Here it is folks, the definitive guide to RSS for beginners:

My good (Australian) friend, and the designer behind this site (and every last scratch of our stunning client work here at Tell Ten Friends) Rob Masefield has just published an incredible tutorial on how to set up a netvibes.com home page, complete with your own favorite RSS feeds:

He takes a very patient step-by-step approach, without getting too complex, and even provides a bit of anecdotal “what is RSS” stuff, in case you don’t know a feed from a chain email. (yuck)*

My advice: follow the links from his post to the tutorial, and skip through most of the stuff on the second tab of the tutorial about tabs, until you’ve got your first tab full of goodies (skip to the third tab once you’ve named your page, but you’ll need that tab info later).

This is great stuff, folks. You can unlock the secret behind the RSS feed, and open a new world of fast browsing, the news you want, and content that is controlled by you. Like a living, ever-changing subscription to every magazine and news source you ever wanted, all on your home page, and just a click away.
P.S. don’t forget to add: http://feeds.feedburner.com/TellTenFriends on your first tab! (Always ask for the business, right?)

*If you’re already familiar with RSS feeds, and you’re still reading this, then God bless you. Please pass the word along and open a friend’s eyes to the world of RSS feeds, and for good measure while you’re at it, make sure they subscribe to your blog.

Need proof that blogs are going mainstream? Look no further than Cardinal Seán of Boston, who created a blog to chronicle his trip to Rome. He says that if the blog is a success, he will continue to use it after his return to stay in touch with his Archdiocese. In his words, takes from his sidebar:

“I want to share with you, Catholics of Boston, my experiences as I return to Rome as a Cardinal and more importantly, I want to share with you a sense of what it is that Boston’s Archbishop does on business in Rome representing the people of the Archdiocese.”
– Cardinal Seán

Smart guy. He’s already posted an extensive photographic tour from “behind the walls” of the Vatican, and even allowed a fellow Bostonian pastor to guest blog about living and working at the Vatican.

But the red-robed Cardinal isn’t the only blogger to start a new online journal and go straight to the “A-list.” Here in Canada, the role of the Governor General has come into question over the years, especially the cost and purpose of travel, etc. In the spirit of transparency and accountability (I presume) Our current GG Michaelle Jean has also created a new blog, as well as an online forum. Link via Kate Trgovac of MyNameisKate.ca, who shares her opinion on what works and what doesn’t about this idea.

Lastly, in a sure sign that blogging and RSS feeds are just one step away from being a household staple, I point you to an article entitled: How to Explain RSS the Oprah Way. Although I think that Stephanie, the author of the post, is using “Oprah” in her headline as a way of generating even more traffic, I have to agree that her explaination is suprisingly lucid and helpful to any newbies out there who still haven’t wrapped their heads around the idea of feeds. In particular, her illustration made a somewhat complex concept seem simple:

(Click image to view larger version)

If Oprah fans, Catholic Cardinals and political appointees are finding blogs and RSS useful, what’s stopping you?

What’s this all about you ask? Well, before you jump to conclusions, I must ruin the surprise by telling you that I don’t intend to go a month without the help of some ‘ginch.’

Instead, I use that headline to get your attention, to tell you about my latest side project. I’ve created a blog to chronicle my Dad’s current West Coast adventure from Powell River, BC, Canada, all the way south to Mexico, on his pedal bike with a handful of his friends. This is significant for several reasons, not the least of which is the fact that my dad didn’t even own a bike until a few years ago, and he’s asthmatic. As for the title, you’ll have to click through to the site to read more.

So, here we have this cute blog about six middle-aged guys going on the adventure of a lifetime. But that’s not the whole story. I held back from writing this until I had a chance to get a feel for what the success rate of thing would be, especially since we plan to write a book about their adventures after they return.

(The six heroes of this story. My dad is third from the right)

Well, I can honestly say it has been a tremendous success thus far. This is the true meaning of blogging, I have discovered. We’re getting comments from people as far aways as Australia and France, and from such people as my Great Aunts and my Grandma! Needless to say, these folks had never been on a blog before this.

In fact, people from all over the small town of Powell River, BC are dropping in to comment. Dozens each day (although the photo page is just as popular for commenting as any given post is, for some reason). Wives and kids are leaving messages for their fathers, as a way of staying in touch. New photos are being emailed to me everyday and getting promptly uploaded to the Flickr account I set up. The guys are phoning in their updates and sending emails knowing they are becoming pseudo-celebs in the process. And for me, the whole thing has been a whole helluva lot of fun.

So if I could ask one thing, it would be to drop by the site and leave a comment for these unlikely heroes. They’d love to hear from you, and at this stage of the journey (over half way!) every little bit of encouragement helps. Also, when the books comes out, you can bet I’ll be flogging copies on here, and part of the proceeds will go to benefit the BC Lung Association, their charity of choice. Check out the site, read the about page and some of the posts I’ve written, but most of all, check out the comments that have been pouring in since a few days ago when I set it all up.

This is word of mouth in action, and I’m just thrilled.