Paul Kedrosky on what he looks for in the blogs he reads:
I don’t want volume or comprehensiveness; I want surprise and interestingness. And to be even more clear, I don’t want surprise or interestingness in a Digg sense of the word, with naked nonagenarians or raccoons with their tongues stuck to metal poles, etc. I don’t want an information freak-show. I want things that I would have normally read, but wouldn’t have found, nor would have most people that I read. Something that changes the way I think.
I think that’s a pretty good description of what many people are after in their blog reading. It’s one of the big reasons that I love blogs that are outside my areas of professional expertise and outside of my usual interests. Reading about topics that I don’t already know a lot about is intellectually stimulating.
April 3, 2008 at 10:13 pm
I don’t know much about programming but rc3.org is always a daily stop for me. I read all the posts even the especially the ones I have no hope of understanding. The ones about lamp, rails, php, I find especially relaxing.
The post and comments a while back about hiring talented programmers (something I’m sure I will never do) was one of the most interesting threads I’ve read in a while.
If I read about something I might need to know or think I might do someday, I have a bit of stress as I try to commit it to memory. On the other hand if I read about something I know I will never do, I enjoy it for what it is.
April 5, 2008 at 5:01 pm
Hearty agreement! That is certainly why I come here…