Advice which probably I'm unqualified to give --

[Roger Baker]

-- but I'll still give it anyhow.  So live with it.


To be specific, my advice is on fun interesting and informative computer 
links.

The two premier public  links for hackers and techno-junkies are 
probably "The Register" at

http://www.theregister.co.uk/      and "Slashdot" at        
http://slashdot.org/

The Register has a dry cynical sense of humor and aims to keep you 
well-informed on the latest technical advances in the computer field by 
informed insiders. And of course it hates Microsoft.  But it is fun to 
read by computer savvy laypersons and especially if you're heavy into 
computers its required reading to keep up with developments and gossip 
and financial stuff dealing with the cyberworld.

On the other hand, Slashdot caters to a broader audience who loves to 
deal not only with computers but amazing science and technology 
developments of a broader sort. Interesting/vital news for nerds as they 
describe their range of topics. And of course they hate Microsoft. Their 
strong feature is that they have open forums on each of their articles 
where their informed friends weigh in and discuss pros and cons and 
angles that the main article may have missed. Plus they have a search 
engine that lets you keep up with a vast selection of past topics -- 
perhaps stuff like informed discussion on the new Ginger/segway vehicle 
offered as a fantastic new high tech alternative to walking around.

And finally a very good link for those who want to understand how modern 
computer programming is done
according to its philosophy and approach without actually knowing 
anything much about programming.
(Hint; Unix rules the serious professional computer world unchallenged, 
which is one good reason why everyone hates Microsoft and is drifting 
toward Linux, or at least the Unix-based systems, now even Apple with 
its new Operating System X).  If you were a newbie programmer and wanted 
to save yourself a lot of effort, you should probably read this to get 
started and find out that the world's largest treasure trove of 
already-written, free open-source computer code is available at 
"sourceforge". All you really need to do is to learn the technique of 
gluing pieces of open source code together with Python and Perl , or "C" 
getting down and dirty if needed, to build your own programs -- sort of 
like using tinkertoys or erector sets. So here is the package of free 
essays on general computer programming approach called "the Art of Unix 
Programming":

http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/writings/taoup/

-- Roger