what's an aggregator?

from the whatis.com site:

content aggregator- A content aggregator is an individual or organization that gathers Web content (and/or sometimes applications) from different online sources for reuse or resale. There are two kinds of content aggregators: (1) those who simply gather material from various sources for their Web sites, and (2) those who gather and distribute content to suit their customer's needs. The latter process is called syndication. ScreamingMedia, Moreover, and iSyndicate are among the increasing number of companies offering aggregated content for resale.

Various Extensible Markup Language (XML) formats are making content easier to aggregate and redistribute.

Now here's my explanation of all of that: a lot of news sites and blogs that use XML or RSS feeds can be subscribed to or syndicated by other sites, or by aggregators. A lot of aggregators, you have to download software. With bloglines, once you set up an account, directly from your account, you can subscribe to the news services and blogs that you like to read daily as long as they pubish a feed.

Yup, I been using it for a while now. How do you think I've been able to keep up with you for the last few days?

I'm an infoglut. I've been using Bloglines since they came out, and I've got over 50 feeds - everything from blogs to news (local, national, international), weather, comics, job listings, design tips... And unlike e-mail, it's spam-free!

Thanks to Karsh I've been using Bloglines for about a month now -- and I'm enjoying it.

I think that from one of you saving me to bloglines and then checking me out is how i picked up the info.

Right now I'm digging Google search term specific alerts.

Blogline is very cool and Google is my best friend. Hmmm...maybe I need to get out more...lol

I'm bloglinin' as of today. I'd been using newsgator but my firewall at work likes to deny xml feeds it can't authenticate. Lame. Bloglines improves on that...and, the "recommended feeds" feature was exactly what the doctor ordered for expanding my blog adventures.

the true sickness is that right now i'm thinking of building my own CMS using XML and PHP. we'll see if I have time for such a thing.

Have you given NetNewsWire at ranchero.com a try yet? I've been diggin' it since March.

Thanks Lynne. This is the closest I'll get to being a crackhead!

Watch it lynne. Once you start messin' around with PHP and XML, ain't no turning back!

i need to check this out.

Karsh hipped me to it around the same time too. I was a bit ambivalent for a second, but it's good stuff.

I'm going to have to check ranchero out though - this is the first time I've heard about it.

what i really like about bloglines and newsfeeders/newsreaders in general is that i can be linked to a shitload of peoples and they don't even know it...if they are not already on my exhausitive blog fam or links lists