I’m consistently—and constantly—struck by how incredibly lucky we are here in Portland. Without even realizing it. We’re home to the inventor of the wiki, folks creating the tools that have helped create the Web, and within a stone’s throw of one of the founders of the grandaddy of Weblogs, among other things. Quietly. But here.
And let’s not forget, Portland is home to Andy Baio, whose blog Waxy.org quietly turned a decade old over the weekend.
And reading the birthday post, you might not really get what sort of impact Andy has had on the Web…
The decision to start writing here regularly changed my entire life. It’s given me exposure, a place to share my projects and crazy experimentation with technology. It’s created new opportunities for me, directly or indirectly responsible for every major project I’ve gotten involved in. It’s a place to play and experiment with ideas, some of which led to big breakthroughs and passions. And it connected me to people who cared about the things I did, many of whom became lifelong friends.
… but as he starts to rattle off his best links of the last decade, it becomes amazingly clear.
Sure he started Upcoming and helped build Kickstarter. But even beyond that.
All Your Base? Google buying Blogger? Star Wars Kid? Grey Tuesday? Finding Afro-Ninja? Pushing the limits of copyright?
Waxy reads like a history of the Internet we know and love. And Andy was in the middle of a lot of it.
So do yourself a favor. Wish Waxy a happy 10th. And then spend a few hours going through the most popular Waxy posts. You’ll be glad you did. And smarter to boot.
Thanks, Andy. For the dedication, the determination, and the inspiration. Here’s to decades more.
(Hat tip Scott Kveton)
