it may not look like it, but the little "status" box that was on the homepage until today was a fairly sophisticated piece of technology (well, for this website at least) and probably a little overwrought. it used a Javascript to load the status data from an xml file, and the reason i did this is so that i could update the status without neocities making a huge fuss and generating a site activity update on my profile page (it doesn't do that if you only edit an xml file). however, it occurred to me today that i haven't been using it at all lately, even though i've acquired many more books and coffee cans since the last time it was updated a month or two ago.

then, i recalled that rss feeds are based on xml files and realized i could potentially kill two birds with one stone without even much extra work. i created an rss feed (which people have been clamoring for), and adapted the status box "backend" to work with it. now when i update the rss feed, the updates will also appear in the update box on the homepage, like an exclusive mini-rss reader. so rss enjoyers get their rss feed, and i get an easy way of keeping an update log on the website. the only thing that remains to be seen is if i'll actually keep it updated...