She says that she is not a size two. She's not a millionaire or even a thousandaire, for that matter. She's a very normal person with a love of fashion and a lack of cash. If you want to look and live great on budget, then welcome friends, this is the site for you.

Kathryn Finney started the Budget Fashionista blog to help share her knowledge and love for saving money. She has since hit the big time with spots on The Today Show, CNN, Fox Network and starred in numerous Finney family movies. She spends her spare time crank-calling credit card companies, using her glue gun with reckless abandon, plotting ways to get Marc Jacobs to premiere a line at Wal-Mart, and having lunch with her imaginary best friends, Andre Leon Talley and Isaac Mizrahi.

If you love the look, but lack the cash, then check out the Budget Fashionista today:

Web Site: www.thebudgetfashionista.com

Feed: www.thebudgetfashionista.com/atom.xml

Since this is mostly definitely a long tail pick as Feed of the Day, I'll let the author explain what it's about and then share a few posts to prove the point:

a personal weblog by nicolas nova: research + daily scanning about location-based tech, video games, tangible interactions, ubicomp, hci/cscw, user experience analysis, innovation and various weird things

Since I only have a vague idea what any of that means, I'll focus on the "innovation and various weird things" bit. I'm a believer in Mr. Smith's specialization in trade (even if he was kidnapped by Gypsies as a child). A few picks:

• Pigeons and GPS. Now get them to use Google/MSN/Yahoo Maps.


• Inflatable stuff in space. Seems like a great idea.


• Play doh as an interface to control digital media. Really.


• A great post on what Nicolas is really interested in.

RSS Feed of the Day

RSS feed: http://tecfa.unige.ch/perso/staf/nova/blog/feed/

Website: http://tecfa.unige.ch/perso/staf/nova/blog/


*Plato in Play Doh, joins us from Maybe Quarterly.

When you think of the "best" uses for RSS, what comes to mind? In no particular priority, I think of: general news, political news, and tech news. Of course there is always the Long Tail stuff, but as Tom Hanks said, "I save that one just for myself."

Today we're looking at Travelocity's super-duper, custom RSS feed builder. What makes it super-duper? Easy. You can burn your own feeds, based on:

• The type of trip you're interested in.


• Your destination(s)


• Your starting point(s)

Apparently the Travelocity gnome, believes that you should "have it your way!" I'll let you build your own feeds, but have supplied one of my own below, using: Trip Type = Outdoor. Departure city = Austin. Destination = Seattle.

After you're done choosing your trip, choose your RSS reader (Pluck is a nice choice) and subscribe. Nice and easy. Gnome guaranteed.

RSS Feed of the Day

RSS feed: http://rss.travelocity.com/rss/travelin_from_Austin_to_Seattle

Website: http://rss.travelocity.com/

In case you weren't certain, here are few things that rock:

• Dogs


• Photo sharing


• Dogs + Photo sharing + RSS

Thanks to the folks at Flickr for the service and more thanks to the Flickr users sharing their stuff.  Enjoy!

RSS Feed of the Day

RSS feed: http://www.flickr.com/services/feeds/photos_puppy 

Website: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/puppy/interesting/

*Photos courtesy of adampsyche, chotda, and zonepress, respectively.

Forget about Paris, there are greater fools to choose from as you gaze in wonderment at Hollywood "reality." What once was the purview of checkout stand displays, celebrity blogging is the perfect companion to the firestorm political blogs that constantly draw so much attention from readers and MSMers.

A nice, relaxing way to fill the time after some heated political debate? Maybe. Whatever the case, where do you turn for fun-filled news about the foolishness of your (least) favorite celebrities. One pick to consider to help satiate your need for Britney/Kevin/Brad/Angelina/Jessica/Nick/Jessica/whoever news can be found at A Socialite's Life, today's Feed of the Day.

RSS Feed of the Day

RSS feed: http://socialitelife.com/index.rdf

Website: http://socialitelife.com/

You don't have to be a looney like Owen Wilson to appreciate today's Feed of the Day - All Too Flat - but it might help. If you'd like to invest in your sense of humor, you could do worse then this. Looking like Hansel is one such example.

The name is important. If you don't get it, go here.

RSS Feed of the Day

RSS feed: http://www.alltooflat.com/rss/atf.rss 

Website: http://www.alltooflat.com/

*Image from HugeReviews.com.  Nice teeth. Worse jewelry. Yes, I realize it doesn't come from today's Feed of the Day. It's just a funny picture.

Imagine a little scenario:

You're a customer of wireless company ABC, and recently paid $499 for a new 2-year contract and the super duper phone (with headset attachment) shown here.

After a few minutes of intense use, the rubber band your favorite attachment breaks and you can't use your phone any longer. So what do you do?

You call your wireless company, hoping to speak with a helpful customer service rep. Although elusive as a unicorn, you believe you'll find one. So you call and plead your case.

Shifting roles to the CSR, you have the backing of a multi-billion dollar company that loudly and incessantly proclaims how much it loves its customers. Oh, management may have made a few policies about how to help those same customers. As the CSR, how do you respond to ? Two options:

1. Ship the customer a new phone/attachment thingy.


2. Tell the customer they can buy a new attachment thingy for $199 or $99 if they extend their contract for another year. Helpfully remind them they should purchase an insurance policy for $99, which would have covered the first purchase. Somehow work into the conversation that the customer is to blame for having a big FAT head, which broke the attachment.

Sound familiar?

Personally, the problem isn't really "the problem." As a customer, I assume things will go wrong from time to time, so I'm not really surprised. The real problem though, is how the other side solves it. Or if they even try.

The Social Customer Manifesto is all about figuring out what the customer is saying . . . and then actually listening to them. It's a crazy idea, but in today's always-on, conversational personal and business world, companies can do amazing things by listening to their customers (even if Clayton Christensen notes an issue with going overboard). To that end, I suggest you have a quick read of Christopher Carfi's Manifesto.

Even helpful for those outside the Web 2.0 echo chamber. Maybe even more so.

RSS Feed of the Day

RSS feed: http://www.socialcustomer.com/index.rdf 

Website: http://www.socialcustomer.com/


*Image from Portland Independent Media Center. They don't like cell phones.

Two things for you coffee and caffeine addicts out there, one with RSS, the other badly in need of RSS (for we RSS addicts):

Starbucks Gossip and Too Much Coffee Man (the grinning idiot to the left). Since more than a few invest in Starbucks instead of saving for retirement, perhaps you'd be interested in getting the scoop on where your dollars are going. If not, you can check if TMCM is actually your alter ego.

RSS Feed of the Day

RSS feed: http://starbucksgossip.typepad.com/

Website:  http://starbucksgossip.typepad.com/

*Image of Too Much Coffee Man, but I found it here.

B.J.: What do you want to be?
Radar: A hot lover. Or even a cold one. I don't care.
B.J.: What makes you think the army could help you with that?
Radar: When my Uncle Ed came home from World War I, his mother could tell from the look in his eyes that he hadn't been a good boy in France. She cried for three days. I just know when I get home, my mother's going to look at me and chuckle for a week.

Wasn't M*A*SH a great show?

Today's Feed of the Day, Radar Online, shares none of Radar O'Reilly's innocence and all of his knowing everything about everything superpowers. Or in the spirit of the Long Tail, they're all about celebrity stalking for pop culture junkies. You don't have to admit (confess) your addiction, but may find it better (worse) by checking them out.

What will you find? Well, the current (as of 11/17/05) intelligence, has appropriately deep stuff like:

• Brittany Murphy falling victim to "a double-barreled dose of Hollywood bitchslappery"


• Joaquin Phoenix "thinks a frog is eating his brain"

Isn't reality great?

RSS Feed of the Day

RSS feed: http://www.radaronline.com/index.xml

Website: http://www.radaronline.com/

*Radar image from Smokey's Office. Blame Smokey. Quote from TVs Other Ten Percent.

Busted. Been have you? Yodaspeak calls for a visit by the Grammar Cop, so the Banterist Department of Corrections lends a hand and shares some of the better stuff he finds. Anyone who can find choice stuff like this deserves a spot in Pluck's Feed of the Day Hall of Fame. Most are even grandmother friendly. Two more:

• Rose bokays


• Jombo hotdogs

But the Banterist himself, Brian Sack, doesn't stop with the Grammar Police. Oh, no. He has a few ideas for improved Xbox controllers, including one for Tom "I'm nuts" Cruise and Paris "I'm xxx" Hilton.

RSS Feed of the Day

RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/Banterist

Website: http://www.banterist.com/

*Image from Banterist, presumably his discovery.