Web Informant #415, 17 August 2005: Hiatus

 

http://strom.com/awards/415.html

 

So, long time, no write. This is probably the longest hiatus that I've been on for Web Informant, and I can explain. Part of the problem has been Too Much Real Work. Running an internationally famous site like Tom's has taken all my energies, and after putting in the long hours I haven't found much time to pen any missives. Plus, having a weekly column running on that site has drawn my attention more than I thought. Getting used to life in sunny LA has also taken some time. I think I can finally get around some parts without having to bring up a map or go googling my destination. And yes, I am enjoying life out here on the left coast, now that the rainy season is over (and before the fire season begins). And getting used to doing all that driving hasn't been easy. But I have found the 45 minutes or so in the car each way a great place to listen to podcasts. Finally, maintaining an email listserv is a pain in the neck, and dealing with subscribes, bounces, and potential filtering blocks has taken its toll. I don't look forward to all the bounce traffic that I will get after I send this out, especially after all these weeks of being dark.

 

It isn't like I don't want to talk to you, my faithful readers of many years. I do. But for the time being, Web Informant is going under cover. You have several possible strategies:

 

First, bookmark (remember those?) http://www.tomshardware.com and check it every day, but especially every Wednesday when I post my column. I would love to hear your comments about the columns and ways that you think I can improve our site. Always looking, you know me.

 

If you don't want to deal with bookmarks, and have an RSS reader, I will post my columns to my feed each Wednesday just to remind you.

http://strom.com/strom.rss

 

Today's column is a trip down memory lane with US Robotics, I think you will like it. I have already gotten several emails from Tom's readers about their modem experiences. It has been fun to hear from so many people about this long-time company that was so key to computing developments.

 

You can also subscribe to one of the four Tom's RSS feeds here if you want to keep track of which articles we post – we have separate ones for news, articles, and networking news and features. I think the URLs are self-explanatory: (The second one will send you my columns, along with the other features.)

 

http://www.tomshardware.com/hardnews/news.xml

http://www.tomshardware.com/articles.xml

http://www.tomsnetworking.com/TNheadlineRSS.php

http://www.tomsnetworking.com/TNfeaturesRSS.php

 

One more thing about Tom's. We are working on producing several new sites this fall, sites that will expand our coverage beyond our traditional audience of early grassroots techie adopters, but at the same time give them something more to read. You would think with several dozen news stories and three or four feature articles per day we publish enough content, but no, we are going to do more. We will be expanding our news and networking coverage, and also coming out with a new site dealing exclusively with mobile products.

 

As part of this expansion, we have hired Barry Gerber as our editor for the mobile site. You'll see his byline across the site already. I am very excited about working with Barry – this is the fourth publication we have worked on together. Barry and I go way back to the mid 1980s, when I was first living here in LA and working for the original PC Week and he was working for UCLA as an original IT manager. Back then we did our first network "shootout" tests comparing Arcnet, Ethernet, and Token Ring. Barry was a token ring guy and could never live down the fact that Ethernet came out on top. Luckily, he has gotten over that trauma and now is a well-adjusted guy who has written a bunch of books on Exchange. Since those early days we went on to establish Network Computing together and we also did some work when I was at VAR Business. It is a pleasure to work with Barry again and I am looking forward to what we can create at Tom's. 

 

Thanks for all your support and comments about the many Web Informants down through the ages. I'll use this list to keep you updated on major things going on with me personally, but if you want to continue reading my professional columns, and keeping up with me on a weekly basis, start spending more time on Tom's.

 

David Strom

Editor-in-Chief

Tom's Guides Publishing

31225 LaBaya Dr #107

Westlake Village, CA 91362

+1 (818) 991-0282 x204

david@strom.com

 

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