It’s a tough one saying one’s blog should be in the top 100 of anything but after reviewing CNET’s top 100 list I tried below to make a good case for why MakeYouGoHmm should be part of their top 100. Am I biased? Of course! Do I necessarily disagree with their top 100 choices? Not really, no, because I read most of the blogs on there, but I thought I’d make my case for 100 reasons why this blog should be there.

For those who dislike people tooting their own horns let me gently suggest that if we don’t toot our own horns once in awhile then who else will? I do try and keep things real, but sometimes you have to fight to be noticed, especially in the growing sea of blogs. Some of my opinions on things are very unpopular and not mainstream which makes this blog a prime candidate to be skipped over for lists based on popularity contests. Do I really care if this blog is not included? No, not really, but would I care if it was included? You bet!

Bottom line is I will keep doing what I’m doing and working on improving the quality of the material why some others keep inspecting each other’s butts with their noses. Readers ultimately choose their top 100 and that’s the list I’m most interested in making.

1. honest, no BS reviews written by an actual techie who bought the product/service, instead of someone who got it for free and/or in part for promotional consideration. Update November 11, 2006: now doing some paid reviews of products/services I haven’t bought, with disclosure.
2. a blog that has never made any top 100 list yet, so it could potentially be fresher to readers (No longer true. Feedster named this #7 Feed of the Year in December 2005, CNET added January 31, 2006)
3. often controversial but with entertainng take on the current tech news
4. written and published by a self-employed businessman who has owned and operated two businesses offline (since 1994) and online since 1999.
5. not written by an employee of any of the major companies written about
6. not written by some PR guy trying to make a name for himself
7. advertising is minimal and often contextual to the reader
8. no popup advertising
9. no flash flyovers or skip to this page annnoying reader garbage
10. no intrusive ads (like popunders)
11. linked to by numerous sites already in your top 100 list
12. not a mainstream media site with a prominent blogger who will get readers because of the publication tie-in
13. written by a developer who has been building and deploying web and windows based software since 1999
14. not written by an anonymous blogger who’s true intentions might not be known like Mini-Microsoft (is it PR? spin? who knows?)
15. likely category would be Tech Business or Web culture, because covers a wide variety of topics, not only technology (but primarily tech)
16. search allows readers to subscribe via RSS by keyword(s)
17. search allows readers to subscribe via RSS by category
18. search is integrated with A9 opensearch, and was one of the first 100 on the web to do so
19. primary author contributes free code to the web
20. allows readers the ability to join and submit their own stories
21. liberal commenting and trackback policy
22. rel=nofollow not used on comments or trackbacks
23. comments are moderated to prevent spam and scams
24. comments made on blog (and thus read) by CEOs, authors, podcasters, prominent bloggers and other tech luminaries
25. updated daily for over two three years
26. third party site meter stats open to public
27. subscribe by Atom or RSS 2.0
28. full text RSS feed currently with no advertising (but this could change, of course)
29. subscribe to any comment thread via RSS
30. subscribe to any comment thread by email, default reminder (but can be unchecked so no reminders are sent)
31. subscribe to blog by email
32. custom Hmm Firefox or IE toolbar with site search and radio included
33. creator and maintainer of BlogCompare, a free service to query stats of popular blogs sorted by a wide variety of stats
34. not a spammer or splog and vehemently against spam and splogs
35. written by tech stock invester with disclosure of stocks owned
36. written by a published writer
37. follows and documents the history of new trends like podcasting
38. uglier blogger than Chris Pirillo (ok, maybe not a benefit)
39. one of the first 50 to start podcasting, and still podcasting weekly
40. web radio host for 253 weeks and counting
41. banner advertisers are chosen based on products/services that we actually like (or think readers might like), contextual ad programs are used that prove to be useful and relevant
42. makes readers smile and LOL once in awhile, strives not to be too serious, boring and unconversational
43. written by a passionate geek who stands in line to buy products on launch days
44. using solid, professional hosting: can, will and has withstood slashdotting
45. using own domain
46. once a blog post is published, edits — besides minor spelling or missing word changes — are denoted by an update or strikethru so as to maintain the integrity of the original entry
47. thank goodness lists like this aren’t commonplace here!
48. MakeYouGoHmm is actually profitable, and growing, so will continue to exist

Ok, I’m out of gas. If I can’t list at least 100 benefits/reasons this site should be on the top 100 list then maybe it shouldn’t be there after all. I think I’ve hit most of the benefits of this blog without getting too silly and now I’m ready to turn it over to readers. I’m curious what readers think are benefits of MakeYouGoHmm to you? What do you like/dislike about this blog?

Please, readers, if you want to add your own items to this list then use the comments area below or trackback from your own blog. Naturally, you can also write reasons you think this blog should not be in CNET’s top 100 blog list. This is a prime opportunity for those who dislike me/this blog to speak up so that I can see if there are real areas for improvement. I won’t change my writing style and tone but if there are specific topics you’d like to see covered more (or less), or have me shed further light I’d be particularly interested in that feedback.

Now go ahead, please let us hear it.

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