RSS Feeds Solutions

Question

GOAL: Use some sort of service that is able to aggregate feeds. Then use some desktop client to download the aggregated feeds.

PROBLEM: I don't want to keep the computer on all the time to download the feeds - which is what I'm doing now. I would like to continue using a desktop client such as Thunderbird.

Currently, I use Thunderbird to retrieve my feeds and use its filter+tag feature to highlight things that I am particularly interested in. I still look at things that I don't highlight but it makes it easier if I can highlight and categorize things so I can look at them. However, in order to use Thunderbird, I have to keep my computer otherwise the feeds that it retrieves will only be the latest which may just be a subset of all the new feeds (feeds that I haven't seen).

I'm looking for an alternative to keeping my computer on all the time. I've tried Google Reader for a bit but it's slow for many items and it doesn't have a filter+tag feature. I would like some sort of application/service that will download all my feeds and when I turn on my computer I can just go to said application/service and retrieve the feeds it has stored.

I'm primarily interested in

• Getting ALL of the entries in the feed since I last updated
• Filter/tag/categorization features that will allow me to easily scan through everything

EDIT: It seems I can write something in Google AppEngine to retrieve the feeds and then push it out again (maybe)? Any more alternatives?

EDIT: It would be a definite plus to be able to keep Thunderbird in the process for viewing the feeds and/or filter+tag.

Answer 1

This may not be the simplest solution, but I think it will accomodate all of your needs:

1) Sign up for a free Netvibes account and import all of your feeds. I use the "Reader View" as opposed to the "Widget View" since the reader view is optimized for a large amount of RSS feeds. You can have all of your feeds categorized, mark others for reading later, and it provides an "All Feeds" view that will give you a stream of all your feeds you subscribe to.

2) To filter out your feeds based on certain keywords, subscribe to a service such as Feed Rinse and establish your filters there. You can subscribe to the resulting filtered feed through Netvibes and give it its own special category.

Using this setup you'll have something that is 100% web based so you can access it from anywhere without your computer being on (Netvibes even has a nice mobile version of their site too). You'll have all of your feeds categorized for "high level" browsing, a "master feed" to check on the latest news, and your customized "filtered feed" for any of the most important items to you.

I'll admit that it's not a one stop shop, but it will do everything you need and has a good amount of flexibility in it too.