Favorite bookmarks of Rising Star winners

The Register, an online technology publication based in London and San Francisco, serves up a steady diet of security news from around the globe, with a focus on the United Kingdom and United States.

The Register’s security home page, a favorite of Rising Star award winner Alma Cole, includes reports on the latest software vulnerabilities, national cybersecurity initiatives and cyber crime news.

The serious nature of the articles is leavened with a touch of snarkiness. An article last week about the Obama administration’s latest loss of a high-level cybersecurity official (Mischel Kwon) was subtitled “Oh the bureaucracy.”

Radiohead meets Jared Diamond
Source: Harold Schliesske, Defense Department

Kottke.org is a virtual tapas buffet where blogger Jason Kottke offers links and pithy observations on a wide variety of topics, from science and technology to sociology and pop culture.

A day after providing a link to a Financial Times interview with scientist and big thinker Jared Diamond, Kottke mourned the possibility that music group Radiohead might not produce any more albums.

One item definitely worth checking out: Kottke links to a New York Times slide show of photos from the 2003 blackout. But other readers might be more interested in a YouTube interview in which Quentin Tarantino talks about his 20 favorite movies.

Taking the pulse of health IT
Source: Steven Posnack, Health and Human Services Department

iHealthBeat.org is part of a new generation of online publications that aggregate news from other Web sites.

The site is produced by the California HealthCare Foundation, which describes itself as an independent philanthropic organization focused on promoting innovation in health care. iHealthBeat focuses on the impact of information technology.

Staff writers also produce some original content. Last week, the site included a feature on how mobile phones are being used to improve health care in developing countries.

Technology news for nerds
Source: John Collier, Ball Aerospace and Technologies

Slashdot.org turns the typical news model on its head. Rather than having an editor or two select the news of the day, Slashdot — tagline: “News for nerds. Stuff that matters.” — is fed by readers, who recommend stories they have come across online and provide a summary (often with commentary) and a link.

The site also enables readers to comment on and rate one another’s recommendations and view the news lineup by most recent or most popular stories.

Slashdot also offers the occasional reader poll. Last week, the editors asked whether the federal government is the most interesting tech start-up of 2009. The question was based on an article on the topic on techdirt.com.