Since my first post got so much attention, including from #3 who thought it was an honor to be on the list (believe me dude, it isn’t, so don’t flatter yourself), I thought it would be appropriate to do a followup with the web people who help me get through the day. Without further ado, here’s the 5 web personalities I can’t do without.

1. Leo Laporte: The Godfather of podcasting (Adam Curry, if it weren’t for Leo no one would know what a podcast was), one of the smartest names in tech, and one of the few people who (even when I disagree with) is worth listening to even when the topic isn’t something you don’t care about. Leo has a fresh attitude despite having longevity in the business, and most importantly he understands that production can be as important as content. Oh sure, content comes first, but ignoring the production quality and hoping content can carry a show is just pointless.

2. Michael Arrington: The man has a bullshit detector that’s second to none for the most part. He does occasionally get sucked into the hype, but for the most part he does a good job of avoiding it and the marketerspeak that’s been flooding the internet for years. A true example of a no-spin zone. Read it. Learn it. Know it.

3. Loren Feldman: Yeah I know… I’m kissing his ass. Frankly, you can go screw if you don’t like me plugging Feldman. He’s a cranky, funny, interesting guy who makes me laugh and isn’t buying into all the shit either. The nice thing about 1938 Media is that it isn’t a bunch of stuffed shirts and talking heads doing videos. Loren, Michelle, Yue, Pam, Gloria, and the others are real people, really funny, and worth watching. Loren’s stuff may not be safe for work, but frankly nothing entertaining ever is.

4. Ryan Block: If all the other gadget sites on the internet went away, I wouldn’t care. If Engadget went away, I’d be crushed. Ryan runs the show over there and does a great job. He’s also a friend and has always been gracious when I IM him or ask him for an interview. Class act all the way who does great at what he does.

5. Scott McNulty, Erica Sadun, and the team at TUAW: Frankly, if you’re an Apple blog, this is the standard you have to live up to. Period. End of discussion. If you don’t, don’t waste my time. There are a few exceptions, but nothing out there rings my bell the way they do. They’re on top of news, rumors, products, software, and how-tos, in a way that no other site is. Scott runs a great site, and Erica’s technical know-how is second to absolutely no one.

There are other people out there who are friends that I didn’t add to this list (Like my good friend Scott Bourne, for example) who I don’t consider a “web personality,” but a personal close friend and I didn’t want that to color the list.