Thank YOU

{

Time magazine selected "you" as person of the year with their definition of "you" encompassing people who posted user-generated content on the web. I wanted to pay tribute to all of the "you" out there who inform, motivate, and inspire me. My list is limited since I usually hit dozens of websites each week, but this is a list of the people who regularly reeled me in during the last year:

Raganwald - http://weblog.raganwald.com/
Thanks for the cut and dry honesty. Thanks for the delicious links.

Joel Spolsky - http://www.joelonsoftware.com/
I'm not a blue blooded programmer, educated at Yale, and you would be ashamed of how weak I am with C++ and pointers. But you give me an opportunity to learn and think about my craft. In the end I'm better for it.

Drew McLellan - http://allinthehead.com/
24 Ways. 'Nuff said.

Scott Hanselman - http://www.hanselman.com/blog/
You not only inform, you motivate. You're not arrogant. I can tell you're smart because you want to share the things you discover. You never make me feel like I went to the wrong school or that my pedigree is suspect, you focus on the technology. Your excitement is contagious.

Dare Obasanjo - http://www.25hoursaday.com/weblog/
You keep it real.

John Lam - http://iunknown.com/
You think different and still manage to be associated with Microsoft.

Eric Sink - http://software.ericsink.com/
Practical and smart. Open about what it's like to be an ISV.

Nate Koechley - http://nate.koechley.com/blog/
My inside track to Yahoo! and a good resource for general web developer issues.

Aaron Johnson - http://www.cephas.net/blog/
I can't believe that at one point you were my roommate and we never talked about programming. You're full of good stuff, I hope you never stop.

Ted Leung - http://www.sauria.com/blog
Another of the "programmer's programmer" people I latched onto a while back and keep visiting. I like the quality of your thoughts which refreshingly venture from programming from time to time.

Paul Graham - http://www.paulgraham.com
You're my idealist. I usually get a sense of excitement when you post a new essay and then print it out to read over lunch or at coffee.

Simon Willison - http://simonwillison.net/
Another connection to Yahoo! and a jedi at taking notes.

Steve Yegge - http://steve-yegge.blogspot.com
Keeping it as real as Dare, from Google. Saying what a lot of people think but are scared to admit. Another person who is down the path from me, whose footsteps I'd like to follow.

Larry O'Brien - http://www.knowing.net/
Educated gentleman who kept me awake for a while trying to prove to myself that I know my language (C#). I ported my Haar transform code to Java too. Also proof that you don't need to be in the throng of things because he's "holding it down" in Hawaii.

Mad Kristensen - http://www.madskristensen.dk/blog/
Another clever Dane, but very accessible to me. Every time I hit the site I learn something new that I can almost immediately use.

Aaron Swartz - http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/
A smart kid. I can't concentrate through a lot of the stuff but every so often I find something darling. Maybe I should categorize this like a few I've mentioned above it as "good conversation" blogs or thoughts that inspire some thought.

Sam Gentile - http://codebetter.com/blogs/sam.gentile/default.aspx
A true blue Microsoftie. Staying on top of the blog keeps me on top, usually, of what I should be paying attention to from Microsoft: service packs, new releases, and so on.

Ian Griffiths - http://www.interact-sw.co.uk/iangblog/
Chris Sells's cohort in a recent WPF book and another good Microsoft-centric blog to keep a finger on the pulse.

Chris Sells - http://www.sellsbrothers.com/
Another clever jedi master who cares enough to share what he knows from time to time. Author (along with Ian, above) of some pretty good books that I own. One thing Chris said from a podcast with Scott Hanselman that stayed with me toward the end of the year was (I'm paraphrasing) that the information age will show a gap between people who can absorb a lot of information and those who can't.

Darren Niemke - http://markitup.com/
IM Conversation:
David - test
Darren - I read you.
David - got a sec for a question... ?
It's a bit strange that I can have someone like Darren on my IM list to bother from time to time. I usually get emails from published authors but having one who bothers to answer questions from some guy in South Dakota is quite a priviledge. Great ideas, great blog.

Mike Arace - http://mikeomatic.net/
Found as I searched for commentary on posts by Joel. After I'd put you in the aggregator I kept finding good stuff.

Jason Haley - http://jasonhaley.com/blog/default.aspx
You are the future of what the Time magazine selection means; you're a new type of curator, posting signs that people like me can follow.

Bart De Smet - http://blog.bartdesmet.net/blogs/bart/default.aspx
A programmer's paradox. How on earth do you stay productive enough to be as relevant (which you do) and maintain enough time to communicate it?

Reddit Kids - http://www.reddit.com/
Not only user-generated content, but relevant by democracy. I've especially enjoyed joel.reddit.com

Digg - http://www.digg.com/
Almost as good as Reddit.

Carl Franklin, Richard Campbell - http://www.dotnetrocks.com/
Love the podcast. I've got a love/hate thing going on with Carl's opinions, but I'm amazed that you keep it going and keep it as fresh as ever.

Josh McAdams - http://www.perlcast.com/
Love this podcast as well. You're pretty "aw shucks" about it but honestly you're the best interviewer of the technical podcasts I listen to regularly.

Markus Volter et. al. at Software Engineering Radio - http://www.se-radio.net/
Another great podcast from which to learn. It's intriguing to catch the Europeanisms as well and to hear something a bit more formal. Many of the podcasts I downloaded I had to listen to multiple times, not because of different accents, but because the content was that deep.

There are many other blogs, podcasts, and other online haunts that I gathered information (I'll pay tribute to the non-technical ones on my other blog) but every site listed above is a place I keep going back to and appreciating. I find it amazing that none of you have to do it and yet you keep on giving to your community. That's quite a gift.

Thanks!

}