Where to get Tech Info that's fun & informative!
By Scott Kehoe
(The following will be an occasional column of technology news, tips, and tricks useful for, or having impact on libraries in our Region.)
There are more places then ever to get information on the next technology trend and gadget that will be impacting libraries and librarians and patrons and consumers. Below is a "short" list of my favorites that are both informative and entertaining. More sites and information can also be found at my Digital Media & the Library website: www.nmrls.org/ce/digitalmedia.htm.
Print Sources:
The Wall Street Journal - see Walt Mossberg's weekly columns and equipment reviews. His columns are also free online at ptech.wsj.com/ptech.html
Wired magazine - monthly, sure to be on your library's periodical display, also online at www.wired.com/
Websites with RSS feeds:
digg.com
digg.com/
A great site for off-beat techy, entertainment, gaming and science news. Users can register to submit and vote on stories they liked most. Top votes are reviewed weekly on the diggnation podcast (see below).
Digital Music Newswww.digitalmusicnews.com/index_html
A great site that aggregates news from various sources on the business and technology of digital music. Email Subscription option (plain text with links).
paidContent.org
www.paidcontent.org/index.shtml
Another site that aggregates news from various sources on all forms of digital content and their related businesses (music, movies, news media, ISPs, etc.). Email and RSS Subscription options.
engadget
www.engadget.com/
Get your first looks at the newest electronic gadgets, from cameras to MP3 players to cell phones. Started as a blog, bought by AOL in October 2005 … hasn't lost its hippness yet …
Available via website, a RSS feed, and a podcast.
Podcasts:
Buzz Out Loud: CNET's podcast of indeterminate length -
reviews.cnet.com/4520-11455_7-6457370-1.html
A witty and entertaining discussion of the day's technology news with three of CNET's editors, they also answer listener's email and voicemail questions about products and services.
Diggnation
revision3.com/diggnation
A very humorous weekly look at stories that were most read on the social news site digg.com. Both a video and audio version are available, each episode an enjoyable half-hour.
NPR podcasts
www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_directory.php
National Public Radio produces weekly podcasts made up of stories from all of their news and national programming. The NPR news podcasts are available by genre: technology; pop culture; health & science; etc.
TWiT (This Week in Technology)
www.twit.tv
Computer industry journalist, pundits & gadflies comment on week's happenings, they dish, but they do go on, about 1 hour per episode.
Pundits:
John C. Dvorak - a PC Magazine columnist and computer/technology industry pundit, always entertaining and opinionated reading! His blog and links to his columns in PC Magazine: www.dvorak.org. Hear him on the weekly podcast of TWiT (This Week in Technology): www.twit.tv/
Robert X. Cringely - A technology pundit with a background as one of Apple's original employees and as a journalist in Silicon Valley. Creator and narrator of two wonderfully informative and humorous documentaries: Triumph of the Nerds (1996); Nerds 2.0.1: A Brief History of the Internet (1998). Author of the best-seller, Accidental Empires: How the Boys of Silicon Valley Make Their Millions … (Addison Wesley, 1992).
-I, Cringely - weekly column on all thing techy and the business of tech: www.twit.tv/
-NerdTV - weekly online "TV" show, interviews computer industry founders, movers, and shakers. Download at: www.pbs.org/cringely/nerdtv/
