That's quite an extreme degree of self-censorship! Especially with respect to Rao, who's practically a public figure: he's written a book, runs a blog where people can comment on his ideas, and hosts a mailing list.
I think there's a big difference between discussing a specific idea and discussing the person and everything he writes from Quora posts to the blog, the mailing list and the book. I'd happily voice my opinion about Tempo, or about Slightly Evil, the Gervais Principle or any of his other ideas. They're different works though and they don't deserve to be clumped together in one "what do I think about Rao" kind of post. When somebody is as prolific as Venkat inevitably some of the stuff is going to be good and some of the stuff is going to be not so...
Venkatesh Rao (who is amazing because he literally constantly challenges our definitions of everything):
http://www.quora.com/Venkatesh-Rao/Quora-Portfolio-Year-1
http://www.quora.com/Venkatesh-Rao
http://www.ribbonfarm.com/be-slightly-evil/
http://www.ribbonfarm.com
Gregory Rader:
http://www.quora.com/Gregory-Rader
http://onthespiral.com/
Daniel Lemire:
http://www.quora.com/Daniel-Lemire and http://lemire.me/blog/ are also super-super-super interesting
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I tried doing google searches of site:lesswrong.com + their names (or websites), but ended up with little. I'd like to see what LessWrong thinks of Rao in particular. I have NEVER seen posts that were as amazingly insightful as his. It's worth it just to sacrifice a day just to see all his amazing posts. The others were also amazing and really make you think about everything.
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E.g. with Rao, you have
My favorites:
http://www.quora.com/What-are-the-benefits-to-obtaining-a-PhD-in-the-field-of-Education/answer/Venkatesh-Rao?srid=0WH
http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2010/05/19/intellectual-gluttony/
http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2011/04/07/extroverts-introverts-aspies-and-codies
http://www.quora.com/What-careers-or-industries-are-the-most-meritocratic/answer/Venkatesh-Rao?srid=0WH
http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2008/09/11/how-to-measure-information-work
http://www.quora.com/What-are-some-tips-for-advanced-writers/answer/Venkatesh-Rao
http://www.quora.com/Children/Why-do-some-humans-not-want-children/answer/Venkatesh-Rao
http://www.quora.com/What-is-the-best-way-to-motivate-oneself-to-finish-a-PhD/answer/Venkatesh-Rao
http://www.quora.com/History/What-is-the-most-important-human-decision-ever-made/answer/Venkatesh-Rao
http://www.quora.com/Is-the-following-follower-model-the-new-standard-of-social-connection/answer/Venkatesh-Rao
http://www.quora.com/What-discipline-specific-principles-help-reframe-activities-so-as-to-provide-useful-insights-and-or-improvement
Rader:
http://onthespiral.com/stop-wasting-time-and-effort-developing-fragile-capabilities
http://onthespiral.com/unifying-value-universe
http://onthespiral.com/principles-disruptive-learning-environments
Lemire:
http://lemire.me/blog/archives/2010/08/16/working-long-hours-is-stupid
http://www.daniel-lemire.com/blog/archives/2010/02/08/trading-latency-for-quality-in-research
http://www.daniel-lemire.com/blog/archives/2009/09/14/how-things-change-cheaters-are-innovators
http://www.daniel-lemire.com/blog/archives/2008/08/19/the-secret-to-intellectual-productivity/
http://www.daniel-lemire.com/blog/archives/2010/01/13/the-fundamental-properties-of-computing/
http://www.daniel-lemire.com/blog/archives/2007/12/05/formal-definitions-are-less-useful-than-you-think/
http://www.daniel-lemire.com/blog/archives/2007/11/19/directed-research-is-useless/
http://lemire.me/blog/archives/2006/08/09/big-schools-are-not-longer-giving-researchers-an-edge/
http://lemire.me/blog/archives/2011/06/23/probabilities-are-unnecessary-mathematical-artifacts
http://lemire.me/blog/archives/2011/06/14/the-language-interpreters-are-the-new-machines
http://www.daniel-lemire.com/blog/archives/2009/08/01/why-i-hardly-ever-blog-about-my-ongoing-research/
http://lemire.me/blog/archives/2011/06/08/is-wikipedia-anti-intellectual
http://www.daniel-lemire.com/blog/archives/2008/06/05/why-pure-theory-is-wasteful
http://lemire.me/blog/archives/2011/06/06/why-i-still-program