Right now at hecklerspray HQ we're all wearing shiny cardboard hats and listening to the extended 12-inch megamix of Celebration by Kool And The Gang on a non-stop loop. Why? Because we're officially part of the British blogging A-list, that's why.
That's right: the A-list! People have said nice things about hecklerspray before – official best record label in the world Poptones effing well loves us, we've been Blog Of The Week in The Times and The Guardian called us "uncaring" for laughing at the moon-faced rehab boy from Keane (but they only did it out of love) – and now we're properly part of the A-list, which means… well, actually we're not sure what it means but we've ordered the 'Out Of My Way Pleb, I'm In The Cocking A-List' badges anyway.
And also it was a study by Tech Digest that appointed hecklerspray into the blogging A-list, and everyone who works for Tech Digest is a staggeringly attractive genius whose every word is carved into marble by a team of teary-eyed orphans made to dress like key biblical figures, so that's why it must be true. The full list of exactly why hecklerspray is the best British blog (except for the nine other blogs that are better than us) has been ruthlessly pasted from Tech Digest for your enjoyment after the jump…
Gaping Void
Blogger – Hugh Macleod
Technorati rating – Rank: 144 (9,060 links from 2,896 blogs)
Indisputably the most popular British blog, Gaping Void is a fantastic collection of cartoons and observations from the wonderfully creative mind of Hugh Macleod. Over the past 3-4 years it has built up a huge following.
Mashable
Blogger – Pete Cashmore et al
Technorati rating – Rank: 400 (12,266 links from 1,867 blogs)
Incredibly Pete has only been writing Mashable for a year or so, but in that time has built up a huge audience who love his news and reviews of the latest social networking sites and other web 2.0 wonders. A massive favourite at Tech Digest, we were shocked when we discovered that the site’s author lived not in Silicon Valley but Aberdeen.
eureferendum.com
Blogger – Richard North et al
Technorati rating – 611 (5,249 links from 1,545 blogs)
Richard North plus a select group of writers have been blogging about European politics for about two-and-a-half years. It started as a blog "to rehearse and discuss the issues relating to one of the most important political issues of the day – the UK referendum on the EU's constitutional treaty." but has expanded to cover a wide variety of topics with in-depth writing, analysis and wit. It obviously hits the spot for many as it's highly ranked and well commented.
Tech Digest
Blogger – Dave Walker, Andy Merrett et al
Technorati rating – 975 (5,434 links from 1,221 blogs)
One of Shiny's original blogs, running for over 3 years, it's the UK's definitive guide to a huge range of gadgets and technology. Since taking on extra writers earlier this year its range of topics has expanded and its popularity continues to grow massively. Informative but not taking itself, or the technology, too seriously, it mixes hands-on reviews with up-to-date tech news.
Shiny Shiny
Blogger – Katie Lee, Susi Weaser et al
Technorati rating – 1,464 (5,711 links from 975 blogs)
Quite simply the UK's premiere girl's guide to gadgets (though I reckon quite a few blokes sneak a read too), Shiny Shiny has a great female authorship reviewing the latest female-friendly gadgets and tech accessories – and no, not everything's in pink.
coolest-gadgets.com
Blogger – Al Carl et al
Technorati rating – 1,547 (4,394 links from 944 blogs
As well as the usual suspects on this gadget site, there's some great out-of-the-ordinary gadget finds that'll make you wonder how some people dream up such weird ideas. A popular and well-linked blog.
PlasticBag.org
Blogger – Tom Coates
Technorati rating – 1,467 (2,219 links from 973 blogs
Tom has been writing at PlasticBag.org for over seven years and has built up a loyal following to his mix of technology articles and links along with a fair dose of politics, music, religion, politics, and more besides. Great writing and interesting links make this a popular stop on the web.
samizdata.net
Blogger – Adriana Cronin-Lukas, Perry de Havilland et al
Technorati rating – 1,404 (3,166 links from 999 blogs)
I've not read this blog before, despite it's high ranking, so I didn't know what to expect. Whether their description: "The Samizdata people are a bunch of sinister and heavily armed globalist illuminati who seek to infect the entire world with the values of personal liberty and several property. Amongst our many crimes is a sense of humour and the intermittent use of British spelling." helps at all? Written mainly by Brits with the occasional Australian or American thrown in for good measure, this is a mix of politics, celebrity talk, science 'stuff', and, well, all sorts really. It really needs to be seen to be appreciated, as indeed many do.
c h r o m a s i a
Blogger – David Nightingale et al
Technorati rating – 2,633 (1,746 links from 679 blogs)
Chromasia is a fantastic UK photoblog and deserves its high rank.
Amazing photography of people, landscapes, buildings and abstracts cleverly taken and manipulated by David Nightingale. Well worth a visit to this highly commented site.
hecklerspray
Blogger – Stuart Heritage et al
Technorati rating – 5,196 (843 links from 416 blogs)
Hecklerspray, recently affiliated with Shiny Media, may not have the highest Technorati ranking yet, but has become a well-linked and highly trafficked blog in its relatively short year-and-a-half life. Plenty of entertainment news from TV, film, music and video gaming keeps over half-a-million people happy each month.
See? Oh, the warm embrace of validation from our loosely-affiliated peers. Hey, we kinda like the feeling of having smoke blown up our arses – why don't you join in and leave a comment telling us exactly why hecklerspray is the frigging best, too? Do it now, or it'll be straight to bed with no more Bumrape Island for you.
Read more:
Pedro says
Woo-hooo! Hecklerspray is the fricking BOMB! Go Hecklerspray, go Hecklerspray…
Look, do we win a prize for leaving these?
Eli says
Let’s say for a minute the other nine sites suffered unfortunate and unrelated tragedies, thus catapulting you all up to the #1 spot. Could that be financially lucrative? Any gain to be had for one such as myself? Look, I’m trying to pay for skool here!
James says
Well done. Bit busy so can’t write much else, but yeah, well done.
Matthew Laidlow says
Possibly Pedro.
Maybe a slice of Batternberg cake left over from the megatastic party we had, or quite possibly a glass of flat Tango [cherry flavour, too]. Dunno how you'd get it in one piece, like.
Lyn says
Sincerely happy for you, and happy for me – I can say I was a faithful reader before Hecklerspray jumped the shark. Ooops, sorry – Congrats!