People sometimes ask me which sites I track to keep up on tech and business news. The Information Umbrella is dedicated to answering that question with a short explanation as to WHY I choose and trust these sites:

TechRepublic

This site gives me the latest news and articles at a glance. I can also drill down to specific areas of interest such as data centers, mobile, big data, etc. I get a short summary e-mail each week with a list of articles that may be of interest to me.

CIO keeps me abreast of all things relevant to a CIO or senior IT manager. Like TechRepublic, I can also drill down to specific areas such as career, social media, and BYOD. I often research on this site when developing material for courses and other projects.

This site, which is sponsored by the Wall Street Journal, keeps me up to date on financial news as well as relevant tech news. I have programmed it to send me tech updates in e-mail so that I can keep up with the latest news.

This is a compilation of tech white papers centered on specific topics such as data centers or virtualization or mobile computing. These are helpful if I am working on a particular tech problem. Be aware that most—if not all—of these white papers are written by technology vendors with a slant toward their product offering.

I maintain a large network of professional colleagues. LinkedIn helps me keep track of their activities as well as providing unique content and reposting of relevant articles, mostly on business but some also on technology.

I have used Cnet for years. It not only keeps me up to date on tech news but also provides reviews on tech equipment, consumer electronics, and applications.

This site keeps me current on the latest thinking around information visualization. This is a blog written by Stephen Few, an expert in data visualization and data organization.

TED Talks

I love this site when I have a few minutes for learning and exploration. These are short talks on everything from economics to technology to social trends. I often find that they influence my thinking on unrelated projects that I am working on.

Caveat

If you visit these sites enough, you may want to sign up for their premium service, which is often free, but does come with e-mails and vendor solicitations. If you can put up with that, these are very valuable in keeping up to date on the latest tech and business news.

Thoughts

Which sites keep you coming back for more? Do you tailor them to your particular needs, such as virtual computing or mobile computing? Do these sites provide all of the updates you need to stay informed? Let me know. I would love to see your list.

About Kelly Brown

Kelly Brown is an IT professional, adjunct faculty for the University of Oregon, and academic director of the UO Applied Information Management Master’s Degree Program. He writes about IT topics that keep him up at night.