RSS or Really Simple Syndication is a lightweight technology to allow readers to be able to subscribe to a site, service or podcast and receive updates when new content arrives. It's a simple XML document that includes metadata about the post that is easily digestible by a news reader application (or aggregator) to present a digest of new information to a human reader in a convenient, single application.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0">
  <channel>
    <title>mp4k.net</title>
    <link>https://mp4k.net/</link>
    <description>Code, Technology, Computing</description>
    <lastBuildDate>Sun, 31 May 2026 15:53:56 GMT</lastBuildDate>
    <item>
      <title>What the hell is this?</title>
      <link>https://mp4k.net/posts/2026-05-31-what.html</link>
      <description>This is mp4k.net, a blog powered by a new static site generating platform named BlogClaw. The software powering this site was built on evenings and weekends in my spare time using Claude to iterate and develop it.</description>
      <pubDate>Sun, 31 May 2026 15:53:56 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid isPermaLink="true">https://mp4k.net/posts/2026-05-31-what.html</guid>
      <category>meta</category>
      <category>meta</category>
      <category>blog</category>
      <category>blogclaw</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Welcome Traveller</title>
      <link>https://mp4k.net/posts/2026-05-30-welcome.html</link>
      <description>The year is 1992.
…

BlogClaw, the software powering this site produces just such a thing. You can find the feed for this blog at https://mp4k.net/feed.xml and add it to your reader app.

This was a core capability I wanted to include from the very beginning. The SiteGenerator uses a pluggable architecture to inject various publishing mechanisms into the output chain at generation time. RSS is one of them. I have plans to make use of these feeds in another project and RSS is one of the glue technologies involved. Stay tuned!

Not a lot of people talk about this anymore, but for some of us, it's still a great way to subscribe to newsfeeds and blogs and yes, even podcasts. There are some great applications for consuming RSS or ATOM feeds.

I use Feedbin and NetNewsWire on iOS and iPad. They're both great, and compliment each other on these platforms. Feedbin in the browser, NetNewsWire on my iPhone and iPad. Great combo, but there are others to choose from. These ones, at least, are still under active development.