Nothing ventured, nothing gained

Marking blogs as read

Happiness is mustering enough courage to say “F*ck it,” opening Google Reader and clicking “Mark all as read.” As odd as it sounds, it feels like a great burden has been lift off my shoulders. I have no idea why I have this obsessive need to stay up to date with the latest news on the tubes. In a way, it’s a bit like revolving your life around TV, which is quite ridiculous and thankfully is something I don’t do.

New goal: I’m going to use ”Mark all as read” more often, even for my favorites.

Reading blogs as Marc

The blogs I enjoy reading are the ones that make me realize I still have so much to grow, at least professionally and technically, like in the area of building kick ass software. Realizing this, of course, immediately throws my personal ass kicking machine into overdrive and this usually means major nerding. I also enjoy reading anything that completely obliterates one of my preconceived opinions and allows me to look at the world (or a problem) with a completely new perspective. Contemplation and reflection is fun.

That being said, here are ten blogs that are currently in my “daily-reads” category.

1. Artima Developer. Artima is a great all around community about building software. What I like about this community, is that they discuss a wide variety of programming topics. Since I recently got engaged to C++, I’ve found it’s the closest thing to Javalobby that the C++ community has.
2. Data Mining. This is probably one of my new favorite blogs. I discovered it last year while I was taking a data mining course. Matthew does a terrific job at pointing out observations and trends using terminology that won’t give you an aneurysm. Make sure to check out the articles in the data mining category.
3. How to Change the World. Guy Kawasaki: Macintosh evangelist, venture capitalist, author, and speaker. Also kicks more ass than Jackie Chan.
4. Joel on Software. He writes software, he writes about writing software, and he writes about the business of writing software. How couldn’t I read his blog?
5. Raganwald. Also a new addition to my top ten and also a blog about software. The first time I ran across Reg’s blog, it was regarding his favourite interview question which I still think about once in awhile.
6. Seth Godin. Remember what I said earlier about learning to look at the world with a different perspective? This is just a swag, but I’d guess that 70% of Seth’s posts cause me to do that.
7. Signal vs. Noise. I love the 37signals guys, and if you love the idea of software that is simple to use, you should too. If you read two things, make it Getting Real, their book on building software, and their manifesto. I don’t agree with everything they wrote in their book, but I certainly appreciate their pragmatic approach to building software. (Don’t write a spec… seriously?)
8. Stevey’s Blog Rants. Just when I think I get programming, Steve comes along and turns my entire world upside down. Three things Steve made me do: learn Emacs, read Refactoring, and write more. I spent a month in Emacs writing C++ before reverting back to Eclipse. Two out of three isn’t too bad.
9. The Old New Thing. Raymond Chen scares the sh*t out of me. Ever notice the side bar when you Google for him? Yea that’s right, Google/Jobs bought an AdWord with his name.
10. The Dilbert Blog. I am shocked by everything Scott Adams writes, yet I am wildly excited that he chooses to share it with the world. It pays to have a good sense of humour.

Well that’s it. In a nutshell, seven blogs are about building better software, two are about changing the world, and one keeps me laughing while I do the other two.