I'm playing with
FeedReader, and open source free reader, and it's very interesting. Shows new messages, and the preview pane is a browser pane where you can respond to messages, all in the same window. Will report on it's full workings later after I've played with it some more.
If you're only interested in a rss news reader for this site, however, all these really do is give you notification when a new posting occurs. But there's a HUGE world out there re: rss feeds that make this technology something worth exploring.