Ugh. I'm not so sure I want to hear about their overt misfortunes. It's there already if you listen closely enough. Scott has no love. Rym can't stay at one job for very long. Neither of them have any work ethic to speak of (lulz). Scott doesn't take showers on his days off. Rym has bad taste in cars.
To me, they are quite human.
lol.. While Scott has no love is valid. I think Rym not staying at the same job is neither good or bad. In this day and age it pays to switch up jobs at least every 4 to 5 years. (I'm about ready myself) Rym just does it quicker and gets a bigger raise each time.. Not so bad there.
I've been listening a lot less lately. It's not their fault. Anyone who does this many episodes will over-expose the audience at some point. I swear that I can predict what they are going to say 99% of the time.
I actually think that less Geek Nights would be better.
The show really jumped the shark when they discussed office chairs. No offense, but all I could think of was two spoiled, delicate, brats talking about something that I didn't give a shit about. I like you guys, but I really don't care where you plant your asses. One thing I've always admired about you guys is that you don't seem to waste money. That got thrown out the window with the chair episode. Also, the quest to have the fanciest sound equipment is getting old. It's a podcast. You aren't professional musicians. You make fun of people who buy expensive gaming computers, but then you go out and buy unnecessary audio equipment.
Of course when you do so many episodes, there are bound to be some WTF moments.
I think 2 episodes per week where you combine topics would be perfect. The key is that you'd have to make things really tight. (which would be good for the show.) Have Monday be tech and gaming. Have Wednesday be anime/comics and catch-all. 15-20 minutes per segment is plenty. You should also do an enhanced format so the listener could skip over a segment that they have no interest in. Just one or two breaks wouldn't be too hard to add.
You've got new listeners all of the time, so maybe it isn't a big deal. I know I download each episode, but I actually only listen to a few. So I'm not sure how accurate the stats are. Once the number of new listeners peaks, then it's time to think about retention. Or you could just not give a crap. I'd actually admire that!
One thing I've always admired about you guys is that you don't seem to waste money. That got thrown out the window with the chair episode.
That chair will last the rest of my life. My previous chair only lasted six years, and cost half as much. I consider this chair to be an investment, and I plan to never buy another office chair.
lso, the quest to have the fanciest sound equipment is getting old. It's a podcast. You aren't professional musicians. You make fun of people who buy expensive gaming computers, but then you go out and buy unnecessary audio equipment.
When we started, we bought the cheapest equipment we thought we could get away with. It worked OK, but caused us numerous problems. Updating that equipment significantly and noticeably improved the audio quality of the show.
Despite those initial updates, we were still very limited in what we could do. Recording more than two people in our studio was almost impossible and took forever to do. Interviewing people over Skype was done via a very hackish and prone to failure way. We had trouble with noise, and we couldn't easily multi-track.
As with any problems, we researched solutions. The mixer we now own solved every single problem we had. Even if we moved to a professional environment, we wouldn't need more than this. We'd been considering buying a new mixer for over a year, and it was finally time. We purchased the exact tool to do exactly what we needed. Nothing less would suffice, and nothing more was worth the cost. I don't anticipate upgrading again in the next five or even ten years.
Upgrading to better equipment is only silly if the upgrader doesn't understand why they're doing it or has no clear path forward.
Good, listen less. I keep telling people not to listen to every episode. I keep telling people this, but am constantly dismayed at how many people go back and listen to the entire archive. Don't do that!
The office chair discussion was just a product review. It's really no different than reviewing any other product. If you think the product is a waste of money altogether, that's your problem. I imagine you would think differently if you spent the majority of your waking hours sitting in an office chair. I bet you spend as much time in your bed as I do in my chair, but you probably wouldn't think an $800 mattress is a bad deal.
As for the audio quality and the equipment and such, that's all Rym. I'm constantly telling him to stop fiddling with knobs because we already sound better than every other podcast. He really does have a knob fetish, I'm not joking. However, there is one undeniable truth about this. The newer better mixer does allow us to do things we couldn't do before. Thanks to the new mixer we are finally going to be Skypeing it up with interviews and such. This was not possible before. Also, we can now have more than two people on the show in the house at the same time. Unlike past purchases which have mostly served to increase audio quality, this latest one you will see actually impact the content of the show itself.
Doing less shows is something we almost did. We probably wouldn't combine shows though. We would probably alternate weeks of Monday/Wednesday and Tuesday/Thursday. It could still happen.
One thing I can guarantee is that we will never do so-called "enhanced" podcasts. Enhancing the podcast is something you can only do with GarageBand, and it can only be listened to on iTunes or iPod. It would take us an extra hour at least every night to enhance the podcast. Also, we would have to double the Libsyn space because we would have to upload every show twice. One mp3 version and one enhanced version. Remember, the show is released under a Creative Commons license. If you want to take it and release your own enhanced version, nobody is stopping you.
I am definitely in the camp of not giving any craps about how many listeners there are. If you want to listen, do so. If you don't, don't. However, I do think Rym gives craps, always checking stats and such. Though, those stats are always going up. He'd probably care if they went down, but as long as they keep going up, Rym won't be motivated to change things because of them.
Good, listen less. I keep telling people not to listen to every episode. I keep telling people this, but am constantly dismayed at how many people go back and listen to the entire archive. Don't do that!
Why? I'm one of the many people who discovered Geek Nights through Ananth at Apple Geeks, so we missed out on over a year of quality GN podcasts. I've gotten through most of the archives and probably won't get the last few because they don't really spark any interest. However, there are so many old GN podcasts that any GN listener should listen to, no matter how old or how new the listener is. Some of my favorite episodes that I've relistened to and should be listened to by everyone are Masturbation and Hacking the Boardwalk. Those two are probably among my favorites of GN.
Also, many of the Monday podcasts became quite useful and informative for someone who wants some basic understanding of how computer works. When I think about it, I've learned so much from listening to your Monday episodes. At first I was skeptical because I thought I wouldn't understand half of the stuff you guys were talking about, but I didn't have any problems understanding them.
Sometimes I also get tired of listening to music at work, so relistening to some of the past podcasts helps the day go by faster. Not to mention at times where I'm multitasking I don't fully pay attention to what you guys are saying, I relisten to them and realize I missed something either funny or informative I missed the first time.
Also, I think it's funny that suddenly the forum is all attacks on us the day after XMAS. Aren't you people supposed to be cheerful now? I think some people got some coals from santa, and they're taking it out on us.
Also, I think it's funny that suddenly the forum is all attacks on us the day after XMAS. Aren't you people supposed to be cheerful now? I think some people got some coals from santa, and they're taking it out on us.
I found Rym & Scott off putting at first. Then they burrowed into my brain and took it over like the bugs in Wrath of Khan. You all have gotten too familiar and it has made you contemptible. You need to take a break and listen to Interrupting Guy.
I'm sorry if I've opened a can of worms and turned the thread into Scrym Bashfest 2007 but my post was a statement of how I honestly felt. I thought that I would be flamed and flung off of the forums for the statement that I made and you have no idea how I felt when I came back during lunch and saw that I have SOME support. Hungryjoe's statement basically summed it up for me. In my family you are honor-bound to support the parents - meaning since they raised you you OWE them, including your money, your energies and even your social life. Money for college? It had damn well better be a scholarship. Credit? Almost all of your money should support the family. Video games? You better have money waiting and ready to "loan it " to your mother or sisters. The reason I get out of bed and report to work? To earn money to take it home, dump it on the table and MAYBE have $30.00 to myself. Move out? Where the frick is the money going to come from if I have to fork over almost every cent I have? This is the life of an actual GN listener. Not every listener you have is financially and physically independent.
Scott: Change my attitude? I ask that you read my above-posted statement - not everyone has a brilliant bachelor lifestyle like you do, and constantly listening to you boast about your load of comics delivered every month is not something that working-class listeners want to hear. Of COURSE I have a negative attitude that matches yours towards casual gamers and to those that like achievements (I refer to the Scott's Achievement Rant episode, which was a riot and a good example of negativity). I'll also point out that to acquire additional skills marketable in today's job availability, it takes MONEY.
To get back on topic: just tone down the elitism. Just a tad. I can't help but think that once the two of you gain exposure to the real world (meaning having a bigger sense of responsibility) then you'll see what I mean.
Note: edited for grammar. Thank God I caught it before Mr. Period.
jwallace, granted you are a complete stranger. I know next to nothing about your situation other than what you have just said. However, from what you have just said it seems to me like you have a job where you are earning decent money, but you are giving all that money to other people in your family.
Now, there's nothing wrong with that. Rym and I have both lent money to people, family and non-family, on multiple occasions to help them out. However, it was always our choice to do so. You will never catch me complaining about the consequences of my own decisions. You however, seem unhappy with your current situation. Well, have you thought about maybe changing it?
Again, I don't know your circumstances, so I can't give you any advice one way or the other. I can't even tell you what I would do in your situation. All I can say is that if you are not happy, remember that you can do as you please, within the law. You can move to a new place. You can quit your job, and get a new one. You can get decent and cheap education at the community college. There are lots and lots of options out there. If you are in the US, and you have a good enough situation to where listening to podcasts is possible, then you have a plethora of options available to you in life. Don't let anyone force you to do anything you are not happy with. Almost everything you do is your choice. You must examine the benefits and consequences of alternate choices, and decide for yourself what you want to do. Then you have to have the will to go through with your decision.
I don't know if you are doing the best you can in your circumstances, or if you can do better. However, if you are not happy, which you don't seem to be, then I think some sort of change is probably a good move. Just make sure you are ready to deal with the consequences of whatever decision you make, and accept them when they come.
Though, I do like how you don't want other people's pity. I'm the same way. This is why I only pity people who are suffering through no fault of their own.
Despite those initial updates, we were still very limited in what we could do. Recording more than two people in our studio was almost impossible and took forever to do. Interviewing people over Skype was done via a very hackish and prone to failure way. We had trouble with noise, and we couldn't easily multi-track.
I am looking forward to the more then two people thing.... That way if Emily is there and makes a comment you might be able to hear her ^_^
I think Emily having a mic for when she wants to chime in is a fine idea, especially on an anime/manga show where she can provide more info. I also agree with jwallace, but my feelings have been expressed before. You two are very lucky to have grown up the way you have and been able to do what you've done. Enjoy it, but be careful to not be jerks about it.
You two are very lucky to have grown up the way you have and been able to do what you've done. Enjoy it, but be careful to not be jerks about it.
Thing is, while it is a minority position overall, the main decider in our success was simply that we went into computers instead of other fields. Living in New York with a BS in a computer related field has been guaranteed money for some time, and will likely remain so barring sudden horrible disaster.
Now before you say "but what about the dot-com bust?", note that most (certainly not all, but definitely most) of the people who lost their jobs had weak degrees, weak skillsets, or chose extremely high-risk working environments at a time when there were too few skilled people for too many positions. The market has since corrected, and there is less and less place for overvalued and underskilled tech workers.
While it's fine and dandy to look at someone else's success and be like "Gee, I wish I was making that kind of money" it's kinda ridiculous for everyone to be like "Man, Rym and Scott are Jerks because they make good money" You know you can self teach yourself everything they know. You don't really technically need a degree to get a job in either of their fields. Just show that you are skilled and you are knowledgeable and you'll get a job. I know a endless amount of people in the tech sector that don't have CS or IT degrees, and I was even offered a job in IT and I have a science degree (with a small amount of CS). If you don't know how to do anything with computers learn, you don't have to necessarily take classes and even if you need to take a few at a cheap college or teach yourself in your spare time. I mean if even if you only have a half hour of free time, then use it to learn something instead of playing a game.
I know full well that I could be making money but I choose to keep my stable decent paying job and live a life of comfort and relaxation. We all have choices to make. Not all of them lead to 6 figure salaries. But don't call someone else a jerk for making the choice to have one. (or not getting hooked on drugs or have a kid prematurely or pursue a degree in philosophy or whatever "choice" someone can make that directly effects their income).
I don't think they're jerks because they have money. Rather, being jerks, if they talk about doing something that requires money, (like buying an overpriced office chair) they go about it in a jerk-like way. :P Don't want to mix up the two.
Same way you can tell a geek, you know. Take a geek and give him beer and baseball, and you'll get back IBUs and RBIs. This isn't the fault of the hobbies, it's the tendency of the person.
Anyhow, if Scrym never said anything controversially, there'd be nothing left to post here about. Well, besides expanding the Other Thread, of course.
We all have choices to make. Not all of them lead to 6 figure salaries. But don't call someone else a jerk for making the choice to have one. (or not getting hooked on drugs or have a kid prematurely or pursue a degree in philosophy or whatever "choice" someone can make that directly effects their income).
They have the RIGHT to be egotistical about their success - that's not my argument. I'll go as far as to say that that they DESERVE "self-back-patting" because they've made the right decisions so far in life. I merely wanted to point out that repeatedly reminding the audience of HOW successful they are invites negativity which is what happened in this thread (caused by me, and to all of the other users I apologise). Perhaps this thread was exactly what listeners needed as a way to vent their frustrations - I know that finally coming out and SAYING what I said cleared my head, and the way that Scrym handled it makes me respect them a little more.
Scott: I honestly thought I was flame-bait but I'm impressed at the way you responded. I thought Rym would post the mature message while you would give me the finger. Your point on my having access to the world (my Vista/soon-to-be GG box) despite my limited assets is valid enough to keep me from making a substantial counterattack. I will point out though that purchasing this PC took a LOT of saving and it caused some financial consequences but still - I'm posting now and this machine is helping as far as my degree so point taken.
Turning to the lighter side of this thread: having Emily put in a few words more frequently to spice up the show sounds great as well as the chance for future roundtable discussions. I would like to hear more schools of thought concerning the board games you play and especially the anime that you watch. I'm no stranger to Windows and Mac, but I would appreciate more well-reasoned opinions on Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon before I install my Live CD. Any arguments between multiple participants would also be hilarious if the previous one-on-one arguments such as the Wikipedia episode, "The Train of Thought Derails" extra and the Achievements rant were any indication.
What I meant by listener participation was the use of tools such as Talkshoe; I say this because ANYONE can send you email for Geekback content but it's a different matter entirely if listeners are willing to argue with you one on one. I'm around Scrym's age but I know practically NOTHING about modern geek culture - I've just now been enjoying the Slayers box set and experimenting with Linux for the first time. I can hold my old on classic gaming arguments and debates regarding legal systems, but the different kinds of anime, board games or data packets...no.
When Rym discussed his new job, anyone who knows simple math could figure out what he's making now. (If I recall correctly, he stated the percentage raise as well as the amount of the raise.) For living in New York, I don't think that he's making that much money. That's why the money thing gets annoying.
I'm glad that he's doing well, but there are shit tons of people in New York who make more.
Besides... I come from the old school where you just don't talk about such things.
I'm glad that he's doing well, but there are shit tons of people in New York who make more.
I'm well aware of that. I also consider wealth to be relative. For what I spend my money on, what I make now is WAY more than I need. By being canny with my money, I can get everything reasonable in the world I want. I thus consider myself to be rich.
There's always a man higher up. I know a guy who talks about his rich friend who is always doing this or that. He doesn't consider himself to be rich with a net worth of well over $10 million. His rich friend, he's worth $25 million.
By the way... just an apology for being extra cranky lately.
Without going into details, something happened last week to a relative of mine that's gotten me really upset. Let's just say that, for the time being, it makes other things seem absurdly trivial.
Comments
I actually think that less Geek Nights would be better.
The show really jumped the shark when they discussed office chairs. No offense, but all I could think of was two spoiled, delicate, brats talking about something that I didn't give a shit about. I like you guys, but I really don't care where you plant your asses. One thing I've always admired about you guys is that you don't seem to waste money. That got thrown out the window with the chair episode. Also, the quest to have the fanciest sound equipment is getting old. It's a podcast. You aren't professional musicians. You make fun of people who buy expensive gaming computers, but then you go out and buy unnecessary audio equipment.
Of course when you do so many episodes, there are bound to be some WTF moments.
I think 2 episodes per week where you combine topics would be perfect. The key is that you'd have to make things really tight. (which would be good for the show.) Have Monday be tech and gaming. Have Wednesday be anime/comics and catch-all. 15-20 minutes per segment is plenty. You should also do an enhanced format so the listener could skip over a segment that they have no interest in. Just one or two breaks wouldn't be too hard to add.
You've got new listeners all of the time, so maybe it isn't a big deal. I know I download each episode, but I actually only listen to a few. So I'm not sure how accurate the stats are. Once the number of new listeners peaks, then it's time to think about retention. Or you could just not give a crap. I'd actually admire that!
Despite those initial updates, we were still very limited in what we could do. Recording more than two people in our studio was almost impossible and took forever to do. Interviewing people over Skype was done via a very hackish and prone to failure way. We had trouble with noise, and we couldn't easily multi-track.
As with any problems, we researched solutions. The mixer we now own solved every single problem we had. Even if we moved to a professional environment, we wouldn't need more than this. We'd been considering buying a new mixer for over a year, and it was finally time. We purchased the exact tool to do exactly what we needed. Nothing less would suffice, and nothing more was worth the cost. I don't anticipate upgrading again in the next five or even ten years.
Upgrading to better equipment is only silly if the upgrader doesn't understand why they're doing it or has no clear path forward.
The office chair discussion was just a product review. It's really no different than reviewing any other product. If you think the product is a waste of money altogether, that's your problem. I imagine you would think differently if you spent the majority of your waking hours sitting in an office chair. I bet you spend as much time in your bed as I do in my chair, but you probably wouldn't think an $800 mattress is a bad deal.
As for the audio quality and the equipment and such, that's all Rym. I'm constantly telling him to stop fiddling with knobs because we already sound better than every other podcast. He really does have a knob fetish, I'm not joking. However, there is one undeniable truth about this. The newer better mixer does allow us to do things we couldn't do before. Thanks to the new mixer we are finally going to be Skypeing it up with interviews and such. This was not possible before. Also, we can now have more than two people on the show in the house at the same time. Unlike past purchases which have mostly served to increase audio quality, this latest one you will see actually impact the content of the show itself.
Doing less shows is something we almost did. We probably wouldn't combine shows though. We would probably alternate weeks of Monday/Wednesday and Tuesday/Thursday. It could still happen.
One thing I can guarantee is that we will never do so-called "enhanced" podcasts. Enhancing the podcast is something you can only do with GarageBand, and it can only be listened to on iTunes or iPod. It would take us an extra hour at least every night to enhance the podcast. Also, we would have to double the Libsyn space because we would have to upload every show twice. One mp3 version and one enhanced version. Remember, the show is released under a Creative Commons license. If you want to take it and release your own enhanced version, nobody is stopping you.
I am definitely in the camp of not giving any craps about how many listeners there are. If you want to listen, do so. If you don't, don't. However, I do think Rym gives craps, always checking stats and such. Though, those stats are always going up. He'd probably care if they went down, but as long as they keep going up, Rym won't be motivated to change things because of them.
Also, many of the Monday podcasts became quite useful and informative for someone who wants some basic understanding of how computer works. When I think about it, I've learned so much from listening to your Monday episodes. At first I was skeptical because I thought I wouldn't understand half of the stuff you guys were talking about, but I didn't have any problems understanding them.
Sometimes I also get tired of listening to music at work, so relistening to some of the past podcasts helps the day go by faster. Not to mention at times where I'm multitasking I don't fully pay attention to what you guys are saying, I relisten to them and realize I missed something either funny or informative I missed the first time.
And we're not attacking - the reality is that we love the show. You're just in our heads too much!
Scott: Change my attitude? I ask that you read my above-posted statement - not everyone has a brilliant bachelor lifestyle like you do, and constantly listening to you boast about your load of comics delivered every month is not something that working-class listeners want to hear. Of COURSE I have a negative attitude that matches yours towards casual gamers and to those that like achievements (I refer to the Scott's Achievement Rant episode, which was a riot and a good example of negativity). I'll also point out that to acquire additional skills marketable in today's job availability, it takes MONEY.
To get back on topic: just tone down the elitism. Just a tad. I can't help but think that once the two of you gain exposure to the real world (meaning having a bigger sense of responsibility) then you'll see what I mean.
Note: edited for grammar. Thank God I caught it before Mr. Period.
Now, there's nothing wrong with that. Rym and I have both lent money to people, family and non-family, on multiple occasions to help them out. However, it was always our choice to do so. You will never catch me complaining about the consequences of my own decisions. You however, seem unhappy with your current situation. Well, have you thought about maybe changing it?
Again, I don't know your circumstances, so I can't give you any advice one way or the other. I can't even tell you what I would do in your situation. All I can say is that if you are not happy, remember that you can do as you please, within the law. You can move to a new place. You can quit your job, and get a new one. You can get decent and cheap education at the community college. There are lots and lots of options out there. If you are in the US, and you have a good enough situation to where listening to podcasts is possible, then you have a plethora of options available to you in life. Don't let anyone force you to do anything you are not happy with. Almost everything you do is your choice. You must examine the benefits and consequences of alternate choices, and decide for yourself what you want to do. Then you have to have the will to go through with your decision.
I don't know if you are doing the best you can in your circumstances, or if you can do better. However, if you are not happy, which you don't seem to be, then I think some sort of change is probably a good move. Just make sure you are ready to deal with the consequences of whatever decision you make, and accept them when they come.
Though, I do like how you don't want other people's pity. I'm the same way. This is why I only pity people who are suffering through no fault of their own.
Now before you say "but what about the dot-com bust?", note that most (certainly not all, but definitely most) of the people who lost their jobs had weak degrees, weak skillsets, or chose extremely high-risk working environments at a time when there were too few skilled people for too many positions. The market has since corrected, and there is less and less place for overvalued and underskilled tech workers.
I know full well that I could be making money but I choose to keep my stable decent paying job and live a life of comfort and relaxation. We all have choices to make. Not all of them lead to 6 figure salaries. But don't call someone else a jerk for making the choice to have one. (or not getting hooked on drugs or have a kid prematurely or pursue a degree in philosophy or whatever "choice" someone can make that directly effects their income).
Same way you can tell a geek, you know.
Anyhow, if Scrym never said anything controversially, there'd be nothing left to post here about. Well, besides expanding the Other Thread, of course.
Scott: I honestly thought I was flame-bait but I'm impressed at the way you responded. I thought Rym would post the mature message while you would give me the finger. Your point on my having access to the world (my Vista/soon-to-be GG box) despite my limited assets is valid enough to keep me from making a substantial counterattack. I will point out though that purchasing this PC took a LOT of saving and it caused some financial consequences but still - I'm posting now and this machine is helping as far as my degree so point taken.
Turning to the lighter side of this thread: having Emily put in a few words more frequently to spice up the show sounds great as well as the chance for future roundtable discussions. I would like to hear more schools of thought concerning the board games you play and especially the anime that you watch. I'm no stranger to Windows and Mac, but I would appreciate more well-reasoned opinions on Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon before I install my Live CD. Any arguments between multiple participants would also be hilarious if the previous one-on-one arguments such as the Wikipedia episode, "The Train of Thought Derails" extra and the Achievements rant were any indication.
What I meant by listener participation was the use of tools such as Talkshoe; I say this because ANYONE can send you email for Geekback content but it's a different matter entirely if listeners are willing to argue with you one on one. I'm around Scrym's age but I know practically NOTHING about modern geek culture - I've just now been enjoying the Slayers box set and experimenting with Linux for the first time. I can hold my old on classic gaming arguments and debates regarding legal systems, but the different kinds of anime, board games or data packets...no.
I'm glad that he's doing well, but there are shit tons of people in New York who make more.
Besides... I come from the old school where you just don't talk about such things.
Without going into details, something happened last week to a relative of mine that's gotten me really upset. Let's just say that, for the time being, it makes other things seem absurdly trivial.