Timothy Albee, Creator of "Kaze, Ghost Warrior"

Could you put together an animated pilot film? Two thousand of miles from your previous animation work location? In the Alaskan wilderness? In six months? For $5000? By yourself?
Timothy Albee did it, partly to tell a story steeped in the ways of the bushido honor code.
Partly to put a thumb in the eye of the corporate animation industry and prove that a quality project could be completed in a short amount of time without a giant budget, and with a small team (a team of one, in this case).
The result was "Kaze, Ghost Warrior," a 22-minute animated short depicting a world populated by anthropomorphic animals in a land reminiscent of feudal Japan. He created the story, the 3d models and animation, even the music and all of the voices. At the same time, he produced a book on the process of low-budget, high quality 3-D animation, a lip-syncing tool (with the aid of KURV Studios) and a rendering technique to draw realistic looking CG fur in a fraction of the time it would normally take.

Steve Pavlina and the Million Dollar Experiment

Steve Pavlina began writing about some the beneficial habits he formed that helped him to make his game business, Dexterity.com a success. This writings provided the springboard for his personal development website, Stevepavlina.com. The subjects of his writings range from the practical (developing self-discipline, goal-setting, increasing your personal productivity) to the metaphysical (do we create our own "world" based on our beliefs? meditation, find your purpose in life).
One subject he recently wrote about was the intention-manifestation model of goal achievement (as opposed to the cause and effect model). In a nutshell, the idea is that the power to achieve goals ultimate derives from making the decision to have your desired result come about, then consciously being aware of the opportunities and resources that manifest themselves to aid you reaching your goal.
As an experiment to see what kind of results can be found using the intention-manifestation model, he has initiated the Million Dollar Experiment. The goal is to generate $1,000,000 of additional wealth by putting the intention out and maintaining awareness of any synchronistic or coincidental opportunities that may come about, and use them to help reach the goal.
Either he's crazy or he's onto something. An abundance of additional practical info on personal development and time management make this site definitely worth a look.

Sean Kennedy

As independent media goes, Sean Kennedy is one of the most prolific creators of online content today. He's written a horror novel called "The Scabbed Wings of Abaddon", a teeth-gritting travelogue through Hell. An earlier novel, "The Bloodstained Rabbit", is also available. (A third book is currently in the works.) He provides the stories and the voice for "Tales from the Afternow", a series of radio plays depicting a bleak future that's just a stone's throw from the world we live in today. There's also "Patrolling", a set of videos about being prepared for survival in today's urban jungle and beyond. (They are in the middle of releasing the second season's worth of episodes now.) Kennedy also hosts "NewsReal", a net radio news program, five days a week. Add to that a raft of past net radio and video projects, and this guy comes across as one of the hardest working men in net media.

(For bonus points, check out the band "PornOnBeta", which is fronted by James O'Brien, the producer of many of Sean Kennedy's radio and video projects and the mastermind behind Rantmedia, home of said projects.)

Scott Sigler

Insufferable WiseAss? Masterful Sci-Fi Horror Storyteller? You be the judge. He's already completed the podcast novel, "Earthcore", and is several chapters into his next story, "Ancestor." "Earthcore" podcast downloads are available here, and "Ancestor" is available here.