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What is an Aggregator?
      A search using an Internet search engine, will quickly reveal what an aggregator is and a deeper search will reveal many definitions and examples. Below are some terminology that will be very beneficial in our discussions.

bing.com - says:

- forming whole: collected together from different sources and considered as a whole
- resembling rock: describes a mixture of minerals or rock fragments that resembles rock
- sum total: a total or whole made up of different parts from often disparate sources

- a web application that draws together syndicated content from various online sources and displays it in a single location for the user’s convenience

Aggregator - In computing, a feed aggregator, also known as a feed reader, news reader, rss reader or simply aggregator, is client software or a Web application which aggregates syndicated web content such as news headlines, blogs, podcasts, and vlogs in a single location for easy viewing. (Wikipedia- aggregator)

Aggregate - Merriam-Webster online says: to collect or gather into a mass or whole. In our settings it's the gathering together of several, perhaps numerous, posts or publications on the Internet into one, or so, webpages.

Atom - The Atom format was developed as an alternative to RSS (see below). For more information.*

Blogs - Short for web logs, typically used by individuals to post (write and publish on the Internet) personal stories, ideas or news.

Feed - (Internet) Encapsulated online content, such as news or a blog, that you can subscribe to with a feed reader. Wikipedia states that a "web feed is a data format used for providing users with frequently updated content."

Mashup - In music: An audio recording that is a composite of samples from other recordings, usually from different musical style. In our case, a composite of samples of feeds filtered for content.

News Feed - (See Feed.)

Pipes -A web application from Yahoo! that provides a graphical user interface for building data mashups that aggregate web feeds, web pages, and other services, creating Web-based apps from various sources, and publishing those apps. http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/

Reader - (See Aggregator.)

RSS - (most commonly expanded as "Really Simple Syndication") is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format. (Wikipedia- RSS)* -

Social networking - The interaction between a group of people who share a common interest, in our case, using Internet's network groups (such as, but not limited to Facebook, Twitter, GoogleGroups, Ning, Netvibes and GoogleBuzz).

Subscribe - Number 9 in dictionary.com: to obtain a subscription to a magazine, newspaper, etc.; in our case, a request that recent updates on websites including news and blogs be sent to you in a central location such as your email program or an aggregator.

XML - Is a set of rules for encoding documents electronically, which can be totally transparent to us except that we know that it has to do with RSS and Atom.

*Wikipedia - Is referenced frequently because search engines list Wikipedia on top and its definitions are directed toward basic needs.

**More terms - As we dig through our research, other terms will be added. Please submit your suggestions in our Professional Groups or as an email to saxowsky@gmail.com