I find blogrolls to be insanely intimidating. Do you, mister/miss anonymous blogger, really read those 257 sites EVERY SINGLE DAY? Instead of overwhelming you with every single website I’ve ever sort-of liked, here’s a top-10 list of my favorites (in no particular order). I’m a content snob; I’d rather follow a site that has one thought-provoking piece per day than one that has 20 crappy posts.
1. Stratfor [International Affairs]: Not just a shameless plug for my former employer - Stratfor, in my mind, defines “premium content”. They charge a crap-ton for their product (my advice is to join the free email list - they usually offer deals through the free list), but if you’re willing to pay for it you get access to breaking, highly analytical content + forecasts that are read by high-level government officials, international business leaders, and other changemakers.
2. Ars Technica [Technology]: Although similar in content to the other tech heavy-hitters (TC, TM, VB, etc.), Ars and RWW (below) are my favorite.
3. ReadWriteWeb [Technology]: See above.
4. Uncrate [Stuff]: So I’m not exactly the target demographic for uncrate (”uncrate is a web magazine for guys who love stuff.”) but the stuff they have is usually cool, so I read it anyway.
5. Slate [General]: I’ve been reading Slate forever. Their stories are polished, well-researched and interesting. Most blogs are obsessed with speed, Slate differentiates itself through its quality.
6. LifeHacker [Productivity]: Lifehacker taught me how to pimp out my browser, introduced me to Mozilla Ubiquity and made me a better photographer. I love learning, don’t you?
7. Berkman Center [Future of the Internet]: The Berkman Center’s mission is to “explore and understand cyberspace; to study its development, dynamics, norms, and standards; and to assess the need or lack thereof for laws and sanctions.” Their website provides an excellent and constantly updated overview of all the activity going on there (projects, papers, talks, thoughts, etc.).
8. Venture Hacks [Startups, Venture Capital]: Really smart advice and easy to understand even if you know nothing about VC/financing. Start here, and read all of it. ALL OF IT.
9. Baseline Scenario [Finance, Global Economic Crisis]: My professor Simon Johnson launched this blog in September 2008 and I think it’s the best source of information on the ongoing global financial crisis. I knew nothing about finance when I started school. Now, I can talk CDOs, CDSs, and de-leveraging and *almost* sound legit.
10. Seeking Alpha [Finance]: The equivalent of slashdot for finance geeks. For the uninitiated, the “alpha” of a particular fund is a measurement of how well the fund is doing vs. some benchmark index.
