I am subscribed to about 125 blogs at the moment. (Must cut that down.) Many are for work: blogs about “new” television and “new” media, broadband, Internet, Web 2.0, general tech news, etc. Then there are a bunch which apply my work but I’d read anyway: on design, customer service, marketing, user interaction, usability, how to run a happy business. One of my favorites in this (or any) category is Creating Passionate Users. Kathy Sierra is my hero – I hope I get to meet her someday.
Some I read just for fun and for useful tips.
Some I read to learn about different cultures, such as Adventures of a Lipstick Wahhabi – written not nearly often enough by a young woman in Saudi Arabia. I don’t understand half of what she writes in Roman letters (let alone the portions in Arabic), but it’s a fascinating glimpse into a world I’d like to know more about. I found her via Hilaliya, a TCK Kuwaiti whom I discovered because he linked to my TCK pages, and through him I’ve found a community sharing their lives in the Middle East via blogs.
Then there are the blogs I read to learn how different minds see the world.
When I want to shake my head sadly over the state of the world (which is quite often, lately), I go to Richard Dawkins’ site for links to articles about the world’s excesses in the name of religion.
I’m adding more and more Italian blogs to my list. I define as “Italian” blogsby Italians in Italian or in English (some use both), and blogs by foreigners inItaly.
Then there are blogs that advise me on how to make a living from blogging.
Recently I’ve started reading some very dangerous cooking blogs.
I don’t read all of these every day (even those that publish daily or even more often). One I do read as soon it’s published is Scott Adams’ Dilbert Blog. Adams is the author of the Dilbert cartoon (beloved by geeks like me, among others), but his blog is also consistently funny and/or thought-provoking. His mind doesn’t seem to work quite like most people’s, including most of his readers.
Sites
Steve van Rooy, a Woodstock alum (class of ’68) has started his own website with fascinating tales of growing up as a missionary kid in India and at Woodstock. Well-written and highly recommended!
Videos
Galacticast – A weekly videoblog of sci-fi spoofs and more – great fun!
A charmingly-animated take on the Ramayana, the classic Indian epic, from the point of view of Sita, the long-suffering heroine.