TR Out Loud - February 20, 2009

Sonja Thompson: We're baaaack... 4 another weekly recap of the top discussions and members on the TechRepublic forums.

 

I'm Sonja Thompson, a senior editor 4 TechRepublic, and this is TROLOV -- or TR Out Loud on Video -- 4 February 20th, 2009.

 

Last week, TechRepublic's Head Blogs Editor, Toni Bowers, managed to hide from my Flip video, even though she had the top discussion of the week. And guess what -- she's responsible for the top discussion of THIS week as well. And you know what that means, right? Yep, there was no escape!

 

Sonja Thompson: Toni, Toni, Toni... you know you couldn't hide for two weeks in a row!

 

Toni Bowers: I tried.

 

Sonja Thompson: I'd have to chase you, and that would just be embarrassing. So, let's talk about your post that made the #1 discussion of the week: "Dealing with cliques at work." And this was based on an e-mail you received, correct?

 

Toni Bowers: Mm hmm. A guy wrote me and said he's a new guy on the block, and the rest of the group, they're kind of stand-offish toward him. They won't share any information with him. He thinks it's kind of an established clique.

 

Sonja Thompson. Gotcha. Well, I don't know, when I hear the word clique, it reminds me of high school. So, are you sure this also happens in the workplace?

 

Toni Bowers: Oh, yeah. Definitely. The workplace can be very much like high school. Another guy wrote in and said that he thinks that IT is a clique in and of itself. He thinks it s sort of a defense mechanism -- they don't want to get to know other people in the company because they'll be hit up for free tech advice.

 

Sonja Thompson: Ahh, gotcha -- so, they sit by themselves in the lunch room?

 

Toni Bower: Yeah, and you know they have everything in common, so it's a natural thing.

 

Sonja Thompson: Wow, do you think the TR community is a clique?

 

Toni Bowers: Yeah, I think they're talking behind your back right now.

 

Sonja Thompson: I know you guys wouldn't talk about me. Would you?

 

#2: "10 reasons why Linux will triumph over Windows." Jack Wallen posted this flamer in TechRepublic's 10 Things blog. Whether you're a Linux or a Windows fan, Jack gives some compelling reasons behind his argument. As always, I'll link to this and the other top discussions of the week in the blog notes.

 

#3. "Google G1 phone: Does it know too much?" Michael Kassner is back in the top five discussions mix again this week with his post about the new G1 phone from Google and T-Mobile. Michael asks the TR community: "Is Google saving too much personal information about you? Will Google take over the world?" Ok, he didn't ask that... this week.

 

#4. "Why do C# developers look down on VB.NET?" Justin James explains that most of the anti-VB.NET talk he hears is from C# developers. However, he doesn't understand this, because VB.NET most resembles C# from a technical standpoint. J.Ja asks the TR community to give their take on this issue in the discussion thread.

 

#5. "Friday Nite Music - Valentine's Music." This post, started by boxfiddler, was the most popular off-topic thread of the week. The #1 rule of this FNM post was that the music selections had to be "Romantic, lusty, happy, or music you associate with love and celebrating love." Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy, doesn't it?

 

Just in case you missed it, be sure to check out the Questions of the Week post, which I'll link to in the blog notes. And remember, if you'd like to see a particular question highlighted in this weekly post, please send it to trol@techrepublic.com. Did I say techrepublic.com? Yes, I did! The trol@cnet.com address will still work as well, but from here on out, I'm just going to promote the new techrepublic address. Capeesh?

 

And now, it's time to give a little shout out to the members who were awarded the most thumbs up over the past week:

 

Six people tied for 3rd place: Old Mycroft (oh, and by the way, OM has been answering questions with lightening speed -- very impressive), ---TK---, Nimmo, SinisterSlay, seanferd, and bwilmot

 

Two people tied for 2nd place: ThumbsUp2 and robo_dev

 

And two people tied for 1st place: Jacky Howe and OH Smeg

 

We also want to give a shout out to the 5 members who posted the most comments and answers on the site in the past seven days:

 

#5: Jacky Howe

#4: SinisterSlay

#3: OH Smeg

#2: jdclyde

And #1: boxfiddler

 

Sonja Thompson: This is the part of the show when TR's moderator, Tammy Cavadias, shares either some community news or rants about the weekly spam on the site. Take it away, Tammy!

 

Tammy Cavadias: Hi, everyone. We're back this week with the weekly spam report. And why the outfit? Well, this is what I feel like some weeks, especially when I try to tell all the spammers about the wrath of TR, but do they listen? No! Feel the wrath of Maxwell and GSG! How about a little Grey Poupon with those green eggs and spammer I am? Well, he's back -- TR's janitor spammer who has all the keys -- CD keys, that is. You have to wonder why someone posts an e-mail scam question, and then requires an e-mail answer! Inquiring minds want to know. Well, that'll do it for me this week, but before I go, I want to say,  I got a secret -- eight little secrets to be exact. But you'll have to wait until next week to find out what it is. But here's a hint... What's green, has a halo, a heart, wears a party hat, comes bearing gifts, sails the seven seas, and acts like the Fonz? See you next week.

 

Sonja Thompson: I know that white isn't a super color for video, makes me feel a little washed out, but I wanted to show off some of the new TechRepublic t-shirts that we ordered a couple weeks ago. Now, we still have a bunch of other t-shirt of various sizes, but we had run out of Large and XL, so that's what we ordered -- and if that's YOUR size, then you should definitely send me an e-mail and participate in the show so that I can send you one of these babies for free!

 

At the end of last week's TROLOV, I double dog dared anyone to leave me a voice message, and only one person took me up on that dare. No, it wasn't CG IT! But your second guess is probably on the nose.

 

Jdclyde: Hi, this is JD, starting a global game of tag. You're it!

 

Sonja Thompson: You heard it -- jdclyde just started a global game of tag, and you're it. If you want to play along, just leave a voice message on our toll free number (866) 414-2638 or via Skype, and our Skype ID is tr.out.loud.

 

Last week's Question of the Week was sent in by betageek52. He asked: "Shouldn't malware writers get real jobs instead of wasting their 'talents' on the garbage they write?" And I also added,  "Would you hire a malware writer and trust him or her with your company's intellectual property?" Unfortunately, I didn't receive very many answers, and so I'm going to keep this question open for one more week. Please send your answers via e-mail to trol@techrepublic.com.

 

The TR Pet of the Week was sent in by JamesRL. Bijou is his 5-yr-old black lab, and the newest addition, Talia, was rescued by his son from the street.

 

Many thanks to jdclyde and JamesRL for participating in today's show. You know the drill, if you send me contributions, I send you swag! Just let me know how I can hook you up.

 

And if YOU'D like the swag hook-up, all you have to do is send me an e-mail with an answer to the Question of the Week, a brand new Question of the Week, a comment about the show, a photo, or even a small video clip to trol@techrepublic.com. And don't forget to tag jdclyde or another TR member of your choosing by calling our toll free number, which is (866) 414-CNET, that's (866) 414-2638 -- or you can leave a voice message via Skype, and our Skype ID is tr.out.loud.

 

I'm Sonja Thompson, and this is TR Out Loud.