From Our Forums: Writers With Potential?

[Tomsguiderachel]

[citation][nom]Luscious[/nom]Hello Rachel,I understand you folks are looking for some "serious" writers with talent? I invite you to please cruise over to my blog at lgponthemove.blogspot.com and get a sample of how I may be able to contribute.If you are interested, please shoot me an email at lgponthemove@yahoo.com.Kind Regards,[/citation]
I checked out your blog. Please feel free to message me with a specific article idea.

 

[Luscious]

An idea for an article? How about a whole new section on your site! I don't remember the last time I saw any notebook review at Tom's. I'm not sure what you are looking for as far as article ideas go, but I could think of quite a few things to make your site more appealing and bring in more quality content.

 

[norbs]

Oh man i thought i hated like 90% of the comments on this site and now they get their own news article.

 

[randomizer]

[citation][nom]TomsGuideRachel[/nom]It is my job to make a distinction between Tom's Hardware and Tom's Guide.[/citation]
Perhaps that distinction should be clearer. Even though the colour scheme is totally different and there are obviously no "hardware" reviews on Tom's Guide it seems that many people don't actually know what Tom's Guide is for. They often chuck it in with Tom's Hardware for some reason, but I'm not sure why because they don't seem that related to me besides the name.

Speaking of which, maybe the name should change? Tom's Hardware is for hardware, Tom's Games is (was) for games, and Tom's Guide is for... guides?

 

[solymnar]

Still love the "moshpit of nerds" statement. Although in my mind they always become slightly goth and emo and start arguing about who has the most intense angst.

Tempting offer, if I run across something that triggers the "hrmmm...this is rather interesting and I'm not sure many people know about it etc." or when I've helped someone configure and purchase a new system/laptop and I happen to have a bit of spare time in the same stride I just might send something in.

What kind of target length, style, and range of topic are you shooting for as a point of reference? I know I've seen general technology articles such as advances in MIT's material science dept., 90KW battle lasers, and other things that are not at all computer centric but more of a geek/engineering appeal. But it helps to get an idea of the kind of area of focus you're considering here.

 

[lunan]

another weird story.
i keep my pc with casing open to cool things there, reducing overall temperature up to 10C.
one time, i put my bottled water next to it, while chattin with my friend. accidentaly...my feet kicked the water bottle...right into the computer.

and i can only stare and say...WTF!!!, as the water hit motherboard, GPU, HD, almost everything you can think off. Vista desktop suddenly turn into a bunch of weird lines all over..

i keep thinking while unplugging my comp from the power source...i got a dead pc for sure..

take everything off, hair dryer it, let it dry about a day...plug everything in and voila...it boot, and still running fine until this day

 

[g-thor]

If I understand you correctly, this is an open invitation to submit something. Is that correct? If so, I may consider doing so, provided I can set aside the time it takes to properly write. Allow me to set forth some credentials.

In our home we have (currently) five active computers. One of them (my wife's) is a MacBook Pro - 15" screen, as she didn't want to deal with the extra weight of the 17" when travelling. Yes, we have a mixed marriage. And yes, I do have to troubleshoot it from time to time. Most things, I have been able to fix, but we have been to the Mac Genius once and called in outside help once. We also have VMWare Fusion with Vista Home Premium on that one.

The next computer is my HP 17" dv9005 - an entertainment laptop I use for business. I've "upgraded" it by adding RAM, installing Vista 64bit, and a second hard drive with WinXP - dual boot, as I wasn't that happy with virtualization. I may try it again later.

The third computer is a compaq, used pretty much for e-mail, surfing the internet and playing light games (no FPS or RPG on that computer).

Next is our (in progress) HTPC, and it's doing nicely. It is a DIY build where I picked the pieces that fit my budget - that's why it's in progress. I need more budget for the next piece. This one does get used for movies, TV and heavy gaming (from Far Cry 2 to WoW and beyond.)

Lastly, there's a recovered motherboard (AMD Sempron) that I put in a case and it is for children to game on when they visit. That one has WinXP and Windows 7 Beta (for me to play with).

All of these are networked and generally work well. We also have an HP MediaSmart Home Server attached, which is giving me headaches at the moment (the web access quit working on me). In addition, I am the "tech expert" for our small business, which includes troubleshooting (usually over the phone) for another four computers, all with various flavours of Windows.

I am NOT a true tech expert - just a guy who enjoys digging into the guts of a machine. I have done this since I started with my first computer - an Atari 400. Yes, I am that old, I have gray hair, and I try to keep up. That's why I read Tom's. I have been through the Atari ST series, and been building PCs since the days of the 386. I learned to use SCSI on my own by reading books. I also try not to be a fanboy of anything, but I have had some personal experience over the years.

All in all, I may have an article or two for you. If you want opinion pieces, well, I have a few opinions. I am not averse to writing something up and submitting it, then letting the the article deity (editor) decide if it has merit. That leaves one final question. Where do I send the submission to?

Thanks for the opportunity.

 

[realneil]

Th whole Mac verses PC debate does get old. I use them both with success and find that they both have their strong points. My iMac 24" Extreme rips DVD's like butter on hot toast. The Photo support is stellar too. The Pc's (both Phenom-II 940's) game like there's no tomorrow. With Windows 7 64Bit BETA on them, they are perfect too.
I find that OS-X, Windows, and Ubuntu are all good performers and worth spending time with. I do keep my most valuable Data on the Mac, but back it up to PC controlled Network storage.
Overall it's a good time to be a consumer because it's all getting better and better.

 

[realneil]

Th whole Mac verses PC debate does get old. I use them both with success and find that they both have their strong points. My iMac 24" Extreme rips DVD's like butter on hot toast. The Photo support is stellar too. The Pc's (both Phenom-II 940's) game like there's no tomorrow. With Windows 7 64Bit BETA on them, they are perfect too.
I find that OS-X, Windows, and Ubuntu are all good performers and worth spending time with. I do keep my most valuable Data on the Mac, but back it up to PC controlled Network storage.
Overall it's a good time to be a consumer because it's all getting better and better.

 

[realneil]

I'm sorry for posting the same thing twice. (Above)
I think that the Mac platform, being in the minority statistically, is in an enviable position for arguments sake. Apple controls the parts that go into Macs, and the OS too. Control being the key word.
This translates into a stable computer, without allot of whistles and bells, fewer complaints as well.
The Windows platform has a much bigger job to do. Their software has to work with an uncountable array of different parts mixed and mismatched beyond belief. That's why drivers can be an issue with older Windows boxes. Stop and consider all of the possible combination's of parts that go into PC's. (manufactured and home built too) The fact that windows works as well as it does says allot for it.

 

[Tomsguiderachel]

[citation][nom]Luscious[/nom]An idea for an article? How about a whole new section on your site! I don't remember the last time I saw any notebook review at Tom's. I'm not sure what you are looking for as far as article ideas go, but I could think of quite a few things to make your site more appealing and bring in more quality content.[/citation]
I appreciate your comments, Luscious, but if you really want to write for Tom's Guide and get paid, you'll have to come up with a very specific feature idea and send me a message about it to TomsGuideRachel.

 

[Tomsguiderachel]

[citation][nom]randomizer[/nom]Perhaps that distinction should be clearer. Even though the colour scheme is totally different and there are obviously no "hardware" reviews on Tom's Guide it seems that many people don't actually know what Tom's Guide is for. They often chuck it in with Tom's Hardware for some reason, but I'm not sure why because they don't seem that related to me besides the name.Speaking of which, maybe the name should change? Tom's Hardware is for hardware, Tom's Games is (was) for games, and Tom's Guide is for... guides?[/citation]
Thanks for the feedback. Right now a name change is not an option, but I'm open to all other ideas about how we can differentiate the content on Tom's Guide from Tom's Hardware. Right now, my main public education effort consists of explaining the difference repeatedly on these forums, and publishing articles that mostly represent the scope (if not the depth) of content we wish to cover.

 

[Tomsguiderachel]

[citation][nom]solymnar[/nom]Still love the "moshpit of nerds" statement. Although in my mind they always become slightly goth and emo and start arguing about who has the most intense angst.Tempting offer, if I run across something that triggers the "hrmmm...this is rather interesting and I'm not sure many people know about it etc." or when I've helped someone configure and purchase a new system/laptop and I happen to have a bit of spare time in the same stride I just might send something in. What kind of target length, style, and range of topic are you shooting for as a point of reference? I know I've seen general technology articles such as advances in MIT's material science dept., 90KW battle lasers, and other things that are not at all computer centric but more of a geek/engineering appeal. But it helps to get an idea of the kind of area of focus you're considering here.[/citation]
I'm pretty open in terms of subject matter, though in general terms it must involve consumer technology or Internet culture. Experimental/labs/scientific topics are OK as long as they are written in laymens terms. In terms of length, most of our articles range between 1200-3000 words. Structure is largely at the discretion of the writer and editor (me). Feel free to message me with any more specific questions.

 

[Tomsguiderachel]

[citation][nom]g-thor[/nom]If I understand you correctly, this is an open invitation to submit something. Is that correct? If so, I may consider doing so, provided I can set aside the time it takes to properly write. Allow me to set forth some credentials.In our home we have (currently) five active computers. One of them (my wife's) is a MacBook Pro - 15" screen, as she didn't want to deal with the extra weight of the 17" when travelling. Yes, we have a mixed marriage. And yes, I do have to troubleshoot it from time to time. Most things, I have been able to fix, but we have been to the Mac Genius once and called in outside help once. We also have VMWare Fusion with Vista Home Premium on that one.The next computer is my HP 17" dv9005 - an entertainment laptop I use for business. I've "upgraded" it by adding RAM, installing Vista 64bit, and a second hard drive with WinXP - dual boot, as I wasn't that happy with virtualization. I may try it again later.The third computer is a compaq, used pretty much for e-mail, surfing the internet and playing light games (no FPS or RPG on that computer).Next is our (in progress) HTPC, and it's doing nicely. It is a DIY build where I picked the pieces that fit my budget - that's why it's in progress. I need more budget for the next piece. This one does get used for movies, TV and heavy gaming (from Far Cry 2 to WoW and beyond.)Lastly, there's a recovered motherboard (AMD Sempron) that I put in a case and it is for children to game on when they visit. That one has WinXP and Windows 7 Beta (for me to play with).All of these are networked and generally work well. We also have an HP MediaSmart Home Server attached, which is giving me headaches at the moment (the web access quit working on me). In addition, I am the "tech expert" for our small business, which includes troubleshooting (usually over the phone) for another four computers, all with various flavours of Windows.I am NOT a true tech expert - just a guy who enjoys digging into the guts of a machine. I have done this since I started with my first computer - an Atari 400. Yes, I am that old, I have gray hair, and I try to keep up. That's why I read Tom's. I have been through the Atari ST series, and been building PCs since the days of the 386. I learned to use SCSI on my own by reading books. I also try not to be a fanboy of anything, but I have had some personal experience over the years.All in all, I may have an article or two for you. If you want opinion pieces, well, I have a few opinions. I am not averse to writing something up and submitting it, then letting the the article deity (editor) decide if it has merit. That leaves one final question. Where do I send the submission to?Thanks for the opportunity.[/citation]
G-Thor,
Please send your specific, thought-out article ideas (yes, opinion pieces are acceptable as long as they are focused and have supporting evidence), via a forums message to Tomsguiderachel. From there, we can conduct our correspondence via email.

 

[gamerk316]

Looking at the VHS/Betamax comment, specifically about royalties, JVC is STILL makeing its royalties on VHS tapes, so saying "Betamax was avoided because of royalties" is incorrect.

 

[sublifer]

[citation][nom]TomsGuideRachel[/nom]G-Thor,Please...[/citation]

Just wanted to mention that when you quote a comment, especially the ridiculously long ones, it doesn't hurt to delete most of it.

 

[Tomsguiderachel]

[citation][nom]sublifer[/nom]Just wanted to mention that when you quote a comment, especially the ridiculously long ones, it doesn't hurt to delete most of it.[/citation]
Point taken. Thanks.

 

[the last resort]

no quotes from Thunderman?

 

[Guest]

g, I love when they like to start opinion of user views news article topics, because when they start quoting they start taking what was said out of context of what the statement means out of the original thread, then makes the poster sound like a general idiot when the comment is taken out of a thread and quoted out of context..

I've said this once before Rachel, if you're going to start writing valid opinions make sure you got the fact's to back up what you say, because you sound like your opinions are based from what the companies state in their general product brief, as from what you have said you retort the co's general BS not what your own user opinion is...

Another point I'd like to make, if you're going to start quoting a user from any forum make the hell sure you're quoting what has been said is in context of the original discussion it was quoted from, dissecting a post in a 3rd person view can often make the post be taken out of context when used as a 3rd person review on the original subject in hand.. We all make this mistake from time to time, though in this case who ever wrote this article had made himself or herself a real legendary tool for what has been said on a forum, giving it a new meaning and and taken what was said out of extreme context of the original discussion..

I've said this once and I'll say it again if you're going to report on an industry make sure your got the test bench results before you start forming your article otherwise you end up spewing boffin rhetoric that companies put in their product flyer's, whether you write for tom's guide or tom's hardware you need to be objective in what you write otherwise you end up spewing nonsense in what you say... Case in point this article...

 

[Guest]

I use pcs only because that what I can afford and all I can afford to replace dying machines with. If I could afford a Mac I would replace all my xp and defiantly my vista laptop with macs. I have a Ipod Touch and if its anything like the rest of their other products I can't wait to switch!!! The Touch just works, all the time every time, unlike some os we know.... So bashing Mac is pointless. There many windows user who can't afford to upgrade to a mac, but would in a second if they could.

Ken Lawson