As The Simpsons Movie opens this weekend, I think it's important to point out that of all the technology blogs, magazines, newsletters, conferences, and other Web sites, only one technology media organization can claim to have shaped the world's favorite animated series. I'm talking, of course, of Ziff-Davis, and the iconic Artie Ziff.

Playboy, business tycoon, technology maven, Artie Ziff was seen in three episodes, according to the Ziff-Davis corporate archives (and Wikipedia): "The Way We Was," "The Half-Decent Proposal," and "The Ziff That Came to Dinner". The character evolved from Marge's high-school prom date to a superwealthy Internet tycoon famous for spending money on dot-com excesses like solid-gold underwear. (Of course, gold being far too cheap a commodity during the dot-com years, Ziff-Davis hired a tailor to craft undergarments out of AOL or Iomega stock, depending upon the employee's responsibilities. Ethics, you know.)

According to Wikipedia, Artie Ziff was based upon R.D. Ziff, a classmate of the show's writers at Harvard and the son of billionaire Bill Ziff, founder of Ziff-Davis. But I suspect at least part of the design was based on another iconic PC Magazine personality.

Michael Miller was editor-in-chief of PC Magazine from 1991 through 2005, overseeing the magazine's evolution into the phone-book-sized behemoth it was during print's glory days. These days, of course, Ziff-Davis and other magazines have largely shifted online. Moreover, Miller himself has shifted over to -- aha! -- Ziff Bros. Investments, where he now is turning his tech expertise into a way to manufacture billions.

(Hold on, some are you are saying. Wasn't "The Ziff Who Came to Dinner" aired in 2004, before Miller left? Exactly, we say. These types of coincidences don't just happen randomly!)

Then take the personality. Michael Miller is the geek's geek. A nerd? Maybe, at one time, although years of running the show made him socially competent. Still, it's hard to argue that the nerdy Ziff doesn't sound all that different from Miller. The rest of it -- the billions in stock, the promise to whisk Marge away for a weekend of romance in return for a nice payout -- was all made up by the writers. I'm pretty sure, anyway. (All kidding aside, Miller has always struck me as a really classy guy.)

In any event, however, I think it's fair to say that Ziff -- and, by extension, Michael Miller -- was the keystone that the show was built upon. At its core, The Simpsons is a family show, and Ziff represented the greatest test to the family in the show's long run. Can you imagine a Simpsons divorce? Homer remarrying? Impossible. And even Artie Ziff eventually concedes defeat, proving that love can win out over technology.

So if you're in the theater this weekend, raise your USB key, iPod, or digital camcorder (actually, don't take the last one) in tribute during that split second between the previews and the start of the movie. We'll know what you mean.