July 9th, 2007
Our first grab bag of techie schwag goes to ZDNet's 13th deputy tester
I know. I know. We’re a bit late in announcing last week’s Deputy Tester of the Week. Normally, deputy testers are named on Fridays. But right about the time I was ready to write up the winner, our TalkBack system went down and I couldn’t get back in. Since then, it’s been one of those “if anything can go wrong, it will go wrong” situations here at ZDNet. A cavalcade of mishaps and failures. Usually, right after I’m done writing up the winner, we tape video for the next giveaway (see all of our tech giveaway coverage). But not this time. No. Not only was our TalkBack system cursed, so too was our one and only video camera (real video camera that is). Things come in threes, don’t they? I’d better back my systems up now.
OK, so last week, I announced that we had a grab bag of tech schwag to giveway (as well as the bag itself which was a pretty cool bag). What was in the bag? First, there was an 802.11b-based SDIO card from Socket Mobile valued at around $70 (if you’re phone or PDA has an SDIO slot, this could add WiFi functionality to it). Then, three books: Code Quality: The Open Source Perspective (value $43), The NetBeans IDE Field Guide and the third is Enemy at the Water Cooler (value, $32). Also inside the bag were some AA and AAA batteries representing the latest in battery technology from Panasonic: known as Oxyride (valued at about $15). (Right now, Panasonic is on my you-know-what list thanks to our camera failure).
For hot or cold beverage drinkers, I included a brand new stainless thermal salesforce.com coffee mug . And then there was the bag itself. The shoulder bag has dozens of pockets and compartments and has a padded section to hold your notebook computer. I’d actually keep it for myself. But, because of my bad back, I use a wheelie (one from Samsonite that I picked up at Sam’s Club for around $40).
In terms of folks out there looking to score some free schwag, last week was a pretty slow week. By the time the Thursday night deadline for entries passed, we only had a handful of legitimate entries (no doubt due to how many people were on holiday last week). So, who won? I couldn’t not give it to Wevmax. Of the handful of legit writeups, his offered the most details (compared to some of the other entries that were sweet, but a little too brief). You see? You should always give it you’re best shot. There was one entry that might’ve won it had it not been for the fact that it came in after the deadline and I have to stick to the rules.
I’ve been in the IT world from desktop, to server setup and administration and back and what I want to do next in my life/career is write. I’ve always enjoyed writing and have started trying to write my own blog and website dedicated to helping people better understand and utilize technology…
Well Wevmax, having been there myself once before, I can certainly appreciate those aspirations. The fact that you’ve actually followed through by starting your own reviews Web site made the choice pretty easy.
Up next? A video for this week’s giveaway that you won’t want to miss. Oh, and once again: we can only accept entries through our talkback/comment system. Please don’t “apply” via e-mail.
