ManicGeek Tech Forum

<body> <h1>Full Version: <a href="index.php?webtag=MG&msg=3611.2">extremetech.com to close</a></h1><a name="a3611_2"></a><p><b>From: Cagey (KGWAGNER)</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=MG&msg=3611.2">#2</a>]<br /> 20 Jun 2009<br /><b>To: Hello, Helldesk? (QUBIT)</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=MG&msg=3611.1">#1</a>] 20 Jun 2009</p> I'm saddened to hear that. I had a long history with them, joining when they first started up back in 2001, and amassing over 35,000 posts to their message board before they screwed it up a couple years ago. I made a lot of friends, learned a lot of things, and recovered a lot of things. Many of the people here are from there, as are those on some of the related Beehive boards.<br /> <br /> But, I'm not surprised. They're a very top-heavy organization, and could be seen to knuckle under to commercial interests that weren't in their user's best interests in order to finance it. The quality of the site deteriorated, the community dissolved, and I haven't found an article to link to from there in quite some time.<br /> <br /> I'm sure the front line people will find something to do quickly, as they were all pretty good. But, I don't know what the management is going to do. Not an impressive lot. <p><a href="lpost.php?webtag=MG&replyto=3611.2">Reply</a></p> <hr /><a name="a3611_3"></a><p><b>From: Cagey (KGWAGNER)</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=MG&msg=3611.3">#3</a>]<br /> 20 Jun 2009<br /><b>To: ALL</b></p> There's another mention of it <a href="http://digital.venturebeat.com/2009/06/20/ziff-davis-to-shut-down-extremetech-web-site/">here</a>, also unattributed. There's also mention at <a href="http://www.thestandard.com/news/2009/06/20/ziff-davis-shut-down-extremetech-web-site">The Industry Standard</a>, but it's basically a copy/paste of VentureBeat's blurb. I've been over the ET site, and there's no mention of it there. <br /> <br /> Somebody's going to have to go and post the question at ET. I'm not gonna do it, <i>you</i> do it. <p><a href="lpost.php?webtag=MG&replyto=3611.3">Reply</a></p> <hr /><a name="a3611_4"></a><p><b>From: Hello, Helldesk? (QUBIT)</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=MG&msg=3611.4">#4</a>]<br /> 20 Jun 2009<br /><b>To: Cagey (KGWAGNER)</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=MG&msg=3611.2">#2</a>] 20 Jun 2009</p> Of course, I remember you from there and I'm really impressed with that 35K. :-)<br /> <br /> Edited for dodgy spelling.<p class="edit_text">EDITED: 20 Jun 2009 by QUBIT</p> <p><a href="lpost.php?webtag=MG&replyto=3611.4">Reply</a></p> <hr /><a name="a3611_5"></a><p><b>From: Cagey (KGWAGNER)</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=MG&msg=3611.5">#5</a>]<br /> 20 Jun 2009<br /><b>To: Hello, Helldesk? (QUBIT)</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=MG&msg=3611.4">#4</a>] 20 Jun 2009</p> They did always have a lot of users, many of them with relatively pedestrian problems, so it wasn't hard to make a lot of posts if you were even passingly familiar with computers and Windows. <p><a href="lpost.php?webtag=MG&replyto=3611.5">Reply</a></p> <hr /><a name="a3611_6"></a><p><b>From: worsel</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=MG&msg=3611.6">#6</a>]<br /> 20 Jun 2009<br /><b>To: Cagey (KGWAGNER)</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=MG&msg=3611.2">#2</a>] 20 Jun 2009</p> <div class="quotetext" id="quote"><b>quote: </b></div><div class="quote">I don't know what the management is going to do</div><br /> Management will do what all managements do, it will survive. Or they will move on to other outfits. Either way, they'll continue to make business-based decisions about artistic content.<br /> <br /> I wonder what Jim has to say about this? <p><a href="lpost.php?webtag=MG&replyto=3611.6">Reply</a></p> <hr /><a name="a3611_7"></a><p><b>From: Cagey (KGWAGNER)</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=MG&msg=3611.7">#7</a>]<br /> 20 Jun 2009<br /><b>To: worsel</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=MG&msg=3611.6">#6</a>] 20 Jun 2009</p> He's in "no comment" mode. Likely to stay there, as well. Z-D is nothing if not a publicist, so it follows that they'd have all their employees sign NDAs thick enough to keep you warm in SIberia. <p><a href="lpost.php?webtag=MG&replyto=3611.7">Reply</a></p> <hr /><a name="a3611_8"></a><p><b>From: dimbulb</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=MG&msg=3611.8">#8</a>]<br /> 21 Jun 2009<br /><b>To: Hello, Helldesk? (QUBIT)</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=MG&msg=3611.1">#1</a>] 22 Jun 2009</p> I think I was there pretty much from the beginning too. Early on I used to haunt the PCMag forum helping newbies understand why their 500MB HDD didn't show up as 500MB....<br /> <br /> I suspect if they hadn't changed to that awful software most of us would never have drifted away. <br /> <br /> I guess Zoltan and b4upoo will have to sleep under a bridge somewhere. Not together of course. <p><a href="lpost.php?webtag=MG&replyto=3611.8">Reply</a></p> <hr /><a name="a3611_9"></a><p><b>From: worsel</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=MG&msg=3611.9">#9</a>]<br /> 21 Jun 2009<br /><b>To: dimbulb</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=MG&msg=3611.8">#8</a>] 21 Jun 2009</p> <div class="quotetext" id="quote"><b>quote: </b></div><div class="quote">I guess Zoltan and b4upoo will have to sleep under a bridge somewhere. Not together of course.</div><br /> Actually, they are one individual with split personality. :P <p><a href="lpost.php?webtag=MG&replyto=3611.9">Reply</a></p> <hr /><a name="a3611_10"></a><p><b>From: PhilHill</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=MG&msg=3611.10">#10</a>]<br /> 22 Jun 2009<br /><b>To: Hello, Helldesk? (QUBIT)</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=MG&msg=3611.1">#1</a>] 22 Jun 2009</p> <div class="quotetext" id="quote"><b>quote: </b></div><div class="quote">According to our sources, ET will be shut down in a week or two.<br /> </div><br /> <br /> <br /> Sad thing to contemplate, however not at all surprising. If it's true. <br /> ET did more to peak my interest in computers than any other single factor. I learned a lot there, about tech and people. <br /> But, life goes on....<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> . <p><a href="lpost.php?webtag=MG&replyto=3611.10">Reply</a></p> <hr /><a name="a3611_11"></a><p><b>From: masinick</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=MG&msg=3611.11">#11</a>]<br /> 22 Jun 2009<br /><b>To: Cagey (KGWAGNER)</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=MG&msg=3611.2">#2</a>] 22 Jun 2009</p> <p>KG, not too surprised to find you in a place with Geeks - (we have been in a couple forums together dating all the way back to those 2001 days).</p> <p>I'll miss a few of the guys there, but it was a time for change; that forum software since 2005 was terrible. The change should have improved it, instead, that sunk it, but it was a slow leak that took four years to completely go under.</p> <p>Good people there; I am sure that some will emerge elsewhere.</p> <p><a href="lpost.php?webtag=MG&replyto=3611.11">Reply</a></p> <hr /><a name="a3611_12"></a><p><b>From: MrIcehouse</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=MG&msg=3611.12">#12</a>]<br /> 22 Jun 2009<br /><b>To: ALL</b></p> <a href="http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2349080,00.asp">http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2349080,00.asp</a><p><a href="lpost.php?webtag=MG&replyto=3611.12">Reply</a></p> <hr /><a name="a3611_13"></a><p><b>From: Cagey (KGWAGNER)</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=MG&msg=3611.13">#13</a>]<br /> 22 Jun 2009<br /><b>To: masinick</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=MG&msg=3611.11">#11</a>] 22 Jun 2009</p> The original message board software, (<a href="http://web.progress.com/products/products.html">Progress</a> was it?) certainly did have more than its fair share of bugs. But, it was functional enough. Certainly <i>much</i> better stuff than what they changed to, and much better suited to the task at hand. But, it was old and decrepit, as well as prohibitively expensive, so what's a mother to do? Of course, the stuff they changed to wasn't cheap, either.<br /> <br /> We'll see what happens. The front line people have talent, even if Z-D management doesn't, so they should do alright.<p><a href="lpost.php?webtag=MG&replyto=3611.13">Reply</a></p> <hr /><a name="a3611_14"></a><p><b>From: masinick</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=MG&msg=3611.14">#14</a>]<br /> 22 Jun 2009<br /><b>To: Cagey (KGWAGNER)</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=MG&msg=3611.13">#13</a>] 22 Jun 2009</p> I don't know why these places don't just use one of the many FREE CMS you can get today. John Fish seems to use Beehive just fine at Newbies Linux. Many sites I visit use phpBB with good success. There are plenty of other alternatives too. Not sure why they use these commercial monstrosities, unless it is to apply so many bug bots and advertisers. Clearly that did not work. Places like this get a LOT more traffic! <p><a href="lpost.php?webtag=MG&replyto=3611.14">Reply</a></p> <hr /><a name="a3611_15"></a><p><b>From: Cagey (KGWAGNER)</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=MG&msg=3611.15">#15</a>]<br /> 22 Jun 2009<br /><b>To: masinick</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=MG&msg=3611.14">#14</a>] 22 Jun 2009</p> I suspect that like most corporations, they want to have somebody to sue when things go wrong. Gives them a helluva hammer to get things done with. <br /> <br /> Of course, for the kind of money some of these sites apparently make, you'd think they could hire a full-time geek to take care of their IT needs, rather than jobbing it all out all over hell's creation and losing control of it.<br /> <br /> Speaking of money, that's another things that's more difficult to do with many of the F/OSS packages out there. They're just not designed for commercial endeavors - managing ads, traffic and the many varieties of spying companies like to do just isn't part of the F/OSS ethos. <p><a href="lpost.php?webtag=MG&replyto=3611.15">Reply</a></p> <hr /><a name="a3611_16"></a><p><b>From: fixrman</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=MG&msg=3611.16">#16</a>]<br /> 23 Jun 2009<br /><b>To: Cagey (KGWAGNER)</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=MG&msg=3611.13">#13</a>] 23 Jun 2009</p> Prospero, I thought. <a href="http://www.mzinga.com/en/Home/prospero.asp?adid=PS:PRSP:Prod404">Prospero</a> <p><a href="lpost.php?webtag=MG&replyto=3611.16">Reply</a></p> <hr /><a name="a3611_17"></a><p><b>From: Cagey (KGWAGNER)</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=MG&msg=3611.17">#17</a>]<br /> 23 Jun 2009<br /><b>To: fixrman</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=MG&msg=3611.16">#16</a>] 23 Jun 2009</p> You're right, it was Prospero. But, that link leads to a site the never mentions Prospero and calls itself "Mzinga", which according to them is an unpronounceable and stupid-sounding Swahili word that means "Beehive". Is that Prospero, trying to be cool by using obscure foreign words that nobody's ever heard before so they can underhandedly steal the name of a good message board software package?<br /> <br /> Edit: It appears <a href="http://www.crunchbase.com/company/prosperotechnologies">"Mzinga" bought Prospero</a> in March of last year.<p><a href="lpost.php?webtag=MG&replyto=3611.17">Reply</a></p> <hr /><a name="a3611_18"></a><p><b>From: fixrman</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=MG&msg=3611.18">#18</a>]<br /> 23 Jun 2009<br /><b>To: Cagey (KGWAGNER)</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=MG&msg=3611.17">#17</a>] 23 Jun 2009</p> Odd that they took the very name I was thinking of for message board software I was going to write. Sheesh. Well, it is off <u>now</u>... <p><a href="lpost.php?webtag=MG&replyto=3611.18">Reply</a></p> <hr /><a name="a3611_19"></a><p><b>From: Talon8Ya</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=MG&msg=3611.19">#19</a>]<br /> 23 Jun 2009<br /><b>To: Hello, Helldesk? (QUBIT)</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=MG&msg=3611.1">#1</a>] 23 Jun 2009</p> <p>It really sucks.<br /> That is where I met Jim, KG and Nate, Fixer, Burns, Doc, John Fish and so many others that eventually spawned into the offshoot forums.</p> <p>The thing about it all too is that there is and was so much info there. Some of us had huge post totals rivaling only Brownie but were all so active in the tech discussions that it really helped me find info fast and if I did not know something or needed advice I could ask and tons of people either knew the answer or could point the way to it.</p> <p>Then the forum migration to it's new software slowed that a bit and then the forum reset hurt it a bit more. It was not as easy to browse or respond but we still did.</p> <p>I am sad to see it go.</p> <p>I am actually even more upset to see Jim let go as well. Through all the yrs he kept that place an area that was informational and still let you connect with others on things other than tech all in balance. Not always popular but a great job over all.</p> <p>Ziff is really losing an asset there as well.</p> <p>Loyd and his non-stop digging led to some great info and advice as well as hands on that many other sites still don't do they just re-hash.</p> <p>I could go on but I don't know how.</p> <p>What a shame it will be missed.</p> <p>Maybe we should recruit some of them to here.</p><p><a href="lpost.php?webtag=MG&replyto=3611.19">Reply</a></p> <hr /><a name="a3611_20"></a><p><b>From: Talon8Ya</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=MG&msg=3611.20">#20</a>]<br /> 23 Jun 2009<br /><b>To: Cagey (KGWAGNER)</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=MG&msg=3611.2">#2</a>] 23 Jun 2009</p> <p>You know the funny thing.<br /> I won the original Last Post Wins thread there and on Jim's first version of it as well quite by accident. B-)</p><p><a href="lpost.php?webtag=MG&replyto=3611.20">Reply</a></p> <hr /><a name="a3611_21"></a><p><b>From: worsel</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=MG&msg=3611.21">#21</a>]<br /> 23 Jun 2009<br /><b>To: Cagey (KGWAGNER)</b> [<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=MG&msg=3611.17">#17</a>] 23 Jun 2009</p> <div class="quotetext" id="quote"><b>quote: </b></div><div class="quote">Is that Prospero, trying to be cool by using obscure foreign words</div><br /> Don't knock it. Look what it did for UBUNTU. <p><a href="lpost.php?webtag=MG&replyto=3611.21">Reply</a></p> <hr /><form accept-charset="utf-8" method="get" action="lmessages.php" target="_self"><input type="hidden" name="webtag" id="webtag" class="bhinputtext" value="MG" size="0" dir="ltr" /><input type="hidden" name="msg" id="msg" class="bhinputtext" value="3611.22" size="0" dir="ltr" /><input type="submit" name="submit" id="submit1" value="Keep reading" class="button" /></form><p align="center">Show messages:  <a href="lmessages.php?webtag=MG&msg=3611.1">1</a>  2-21  <a href="lmessages.php?webtag=MG&msg=3611.22">22-29</a></p> <p><a href="lpost.php?webtag=MG&replyto=3611.0" target="_parent">Reply to All</a></p> <h4><a href="lthread_list.php?webtag=MG">Back to thread list</a> | <a href="llogout.php?webtag=MG">Login</a></h4> <h6>© 2010 <a href="http://www.beehiveforum.net/" target="_blank">Project Beehive Forum</a></h6> </body>