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Recently, having purchased a smart phone, I discovered podcasts. It's great, cause I spend time commuting and usually that time would be a waste. Admittedly, it's fairly light stuff, mostly news and opinions. I don't think I could concentrate probably if they tried to explain through code samples etc.

But I find even just knowing the existence of some new tech or maybe even just recognizing some new jargon is of benefit, at least it gives me a start if I decide to look further into it. What's more, it's enjoyable and easy.

So I'm wondering, can anyone think of any other passive ways to learn or know about new technologies that doesn't take much effort and preferably can be done in your "dead" time?

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Have you tried sleeping on top of a programming reference book? I used to do it to my calculus book hoping to learn by osmosis, but it didn't seem to help that much ... :-) – Peter Rowell Jun 17 '11 at 5:34
yeah but all i got was a sore back and had to take a few days off work. :P – RoboShop Jun 17 '11 at 5:35
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That's because you need to sleep with them on top of your face, not below your head. Otherwise the osmosis has to fight gravity. – Andrew Dalke Jun 17 '11 at 9:47

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I've found browsing the Programming subreddit gives quite a good smattering of new tools/languages/features in the programming community, as well as some links and discussions on philosophical issues in that arena.

Assuming you've got a data plan, it's fairly easy to browse this on the train...

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There's also a learn programming subreddit that can be quite helpful as well :] – Jon Jun 17 '11 at 13:15

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