Shrook – Free RSS reader for Mac OS X (Via ProQuest Dissertation Database.) So I was looking for some sample dissertations just now… and I learned three things:
1.) I discovered that a someone at Walden (Rick Blunt) did a study on teaching management skills through video games last year (cool)*…
2.) And then I saw that ProQuest’s dissertation database now has RSS feeds to keep you up to date on new dissertations in your field (also cool, but not that cool – I couldn’t see a way to customize them)…
3.) And then I saw the ProQuest was recommending Shrook as a free RSS reader for the Mac (potentially very cool). There are some features I’m interested in, particularly these two:
Synchronization without the Sync button
To get synchronization working, you just need to enter the username and password of your shrook.com account on each computer, and Shrook does the rest. Synchronization happens every five minutes while you’re connected to the internet, meaning you never have to remember, or forget, to do it.Smart groups without setting up rules
Using the same Bayesian statistical filtering as Mail’s Junk filter, Shrook’s Learning Groups are able to pick out items of interest based solely on examples you provide. The system is smarter than setting up search keywords, since it can detect and ignore irrelevant results.
Trying it now.
UPDATE: Shrook is a no-go for me. It didn’t keep my groups when it imported my OPML from NetNewsWire.
*UPDATE 2: Hey Walden students, Dr. Blunt also posted some of his KAMs. :)