It occurred to me today that the techie blogosphere will never truly be mainstream until it has it's own version of Oscars and Emmies that recognizes the truly memorable blog posts. In the spirit of blogo-democracy, I thought I would just kick-start things myself by creating my own award which I will call the 'Caffeinated Codey" (it's my award so I get to pick...).
The lucky recipients of these awards will not only be rocketed into certain geek stardom by the increased exposure that I provide through my vast readership (surely in the 2 digits by now), but they will also receive the alcoholic beverage of their choice on me if we should ever meet in person.
Recipients should be warned, however, that I reserve the right to make fun of you if you choose a watered-down domestic beer. I also reserve the right to confiscate any unclaimed beer for myself. Enough said. Drum roll please...and the July 2007 winners are...
- For Most Interesting Post on an Intrinsically Dull Topic...Jeff Atwood for his post on The Coming Software Patent Apocolypse. You generally can't go wrong when you compare recipes and fasion to code, but the image of a nuclear detonation is what really synched it.
- For Best Microsoft Expose/Personal Mugshot...Scott Hanselman for his Blue Badge post announcing his assimilation into the evil empire. The Borg accessories shown in his new employee photo are way too flashy, which proves that the new Scott is still only in beta. I'm sure his apparel will be appropriately dulled down by the Microsoft Marketing Collective before he makes it to RTM.
- For Best PDGA (Public Display of Geek Affection)...Scott Bellaware for his An Open Letter to Scott Guthrie and John Lam, re IronRuby. I was definitely verklempt as he openly revealed his man-crush on the creators of the DLR thereby single-handedly closing the door on IronRuby for homophobes everywhere.
- For Best Blog Post Title/Pop-Culture Reference...Phil Haack for his Bank Error in My Favor. I'm Microsoft MVP post. Monopoly reference...sheer genius!
- For Best Blogger Pundit Faux-Pas...Ayende Rahien for his Rhino ETL: First Code Drop post. Didn't anyone tell him that you're not supposed to actually do anything after publicaly criticizing a major tool like SSIS (actually if SSIS were a man he would be crying like a little girl after his diatribe). To make matters worse, it only took him a few days to go from brainstorm to the first code drop, which just makes all of us look bad. If I were him, I would watch my back because both the Pundit and 9-5 Programmer unions have both probably hired some serious goons to put a stop to his nonsense.
- For Best Self-Deprecating Moment...Scott Hanselman for his Xbox360 XNA Game Development - Hanselman Conversation Simulator. He promotes a most excellent Xbox360 game created by George Clingerman even though it pokes a little good-natured fun at Mr. Hanselman and the inherent difficulties in chatting with someone with so much geek fame.
- For Best Proof that Google is really a Sentient Being with a Serious Sense of Irony...Ayende Rahien with his Random Trivia post where he points out how he is the first google result for "How to make a complete fool of yourself".
- For Best Viral Post...Justice Gray with How I am becoming a Better Developer, part 1 of Infinity. Even I succumbed to this one. I really need to update the definition files on my AV software.
- For Best Amen Rant...Ayende Rahien for his Theoretical Architects post where he rags on non-coding architects that can't be bothered with the technical details that often make their pretty pictures untenable. I may have actually said Alleluia out loud.
- Finally...for Best Dramatic Depiction of a Geek Married to a Normal Person...Scott Hanselman in Caught in the Act. Seriously funny stuff. The bruises on the poor SOB in the mug shot were obviously inflicted by one pissed-off spouse that has been technologically victimized one too many times.
Congratulations to all the Caffeinated Codey recipients! The selection process was very rigorous so you should feel proud. Keep up the good work and don't forget to claim your alcoholic prize if we should ever meet.