Embedded computing is a fast-moving field, with products, components, even whole markets coming and going on a monthly basis. The Open Source world is similar - and you often find that the problems you have at the moment are ones that other people are working on right now. Keeping a close eye on the industry gives you advance warning of up-and-coming issues, a window into the minds of your competitors and consumers, and can be a valuable source of ideas for future trends. In addition to the more traditional vendor-driver news channels, there are numerous Internet-based resources providing notification and discussion of events - ranging from aggregations of company press releases to personal ramblings by personalities driving new development. In this entry we will present a sampling of some of the resources found to be of particular and consistent interest. High-level news aggregates http://slashdot.org/ Extremely popular general news aggregation site for geek-related news, the discussion on topics of interest can offer valuable insight into the mind of the common technically-inclined consumer. http://arstechnica.com/ Well-written news site on technology-related events - could be seen as an editorial counter for Slashdot's discussion model. http://news.cnet.com/nanotech/ Cnet News network's blog focusing on news related to computer hardware. Field-specific news sites http://www.linuxdevices.com/ One of the central resources for news related to Linux and embedded devices. Low-traffic source for news releases from the small form factor computing industry. http://www.dev-monkey.com/ Occasional articles on development tools and new evaluation kits. http://www.portablemultimedia.blogspot.com/ Well-written articles focusing on news about portable devices. http://kerneltrap.org/ At one point a definitive news site on Open Source kernel development, this site still provides a easier-to-digest window into the various kernel mailing lists. http://www.embedded-computing.com/ http://cr4.globalspec.com/blog/83/Embedded-Now-Blog Embedded Computing Design magazine's blogs Personal and individual journals Personal blog of Harold Welte, known for his Linux iptables, GPL enforcement and OpenMoko work. Currently active as open source liaison for VIA Technologies. http://pavelmachek.livejournal.com/ Pavel Machek's personal journal, focusing on experiences with open source projects and the G1 Android phone. http://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/ Andrew Huang's personal blog, notable for first-hand discussions on embedded product development and the Name that Ware challenge. The lighter side of engineering http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/engineering-design-problems/ Some pieces of engineering are not quite up to a standard one can be proud of. This site documents pitfalls of engineers, with examples. http://thedailywtf.com/default.aspx Insider anecdotes of how wrong software can go. There are, of course, innumerable other news sites, blogs and journals out there that are of interest in the Embedded Computing domain. Many of them are very subject-focused: dealing only with one particular product, project or the like. If you can recommend additional resources that are of general interest, however, please comment and do so.
