RSS NewsRiver is a new RSS aggregator and OPML editor from Dave Winer. It is apparently in that always beta testing phase. Currently when someone uses it to check your feed, it provides a referrer link back to a post in Dave Winer’s blog.

In a way, this will drive a little viral attention to the new toy (like this post) and help make people aware of the project.

Interestingly, some people think Dave Winer (imagine the irony) is actually spamming people’s blogs with links to his. Eh, I don’t think so. Hey, it is in development and he took an easy route to providing some reference point for any check of your feed.

But, as a desktop reader, the referrer won’t ever tell you who was reading your blog – nor what they are reading – so, why a referrer at all?  Not a programmer here.  Is it possible to do this without a referrer?  If so, why not do it that way?  Perhaps this was a viral attempt.

• JTA – Survey Research May Bring Interesting Visitors To Your Door
  “FBI agents interviewed a Palestinian pollster with links to Jewish institutions about his conversations with a man accused of ties to Islamic Jihad.”
  (tags: survey+research polling bias)
• FrontPage magazine.com :: Academic Bias, By the Numbers by Anne D. Neal
  Interesting Survey on Academic Diverstiy in Thought “The most serious problems of freedom of expression in our society today exist on campuses.”
  (tags: survey+research highered academia intellectual+freedom)
• Study on Baby Boomers – Targeted Research
  ” The study by the Princeton Survey Research Associates compiled information about finances, family situation, health and future plans from 1,000 20-minute telephone surveys with Massachusetts boomers age 40 to 58.”
  (tags: survey+research demographics generations baby+boomers)
• MercuryNews.com | 01/19/2006 | Feds after Google data
  “The Bush administration on Wednesday asked a federal judge to order Google to turn over a broad range of material from its closely guarded databases.”
  (tags: data+mining privacy research)