http://feedcrier.com/

I came across this recently. Basically, it will monitor RSS feeds and send you a notification via IM when there is new articles. I thought it's quite cool.

When I tried to use it, there's some initial cock ups. After I tried subscribing to my own feed from the web site, it told me it will send me a verification. And until I respond, I would not receive any alerts. However, it did not say how is the verification sent. I assume it to be via IM, but I did not receive anything.

It is not until I post something in my blog, that I receive a authorisation from them to add me. So I add it as my contact. It's quite cool. You can chat with it. You can subscribe and unsubscribe from it by chatting. You can also list the blogs that you subscribed thru them. My list was empty when I tried it. So i subscribe to my own blog again. This time, received the verification and is able to verify myself and start receiving notification thru my IM.