Today's newspaper is actually yesterday's news. So, for those stories you have to know about as they happen, Farcast Inc. has developed a news and information service (called Farcast) that automatically sends you what you want, when you want it, straight to your Internet e-mail account.
Farcast allows you to set up customized agents (called "Droids") that scan various news feeds, including AP, UPI, Businesswire, and PR Newswire. Each Droid can search through the feeds looking for certain words or word combinations - including advanced Booleans like "Apple Computer but not Microsoft." You specify whether you want stories sent to you as they break or in a batch at certain times during the day.
If you'd rather browse broader topics, Farcast can send you headlines by category (say, national or international news) or by industry (telecommunications or entertainment). You can then get the full text of any story by firing off a simple e-mail request to the service.
And when you need yesterday's news, the Farcast archives store newsfeeds for 30 days and are fully searchable. Farcast recently added a library of major company and industry profiles from Hoover's Handbooks.
Farcast also carries a comprehensive stock-quote feed from the New York, American, and Nasdaq exchanges, plus information on certain US mutual funds and leading market indicators. Droids can send portfolio updates throughout the day, or supply individual price quotes as you need them.
Farcast is available for a reasonable flat rate, and there are no per-story or per-Droid charges. Subscription plans for six months or more are available: they bring the cost to under US$30 a month. If you're still unsure, a special seven-day trial is available for $9.95.
Not all of Farcast's e-mail functions are entirely intuitive. Fortunately the user documentation is well written and easy to understand.
Agent software isn't smart enough to replace editors yet, but for important news-breaking topics, Farcast is a great way to stay up-to-date in a wired world.
Farcast: US$39.95 per month. Farcast Inc.: +1 (415) 327 2446, fax +1 (415) 327 5603, e-mail info@farcast.com with hello in the subject line, or for a demonstration, demo@farcast.com, subject: start.
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