"I plot all of their deaths constantly" Engadget Podcast 122

podcast #122 is really the Q&A session of the 2008 NYC reader meet-up. it's short and sort of sweet. josh, nilay, and paul seem to be as articulate and sassy in person as in their podcasts. at first I thought that maybe paul was d-r-u-n-k, but then I noticed he sounded quite sober later on in the session. maybe he was able to rally? there were fewer questions than I'd anticipated, but I guess that's because everyone was eager for the raffle to occur. I wonder if I would have chimed in with a question, had I been there. sometimes I imagine having the opportunity to interview the trio and I mentally compile a list of questions.

Ryan Block (left, former engadget editor-in-chief) and Brian Lam (right, former gizmodo editor-in-chief)

the first question of the evening was, "how do you feel about the staff at gizmodo.com?" to which josh provides a very diplomatic answer that nilay chimes in on, "I plot all of their deaths constantly. Let's be honest." but then he maturely adds, "read both sites, but read ours more often." I didn't even consider a rivalry between blogs before the moment I heard that question. I suppose it's natural, especially given the fact that engadget was started by someone who left gizmodo, apparently to begin a war between tech blogs.

did Engadget kill the Palm Foleo? image from Wikipedia

the cutest question was either, "what's the gender ratio of Engadget readers?" made cuter by the fact that it was lisped by a man, or, "how do you feel about mentoring and giving out advice?"

want to write for a tech blog? answer a call for writers! that's how josh, paul, and nilay got their jobs.

during the q&a, nilay proved to me that he really does like to yell at people. he yelled at people for booing free stuff (turns out they were booing the bberry storm), and he yelled at a girl who was heckling some guy. he told her to stop being mean, and that she was already scaring [the men] around her just by being a girl. it was cute.

there was one q&a-er I found to be completely annoying, Dingo (commenter name). he got up and PROJECTED a mini speech into the mic. his demeanor made it clear that he was shamelessly begging for attention. finally, after all the other crap he let out of his mouth, he got to his question, "but really, the question that's on everyone's mind," I'm telling you, he was obnoxious, "or at least the one that's on my mind," I suppose he did reign himself in, "is, 'What Is the Meaning of Life?'" Josh didn't skip a beat. "The Meaning of Life? Oh, of course, it's 42. Everyone knows that." so true. I'm not even a nerd and I knew that (but I'm sure I wouldn't have busted it out in a nanosecond).

The Ultimate Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything. image from Wikipedia.