A Simple Yahoo Pipes RSS Filtering Example

I don't know if Yahoo Pipes has gained much traction since launching, but I do know that I find the service useful.

For those who aren't familiar with it, it's a relatively easy to use platform for creating RSS feed mashups, filters, and other related fun stuff. I say, "relatively simple" since you don't have to be a programmer or own a server in order to create mashups, but it still has a bit of a learning curve.

Here is a very simple use of the service that I think helps illustrate the power.

There is a an online running forum called dyestat.com Track Talk that has a lot of content that's interesting to me. However, it also has a TON of stuff that doesn't interest me at all.

What's nice is that there is a Minnesota-specific section to the forum. What isn't nice is that there isn't a Minnesota-specific RSS feed available for the forum.

That's where Yahoo Pipes comes to the rescue. I simply took the RSS feed for the entire dyestat.com Track Talk forum, dropped that into Yahoo Pipes, added a filter for the word "Minnesota" in the item descriptions (which they happen to add to all items posted to the Minnesota sub-forum), and generate a filtered RSS feed of the remaining posts:

This took about 2 minutes. Yahoo Pipes has given me easier access to content that's of interest to me.

And now that it exists, others can use it as well or clone and edit it to personalize it for content that interests them.

Pipes is great for setting up custom pipelines - but also consider checking out Particls.com - it is a Pipeline dedicated to determining the personal relevance of content in a more sophisticated way and bubbling it to the surface of the desktop sidebar while you work.

One thing that could help the pipe you created is making the keyword you're looking for (in this case Minnesota) a user input. That way you can publish your pipe and let people filter the feed any way they want to. One of the best features in pipes I think.

A few days ago I wrote about how pipes has dramatically increased my feed toolset. One of the biggest things I've done with it is create a single feed for all the content I publish. I included my two blogs, my flickr photo stream and my photo album site.

Chris, what are scenarios where your site is a better option than a proactive filter like this?

First it is a consumer app that should be very easy for knowledge workers and marketers to use (rather than the more technical Yahoo Pipes).

Also it does not just filter content, it ranks it allow it to handle information in a more nuanced way.

Also it can do automated persistent searches for brand monitoring type activities.

The sidebar display is also a great way for monitoring the results in a persistent and ambient way.

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