>> I'm not saying it's unnecessary to know anything about technology. I'm
>> saying it seems unnecessary to know about technology we're not actually
>> using. (Whether it would help my job prospects is another matter... but
>> you have to find jobs to apply for first.)
>
> It's easier to find jobs to apply to when you have a broader awareness of
> the world than just what's relevant to you right now.

I doubt you're going to get that by reading some text on a screen. To 
understand what a new capability means, you often need to experience it 
for yourself.

>> I got the impression that Slashdot was more a forum for idle gossip and
>> bored people starting flamewars. I wasn't aware any useful information
>> existed there.
>
> It is, but the articles are good pointers to what's important.  I rarely
> read the comments (unless I'm bored).  But I have an RSS feed set up from
> the stories page so I can see what's 'hot', read the story, and follow
> the link to the source story so I can learn more.

OK, I have to ask: What the hell is this "RSS" everybody keeps mentioning?

>> I also got the impression that The Register was a satire site. Hell, it
>> even subtitles itself "biting the hand that feeds IT". I'm not making
>> this up. The few times I've read it, it was amusing, but contained no
>> real-world data.
>
> It has elements of satire, but it actually reports on real stuff.  They
> do hardware reviews and talk about software and technology companies in a
> real and non-satirical way.

I usually visit Tom's Hardware when I want to see what's happening in 
the hardware world.

Unfortunately, while there seem to be plenty of sites that track the 
latest up-to-the-minute developments, if you stop paying attention for a 
while, it seems very hard to get back up to speed. Every article assumes 
you've been following the story so far... There don't seem to be any 
high-level summaries around on the Internet. (Except for ones that are 
10 years old.)

>>>> PS. What is Netflix? And does it only operate in America?
>>>
>>> It's a streaming movie service, and if you'd been reading Slashdot or
>>> The Register, you'd know they've just started operating in Europe as
>>> well. :)
>>
>> I still don't comprehend what "streaming" actually means in this
>> context...
>
> 2 seconds with Google yielded this:
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streaming_media

I know what streaming *is*. (Indeed, I knew what it was 15 years ago.) 
I'm failing to comprehend how it applies in this situation.

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