Daytime Running Lights

J. Chris Anderson — not to be confused with those other Chris Andersons — mainly talks about Web coding. If you're a former liberal arts major, don't let that put you off: J. Chris writes fluidly and coherently on topics such as Ruby on Rails, REST, and CSS. If that's not your cup of tea, at least check out his MP3 blog, for an extremely eclectic experience.

Highlights

— The App Engine Sweet Spot: "Its defining characteristic is fire-and-forget, with standardization as a close second."

— Web Audio for the iPhone: "... On the iPhone you'll have much less control over your content. The experience is optimized for video, and the degree to which audio works seems like an afterthought."

Tightwad Technica

Cheapskates of the world, unite! That's Garry King's call-to-arms, anyway. This blog is all about how to feed your geek lust, yet save money. Hopefully Ars Technica's lawyers won't feel the need to batter down his doors and force him to change the blog's name.

Highlights

— Microsoft wants in on low cost PCs: "When devices are going to market for [US]$200 to $300 . . . there is simply no room for a $100 OS."

— Sun begins to close MySql: "Sun has had great difficulty remaining relevant in a changing IT world for quite some time."

ZSFA

Zed Shaw's blog is quite, erm, "unique." Best not to take what he says about himself too seriously (e.g., "I write code that inspires Elephants to lay down arms against their Lion enemies"); or about his extracurricular passions ("I dance; sing; play 5 instruments; cook; craft novels, poetry, and short stories; paint anime"). Oh, and if you're easily offended, move on to the next blog.

Highlights

— Announcing My Coding Retirement: "I don't want to code for someone because they treat me like their bitch."

— Well, well, well: "The classic problem with programmers today [is] they absolutely refuse to learn anything new unless they can see ... an immediate 200% boost in salary."

mengwong's LiveJournal

Meng is one of those quiet, thoughtful geeks, who actually get things done. While standing on the shoulders of giants, he authored Sender Policy Framework (SPF): the first email sender-authentication spec. to gain significant traction. He doesn't just write about email and spam, though: Other topics include Web 2.0, economics, dating, photography, and "precision housekeeping."

Highlights

— Ikea 2.0: Stock Car Ikea: "There needs to be a web 2.0 website that says which Ikea furniture will, and more importantly, will not, fit in which cars."

— Taxr: a voluntary microtaxation proposal from Hackers: "I propose a voluntary tithing scheme, where one gets to vote in direct proportion to one's contribution."