I’ve had this domain name sitting around gathering dust for over two years. The original idea I had for it was pretty much what the name implies: Technology in terms of gadgets and software that is affordable (nothing over, hmm, $50 for software or $100 for hardware). Unfortunately, I never really got around to making the effort to get this site up and running over the past two years (good thing domain name registration is reasonably priced these days). I was just about to let the name lapse when I learned in May that the budget that paid the salary for my day job was disappearing! This put a whole new spin on the site.
I decided that what I want to talk about here is Tech Geeks (like me) on a budget in the broader sense. That is to say everything! So, here’s my premise for this site…
The most important premise for this site is that Tech Geeks are people too. I want to break the stereotype of the un-social or a-social loner nerd techie. Tech Geeks have families, interests outside of pure technology, and generally live a life like most other people. The only difference is that we usually put a tech spin on a lot more things than non-techies. So, I’m going to talk about life-stuff that in my experience seems to appeal to Tech Geeks in particular.
The other important premise for this site is that as of right now, Summer 2008, the economy of the world doesn’t look so good. My day job loss is just one little blip. I’m sure there are a lot of other people in similar situations. Some better, some worse, but we’re all in the same economic world. Instead of going into a woe-is-me downward spin, I want to figure out how to make the best of a bad time.
So, the focus of this site is living the Tech Geek life on a budget that makes sense. This includes my original idea for information about budget gadgets and software. However, my new spin on the topic brings in all kinds of other topics too. For example, I’m also a dad. I talk to a number of other Geek Tech dads (and the occasional Geek Tech mom) and I think there is a lot of material for me to look at there. I live in part of the U.S. that has the highest energy prices for electricity and gasoline in the nation. As I say on my GreenTechies blog, you don’t have to be a tree hugger to be concerned about energy use. So, I’m going to talk about some of the things I’ve learned over the last couple of years about reducing power use in the home and office. I also enjoy being entertained. But, how do you do this on a budget? Going to the movie theater with a family can easily run over US$100 these days. This is not exactly a budget item anymore. So, I’ll dig through my SF books, comics books, DVDs, games, and other forms of entertainment that can be budget entertainment if approached properly.
Finally, I’ve talked to a few fellow Tech Geeks and asked them to contribute guest blogs or articles now and then.