In the middle of this year, in observation of his retirement from Microsoft, I wrote Bill Gates and the Greatest Tech Hack Ever, one of my most popular posts and one that I've had a number of people personally mention to me that they appreciated.

So, I was delighted to see Dale Doughtery's appreciation of Bill Gates. Dale's my favorite blogger on O'Reilly's popular Radar blog, and this post shows why: A keen focus on the implications and sustainability of our choices in the tech industry.

In many ways, Gates represents the "best of us" -- it's not just what he's doing but how he thinks about what he's doing. He's a curious geek. He wants to find interesting problems to solve. He believes that smart, self-motivated people working together can make a difference. Bill Gates reflects the best qualities of a generation that has grown up finding the innovative ways to apply science and technology to impact our everyday life in mostly positive ways.

Even better, as pointed out by my friend and coworker Michael Sippey, one of my heroes, Dan Bricklin, showed up and weighed in on the post as well.