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TECHNOLOGY Finding out about stuff SecondView and SLBrowser by Surfdaddy Orca As reported in the June edition of The Seventh Sun, programmer extra-ordinaire Felix Wakmann is the creator of the in-world RSS feed reader, SecondView. Felix released Version 1.24 of the Viewer and HUD this past month along with an upgraded Smark, suitably renamed SLBrowser. 
SecondView SecondView shows syndicated RSS news feeds, with new images and updates throughout the day. It’s better than TV for keeping up with Second Life, and the quality of the images and text is spectacular. Felix says, “SecondView is easy to use: just watch it! When you see something like, touch the screen for a link to the web.” RSS is an abbreviation for describing one of three different standards, which include:
It is an XML-based vocabulary that describes news or other 2D web content that is available for “feeding” (distribution or syndication channels) from an online publisher to web users. SecondView comes with a collection of free channels and can be configured to add more. Felix says, “...the cost is shared by all subscribers: the more popular the channel, the cheaper it is.” Visit the SecondView web site for channel configuration and subscription information.
SLBrowser  SLBrowser is a major step in the direction of Google’s famous search engine. The latest version of SLBrowser, available free from a convenient vendor, lets you search quickly and easily for specific products, for example blue suede shoes. Once you obtain a copy of the HUD from the vendor, attach it to your avatar and you’re ready to rock and roll. The interface is very intuitive and easy to use. Felix says that future versions will search for events, real estate, profiles and more. Like Google on the 2D web, you enter search words into a text box (in the case of SL, the Chat box) and get a listing of items that match your request. For example, if you enter ? furniture you get a listing of furniture products in Second Life. The furniture listing appears in a separate SLBrowser window on the left side of your screen. Each item listed has a blue arrow to the left and a red circle to the right:
 In the furniture example, I decided to take a look at the Furniture with Style store after scanning through the SLBrowser window using the >> icon. I clicked the red circle to check the location and decided to teleport there.
I didn’t actually buy any furniture when I arrived (I build my own), but I liked what I saw.
Like to shop? Try SLBrowser. Want to keep up with the latest SL news feeds? Try SecondView. You won’t be sorry.  * * * 
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Why use SLBrowser when SL includes a standard Search button? The short answer is one word: specificity. You can pinpoint a specific product and teleport to its location more quickly. SLBrowser doesn’t replace the standard SL Search window, but it certainly augments it so that you can reduce your search times to pinpoint a specific item by tens of minutes.