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Stay up to date without turning on the television. If all you look at when watching cable news is the ticker at the bottom of the screen, RSS Ticker is for you. This Linux and Windows application takes any RSS feed and gives you an attractive free news ticker on your screen, showing you the headlines you care about. By default it shows you BBC headlines, but the application can make use of any RSS feed on Planet Earth.

Staying up-to-the-minute isn't important for everyone, but if it is for you I highly recommend this app for the job. Last year we highlighted four good free desktop news ticker apps. Some were specific to a certain news outlet, some were complex, but none combined the customizable simplicity of News RSS Ticker. This application allows you to see the headlines from any news organization in real time, on your terms.

Using News RSS Ticker

Launch this nifty app and you'll see your news ticker:

By default the news is coming from the BBC, which isn't an altogether bad source to start with. International news is always a good thing.

If you're anything like me, you'll be annoyed by the speed of this ticker by default. Don't panic; you can change this. Click the question mark to the left of the ticker; this will pull up the menu. From here you can find the option to slow down the ticker:

As you can see, you can also restart the feed. This is good if you miss a particular story.

Click a headline and your default browser will open, giving you access to the full story. This is nice if a particular headline grabs your attention.

Want to open another RSS feed? You'll find the option to do so in the menu. This is a great way to keep up with the latest news from a particular organization.

It's also worth noting that you can add text files to this ticker. If you're looking for a hilarious distraction, I recommend downloading The Devil's Dictionary, a hilarious satirical dictionary by author Ambrose Bierce. Although you could easily imagine your own uses for this functionality.

Customize

You can customize most aspects of this RSS Ticker. You can, for example, change the colors and the default RSS feed. You can also set the positioning and more:

Explore the settings to get a feel for what's possible, but you can essentially make the application look however you want.

Download The Application

Windows and Linux users should head on over to NewsRSSreader.com to download this application. Linux users will find Ubuntu/Debian packages by default, with other options lower down on the download page. Windows users will find the usual installation package, complete with multiple "Next" buttons.

Conclusion

These kinds of free news ticker apps can be distracting, but can also be useful from time to time. Do you have a favorite use for applications like this? Share it below. Also feel free to recommend alternative applications for keeping up with the news.