The Top Thinkers of Beyond the Rhetoric

Every month, I try to have a look back and recognize the people who contributed the greatest number on Beyond the Rhetoric. It’s my little way of giving back to the online community. The list for April 2012 is mostly the same as the one from the previous month, but of course I always welcome new readers to contribute to the conversation too. That’s why there’s a comment area on every post!

For this week’s speedlink, I decided to do something a little different. Rather than highlight one of the most recent posts on the sites of the top thinkers, we’re going to have a look at the posts from one year ago. What did they have to say in Spring 2011? Let’s find out.

Ray Ebersole tops the charts once again. Last year, he wrote a post on Google’s definition of “opt in” and how it really sounded more like an “opt out.” This was in regards to location tracking and how the tickbox is checked, rather than unchecked, by default. Would you still agree that Google adheres to its “do no evil” mantra?

Vance Sova is a regular attendee at Dot Com Pho and he comes in second place for April. He wrote about how you can get more traffic to your site by leaving comments on other blogs. That said, he has one major accompanying piece of advice: Don’t be a spamming idiot. When you leave a comment, you should still provide a valuable contribution to the conversation, rather than simply posting the comment for SEO purposes.

Zagorath has a two-part series on poor decision making. In the first part, he explores the concept of negative bias wherein people may try to overcompensate for the appearance of bias. This is not unlike reverse discrimination, which is itself a form of discrimination.

Used Tires has a blog that is unsurprisingly on the topic of used tires. One article on there is in regards to cheap tires and how you can get them. One pointer is to use your local area as a resource, looking through newspapers and scouring through Craigslist. Shipping costs can oftentimes nullify your savings, so buying from a local shop is probably your best bet.

Betshopboy rounds out the top five for last month. The marathon runner participated in the Sundown Marathon last year and the tagline for the event was “Sleep Can Wait. Beat the sunrise.” The full marathon started at 10pm, which would explain why the encouragement is to “beat the sunrise.” Betshopboy participated in the half marathon (21 kilometres), finishing in one hour and forty-two minutes. Well done!