HOW – TO: Getting Started with RSS
Paul writes “If there’s one word to describe my latest article, it’s comprehensive. Focused on using RSS as a means to save time in one’s daily routine, I take the reader through what RSS is, why it should be used and how to use it. I go through the installation, configuration and usage of RSS in Thunderbird, Google Desktop, RSSOwl as well as web-based feed readers with Google’s Personalized homepage, My Yahoo!, and Bloglines. As with all of my articles, there’s screenshots-a-plenty.” Good one to send to the non-RSSers, or if you’ve always wondered what those XML and RSS buttons are on MAKE. Link.
Greg sent in this great LED project that spells words or makes patterns when it spins “The way this works, is you have an EEprom (electronically eraseable programmable read only memory). This stores data on different lines. You retrieve this data by feeding it binary numbers, (ie. 1=0001, 2=0010, 3=0011, 4=0100, and so on). Each line of code has 8 bits of data, and directly corresponds to how the row of LEDs are lit up. If you put in 10000001, then the top and bottom led would be on. This is kind of tricky to figure out, but you have to make a grid. Since I am using a 4 bit counter, I have a possibility of 16 addresses. So to make a letter, you have to draw up a 16X8 grid, and color in the pixels you want.” 
MAKE subscriber John writes “I started this site because of the importance, to ma at least, of vehicles that get good mileage. You don’t necessarily need an overly complicated hybrid (though I’m a fan of hybrids) to get good mileage. My goal is to get at least 40 mpg out of my Nissan pickup simply by making the engine more efficient and improving the aerdynamics while not taking away from its utility. This is important to me because of the environmental impact of cars and because of national security. We are all impacted by the environment but I’m in the Navy, have been deployed to the Middle East four times and so have a keen interest in our nation weening itself from oil as much as possible.” 
Edward writes “The Boy Mechanic: Volume 1 by Popular Mechanics. Offered thru Project Gutenberg. 700 Things for Boys to Do. This book was my first intro to making things when I was a kid. Published in 1913. The PDF version is richly illustrated.” 
MAKE will be covering ABC’s American Inventor’s auditions November 17th at 8am in San Francisco. If you’re going, 
