In this article, I will share my go-to sources for information gathering. While most of them are software-engineering-related, I will also list miscellaneous ones. I would like to know your similar sources as well.
Hacker News is a website that I visit every day. Since Y Combinator runs it, the majority of the posts are software-related. However, I enjoy reading articles and comments unrelated to my work, such as science-oriented or vintage computing topics. Of course, I have experienced several times that what I learned here has been helpful in my career.
I'm always surprised by the real-time tweets from many superstars active in machine learning or software engineering. Some people are leaving Twitter for other platforms, such as Mastodon, but I haven't considered making the switch yet. Since I don't own my TV, I also follow local news here.
I subscribe to mailing lists such as The Gradient, The Batch, or Weekly Robotics. Some of them also offer podcasts. I also subscribe to NIME, which is related to the computer music field.
Most of the time, I go to libraries for a change of pace without any particular objective. As a result, I often browse bookshelves that are outside of my specialty and choose books randomly. On the other hand, if I'm searching for a specific text, I usually go to bookstores. I sometimes also go to used ones.
I often use Shazam to look up songs playing while I walk around town or at restaurants. Since I subscribe to Apple Music, I can easily find most of the songs (Shazam is operated by Apple, so that's not surprising).