Be Your Own Geek Pt. 2: Websites to Replace Geeky Pillow Talk

This is the second installment in a series, Be Your Own Geek. (I still haven't figured out how to show content by category.)

One of the nice things about being married to someone in a different field than yourself is he or she can keep you abreast of what's going on in that field without you having to do any extra reading. This is especially nice in the field of technology because there is so much going on and so much of it is boring. But some of it is genuinely interesting and worth knowing. And it's nice to in turn being able to drop bits of technological trivia and gossip yourself at parties (or at least nod knowingly when someone else does). So here are some of the websites I've begun reading regularly in order to replace the internet flotsam that used to come to me as pillow talk.

Slashdot, the motherlode. Here I discovered that much of what previously struck me as obscure and arcane is actually being fiercly debated by thousands of nerds. And they're kind of sexist. I would never post there in 1 million years, of course, although I'm kind of tempted to ask them to run this particular topic as an "Ask Slashdot," (e.g.,: "if you broke up with your girlfriend/wife, what 5 sites would you suggest she visit on a regular basis to replace what you formally told her over the kitchen table?"). In any case, I can feel well girded for any geek party I attend if I've at least glanced at it -- not that I'm invited to geek parties anymore.

Think Secret, an apple rumor site -- I gather there are many, but this is the one whose editor is being sued by Apple, so that was good enough for me to add it to my bookmark. Ours was and remains a Mac household, so talking about potential Apple releases was kind of like what I imagine sports fans might say about their favorite teams and the players they might get. I'm using this site to keep up on the all-important world of what might or might not be happening at Apple.

Gizmodo, a gadget blog. Lot of cute little expensive things that I don't particularly lust after but I know someone who does! And it's written in an engaging manner.

That's all I can think of for now. I'd love your suggestions ...