If I wanted to read about "rock stars", I'd subscribe to Blender.
December 21, 2011 3:04 PM Subscribe
Tech news and commentary without the "macho nerd bullshit"?
I want to read sites that help me both keep up with computing/general tech news on a superficial level and explore topics in deep technical detail. However, every time I visit one of the big tech blogs or online communities, I'm completely put off by a toxic culture of sexism, ageism, corporate cheerleading (working 90 hours a week is totally awesome as long as it's for a hip startup!) and extreme lack of collegiality (almost all programmers are incompetent, but I'm a superstar!) Where can I go for just the technical news and information, with an intelligent community that doesn't buy into this kind of macho nerd bullshit?
I want to read sites that help me both keep up with computing/general tech news on a superficial level and explore topics in deep technical detail. However, every time I visit one of the big tech blogs or online communities, I'm completely put off by a toxic culture of sexism, ageism, corporate cheerleading (working 90 hours a week is totally awesome as long as it's for a hip startup!) and extreme lack of collegiality (almost all programmers are incompetent, but I'm a superstar!) Where can I go for just the technical news and information, with an intelligent community that doesn't buy into this kind of macho nerd bullshit?
Such a thing may not actually exist? I think Anandtech might come close. I think what to watch out for the most is "gadget blogs" versus "technology blogs," the latter of which are mostly the very old ones and usually have a strict focus. Anandtech is nearly all computer hardware. Ars Technica can be good about this at times, and has more of a focus than only hardware. The Register is... a bit different, and does cover general technology. They certainly have an attitude, but it isn't the normal fanboy type.
posted by Threeway Handshake at 3:23 PM on December 21, 2011
posted by Threeway Handshake at 3:23 PM on December 21, 2011
The best solution I've found consists of finding interesting blogs by individuals in the particular fields of focus and keeping a slow-to-subscribe, quick-to-unsubscribe no bullshit policy on my RSS subscription list. No bullshit includes all the hits from your list (sexism, etc.) and zero tolerance for exaggerated superlatives modifying job titles like 'ninja' or 'rockstar,' unless a modicum of cleverness is involved (I was at least amused by someone searching for '$programming_language Baller / Shot Caller').
That added to occasionally skimming the headlines (never the comments) at slashdot and reading Ars Technica keeps me feeling informed without the macho nerd bullshit.
posted by ndfine at 4:16 PM on December 21, 2011
That added to occasionally skimming the headlines (never the comments) at slashdot and reading Ars Technica keeps me feeling informed without the macho nerd bullshit.
posted by ndfine at 4:16 PM on December 21, 2011
Best answer: Nthing everyone on Ars Technica, with the additional mention of Linux Weekly News. It's obviously heavily focused on OSS stuff, but has a good mix of in-depth coverage (the kernel section is a good way to burn a slow afternoon) and lighter news. It's also refreshing in that it's very anti-ism -- articles on women in open source are refreshingly free of stereotypes and critical of macho bullshit (see this recent article on the Ada Initiative).
posted by ayerarcturus at 5:01 PM on December 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by ayerarcturus at 5:01 PM on December 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
I like perusing the links at for this sort of thing. It leans towards file-sharing news but there is general tech as well.
posted by murkywaters at 8:07 PM on December 21, 2011
posted by murkywaters at 8:07 PM on December 21, 2011
err, slyck.com
posted by murkywaters at 8:08 PM on December 21, 2011
posted by murkywaters at 8:08 PM on December 21, 2011
Response by poster: Thanks for all the suggestions. I'd seen links from the Register, but somehow wasn't aware that it was a technology-focused site. I enjoy the stories at Ars Technica -- Mr. McTodd reads it as well -- although the comments sometimes skew macho-nerd in a very genteel way. I think Linux Weekly News looks like the closest to what I was trying to find; the community seems to have a friendly, professional-but-not-corporate vibe and the stories look informative.
Slyck and AnandTech look interesting, but I'm actually not that into file-sharing or hardware topics.
Again, thanks!
posted by Ralston McTodd at 8:23 AM on December 22, 2011
Slyck and AnandTech look interesting, but I'm actually not that into file-sharing or hardware topics.
Again, thanks!
posted by Ralston McTodd at 8:23 AM on December 22, 2011
Anandtech and Tom's Hardware are my goto places for serious hardware and well researched reviews.
On a daily news type aggregator for tech industry news Techmeme which has additional links or blogs .
Endgadget and Gizmodo are kinda the big tech blogs in the industry , so you might be referring to those but you can kinda tune out of specifc topics based on search tags.
Verge is an upcoming news from the previous editors of Endgadget after the AOL Snafu, so that might be helpful.
Arstechnica is more of an editorial on issues in Technology which are generally helpful and well researched.
Finally Wired.com has a good tech focused articles that vary in topics
posted by radsqd at 8:41 AM on December 22, 2011
On a daily news type aggregator for tech industry news Techmeme which has additional links or blogs .
Endgadget and Gizmodo are kinda the big tech blogs in the industry , so you might be referring to those but you can kinda tune out of specifc topics based on search tags.
Verge is an upcoming news from the previous editors of Endgadget after the AOL Snafu, so that might be helpful.
Arstechnica is more of an editorial on issues in Technology which are generally helpful and well researched.
Finally Wired.com has a good tech focused articles that vary in topics
posted by radsqd at 8:41 AM on December 22, 2011
The Verge is new, but shaping up to be very good.
I've found that any of the sites radsqd will fit your requirements, as long as you don't read the comments (which are uniformly useless -- 45% trolls, and 45% teens with no clue).
Avoid TechCrunch like the plague.
posted by coolguymichael at 10:41 AM on December 22, 2011
I've found that any of the sites radsqd will fit your requirements, as long as you don't read the comments (which are uniformly useless -- 45% trolls, and 45% teens with no clue).
Avoid TechCrunch like the plague.
posted by coolguymichael at 10:41 AM on December 22, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by alan2001 at 3:07 PM on December 21, 2011