The Digital Inspiration blog shows how to create your own web page or embeddable widget that shows live feeds from your choice of web sites. Using Google Spreadsheets' publishing function, it takes only a little bit of cell hacking to pull in and customise feed items, and you simply publish only the cells containing the feed links when you're done. Helpful for start pages, personal web pages, or creating a reader for only the top feeds you need to stay on top of. Update: Now with a live iFrame of my sample reader.

From blogs and online newspapers to calendars and social networking sites, the internet is a constant flow of information directed straight at your already full brain. Luckily, everything offers an RSS feed these days, which means that keeping up with all of that information is simply a matter of staying on top of your subscriptions. On Wednesday you nominated your favourite RSS newsreaders, and over 400 comments later, we're back with your favourites. Hit the jump to see if your newsreader of choice made the list, and then cast your ballot to choose the newsreader to rule them all.

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Windows/Mac/Linux (Firefox): Brief, an in-browser RSS reader for Firefox, adds a clean Google Reader-type feed reading interface to your browser, and makes Firefox's default "Live Bookmarks" system far more useful. The stand-out feature for GReader users is the starring system that lets you tag posts for later viewing, but I also like the "X" boxes put on each post—instead of marking a post "read" and scrolling past it, you can actually remove it from your view. It's a lot like Sage, but with a more robust set of features and customisation. Brief is a free download and works wherever Firefox 2 and 3 beta do.

If you spend any amount of time on the web, you're doing yourself a disservice if you haven't found a decent RSS newsreader to keep on top of your favourite web sites. If you aren't using one, it's time you start; if you are, the question remains: Are you using the best newsreader for your needs (and feeds)? So for this week's Hive Five, we want you to tell us all about your favourite RSS newsreader. Hit the jump for more details and to nominate your favourite newsreader—be it web- or desktop-based—in the comments.

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Newsreaders are a blessing for anyone who wants to stay on top of the constant flow of information available on the web, but if you're not careful your feedreader can get so clogged and disorganised that you lose many of the benefits of RSS. Blogger GenuineChris details how he combatted this situation using fewer folders organised by quality—like A-List, B-List, etc. At the end of the day this strategy isn't groundbreaking, but it got us wondering: How do you organise your newsreader? Let's hear what helps you stay king of your RSS mountain in the comments.

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Internet Explorer 7 might have some chops when it comes to handling and organizing RSS feeds, but dedicated Google Reader fans don't get much love from the browser—there's no option in the interface for adding a feed anywhere but inside IE7's "Live Bookmarks," leaving the copy-and-paste job to the user. Alex at the Google Operating System blog points out two makeshift solutions: Install Google Toolbar 5, or add a nifty "Subscribe" bookmarklet to your Links toolbar, provided on Google Reader's Settings->Goodies page. Both seem far more convenient than digging to find the address of a site's feed and pasting it into Google Reader's "Add Subscription" dialog.

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When it comes to reading feeds for a job or need-to-know informatoin, it's hard to beat the (unofficial) reigning champions of the web and desktop, Google Reader and NewsGator's (now free!) products. But sometimes you might just want to run through a lot of content quickly, with no read/unread stress to remind you of your email inbox. For that kind of browsing, Alertle, a new AJAX-based feed reader, might be just the right thing. It comes jam-packed with pre-sets in a range of categories, and it moves nearly as quick as Reader (even with seemingly wider support for embedded video and audio). Alertle doesn't bother marking posts as read, so it's more a tool for seeing what's new around the web than hitting a goal. The big drawbacks are non-support of Internet Explorer and a hard-to-grok sign-up interface (check the upper-right corner), but Alertle makes for an interesting addition to the growing stable of worthy feed readers.

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Wanna know how long it took Google Reader to show you that post? Hover over the time stamp on the upper right hand side to get a tool tip that displays the published timestamp and the time GReader received the item. Recently Adam made a good case for using a desktop newsreader over a web-based one, and the lack of delay was the biggest advantage. (On the desktop, you hit refresh and you get the latest content on the spot). To Google Reader's credit, right now Lifehacker posts seem less than an hour behind.

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News feed aggregator tiinker aims to help those feeling overwhelmed by their news portals and their own feed readers chop down their lists. Using Digg-style "thumbs up" and "thumbs down" controls, tiinker "learns" what types of news and sources you find relevant and interesting and mixes its content for you accordingly. Tiinker's technology page reshaped itself pretty quickly to a little test-voting with an eye for Linux items, but what's missing right now (and used to be offered) is a way to bring in RSS feeds not offered by the tiinker mix. Still, for those seeking out a decent, customised news portal, Tiinker might be a good way to keep on top of what's happening.

Google Reader has been opening up more sharing features recently, giving users the ability to publicly share feeds and see Google Talk friends' feeds. Blogger Steve Rubel points out a not-so-obvious way to share only selected feeds with only a choice group of people. His solution:

• Add a unique tag to feeds you want to share (like "friendshare")
• Select "Settings" from Reader's upper-right menus, then the "Tags" tab
• Click the RSS icon on the tag you want to share. Share the "View public page" link only with those you want to see it