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by: Josiah Mackenzie
As RSS news syndication gains popularity among users, new ways for publishing RSS are emerging. In this article, I examine the three most popular methods, and help you decide which one works best for you.
1. Blogs
Weblogs, or blogs, as they are commonly called, are the primary reason RSS gained popularity. In fact, one of the earliest uses for RSS was for bloggers to monitor other blogs for updates.
Most blogging systems will produce RSS newsfeeds automatically. All you need to do is enter content, and the blogging software will build a newsfeed based on the information you enter. No extra work is needed. Just add content to your blog, and you have a newsfeed.
But there is one major disadvantage to using a blog for publishing RSS: you do not have complete control of the RSS output. Most blogging software will simply take an excerpt of your blog entry (eg, the first 15 words), and use that to create your RSS item. As you can imagine, this can lead to problems. The first 15 words of a blog entry don’t always capture the essence of that article.
2. RSS Publishing Software
Because of the inadequacy of blogs as a reliable and accurate RSS tool, new stand-alone software was developed. This software has one purpose: to provide the user with an easy way to create and publish RSS newsfeeds from their desktops. No longer do you have to write a long article in your blog to produce RSS feeds. All you have to do is enter a title for your news item, and (optionally) a couple sentences to describe that headline – and your feed is better than the blog-produced feed.
Examples of RSS publishing software for Windows include FeedforAll (http://www.feedforall.com) and Newzalert Composer (http://www.castlesoftware.biz/NewzAlertComposer.htm). Mac users have their own tool in Orangebox for Macintosh (http://www.globalsyndication.com/orangebox-for-macintosh).
3. Online RSS Publishing Systems
While subscribers to feeds generated by RSS software enjoyed the simplicity and clarity of the new feeds, some publishers began to run into problems that came with the publishing software. They missed the convenience of blogging’s online publishing that allowed them to add news -- regardless of whether they were at their home computer.
News publishers wanted the accessibility of online blogging with the accuracy of RSS publishing software. The new demand lead to the emergence of online RSS publishing systems such as FeedServer RSS Hosting (http://www.globalsyndication.com/rss-hosting). This new format of RSS publishing allows webmasters to login to an online control panel and publish their news – without having to worry about restrictive software licenses. Since most online RSS publishing systems run on a subscription basis, you can make use of the free trial or subscribe for one month and evaluate if the service meets your needs.
So which system should you use to publish RSS? It depends on your needs. If most of your readers manually visit your site to get new information, a blogging system may be sufficient. However, if you plan to take advantage of the full capabilities of RSS news syndication, you would do well to use a stand-alone RSS publishing system. RSS publishing software will satisfy your needs if you plan to use one computer only. But if you’re looking for flexibility and a lower startup costs, look into the new online RSS publishing systems.
by: scott morris
What is Open Source Software?
Open Source Software (OSS) is software that is available under a special license that allows everyone to access the program code as well as the executable program. This means that anyone is able to edit the program code and therefore customise the software for their own needs.
This ability to access the source code is protected by the license under which the software is released. There is a great many Open Source licenses, but they all have one thing in common, they protect the right of the user of the software to access and modify it in any way they desire.
This ability to modify applications is in direct contrast to the Closed Source Software model. In Closed Source only the creator of the application has access to the source code, and therefore, only the creator is able to modify the application.
Being able to change the way an Open Source Software application operates is critical in many business environments. No two businesses are identical and therefore it is unlikely that any one piece of software will satisfy the needs of all potential users. Without the ability to modify their software a company is restricted in its operations by that software.
While it is true that no two businesses are identical, it is also true that there are a great many common business practices that are repeated across organisations. These common practices can be well served by "standard" software. The remaining practices, those that are different from competitors are, typically, the ones that give a business an advantage in the marketplace.
Since these non-standard practices are key to the organisations success it is critical that any software solutions adopted by the company also support these non-standard processes. It is in this need to adapt software to a companies specific needs that makes Open Source Software attractive. Since the company has access to the source, the application can be freely adapted to suit the unique requirements of each user.
Who Pays for Open Source Development?
The ability to customise software is critical to allow an organisation to continue to improve their business processes, but how does a company afford to pay for such customisations?
One of the side effects of allowing any user access to the source code is that the cost of acquiring the software in the first instance is massively reduced. In most cases the source code is available for no cost. This enables the user to divert resources normally allocated to pay software license fees into enhancing the software.
A successful Open Source Software project has a large community of software developers. Many of these developers work as independent contractors and can be employed to customise the software, alternatively, if a company has internal developer resources, they can leverage those skills to perform the customisations.
Does it Really Work?
This all sounds fantastic, but does it really work? Are there Open Source Applications in use in the real world?
Here are a few facts to convince you that it most certainly does work:
- Around 70% of web sites are served by the Open Source Apache HTTPD server.
- In a 2002 survey it was found over 31% of UK and nearly 42% of German companies were using or planning to use OSS.
- In 2001, Debian (an Open Source Operating System), contained over 55 million lines of code and was estimated to have consumed over 14,000 person years in development time. That is a development cost of around 1.89 Billion Dollars (US) yet it is still available with no license fees.
by: Joe Miller
The http://www.advancedmd.com/features/electronic-medical-record.asp Electronic Medical Record, or EMR, has blossomed as the 21st century’s medical record management model. http://www.advancedmd.com/features/emr.asp EMR databases consolidate and organize important medical records electronically, including the http://www.advancedmd.com/features/electronic-medical-claim.asp>electronic medical claim. Medical practices have been able to effectively and quickly manage the electronic medical record, greatly benefiting not only the practice but also the client.
Almost any http://www.advancedmd.com/features/emr-system.asp EMR system has been able to assist medical practices to reach a higher level of organization, but new medical practice software takes a practice even further. Though an EMR consolidates medical records, the medical records are still on separate databases, depending on the categories the EMR belongs to. Billing records, medical histories, etc., are all located on different databases, requiring multiple logins and often heavy and expensive security and IT infrastructure. Medical software streamlines the costs, both economic and time.
The market has picked up on the need for medical practice software that simplifies the EMR process. That is why http://editorials.arrivenet.com/tec/article.php/4258.html finding the right medical practice software can be so challenging. On any given day, in any given search engine, the keyword “medical practice software” will yield millions to hundreds of millions of indexed pages. Characteristics of good medical practice software include internet access, medical billing PDA, third party billing, digital imaging, reports, and tracking. In addition to these characteristics, medical practices can look forward to cutting overhead costs, including IT infrastructure and additional security costs.
Every medical practice knows that finding a competitive edge also requires simplicity. Medical practices probably do not have extra time to invest in training themselves on new medical software. Not only should it be simple to learn but also simple to install and simple to use.
Another feature used in medical practice software is accessibility. Medical practice software has enabled access to the http://www.advancedmd.com/features/cpt-code.asp cpt code, http://www.advancedmd.com/features/hcfa-1500.asp HCFA 1500, http://www.advancedmd.com/features/icd9-codes.asp icd.9 codes, http://www.advancedmd.com/features/soap-notes.asp SOAP notes, and even http://www.advancedmd.com/hipaa/hipaa.asp HIPAA consultants.
Though searching out the right medical practice software to simplify your EMR needs will require you to do your homework, searching is probably the hardest part. In other words, medical practice software was meant to work for you. The information and tips provided in this article and its accompanying resources are meant to simplify the searching process too. Faced-paced business, especially medical practice business, doesn’t stop and wait for everyone to catch up, nor do patients stop coming. The Boy Scout motto is “Be Prepared,” and with medical practice software, you will be.
A supportable, useable, flexible, manageable, and affordable way to streamline the demands of a medical practice EMR is to find medical practice software capable of supporting your practice’s information databases and streamlining their management to one secured login. Not only can it support your EMR’s but also you, because medical practice software provides access to service consultant and medical codes. It also allows you to access your EMR databases off-site.
Managing the demands of an EMR system can be time consuming and tedious. An EMR does not have to take so much of your time and money if it is effectively managed by a good medical practice software system that works for your business.
