Howard County Government news - right to your desktop

With RSS, you can now receive up-to-the-minute Howard County government news and information delivered right to your desktop as soon as it is released.

Already using RSS? Paste the following URL into your RSS Reader to subscribe
to our news feed:
http://rss.howardcountymd.gov/hcg/hcgfeed.aspx?cat=0

If you're not familiar with RSS, please continue reading...

What is RSS?

RSS is a new format for electronic content distribution. Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is a way to distribute and receive headlines, audio podcasts, and other free web content to your desktop. Instead of going back to a website to see what's new, you can have new information delivered to you.

What is a Podcast?

A Podcast is an audio file, delivered as an enclosure or attachment within a standard RSS feed. "Podcatching" software allows you to subscribe to audio programs which can be automatically downloaded to your computer, or to any portable MP3 player or iPod for later listening.

Why use RSS?

There are a number of benefits to using RSS, including:

• You select the news you want. RSS allows you to select the type of news and information you receive from websites. You won't receive feeds to which you haven't subscribed.
  
  
• You determine when you get your news. Once you download your news reader, you can customize it to go out and fetch the news every five minutes, or every hour - depending on how you set it up.
  
  
• Your e-mail address remains private. Because RSS uses a specialized news reader application, you don't have to give out your e-mail address to get your news. By subscribing to RSS feeds instead of e-mail lists, you'll reduce your risk of getting unwanted SPAM e-mail.

Getting Started

To start using RSS, you need an up-to-date browser such as; Internet Explorer 7, Firefox 2.0, or Safari.

Here are two free applications, specifically for podcasts:

iTunes (PC & Mac)
Juice (PC & Mac)

How to Subscribe

Once you have set up your newsreader, you can subscribe to our news feed and podcasts by copying this URL: http://rss.howardcountymd.gov/hcg/hcgfeed.aspx?cat=0
and pasting it wherever your particular RSS reader requires you to "add a feed."
When searching for RSS feeds, look for this symbol.
The RSS reader will then go to the site you've selected and automatically download news headlines and links to your RSS reader. (Check your specific software for further instructions on subscribing or adding feeds.)