The Tech Report
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| URL | http://www.techreport.com |
|---|---|
| Slogan | PC Hardware Explored |
| Registration | optional |
| Available language(s) | English |
| Created by | Scott Wasson and Andy Brown |
| Launched | 1999 |
| Current status | online |
The Tech Report is a web site dedicated to covering the latest trends in computer hardware, technology, and gaming, and is regularly linked to by sites such as Slashdot and Digg.com. Tech Report also has an active online community. The website is also a supporter of Stanford's Folding@home and is currently ranked 8th in total production points[1].
Contents |
[edit] History
Tech Report was founded by Scott 'Damage' Wasson, a Harvard Divinity School graduate, and Andy 'Dr. Evil' Brown [2]. Both started by writing obscure computer hardware humor at Ars Technica in 1998. The two later decided to launch their own website. The site eventually grew into a business enterprise with multiple full-time staff members, and continues in that form today.
Tech Report was originally located at tech-report.com in 1999 [3]. The site was moved to techreport.com in 2003 [4].
On August 20, 2007 a beta for a new site design was posted in the forums for review by the user community. It has since been moved to live.
[edit] Site Structure
[edit] Community and Forum
As with many technology websites, the Tech Report has developed a large user community, in part through a phpBB-styled forum that is unrestricted in read-only form and open to the public for contribution via simple registration. The forum is primarily structured around computer technology and related topics, but debates also range from politics and religion in the "opt-in only" R&P forum to general random chatter in the Back Porch. Contributors to the website also have access to a restricted forum called the Smoky Back Room. Registered users may respond to news topics and other entries posted on the front page in an isolated threaded comments section that automatically attaches to each new entry. Although access to the main page comments is linked into the user database, the discussions are logged separately from the forum area of the site and are not counted toward the user forum statistics.
[edit] Main Page
The regular feature of the website is the homepage which has articles and reviews of products by the writers in addition to general news and blog posts. Among the news entries are daily "Shortbread" posts which offer a summary breakdown of reviews and news offered by other sites. The Shortbread does not feature links to Tom's Hardware Guide, a consequence of the strong rivalry between the two sites.
Both the general news posts and the reviews often feature off-beat humor in the form of wordplay and random pop-culture references, giving evidence to the founders' origins as technology humorists.
[edit] References
- ^ [1], 'Folding at Home rankings'. September 7, 2008.
- ^ [2], 'The Tech Report About Us page'. September 7, 2008.
- ^ [3], 'Whois.net data for tech-report.com'. September 7, 2008.
- ^ [4], 'Whois.net data for techreport.com'. September 7, 2008.
