Some of you might have wondored how it's possible to stay up on all the latest developments in the .NET world. I have a couple secrets I will share with you.

#1) Newsgroups. These are great ways to learn! You can search the newsgroups by going to groups.google.com. You can post specific questions and get specific answers. A word of advice: never give out your email address in a newsgroup, or you'll get a ton of spam!

#2) Weblogs. These are small notes and articles that a lot of advanced developers write on a daily basis. You can read the ones produced my Microsoft insiders here: http://weblogs.asp.net/

#3) RSS Readers. This is a way of consolidating a lot of Weblogs together in a common user interface. I like the open source RSS readers: SharpReader and RSS Bandit. Once you get set up, you can import a feed list from someone else to get you started.

#4) local user groups. You can learn a LOT from user groups, and Microsoft often helps groups by providing meeting rooms, free giveaways, and technical assistance. Sometimes a meeting might not be great, but the next meeting might teach you a lot. These are also great ways to make .NET friends in your local community.