The Top Thinkers of Beyond the Rhetoric

Before we get down to rounding up the top thinkers from January, I want to put in a quick reminder that my Great BTR CES 2013 Swag Giveaway ends tomorrow at midnight. Make sure you enter before the deadline if you want to score yourself some cool techie swag from one of the largest tech trade shows on the planet. I’ve made it super easy to enter too.

And yes, I realize that January isn’t quite done yet–hence the contest still being open for another day–but I like to keep you guys on your toes too. So, as of this writing, here are the top five comment-contributing thinkers on Beyond the Rhetoric for January 2013.

Standing at the top of the heap is Ray Ebersole once again. Over on his own blog, he explains why we will always have pro sports lockouts. I know a lot of people said they would boycott the NHL if the season returned, but it looks like we’re more excited than ever that hockey is back.

Switching gears, we have Jim, who has a blog post up describing the problems with IB. He talks about the International Baccalaureate Diploma programme, discussing such topics as poor marking of the Extend Essay, the generality of group 6, and the issue with “core” weighting.

We normally expect to hear Betshopboy discuss his own marathon experiences, but he most recently shared an interesting infographic on the running scene in Singapore for 2012. It breaks down popular locations, distances, calories burned, and the cost of tickets. All in all, there were 56 major running events in Singapore last year.

If you’re in the market for some car accessories, you may want to see what Audra has to tell you. One particular article of interest is the one on car audio systems. This isn’t a shopping guide, per se, but it does get you started with wiring tips, installation instructions, and setting crossover points. Of course, you could always hire a professional, but it’s good if you are armed with some basic knowledge beforehand.

Last but not least, we have Allan Schroeder. You might recognize him from Dot Com Pho or MEGATechNews. He’s a professional photographer, so he recognizes the hidden costs to buying a camera. Many novices forget that they’ll likely end up spending money on bags, batteries, tripods, filters, flashes and lenses. All of these accessories can easily cost more than the camera body itself.