Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Normally this space is where I express my nutty views on the tech community at large.  Not today.  Today, we’ll just point out the insanity going on right here at Gadgetell, which apparently moonlights as an asylum judging from these writers.

• Iyaz practices unsafe practices
• Sony dodges a bullet
• Jodie risks much for G’Tell
• Gadgetell lowers the bar?

Iyaz tries risky business

“Condoms?  Condoms are for sailors.”  That is what comes to mind when I heard about our editor, Iyaz, conducting a bizarre experiment involving a Windows machine and no anti-virus.  Why not swim with piranha?  Or stuff your pants with jerky and run though the savanna signing, “the circle of life” song?  Or perhaps staple $20 bills to your shirt and run through the rough and tumble parts of NYC?

Nothing good will come from this.  Can’t we get PETA to get involved to stop this kind of chipset abuse?  Think of the microprocessors that are watching!

A wasted opportunity on Twitter

I am not done with Iyaz yet.  Yesterday, he had the unique opportunity to interview Sony about their new super-bright giant TV via twitter.  This is the first interview I’d seen conducted via this medium but that’s not my beef.  It wasn’t the questions asked, actually some knowledgeable ones about the TV;s features and tech (I may have learned something, shhhh).  What gets my goat is the question not asked.

The Walkman brand is dead.  It needs to be wrapped in a Sony flag and sent to Davy Jones locker.  We let this Sony Euro guy who presumably has nothing to do with phones or personal audio devices who could have been an advocate in the company for us go with not so much as a, “Hey, you know the Walkman names make everything think of the 80s right?”  But no, Iyaz has to keep his nose clean of this fight.  Can’t ruffle the man’s feathers.  Pish posh, Iyaz.

Putting Jodie in harm’s way

We send journalists to war.  We embed them with troops in the desert.  We let Geraldo make maps in sand telling everyone where they are.  When is a line crossed when content becomes more powerful than a person’s safety?  That is the question posed to Gadgetell’s board of directors.  How far are you going to push Jodie?

From the footage shown in the first “You Tell Gadgetell”, Jodie is caught up in the underbelly of society: a LAN party.  I, and most of my colleagues, believed these “parties” were a thing of the past but have clearly reared their ugly heads. 

No longer the geeky fun spot of the 80s and 90s, these party goers, clearly from the wrong side of broadband access, give Jodie answers that boggle the mind.  One guy is so far gone, he claims a “computer” is his favorite gadget for having people talk to him from around the world.  Another tweaker mentions some mythical Zune product.

The episode closes with Jodie standing in the early morning sun, presumably just after the party starts to hit its stride.  What you don’t see is the SEAL team that extracted her from the party.  Like the professional she is, Jodie doesn’t show her fear of getting up close to these party goers caught up in their revelry; her voice doesn’t falter as she asks her mandated questions but you can sense something isn’t right.  The take-away from this is: keep Jodie away from LAN parties.  Send Jodie easy questions to ask the common man/woman, not ones that evoke answers like “Zune,” oh the shame.

“Best. Title. Ever.” - Adam Berger, Executive Editor, Dabbledoo media (of which Gadgetell is a wholly owned subsidiary)

I had so much respect for Gadgetell management.  For those that don’t know, this is one tight ship.  Gadgetell is like a fine oiled machine that has a very flat command structure and tight reigns on editing.  As an Associate Editor, the closest I come to actually publishing anything, is usually putting something up marked “ready” so an expert/authority can ensure our quality content.

You can imagine my displeasure when yesterday Gadgetell posted this piece titled: Paving the way for Verizon’s Prenis.  Gadgetell is above this kind of juvenile, dick and fart humor.  We don’t need to swing that low into the gutter to get a laugh, do we?  Are times so grim that to perk us up a phallic imaginary name is plastered all over this site I love?

For shame, Gadgetell.  For shame.  At the very least, kudos the new Crest tooth paste mint logo for Who’s on Crack.  Good bye classy-old pee-in-a-cup!  Huzzah!