Nowadays, we are used to hearing about security holes in software that could compromise our computer systems. Software companies are getting better at pushing updates, to the point where they are becoming more annoying than helpful. But for open source applications and smaller software companies, they tend to rely on “word of mouth” updates.

I came up with an effective solution to stay up to date without constantly being spammed with notifications. The website FileHippo keeps track of software that’s been updated and they also provide an application that will scan your computer, checking to see if you have the latest software versions. I tried that a couple of times but found it to be a hassle having to periodically run another application.

So instead, I realized that FileHippo has an RSS feed for updated applications and by subscribing to that feed, I know when different applications are updated and can apply them as needed. A side benefit is that I also learn about new applications which I may not have tried yet.