Taking the RSS feed a step or two further

Once you subscribe to an RSS feed that is that – You sit back and relax and wait for the feed to come to your reader on-line or desktop. Quite, convenient for everyday stuff but what it you want a particular feed be filtered so that it answers a specific question or topic. For example you have an entertainment RSS feed but only want only the news about Scarlett Johnassen or if you are subscribed to a wreslting RSS feed and only want news about Freddie Blassie or Andre the Giant. Is there a way to filter the feed itself? The answer is yes and one of the solutions is blastfeed.

In its beta version blastfeed allows you to get an RSS feed or a set of RSS feeds then allows you to set a search for key words in the (a) title (b)author (c) anywhere (full text) (d) in category. You can further predefine the search by clicking one of the following options: (a) all of the key words, (b) any of the key words, or (c) none of the key words. Then further define on when the search is done and how the results are sent to you (RSS, email or im). The search is saved and called a channel. If needed, each channel could be duplicated or clone and the modified to be used for a particular topic.

This might sound mundane but it is exciting staff. With blastfeed one can fine-tune one’s RSS feed to deliver a specific topic lets say a white spotted mangoes or vegetarian lions. The example though highlights the danger of over-specifying the search, making the results as scarce as the keyword. Frugal and wise use of key words will spell the difference between a so-so search, a good search and an extremely well thought of search/

Blastfeed ,the beta version, is free. One is limited to fifty or so feeds per channel. And you can even share the results or the feed with a friend or to the public.

Updates about blastfeed can be read at the blog of 2or3things.