43 Folders

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Link gratitude: Where I find my best stuff

I always try to credit the source for stuff that I link to when I've learned about it from other sites. In addition to helping my readers connect with voices they may not have heard before, I believe it's just the classy thing to do. (I'm looking at you, "A Listers" -- a lot of you have started dropping vias for everyone but your highest-profile buddies: tacky, tacky).

Anyway, I admit that I'm not 100% either, but in the interest of trying to make good, here are a few of the sites that I find myself reading and linking to a lot. Thanks to their authors and contributors for sending me (and you) to so many interesting places.

  • Anarchaia - Christian Neukirchen's tumblelog is a must-read for his mix of deep programming nerdery as well as an appreciation for life's lovely and delightful little bagatelles.
  • A Whole Lotta Nothing - I've read mathowie's weblog since Christ was a corporal, and when he can steal time from his bazillion other web properties (including the excellent new Fortuito.us), he still brings the good stuff.
  • Boing Boing - Yeah, I know: you've heard of them too, but I'm grateful for the years of wonderful things they've brought to me. BB's frequently still first with the best, plus they're great about crediting sources for their links.
  • Cool Tools - Kevin Kelly and friends have an eye for useful, handy, and fun hard goods, showing an affection for well-designed products for the real world. I've learned about some of my favorite consumables from the mighty KK.
  • Daring Fireball - John Gruber is a cranky little man who also happens to have the sharpest, most critical mind in the Mac game today. The care and rigor he puts into every pixel of his site is inspiring to me.
  • del.icio.us esp. popular and mbwideas - The hive mind often has great stuff to share. Non-stop posters of "Top n [whatever]" lists? You're all dead to me. Dead.
  • Hawk Wings - Tim Gaden's been on a bit of a hiatus lately, but his archives bulge with super-useful pointers on Mac applications and tricks. O, ye hacky shovelers of secondhand Digg-bait, do yourselves a favor: read and learn from Tim.
  • Metafilter and Ask Metafilter - The Blue and The Green have something to satisfy every interest, obsession, and curiosity. On its best days, Metafilter makes magic. These days, AskMeFi is probably my favorite time sink, and it's arguably the best place on the web to get your weird question answered.
  • Nelson Minar - Nelson's so smart he kinda freaks me out. Geek news bits and commentary from one of my favorite ex-Googlers.
  • The Unofficial Apple Weblog & MacUser - Two great resources for all things Mac that I read religiously. Like all network blogs, they sometimes seem to suffer from what feels like a daily post quota (hate daily post quotas), but the contributors on both sites are whip-smart Mac dorks and pals. Go, team(s).

I'm sure I've forgotten someone and will be back to add more folks the minute I hit "Submit," so please bear with me.

But, what do you think? Did I miss anyone? Who do I glean links from all the time? Got a great resource I might be missing? (No self-links for this one, please)

About Merlin

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Bio

Merlin Mann is an independent writer, speaker, and broadcaster. He’s best known for being the guy who created the website you’re reading right now. He lives in San Francisco, does lots of public speaking, and helps make cool things like You Look Nice Today, Back to Work, and Kung Fu Grippe. Also? He’s writing this book, he lives with this face, he suffers from this hair, he answers these questions, and he’s had this life. So far.

Merlin’s favorite thing he’s written in the past few years is an essay entitled, “Cranking.”

 
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