It is very important for scientists to not only gain knowledge on your field but to also have some ideas on the broader spectrum of knowledge. It is also not a bad thing to be catching yourself up to date on current affairs. This is why I have made it a habit to be reading on many news sources regarding things such as science, politics, sports, gaming, tech, etc.
News I have just TODAY, at least my email inbox is cleaner than this
“But Ivan,” you might ask, “how am I suppose to catch up on all the things you have mentioned, and more? There must be hundreds of new sources out there for me to choose from, how am I supposed to know which one suits me?” Trust me, I know this first hand, there are hundreds and hundreds of articles published every single day.
What you need to do is to filter out the news sources that fit your taste and personal interest more. Here are a few of my favourites:
General News:
New York Times – An obvious choice for your everyday read
Washing Post – Another good source for general news
Technology/Science/Review:
The Verge – Very good gateway news website, tones are in general more playful
Ars Technica – More serious in tones, but very professional
Hobbies/Games:
Kotaku – Features random things ranging from food to games
Giant Bomb – One of the best gaming websites for reviews
“Ivan, you can’t be serious, are you expecting me to go to all these websites every day to read on their individual articles?” No, silly! We have barely started! What you need next is a newsreader program to gather all your news sources into one place, kind of like an inbox exclusively for news
The one newsreader I prefer the most is called Feedly, a very versatile website that looks minimalistic to enhance your reading experience. As you can see below, all your news are now in one place.
A screenshot of my Feedly page, doesn’t hurt when the sidebar is in my favourite colour too.
The next step is not necessary, but I use another newsreader called Reeder which further enhances my reading experience, also it’s compatible with all my devices (Mac, iPad and iPhone). This might cost money but it is worth it if you do not prefer the style from Feedly.
Reeder is available for iOS and OS X only
You might be saying right now, “It’s not possible to read all articles in their entirety, you liar!” And I’ll be here admit, I DON’T read all articles fully, that’s because NO ONE in one’s right mind should. What you should do instead is to skim through the title and maybe the first paragraph of each article, and if you’re interested, read it, or better yet, SAVE it for when you’re free with Pocket!
Yet another website/app to help you save things you want to read later
And that’s about it! Happy Reading!
Ivan
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