When one thinks of XML feed readers (granted you have the foreknowledge of an XML feed reader), usually one thinks of an older, tech-savvy individual. It's just one of those more commonly unused features of frequently updated web pages. However, I think we have something here for that special SpikedHumor lover (read: you).
Spikedhumor brings you "Particls" - the latest in XML news feed aggregation. I've been personally using it for a few days now and I'm quite impressed. Spikedhumor articles are gathered and displayed in a sidebar that is hidden unless otherwise moused to. They are organized based on your preferences. One can even select to view more or less articles from a particular author or source. Particls displays the articles in a clear, slick manner that would make you think you were using Widgets/Gadgets. It's not like getting a bunch of ugly text messages and then filtering through them like bad e-mails during the Holidays.
From a technical perspective, it is quite resource light for what it does actively without your intervention. While it's busy updating, you will never notice a network or hardware slowdown. I run a 3-4 year old machine on which everything else chugs, yet this program seems to have little effect on my overall system performance. It also runs like a charm in terms of stability, unlike other fancy applications like it. Unfortunately, there is no version for Apples yet although it works well in Parallels.
If case you missed the new huge brown box to the right, here is a download link to try it out: Download
