Every year since 2020 (except 2022), I’ve written a list of the most awesome people I’ve encountered throughout the year, both in my personal life, and out here on the good ole internet, as well as a few words about why I think these people are awesome; said awesomeness deserves at least some kind of recognition! Besides, the world is a steaming, heaping pile of festering trash right now, so we all need as much entertainment in our lives as humanly possible.
For your reference, here are the lists for 2021 and 2020.

I’ve decided to do things a bit differently this year. Instead of trying to come up with a list of 15 names, I first started off with 15, then eliminated 5 from the list, bringing it down to 10, then whittled that down to a final 5. It’s these 5 names that have ultimately made this list. This makes for a post that’s about 3 times shorter, but hopefully still as enjoyable. Plus, it feels better to know you’re in the top 5 anyway! 🙂




5. MichaelMJD

As a lover of both retro tech and crazy texperiments (yes, ‘texperiment’ is a word now), MichaelMJD has been a constant source of hilarity and entertainment for a good few years now. From installing Windows XP on an iPod, to screwing around with a laptop that only cost a fiver, this guy has all the bases covered! Or, if it’s just a simple tech documentary you’re looking for, he has those too! Or, why not just check out his entire YouTube channel! The fact that he has way fewer subscribers than he deserves is simply a crime!

4. Jake Gross. A.K.A. Datajake

I’m a digital preservationist and lover of all things archival, so it’s really no surprise that Jake is on this list. Datajake’s website is a treasure trove of vintage, hard-to-find software tools, speech synthesizers, midi music files, VSTs, sound fonts, audio files and podcasts, just to name a few! If there’s anything old school or midi related you’re looking for, there’s a high chance Jake will have it! What’s more, Jake is blind like me. But aside from that, he’s generally just a cool guy to get to know and hang out with. May Datajake continue to do God’s work and preserve all kinds of digital history for a very, very, very long time to come!

3. Brandon Cole. A.K.A. Super Blindman

Flying up 7 places from number 10 in 2021 thanks to this new top-five style, we have the super blindman himself, Brandon Cole, the ultimate video game accessibility warrier! Together with his partner Misty Rayburn, he runs Break Down Walls, an initiative that aims to unite both disabled and non-disabled gamers alike, and raise awareness of disabled people in the gaming scene.

Outside of BDW, Brandon also fights tooth and nail for accessibility for everyone in video games, working with game developers far and wide to ensure that their games are as playable as possible by as many people as possible, regardless of disability, background or skill level. He is literally the reason why Forza Motorsport, The Last of Us 2, and Mortal Kombat 1 are some of the most accessible video games ever! OK, maybe that’s a slight overstatement, but it’s pretty darn close!

Personally, I recently had a few online games of Forza with Brandon, with the aim of learning how to drive and ultimately be a better player. This marked a major turning point in my gaming life, as it was the first time I’d plucked up the courage to play a video game online since I was abused out of the multiplayer sphere in 2016. I’m hoping, with a few more games and Brandon’s kind, humourous personality, I’ll eventually be able to get back into playing multiplayer games!

You can check out the super blindman on YouTube, Twitch, Mastodon, and his own website.

2. Day Garwood

Day Garwood has single-handedly changed the way I use Microsoft Windows forever. His free program, KeyOp, allows you to open any program or website you can think of using just a couple of keyboard shortcuts, without the need for desktop icons, the start menu, or anything like that! On top of that, he is also a talented singer and musician. He runs Daylight Sound, and RML Music, a website for Rebecca Legowski, his partner in rhyme.

On a more personal note, Day is also just a nice, kind-hearted human who is always willing to listen to anything you have to say, be it life problems or software feedback. While he can’t fix your life problems, he’ll always try his very best to fix any problems you have with his software programs. And he also has a history in text to speech skits, which is why he’s so high in this countdown. Sadly, though, this content isn’t available anywhere on his official sites. Bad Daygar for not archiving your content! The digital archivist in me is very angry!

1. Thaqib Mir

I met Thaqib on a TeamTalk server in May/June of 2022, and I can honestly say he is the kindest, sweetest, funniest, and the best internet friend I’ve ever had! With a strong background in audio editing and sound design, he was ultimately what got me into music and UI sound production. Without his Reaper related help, I couldn’t have produced such things as the Cube Suite, the Seedy Notifiers, and what would turn out to be my very first piece of music, which I’ll embed as an audio file below.

Thaqib has also steered me through some pretty difficult times throughout the last year. Being forced out of college and having to leave all my friends and break 5 year old bonds in the summer of 22 is a good example. He is living proof that kindness, positivity and good friends can be brought together through the power of the internet. You think the world is just a place full of death, destruction and evil doers, then you meat Thaqib and suddenly your world view has changed for the better.




Conclusion

Congratulations to everyone who made the list this year, and especially my good friend Thaqib Mir, who is at number one! He is officially Seedy’s MVP of 2023!

To numbers 6 through 15, better luck next time. 2024 is just a few weeks away, who knows what the next 12 months will bring!