Ars Technica

Today, let's talk about an interesting news site: ArsTechnica. In the past, I have posted on Slashdot, News For Nerds. The type of news on Arstechnica is similar in many ways to the type of news on Slashdot (in that its for nerds) but Ars has a professional writing staff and a different philosophy to approaching the news. Where Slashdot is an open news forum, Ars is more polished, professional, and structured. The writers focus on the technology sector and anything that concerns it.

So why am I telling you about this site? Honestly, I just think its a cool site. It is where I get around 65% (don't ask how I came up with that number) of technology news. So what use is this to you? I don't know - that's a personal question.

That's one of the pictures that came up when I googled "I don't know." I say it was worth it.

Anyway, the point is, if you want Tech news - Go to ArsTechnica. They cover categories like: Apple, Business, Gaming, Gadgets, Hardware, Microsoft, Open Source, Science, Tech Policy, and more. If you care about any of those things, you will like ArsTechnica.

The writers at Ars usually take an interesting stance on things. A lot of times I find that they focus on hot issues and try to give views that are both realistic and similar to those of the tech sector. Here are some stories I found interesting or funny:

Nintendo Kills Duck Hunt for iPhone, Dog Laughs
Six editions of Windows 7: better than Vista, still too many
Apple Nabs 10% Market Share
General Science News

Anyway, thanks for reading and have fun reading!

The Onion

I hope you all already know about this one. I have heard of the Onion News Network from a lot of people but I never checked it out. It just didn't seem like it would be interesting. Well, I was wrong. I stumbled across it a while ago and I have to say that it is amazingly funny. Holy Cow. Here is an example of a "report" they did on the World of Warcraft (if you don't know about World of Warcraft, it is basically a time sucking online quest game that is all about "leveling up" your World of Warcraft character through the eternities - because the game never ends. People spend hours and HOURS and HOURS playing this game as it is literally its own world. So, watch the video knowing that some of the people that play this game take it so seriously that they never stop playing and will some day likely turn into one of their elven characters):

'Warcraft' Sequel Lets Gamers Play A Character Playing 'Warcraft'

This next video is also funny. No intro necessary:

Tiny Dog Has Been Barking Nonstop For 6 Years

Rediculous. That one made me laugh for a while. In general, The Onion uses sarcasm to make fun of various current events or anything they think is stupid. Warning: the site does use bad language on occasion so be cautious with that. The site can also be insensitive but as long as you take everything as a joke, it is really funny. I am sure many of you already know about the Onion so this is just a reminder or for those that haven't an invitation to check it out.

cnet.com

So I am a huge fan of open source software (software with an open source code meaning that the code, which is written in a computer language and is the building block of the software, is open to be edited by whomever). I like it because it is usually inexpensive or downright free. I also like it because the source code is open. Now, I don't know any computer languages. I don't have much interest in being able to "code." So why would I like the fact that the source code is open? Well, open source code means that anyone can edit it. Which means that anyone who is interested and knows what they are doing can make meaningful contributions to it. It also means that the software is not being dominated by one company. A lot of companies like Sun Microsystems, Google, IBM, Novell, even Microsoft produce open source software and turn it over to programmers that are not employed by them (at least they don't have to be) or to each other. Universities also create open source software. Anyway, the point is, when the code is not owned and there is no real effort to make a profit, the software comes to us inexpensively. That makes me happy. The software is typically pretty good and useful.

Today's featured site, www.cnet.com or www.download.com, is a very useful site for finding these open source products. The site allows you to download software free most of the time. The site also contains non-open source software that is also inexpensive or free. Here is a brief list of some products that I have found useful and that are completely free:

1. AVG Anti-virus software: a really decent anti-virus software for windows (maybe mac)
2. Firefox - you can download this browser in a lot of places but download.com has it and i love it so i have to mention it.
3. Spybot - this is a great spyware detecter and destroyer... try it out, you will be amazed at how much crap you have
4. Ccleaner - I hope this stays available forever. It automates the cleaning of your recycle bin, internet cache, temp files, etc. Run it once and you will be amazed at the quantity of hard drive space that is possessed by meaningless crap. If its not available for free for some reason, e-mail me and I will get you a copy of it.
5. Rocketdock - I love this software for PC. It gives you a dock (like on a mac) that is pretty cool to use. Try it out. You will become addicted to how easy it is to access your files using the dock.

check out the site and the products I listed, if you wish, and enjoy!

Slashdot: News For Nerds

Many news sites contain a link to what they call "Technology News". What the link should really say is "Nerd News". For nerds to get their news they need to visit a lot of these news sites and sort through the stories to find the news that truly interests them. As is probably obvious, there are many news sites that are particularly geared towards the nerd at heart but I found one that seems to be expertly geared to nerds... almost as if a nerd (or group of nerds made it). So, of what interest is this site to us "non-nerds"? Some of us may not be nerds but still have nerd tendencies. If you are interested in technology news even to the slightest, this site is perfect.

Slashdot is divided into a variety of categories. The site reads like one long list of news lines with paraphrased stories attached. Next to each headline is an icon indicating what category it belongs to. So, lets say you are a "non-nerd" that likes to follow news about space exploration... (sounds kind of nerdy). You could scroll through the news links looking for little NASA icons (which indicate space news). Or let's say instead you have investments in Microsoft and want to know what the company is up to in most all of its endeavors. The nerds know a lot about this and so you would scroll through the page of today's news for little icons of Bill Gates. Even better, you can search the site for all recent news on Microsoft and read it all in much the same way.

So what is the advantage of this site over, say, Google (I mean, why not just google "Microsoft" and see all news stories and browse that way?) Well, as you all know, searching Google for such information will bring back a very broad range of links. Slashdot is a concentrated news site... It is a one stop shop for Tech news (like Walmart). So, check out the site, enjoy it...