Page Not Found

the two sides to WEB MASTER TUCKER HOTTES

Change is good
Change is in the air, folks, and I’m not talking about autumn supposedly lurking on the horizon. No, I’m talking about change right here on this page. You see, I’ve been writing Page Not Found for ec and dc for more than five years now — that’s a whole ton of nerdy ramblings. Ever since the beginning, I’ve taken detours from the major geek stuff into more outdoorsy type things, from camping and hiking to exotic grilling endeavors to snow sports to, more recently, fly fishing. I’ll admit: I’ve sometimes stretched to include a tiny thread of technology into columns to have any sort of slim justification.
It’s become pretty clear over the last few months, though, that this page often swings wildly from week to week from hardcore technology to barely recognizably nerdy. That got my editor Julie Imel and I talking, and she suggested that we split the columns like the personalities inside a schizophrenic’s brain. (Editorial note: she didn’t quite say it that way!)
I’ll still be sitting cozy on the page from week to week, but the column itself will be titled to reflect the week’s topic(s). If you see Page Not Found up top, you can expect your typical dose of nerdy snarkiness, product impressions, tech announcement recaps, and all the usual geek crap I talk about (remember that (awful) time I submitted the column trashing Steve Jobs and then he died?).
When I’m not immersed in nerdery, though, we’ll be running Step Away from the Keyboard, the brand- spanking new title for my outdoors/life columns. Due to the somewhat seasonal nature of both nerd stuff and the ‘adventure’ activities to which I’ve grown accustomed, the schedules will tend to be so as well. Expect more of the SAFTK stuff when weather is nice and everyone is more active, but more PNF when the days get shorter and colder and we’re driven indoors for nerdier pursuits.
I’m really excited for the chance to more clearly define what readers can expect from me week to week — every now and then one of the five of you out there reading the page lets me know you do, in fact, enjoy it. I also I hope that people who would have otherwise skipped the nerd column will take a look at the ‘new’ one. Our little area here in The 570 has a vast number of opportunities for people to enjoy the outdoors on all levels, and I’m glad to keep exploring and writing about them. Nerdy passion knows no genre boundaries, though, so do expect plenty of gushing over gear and equipment. I can’t change my spots that easily.
So, for a brief closing, I’d like to thank readers and staff for all the amazing support over the last five years and look forward to many more gallons of wasted ink on this page in the future. Part of me would like to believe that I’ve been slipping these non-tech pieces under this headline all along in a bid to prove I don’t sit in front of a monitor 24 hours a day, but that’s just not true. I’ve always written about what I enjoy, so I’m really happy someone came along and asked me to officially Step Away from the Keyboard every now and then.