ItsGeekToMe.co

The parking lot at Geek Tower was mostly empty this week, and the halls and offices of of Geek Central were eerily quiet, as I decided to give the entire research staff a few days off to celebrate.  Celebrate what, you ask?  Well, since you asked, this is the fourth anniversary of It’s Geek To Me!  Over 200 issues, and four years into this experiment, we’re still doing well despite the occasional e-mails I receive from obvious nut-jobs (and you know who you are).  Pardon my indulgence, as I reminisce for a moment…

I.G.T.M. first published on July 26, 2007 with great fanfare (thanks to Del Stone) and a headline trumpeting “Meet our new Geek!”.  That moment in time forever emblazoned me with the title of “The Geek” which, honestly, I don’t mind at all.  Some people expect me to be offended when they hear someone else call me that, but those are the types who are confused over the difference between geeks with nerds (I assure you, there is a huge difference).  Nerds are, well, NERDS.  I can’t explain it, but you know them when you see them.  Geeks, on the other hand, are cool, and hip, and happening – we make technology possible, if not understandable or manageable.  Deep down, everybody wants to be a geek!  Spouse Peripheral even has a t-shirt that says “GeeKISSexy”.  Who am I to argue?

During its run, I.G.T.M. has published answers to over 300 questions in some 209 issues, and countless more via e-mail.  I have received thousands upon thousands of e-mails, and have read every single one of them, except for the SPAM, which Gmail does a pretty good job of handling for me.  The column has published in the Northwest Florida Daily News since its inception, and for the past 10 months in the Odessa (Texas) American.  It’s also had brief stints on the South Padre Island (Texas) Breeze, and I even caught it on a newspaper in Oakland California once.  It also publishes on several newspapers’ websites, and is regularly tweeted, “liked”, and “+1’d”.  All the cyber-activity has brought in e-mail from across the country, and even from Canada.  Writing columns is like releasing a bunch of helium balloons — most of the time I never know where they land.  So, if you catch one somewhere out there away from Northwest Florida where it originates, drop me a line.

What does the future hold for I.G.T.M.?  Well, in my humility, I’ve forgone all the book and movie deals that are the obvious outgrowth of the fame and fortune that comes from being an unpaid freelance newspaper columnist.  But I have had my eyes on opening a website for a couple of years now.  I’ve also thought about doing an occasional newsletter, or e-magazine.  The only thing that’s stood in the way of these pipe dreams is the time required to launch and maintain them properly. Perhaps if I heard some feedback on whether such undertakings would be of value to you, my readers, it might help get the projects off the ground.