We made it to the last (work)day of 2007. And although we Gearloggers are looking forward to the long weekend, popping a few champagne corks, and spending Tuesday sleeping it off, perhaps (just perhaps) we're gonna miss good ol' '07. As the clock ticks away the last days of this non-leap year, we've been feeling a bit nostalgic for the top stories of the last twelve months.
When we took a minute to look back at which posts you read the most, we found a few of the usual suspects, like the Wii and Palm Centro. But, shock of shocks, no iPhone, no iPod, no i-anything. A complete and total Apple shut-out. Click through to see what came out on top.
...for Best Technology Blog. Ah, so true! Seriously, we're excited and honored. Check that sweet logo in the upper left-hand corner of the home page. Click on it. And vote for us, please! Voting ends November 8.
Oh, and our newest sister-blog, GoodCleanTech, is also a nominee; incestuously, in the same category.
One of the best parts of putting out of putting out our very first 100 Favorite Blogs list has been the vast, and sometimes confusing feedback that we've been receiving as a result. The response has been largely positive, people thanking us for giving props to so many great sites, and turning people on to some lesser known blogs out there.
We've also had some complaints, ranging from our having focused too much on popular sites, to our having apparently compiled a list of completely obscure sites, that no had ever heard of, ever. The folks at Gawker seemed to be suffering something of a general malaise over the fact that the list included so many sites in their network, while Mark's writeup of Ars Technica started something of a flame war, over on their board. And then there are the standard complaints of partisanship that you get when you include any political sites at all. Oy.
However, hands down, the most entertaining one, thus far, came from the kids at CNET's Crave blog. Fortunately, the first time the video was brought to our attention, we also happened to have a video camera handy.
The events above are exactly as they occurred, in real-time. Enjoy.
DigitalLife is going to be awesome. Ziff Davis' very own technology festival, thrown here in New York City from Sept. 27-30, will feature dozens of tech companies showing off their latest gear. It's cheap and easy to get in, too—tickets cost no more than $12 in advance, and Gearlog readers get discounts.
Over in the corner of the hall at the PC Magazine Digital Village, you'll be able to chat with experts from PC Magazine, DL.TV, PCMag Radio and Gearlog Radio. Yup, we'll all be there. Stop by and say hi.
Do you have a favorite PCMag Network personality? Check our schedule below to see just some of the people who will be in our booth.
Nike + iPod Sport Kit or no, it looks like our old pal, the iPod Nano, hasn't seen its way to a treadmill in a while. Sure blogs like Engadget are in the business of running with every rumor, remotely plausible or not, but once Apple's lawyer's come knocking, asking them to take "spy shots" down (along with a handful of other notable blogs, like Gizmodo), it comes time to sit up and pay attention.
So, is this the new Nano? Maybe, maybe, not, but if Apple's plan was to extinguish the rumor mill, before it got out of hand, it's had the exact opposite effect. The image at left isn't the "leaked shot," but rather a mockup, created by Engadget. Still, it gives you a pretty good idea of what we're working with here.
Speculation has these portly little guys making their debut at Jobs' September 5th keynote.
It was August 2005 when I received an e-mail from former PCMag editor-in-chief Jim Louderback, predicting that Gearlog.com was going to be a great success. After winning the "Magazine Blog of the Year" award in Feb of this year, I'd say that Jim's prediction was spot-on.
As one of the original bloggers of Gearlog (Dan Costa and Carol Mangis hopped on the Gearlog train with me soon after the blog launched), I'm proud to say that we've survived two years of blogging about iPods, robots, and wacky USB devices.
Our very first Gearlog post was written on August 9, 2005 by David Coursey, a former PCMag freelancer, on a new ultralight tablet from Toshiba. What was my first Gearlog entry? The now defunct Sony AIBO Robotic Pup. Wow, hard to imagine!
Big thanks to our readers who visit Gearlog for the latest news, reviews, and rants in the technology world. We wouldn't be here without you.
Here at Gearlog, we're always bumping into the PC Magazine lab analysts and reviewers, because we all work on the same floor. But the lab guys are so busy, we don't usually know what they've got going on until they find the time to post on the blogs or or publish a review on PCMag.com. So to satisfy our curiosity and yours, we're going to head into the lab every Friday and stalk the analysts for a while, to see what they're reviewing, what they wish they had time to review, and what they have to say about the latest gear and software.
So without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, your PC Magazine lab analysts:
Davis Janowski, Lead Analyst for Web Applications and Software:
Davis says he's about to take a look at the IPEVO Free.2 tethered Skype phone, which lets you record Skype conversations directly to your hard drive. "It's got a snazzy look and feel to it," said Davis "and a different design than most Skype phones."
PC Magazine makes history tonight! PC Magazine will be featured as a Jeopardy category during the college championship. I wonder what the clues will be in our 25 years of history?!
So set your DVR for tonight's episode of Jeopardy on ABC!! (I've already set it to record!)
Update (8:15pm): If you missed the show, click on through for the "answers" in the PC Magazine category to try your luck at them! The college students got all of them right except for one.
Well, my week of "Cool Geek" fame has ended. I'm a bit teary-eyed, but at least the folks at BornRich.org didn't send me away without a fun questionnaire to fill out. Some of the questions were a bit weird (which they did purposely since I'm the Weird Hunter), such as "Tell us the best way to cheat" and "Name the sexiest geek" to more serious questions like "Is technology really going green" and "What gives Gearlog the edge over other blogs."
Blogging Molly, Carol Mangis, and I are huge American Idol fans. In fact, we even have our own little pool going on each week, voting for who we think will be in the Bottom 3 and who's going home. Once we hear Daughtry's "Home" in the background of the results show, we're either disappointed that one of our faves is leaving, or questioning why the heck Sanjaya Malakar is still in the competition.
Let's face it: we all know that Sanjaya can't keep up with the other hopefuls. Of course, I'd rather listen to him than William Hung any day, but this is a singing competition, and many bogus fans are making a mockery of Idol. Why? Because they hate the show and want to see the worst person win. According to research firm Nielsen BuzzMetrics, talk of Sanjaya on various blogs has increased 338 percent from February 18 to April 8. Fox News reports that "Reality TV Magazine is the top blog in Sanjaya traffic, with 40 other blogs linking to its posts on the subject from January 1-April 8." So I guess this means that Gearlog can be added to that report!
And then there's that ridiculous Web site VoteForTheWorst.com. Seriously people, if you don't like the show, don't participate in voting. It only makes the true fans, like us, pissed! Go vote off a Survivor or dancing star, but leave our Idol alone!
Self-promotion doesn't hurt anyone, right? Over at BornRich.org--one of my favorite blogs that covers luxury tech--is featuring me, The Weird Hunter, as its "Cool Geek of the Week"!
Although I don't consider myself a full-fledged geek, I do display some geeky qualities that make me worthy of such a title. So go ahead--visit BornRich.org to check out photos and a bio about me. And feel free to ask me any questions, which will be answered in the blog's "RapidFire Round".
Does your job let you play with bleeding-edge technology and hang out with smart people all day? Mine does—and yours could too! We're looking for a "Junior Labs Analyst" to join us and lend a hand in our esteemed PC Magazine Labs. Our Labs are housed in an enormous static-free glass box of technology, where we put all the latest gear through its paces.
The job involves assisting our Lead Analysts with their product testing, keeping the equipment humming, and writing product reviews and blog posts. The perfect candidate will be based in the New York City area, have tons of tech know-how (especially regarding PC hardware and software), and preferably some tech-writing experience as well.
It's a cool job—just look at the picture! You'll see two PS3s (one "Test" unit, one shipping unit, naturally), two Xboxes, a Wii, a couple fancy PCs, and I think there's an Apple TV box in there somewhere, though PJ might be blocking it.
It gives me great pleasure to announce that the Magazine Publishers of America chose Gearlog as the Magazine Blog of the Year! The Magazine Blog of the Year category recognizes "creativity, voice, writing style, the use of hyperlinks and multiple voices to encourage a conversation." And Gearlog fans know that we're never at a loss for words!
The MPA Digital Awards took place today in New York City at the third annual "Magazines 24/7" Digital Conference. We beat out Newsweek.com, Seed Science Glogs "Frontal Cortex," Time Out New York "The TONY Blog," Wine Spectator "James Suckling," and FineWoodworking.com "Glue Tube".
Not only are we honored for receiving an award from the MPA, we are overjoyed to know that writing about USB pole dancers, mangroomers, and laser weaponsdoes matter. Thank you to the MPA and to our readers!
Viewers of Jeopardy may soon be hearing contestants answering PC Magazine topics in the form of a question and to those of us at PC Mag, its music to our ears. In honor of our 25th anniversary, the longtime running game show will be featuring a PC Magazine category later this year that will showcase our various accomplishments, reviews and major tech events and products that we've covered over the years. Jeopardy has long been a staple in our cultural consciousness and it feels fitting that after 25 years, we've carved our own iconic niche in both the tech and pop culture world.
Those of us here may sometimes seem like freewheeling tech cowboys and cowgirls, but underneath this veneer of gadget chasing, robot obsessing, tech crazed individual's lies a staff that's dedicated to giving our readers the finest in technology journalism. Now if only we could get that Jeopardy song out of our heads.
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Nike + iPod Sport Kit or no, it looks like our old pal, the iPod Nano, hasn't seen its way to a treadmill in a while. Sure blogs like Engadget are in the business of running with every rumor, remotely plausible or not, but once Apple's lawyer's come knocking, asking them to take "spy shots" down (along with a handful of other notable blogs, like
Here at Gearlog, we're always bumping into the PC Magazine lab analysts and reviewers, because we all work on the same floor. But the lab guys are so busy, we don't usually know what they've got going on until they find the time to post on the blogs or or publish a review on 
Well, my week of 
Blogging Molly, Carol Mangis, and I are huge 
Self-promotion doesn't hurt anyone, right? Over at 
