As a sideline follower of the development of the Atom syndication format and API, I was at first taken aback; then amused; by this phrase I saw on John Porcano’s blog:

“By the way, he added Atom RSS”

Has “RSS” really become so common that it no longer refers to a particular technical specification, but instead refers to blog syndication generally?  Has it really joined the ranks of Kleenex and Xerox?

If this is true, then of course we need to determine the appropriate pronunciation – is it “are-ess-ess”?  “russ”?  “ers” (as in, ‘terse’)?