign-in name while also having an email account with maximum free memory and customization.

Alright, so now you're in. At first glance you might believe you have just accessed your regular email with an empty inbox. Don't be fooled; this is a simple beast, easily tamed.

There are a few easy ways to add a subscription. The orange button you see here is an icon you may have noticed on some websites. Clicking on them will ask to confirm which RSS reader you use. If you're already signed in then your subpscription will be added automatically.

You can also get a subscription from typing in the web address of the site you would like to read. While logged in to G-Reader go to this button on the top left and click "Add Subscription." 

Note that some websites do not have a feed built into them and Google will create a makeshift feed for you. If this is the case, most websites will have an RSS button or a subscribe button apart from their home address.

You may notice in my example that all of my feeds are neatly organized in cascading sub-folders. I'll show you how to do that, too. Once you get past a few, say hundred subscriptions, you will certainly be irritated in managing them all at once. This is how to avoid that and keep up with your sites from the get-go.

Take a gander toward the bottom left corner and you will notice a small blue font that says Manage subscriptions.

Once you click it a list of your blogs and websites will show up ion this format.

Go to that gray button you see here on the right that says "Change folders..." here you can create a new folder or categorize the chosen address into an already existing file. Having an RSS feed without organizing it is like going to a concert whilst being hearing impaired. Unless it was a Def Leppard concert... Yes I went there. If you go to a Def Leppard concert and no one is there to see you, did you really go?

And here I bequeath your new RSS feed! Now go be omniscient!