Instructables user fritterdonut has described a very simple way to display RSS feeds on a 16x2 character LCD and a PC-connected Arduino board. This opens up all sorts of data monitoring ideas, such as news, twitter searches, keeping an eye on blogs, etc.
For the uninitiated (from Wikipedia), an RSS feed ("really simple syndication")
... is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format. An RSS document (which is called a "feed", "web feed", or "channel") includes full or summarized text, plus metadata such as publishing dates and authorship.
Almost every Internet-based news source and website should have an RSS feed, so there's plenty of information to choose from. To get started, check out the instructions page here. And we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.
Instead of building your own LCD module onto a breadboard, save time and move forward with the Freetronics LCD & Keypad shield which contains a bright 16x2 character LCD and five buttons that can be read from only one analog input pin:
