How To Keep Current On New Website Technologies
One thing we've all learned from the rise of the Internet is that weekly or monthly
magazines are no competition when it comes to the best way to stay current and well informed. This is true whether you are trying to stay abreast of geopolitics or high-tech. When it comes down to how to keep current on new Web site technologies, however, it is still "read and listen a lot"-although the sources you are reading and listening to may be arriving in a different format than they did for many years.It is one particular factor in the print production equation-called "lead time"-that makes magazines less useful than they once were. They are still part of the formula for ongoing education, certainly, in any field, although they do not "break the news" as they once did. For that, we have the Internet. It's not just the Web equivalents of magazines-"e-zines," if you like-that fill this void, however. Many new, user-friendly and flexible tools have been developed to keep you updated in the areas that matter most to you.
Real simple, now
Real Simple Syndication (RSS) is essentially a way to subscribe to news, opinion and technology updates from a variety of sources. You can use RSS to receive many blogs and newspaper Web editions, as well as publications made especially for this kind of distribution. Sign up and then the materials will be delivered through most new, full-featured e-mail and/or browser applications. It is very, very simple (hence the name) to find scores of RSS "feeds" on topics related to the Web and its assorted technologies.
Blogs, e-zines, e-newsletters and the like are also great sources of continuously updated information. Search the Internet for various ones that report on the Web tech topics most important to you. The interesting thing here, of course, is that the distribution methods for the news you want are often themselves subjects of news and commentary. You can become totally immersed in an ever-evolving milieu of information and delivery methods, and see the technology in action much of the time. Don't forget listening, too-to special radio shows as well as podcasts, which you can also subscribe to from your computer.
"Old-fashioned" still works
Seminars and conferences have not disappeared, but rather adapted themselves to the new realities of Internet news (and views). Instead of being the central locations for the initial dissemination of new technologies or the explanatory stories, conferences and conventions have focused on the "interactive" side of things-discussion, debate, collaboration, analysis and review. Occasional conferences, either in your main discipline or the "general overview" type like the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES), definitely have an important place in the scheme of things.
Now, speaking of "scheming," you always need to keep the lines of communication open with colleagues, coworkers and (yes) competitors. Besides the in-person seminars, conferences and conventions, you should stay in touch with phone and e-mail, too. The old verbal forms of networking remain valuable even as texting and "tweeting" have grown huge. Work all of the avenues if you really want to be current and on the leading edge of Web technologies.
Follow the right crowd
When you want to stay on top of things, whatever they are, it never hurts to piggyback on others who are doing the same thing. Bookmark the sites of leading colleges and universities with strong media and computer science programs, as well as think tanks, commentators, "idea people" and others. There are plenty of people out there-and groups of them, as well-working very hard to inform and support people just like you, who need up-to-the-nanosecond information and analysis.
There is one particular source of information that is truly "golden," since it involved people whose job it is to keep tabs on pretty much all the information in the world. These "infopeople," as they have begun to call themselves, are librarians. Follow their lead by checking out "infloblog.infopeople.org" and subscribe to the blog as well as the podcasts. There is no better group to follow down the information highway than the information architects and catalogers, wouldn't you say?
Stay abreast of how "change changes"
It is probably a wise thing to "spread your action" around a bit, and not take everything from just one or two sources. You want to keep an open mind, and get a good variety of both viewpoints and topics. It is easy to start seeing things "one way," and even when there is a "best" way, there are always options, and progress usually means some sort of synthesis will take place among competing methods. Stay abreast of how "change changes" by keeping tabs on many, diverse, competing sources.
Once you get a formula worked out, don't forget to throw your own monkey wrench into the works once in a while to shake things up. Check out new sources of information, from podcasts and YouTube channels to new blogs and old magazines (as in "archived" from years past). Change is constant, change is good-but you need to keep things organized and be consistent or you will miss a beat or two and have to retrace your steps. Think of "information" as a continuous flow like a river, not a motionless carved stone, and you will have the right mindset to flow right into the future with it. Stones don't float, so leave them on shore when you jump in the river.
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