Discussion on:

Geekend is coming to an end: Share your favorite posts and/or discussions

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/geekend/sci-fi-rant-why-giant-mecha-robots-are-stupid/1148

The 'Best of / Worst of Star Trek' series
The annual TV previews and periodic movie previews

Geekend has been thought dead before. Hopefully it be resurrected again. it's one of the varieties of content that makes TR unique and is difficult find elsewhere.

Mary, will the legacy content remain on the site?

Palmetto,
Thanks for the feedback and for the great selections (I was wondering how many comments it would take for the mecha robots post to be mentioned: http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/geekend/sci-fi-rant-why-giant-mecha-robots-are-stupid/1148). Good question about legacy content. Yes, all of the Geekend archived content will remain on the site.

Thanks again,
Mary

I'll miss you, Geekend! I enjoyed too many posts to list here. I understand your wanting to focus on business technology, but there is definite merit and value to "the lighter side." It's a shame we can't have both.

Good luck and farewell.

What will I do with my Fridays?

Killing the Geekend will remove one more piece of what made TR, in Jason's words, "the first social networking site" and unique among tech-oriented sites. Now it seems that social equates to nothing more than a "Like" button and networking is equated to "what have you done for me lately".

Another chunk cut out of what used to be a vibrant community and another step on the road to becoming just another ZDNet.

ZDNet is still focused on tech news and TechRepublic is still focused on being a social network for technology professionals to share tips, advice, and best practices. The two brands still have different and complimentary missions.

As for my favorite Geekend post, it was this one:
http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/geekend/the-five-best-deep-space-nine-episodes-of-all-time/9557

I'd be disappointed if there weren't pleas to keep Geekend alive. It has had a great run! And, as those of you who have been around here for a while know, it could always make a comeback at some point. Meanwhile, the archive will remain live on the site.

...nor would I ever want to.

It's staring me in the face and I can't resist anymore.

"The final Geekend newsletter will deliver on December 26, 2012."

What, exactly, will the final Geekend newsletter deliver, and to whom will it deliver it?

If you're going to follow the inane fanatical devotion to avoiding the passive voice at least try to use transitive and intransitive verbs correctly when you do so.

You know, it is okay to use the passive voice when it's called for. If there wasn't a use for it, it wouldn't exist.

I had no idea it was so taboo until I started (just for s#!ts & giggles) reading all the nonsensical explanations offered in an MS-Word grammar check I ran one day. Oh my word if ever there were prizes for just how wrong can you get it...

But that, as you put it, fanatical devotion to avoiding the passive voice is probably the silliest grammar Nazi rule. I suppose it originated as advice for people who have no better idea, no clue to writing style, or a tendency to write weaselly prose, but to blindly eliminate it wherever it occurs does seem a little excessive.

Unfortunately the rules engine built into Word also doesn't seem to be able to apply other rules correctly - for example it often alerts to "incorrect" verb conjugation simply because it can't analyse a sentence correctly, and assumes the wrong word is the subject of a sentence. Apparently it doesn't take a particularly complicated sentence to confuse it.

[/off topic rant]

is that people often use the passive voice to avoid taking responsibility. How many times have you heard politicians or corporate spokesmen issue statements similar to, "Mistakes were made."

Another gripe I have is that people frequently misuse the passive voice. Working on a help desk, I frequently see user requests like "Adobe Acrobat needs installing".

Two of the (maybe many) good reasons to avoid passive voice. No, wait, let me re-phrase that: good reasons the passive voice should be avoided. Often the use of PV can, as you say, become weaselly. (The next best option is just as grating: "We need to install Adobe...")

However the slavish dedication to elimination of PV should be quashed!

Always got sucked into the weekly trivia question, loved the picture galleries of things like air and space exploration and underground bunkers, top 10 lists of geek-related stuff, and too much more to list... usually ended up sending it home to read when I have more time (and to share with my wife - pretty romantic, huh?) ... Thanks for keeping it going the past couple years (since I first heard about it) - sorry to see it go!

Geekend is my favorite blog to read, I am sorry that you feel it must come to an end. By far my favorite posts were the Geek Trivia questions, but everything posted here was interesting reading and something I looked forward to. Fare thee well.

Dog pile on the -1 button, people. Nothing personal, Mary

Too many -1s and the discussion will drop off the page. And Mary put it in the WC, so it's not going to get a lot of attention to start!

the end of an era. i greatly enjoyed many of the geekend articles and reprints. too bad that it was most of the reason i enjoyed membership with the republic. the rest of the articles are bland and unappealing to a technophile or technoob. thank goodness that there are still places on the net to go for our technological cravings and needs, but also addresses the human and funny sides of technology and our subcultures therein.

I'm with Palmetto. Bad, bad idea to end Geekend... It's a bit of relaxation amid all the other content, and it is material of interest for the same audience who reads your other articles. If you feel it doesn't belong on TR, why not move it to ZDNet?

*Sigh* Well, on the topic of favorite posts, Jay's trivia questions were always great, especially his closing sentences (alliteration is fun). The top # lists were also fun, and the movie rundowns were great for planning my treks to the theaters.

Why is it being killed off?

Slayer_,
It's an excellent question. TechRepublic will be focusing its resources solely on business technology content, and the geek culture pieces aren't part of that mix.

I'm right there with all of you. I'm going to miss working on Geekend!

Tech Republic isn't just another tech site, it feels sort like a home for us techie dudes, mainly because of the Geekend-type stuff. Yes, we value the technical articles & discussions, but many of us are also passionate about geeky stuff like science fiction (OK, maybe not as much as Jay, but you get the idea).

I personally enjoy taking a break from the serious stuff to read the Geekend-type stuff, and I really hope you will reconsider this decision.

Please please keep it going!

-Michael

Michael,
Thanks very much for the feedback and for the request to keep publishing Geekend content. I don't have the authority to make the kill/keep decision, so I'm just the messenger here.

I am delighted to hear that you enjoyed reading the Geekend posts (the archives -- blogs, articles, and galleries -- will remain on the site). It has been such fun working on this content. I'm a fan, too!

......... look forward to seeing Jay's column, it was missed sorely before and the powers that be brought it back, we can only hope for this again. Live long and prosper Jay.

Happy birthday to you and your daughter.

Cheers,
Geoff
Algonquin Provincial Park

like a friend is moving away, and not leaving a forwarding address....
Where else will I find a community of people with similar guilty pleasures?
Not sure how you guys (gender neutral use of the word of course) gauge what people are reading but geekend is where I start to get to the business articles. This feels like when schools stop music education to save money not realizing that a good music program strengthens the math and hard sciences. The value of your business articles is the commentary and opinion of the public as well. As those fall off so does the "business" value of the rest of the site. No offense but there are a lot of good "business oriented" sites, what will be your differentiator?. sad... oh and I will miss the photos from comic con and living vicariously thru geekend.

You will be sorely missed.

You're a mean one, CBS
You really are a heel
Taking away Geekend is, we feel
An awfully rotten sort of deal.

You're a monster, CBS
Your heart's an empty corporate hole.
Geekend's part of TechRepublic's soul,
Stopping it, you'll see, will take it's toll.

You're a foul one, CBS
You've stirred up quite a rile.
'Business tech only' won't make us smile.
Given a choice, some of us might just turn the dial.

You're a rotter, CBS
You're the king of corporate 'bots.
Geekend enlivens this site's duller spots.
Taking it away, well that fairly rots.

You nauseate us, CBS
But, Mary, we know you're not the boss.
It's just that, without Geekend, we're at a loss.
Can't we get a reprieve, before the i's get dotted, the t's cross?

You're a foul one, CBS
Our hearts have truly sunk.
Geekend's going away, who'da thunk.
The three words that best describe this are stink, stank, STUNK!

(And here's one for the geeks - the 1966 TV cartoon 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' started out on ... CBS.)

...It deserves mad props. Seriously, kudos on taking the extra minutes to adapt the verses. Meanwhile, as TomMerritt posted below, if anyone knows where Jay will be writing from now on, please inform the rest of us.

Please let me know where Jay is going, so I can switch my subscription there. I'd much rather read him that instructions on how to cool the rack I don't have, or the Top 10 Ways to Screw Up a Word Document.

Thanks!

I will miss it, a lot. Geekend has been the icing on my cake since I found it.

As for favorites, I can't think of any. In a cup full of cream, nothing rises to the top. It's all cream.

Really?!? So, by axing this, it means that your going to run right out and update all your TR Pro premium content, right?

Everything passes as time goes,I enjoy reading Geekend,but I'm sure Jason will keep contributions from the writers.They may fade, but as long as we enjoy reading the material it won't disappear.I hope.

Waa!

Geekend has been that one piece of relief to a long mind boggling week where I can take a mental pause and get a laugh from Jay or find some interesting tidbit of information that keeps things on the lighter side. Perhaps they should fire the CBS exec that made this decision and use their salary to keep Geekend alive. At least I know where I can find Jay so all is not lost!

I've always enjoyed being a part of the TR community and being an occasional columnist here in the Geekend.

I am happy to hear that the content will be maintained, as there are a treasure trove of articles here for the TR family. Plus, I would hate to stop getting hate email about the worst science fiction television shows after all these years of being told in often colorful language what to do with myself.

Thanks to Jay, Soni and you for cleaning up so many of my articles over the years.

Your friend in this journey we call Life,

Jerr

The responsible people at TechRepublic have lost their connection with real tech people again. I see lots of new initiatives to get the site and the mailing lists into the board rooms. For those who have never been in a board room: it is a big room, often on the top floor of your office building with posh furniture where alpha males in expensive suits cluelessly destroy whatever good idea we, tech people, have. If you read your Daily Dilbert you'll understand what I mean.

Yes. I know I said 'again'. Because several years ago those same people, or probably their predecessors, tried to kill the famous Geek Trivia. It wasn't serious enough, they said. After a historical battle we, the techs, actually won and GT went on for some extra years. I was there. Got the scars and T-shirt to prove it

For us techs that nerdish Geekend is important. We work hard and keep developing our skills, but at Friday we need something to cheer us up before the weekend starts. How else can we survive those two days without work? Geekend does that for us and we are greatful for it.

If TechRepublic decides to some fun out of my life there is only one way to retaliate. I'll cancel my subscriptions. Because however good the blogs, mailings and white papers on TechRepublic are, the information they carry is not unique. Geekend was unique. It will take some time to find the right mailing lists and all. I'll get over it.
You can't kill just the fun and get away with it. There is more to life! If we all act like that it will hurt in the board room.

GEEK RIOTS!!!!!!!!!!

1. Bring back the Geekend.
2. Bring back Twinkies.
3. Bring back Firefly.
4. Bring back Twinkies.
5. Zena Warrior Princess on BlueRay.
6. Bring back Twinkies.
7. Richard Stallman appointed to head the U.S. Copyright Office.
8. Bring back Twinkies.
9. Repeal sections 13(a)(1) and 13(a)(17) of the FLSA and Regulations 29 CFR Part 541.
10. Bring back Twinkies.

Did I miss anything?

Consistently my favorite read of the week; a nugget of relief from the mountians of ore I have to smash through for the job.
Fare thee well Jay and thank you for a truly interesting ride.