2. I'm also finding out that some third party readers don't update as often as you would like nor do they provide an option to allow manual updates. I tested the Google Reader and the updates were about 24 hours behind. I think they restrict this for obvious reasons. If it were to say, update every hour and you happened to have 5000 subscribers to that specific feed, then the bandwidth from the source would be explosive.
Internet Explorer 7 has a reader built in. Firefox has optional readers to choose from (I don't think they're add-ons or plug-ins, could be wrong but I've never personally installed them manually). If you subscribe using the built in readers, they will always update in real time (I mean, that's a browser's job is to find updated content, ie, new pages). Firefox calls them "Live Bookmarks". IE has additional settings for its reader under "Tools".
RSS, though not really a new concept, is just now taking off as an updated content medium. I'm envisioning that, once we start Podcasting (tutorials, tips, announcements, etc), Gallery updates (video contests for example) and what we take pride in the most; muvipix New Stuff, RSS will be an invaluable tool for both our members and hosts alike
