*michael parekh on IT*

ON TOP TEN, LESSER KNOWN "INFO-BLOGS"

TEN IS THE NUMBER

Thinking about the top ten list discussion in yesterday's post, it occurred to me that there are what I call "info-blogs" that we rely on in addition to "personal" blogs, be they A-list or not.   Info blogs provide tidbits of news on specific topics of interest, with helpful links for more info if needed.

The epitome of A-list "info-blogs" include sites like Slashdot, Boing Boing, Gizmodo, Engadget and many others across a range of vertical interest categories.  If you're a regular blogger, you know about most of them. 

If you're not, you can get to most of them using lists like the Technorati Top 100, and the lists and meme started by Laurence Simon and Steve Rubel respectively, that's resulted in a 10Blogs tag by Technorati.

So, in the spirit of yesterday's "anti-blog" theme, I decided to look through my blogroll of over 800 sites for the top ten, LESSER KNOWN, but again, no less worthy "info-blog" sites.  Here are my self-imposed rules for this list.

1. These "info-blogs" may not be the "best" in their categories, since I can't claim to have done a comprehensive, systematic evaluation of everything that's out there.  But they are the best amongst what I've found so far, and ones that I refer to regularly.  Again, they are generally less well-known than the marquee sites.
2. None of these blogs (to my knowledge) are computer-created "link-blogs"...i.e., blogs that take news feeds from a multitude of sources and aggregate them under a specific interest category.  I believe most of them have human editors that add a little bit of their personality to each site.  It makes them a bit more interesting.
3. I'll regularly change/add/remove names from this list, but will keep them to ten.
4. They can be accessed off a blog-roll on the main page on the site, under the title "Top Ten Info-Blogs".
5. Again, all of these names appeal to specific interests of mine, so they are not necessarily of appeal to all mainstream tastes.  Hopefully, you'll discover a couple that you like and don't know about.

With that being said, here are my top ten info blogs, again, IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER:

1. Digital Camera Review:  A great site for all things digital camera related, with the latest news, comprehensive reviews across most brands and categories, and links to other resources on the web.  A long-time favorite of mine.
2. Camcorderinfo.com:  Similar to the one above, but focuses on camcorders.
3. TechDigest:  One to go to after you've been to Gizmodo and Engadget, but still need more for your daily gadget fix.
4. PhoneScoop:  As the name suggests, everything you need to keep up with the world of wireless and the latest cell phones.
5. Wi-Fi Net News:  This one is a bit more specialized and geeky than the others so far, in that it focuses on Wi-Fi related news, but it's a critical area of technology to keep up on, and this is a good place to start.
6. ITFacts:  Great site by ZDNet, with information technology related news and tid-bits from a plethora of sources.  Great skim everyday.
7. Thealarmclock:  Cool daily source for news on new tech ventures of all shapes and sizes.
8. SiliconValleyWatcher:  Very focused source on Silicon Valley news, published by a collaborative team.
9. I Want Media:  Useful mix of media news and resources.
10. New Scientist:  Get your daily dose of science news here.

Again, it was tough, because there were info-blogs I like in so many other areas, but wanted to hew to top ten limit. 

In particular, I like the newly launched blogs by BusinessWeek, with count them, SEVEN blogs covering areas ranging from blogging to tech and deals to advertising to personal finance to real estate to economic matters.  It'd be helpful if they had an "uber-blog" stream in addition to the individual blogs to help get it all in one stream.  Then I'd have only one new "info-blog" to add to this list instead of seven!  But which one would I have  to drop?

Hope you find them useful.

<div class="tag_list">Tags: <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/10Blogs" rel="tag">10Blogs</a></div>

ON TOP TEN ANTI-BLOGS

Enough with the Top Ten Blogs already...let's talk about the Top Ten Anti-Blogs!
Don't know what I'm talking about?

OK, a new "Top Ten Blogs" meme has been running on in the World-Wide Wild world of Blogging for the past few weeks, and it's been fun so far to see what blogs different folks would take with them to a desert island if they could pick only ten. 

As far as I can tell, and I may be wrong, the "meme" MIGHT have started with Laurence Simon (aka "Mr. Crap" of "This Blog is full of Crap"-fame).

This meme has apparently been running for a while, with a recent boost as far as I can get from a Technorati tag titled "10Blogs".  Ironically, for many, this top ten blog thing started as a reaction to the over-exposed "Technorati Top 100 list", which features blogs that have been around long enough to amass a wealth of links to put them on the so-called "A-List" in the World o' Blogs. 

If you don't know who the A-listers are, start with the top-100 list above, and peruse through the 10Blogs list.  Most of the top ten lists have the popular Blogeratis.  Another place to start is Blogebrity, which is like a "People" magazine of cool bloggers.  Who said we ever leave high school behind?  I like VC Fred Wilson's attitude on this, who is an A-lister amongst VC bloggers.

Anyhoo, I like do this top ten idea, but I'd like to implement it with the following twists:

1. This top ten will NOT have any of the familiar, "A-listers", though I still read and love you all (you all know who you are!).  These are blogs that are by folks who are not as well-known, but just as interesting, informative, sarcastic, funny, insightful, and/or "characters" as any of the Blog-gods who have gone before them.   They are the some of the up-and-comers, and need more exposure.
2. These blogs do NOT have to be updated daily.  I know Steve Rubel thinks this is a necessity, but many blogs have interesting things to say even if it's once in a while (Heather-BW Blogspotting, please note).
3. The top ten blog list, will be a "rolling" list, with a new addition resulting in one coming off the list.  I'm following Mr. Crap's example here.
4. There's a new category on this blog called "Top Ten Anti-Blog", as well as a "Top Ten Anti-Blog" Blogroll on the main page of this site.  Hopefully this makes it easier for folks to access these lesser-known gems on the web.
5. The blogs I picked are obviously tuned to my interests.  They are not picked for mainstream appeal.  As a result, not every blog on the list is going to be everyone's cup of tea.

With those caveats, here goes the list, IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER:

1. The Blog Herald.  Good for both new and old-time bloggers...kind of like a Daily newspaper of the comings and goings in the Blog World.
2. Cox & Forkum.  Editorial cartoons with the news context provided.  It can be a bit partisan at times, but pretty good.  I love editorial cartoons, so always on the look out for new sites.
3. Sepia Mutiny.  One of the best sites out there on the South Asian community outside and in the Indian sub-continent.  Has multiple bloggers who contribute on a collaborative basis.  A number of them are UK based, so recently there have been some insightful posts on the post 7/7 subway bombings environment.  Site also provides great blog-roll links to other "Desi" (from the old country) sites out there.
4. Topleftpixel.  A favorite photo-blog of mine, featuring daily pictures by Sam Javanrouh, a Canadian photographer.  I've featured his work many times on this blog.
5. Bnoopy.  Blog by Internet entrepreneur Joe Kraus, of Excite fame.  He doesn't post every day, but has interesting things to say when he does, as in this post on starting internet companies ten years ago vs. today.
6. Freakonomics, the Blog.  Ok, so the authors are  A-list, best-selling book of the year guys, but they have a blog that is not very well known, yet.  If you liked the book, you'll like the blog.
7. Kudlow's Money Politics.  Ok, ok, so Larry Kudlow is also an A-list TV broadcast personality, with his own show on CNBC, but again, he has a blog that is not very well known.  If you like economics, world affairs with a bite, check out the blog.
8. English Cut.  Most guys are relatively clueless about men's suits, myself included.  This Savile Row tailor is doing a great job of de-mystifying the sartorial mysteries of the gentleman's attire, at every price point.  Check out his "what is bespoke" post to get a flavor.
9. Life on the Wicked Stage, Act 2.  You wouldn't know it from the title, but the author, Warner Crocker, is a Tablet PC enthusiast, and Tablet PCs are one of my passions.  For instance, this post on his site pointed me to a tablet PC application I'd been looking for but had difficulty finding.  He's got interesting posts on the goings on in that world...worth a look-see.
10. Moleskinerie.  As much as I like PDAs and laptops and tablet pcs and internet tablets and PSP web tablets and the like, I also love notebooks and journals.  This site is devoted to not just the famous Moleskin journals of its namesake, but also has musings on notebook and journals of all types.

That's it for now...my current top ten anti-blogs...more to come soon...you can also keep track of them via the Technorati top ten tag ...as usual, any thoughts/comments/questions are welcome.

<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Top Ten anti-blogs" rel="tag">Top Ten anti-blogs</a>

<div class="tag_list">Tags: <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/10Blogs" rel="tag">10Blogs</a></div>