Written by: James Burke
Sunday, July 06, 2008

There are many sources of online information available relating to technology including news websites, blogs, twitter etc.

Over the last couple of years I have found that a mix of 2 weekly and 2 daily podcasts have have provided me with the basis for a good all round general knowledge in relation to technical news stories.

This Week in Tech (TWIT) is a good way to start the week. With a typical running length of 1:30 it requires quite a bit of investment in time but it is more than often worth it. TWIT normally addresses only a handful of tech news stories but always allows a good amount of time for discussion amongst the guests to develop. Regular recent guests on TWIT include John Dvorak, Wil Harris, Patrick Norton and Jason Calacanis who participate via Skype. TWIT is now broadcast live on a Sunday and the podcast is usually available via iTunes early the following Monday. Comprehensive show notes with links to stories are always available as are bookmarks via delicious.

For daily updates CNET's "podcast of indeterminate length" Buzz Out Loud (BOL) is probably the best currently available. Running length is normally around 30 minutes and a video version is available every Friday to round the week off. BOL is "nearly always" delivered by Molly Wood, Tom Merrit and Jason Howell. BOL tends to focus on tech news that is breaking and happening that day or since the last broadcast, occasionally there are a few running themes that last a few episodes. The community supporting BOL is particularly good and the show includes a section for emails, voicemails etc. and if there are any areas that could not be answered or were incorrectly conveyed in a show they are usually cleared up by the community in the following episode.

For shorter (around 5 minutes) daily tech updates John C Dvorak's Tech 5 Report is a good listen. In this podcast John tends to focus on headline tech news but also presents ongoing trend analysis of key stories.

John also presents Cranky Geeks which serves as a good review of tech news in the middle of the week.

Podcasts are easily digested and can be downloaded and listened to in the car on a commute, when exercising outdoors or in the gym, or even direct from the computer. I've found a mix that works for me and would be interested to hear of any other compilations that people regularly listen to.