The New York Times has just launched an intuitive tool for construction of custom RSS feeds, allowing normal users to test keywords, select from a related set of terms, and then to preview the resulting mixed feed before committing to it. If only all large sites offered such a custom feed…

You start with a bare-bones structure, but with that all-important Google-like search box.

A few searches later, you’re mixing and matching your terms, and previewing the results in the right-hand pane.