If you haven't heard of RSS feeds, then you're in for a treat.

"RSS feeds" is a dumb name for a fabulous technology. It's free and a cinch to use.

You get your own webpage, which pulls together into easy-to-read lists all of the latest headlines and stories from your favorite blogs and websites.

Here's an amazing video--from the supersmart folks at Common Craft--explains how RSS can simplify your life:

Most of the top news websites, such as Washingtonpost.com and BudgetTravel.com, offer these feeds, too. So do travel sites and online travel agencies, such as Priceline.com. Once you start using RSS feeds, you'll be hooked.

Let's get hopping. It'll take you about 10 minutes to simplify your Web surfing...
Create a free RSS feed at Yahoo (my.yahoo.com) or Bloglines.com. (To find other RSS feeds, click here.)

Then dial up your favorite site and click the link that says "RSS." This link is almost always in an orange box. Sometimes, it says "XML" instead. ("XML" stands for "extensible mark-up language." No, we don't know what that means either. Who cares? It works!)

[On Budget Travel's This Just In blog, you'll find this link as a button that's in a box that says "Subscribe." You'll find the "Subscribe" button in the right column under the photos of our bloggers and some links to recent posts.]

Once you've clicked through, you'll find a list of story topics to choose from.The stories you want—and only those stories—will come at least once a day, as our website is updated. The headlines will be stored so you can view them at your convenience.

**UPDATE: The link to the RSS feed above has been corrected. Thanks Betty!

By the way, "RSS" stands for: "I'm Ready for Some Stories!" (Okay, that's a fib. The acronym actually stands for "really simple syndication," and you can learn the nitty-gritty details by clicking here. But why bother?)