Time Magazine named its 100 Most Influential People in the World for 2012.  They are the ,people who inspire us, entertain us, challenge us and change our world.  And yes, Jeremy 'Linsanity' Lin is listed - but not only listed - he's first on the list. Time does not number the selections so you can either presume there are no rankings involved, or the order of rank is reflected by the order of presentation - with the profile of NYKnicks Rookie Senstion Jeremy Lin.  Before giving you the list and link to the magazine, we present a word from the Time's Editor. Editor's Letter: The nature of influence changes.  The word originates from the medieval idea that a magical liquid emanates from the stars to influence our actions on earth.  Modern influence often comes from the magical ability of technology and social media to overcome time and distance and reorder our perceptions.  Before microphones and television were invented, a leader had to stand in front of a crowd and bellow.  Now she can tweet a phrase that reaches millions in a flash.  Influence was never easier — or more ephemeral. Which is why we try to choose those people whose influence is both lasting and, with a few notable exceptions, laudable.  The economist Elinor Ostrom, who is on our list this year, has written about the tragedy of the commons, which is the idea that self-interest can undermine the common good.  We look for the antidote to this: how individuals can start a chain reaction of virtue, shaping events in ways that can become both viral and enduring. We are living in a transformative period in which leadership and influence emerge in unlikely places.  Manal al-Sharif posted on YouTube a video of herself driving in Saudi Arabia — women are barred from driving in the kingdom — and was jailed for 9 days.  Our categories — Breakouts, Pioneers, Moguls, Leaders and Icons — reflect the different types of influence demonstrated by people on the list.  We look for those whose influence is at a tipping point.  In Russia, Alexei Navalny is harnessing the growth of Internet use to connect protesters via blogging. While there are new types of influence, some are as old as Adam.  In Egypt, Samira Ibrahim demonstrated old-fashioned courage by standing up to the military in a court of law over forced "virginity tests." This year, as in the past two, the most influential person in putting together the TIME 100 list was executive editor Radhika Jones, who edited the issue with her characteristic devotion to both breadth and depth.  Managing the thousands of details that this entails fell to associate editor Feifei Sun.  The fresh, inventive design was the handiwork of senior art director April Bell. Statistician Hans Rosling made this year's list not only because of his years on the front lines of public health in Africa but also because of how he uses statistics to change people's perceptions of the world.  "I am not an optimist," Rosling says.  He describes himself instead as a "possibilist."  The TIME 100 list is about the infinite possibilities of influence and the power of influence to change the world. And now, Time Magazine Gives Us the TIME 100:

1. Jeremy Lin
2. Christian Marclay
3. Viola Davis
4. Salman Khan
5. Tim Tebow
6. E.L. James
7. Louis CK
8. Rihanna
9. Marco Rubio
10. Ali Ferzat
11. René Redzepi
12. Kristen Wiig
13. Anthony Kennedy
14. Novak Djokovic
15. Ben Rattray
16. Jessica Chastain
17. Yani Tseng
18. Raphael Saadiq
19. Elinor Ostrom
20. Samira Ibrahim
21. José Andrés
22. Ann Patchett
23. Dulce Matuz
24. Henrik Schärfe
25. Freeman Hrabowski
26. Maryam Durani
27. Manal al-Sharif
28. Anjali Gopalan
29. Rached Ghannouchi
30. Barbara Van Dahlen
31. Ron Fouchier
32. Donald Sadoway
33. Hans Rosling
34. Asghar Farhadi
35. Sarah Burton
36. Anonymous
37. Pete Cashmore
38. Cami Anderson
39. Ali Babacan
40. and Ahmet Davutoglu
41. Ai-jen Poo
42. Marc Andreessen
43. Preet Bharara
44. Robert Grant
45. Andrew Lo
46. Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
47. Alexei Navalny
48. Ray Dalio
49. Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani
50. Chelsea Handler
51. Harvey Weinstein
52. Chen Lihua
53. Warren Buffett
54. Alice Walton
55. Harold Hamm
56. Sheryl Sandberg
57. Sara Blakely
58. Tim Cook
59. Eike Batista
60. Daniel Ek
61. Virginia Rometty
62. Barack Obama
63. Goodluck Jonathan
64. Xi Jinping
65. Fatou Bensouda
66. Christine Lagarde
67. Mario Draghi
68. U Thein Sein
69. Ayatullah Ali Khamenei
70. Mitt Romney
71. Juan Manuel Santos
72. Timothy Dolan
73. Portia Simpson Miller
74. Mario Monti
75. Wang Yang
76. Maria das Graças Silva Foster
77. Andrew Cuomo
78. Iftikhar Chaudhry
79. Mamata Banerjee
80. Walter Isaacson
81. Ron Paul
82. Benjamin Netanyahu
83. Dilma Rousseff
84. Erik Martin
85. Cecile Richards
86. Angela Merkel
87. Lionel Messi
88. Tilda Swinton
89. Hillary Clinton
90. Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge,
91. and Pippa Middleton
92. Adele
93. Matt Lauer
94. Oscar Pistorius
95. Claire Danes
96. Stephen Colbert
97. Kim Jong Un   [Rogues]
98. Mullah Mohammed Omar   [Rogues]
99. and Sheik Moktar Ali Zubeyr   [Rogues]
100. Bashar Assad   [Rogues]