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Inside the Industry - SpLiZaaT of Twistedmods.com
Date: Friday, August 1, 2003
Author: Jsgolfman
Provided By: None
Page: 1 of 1
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Welcome to our second installment of Inside the Industry. The time when we take a step back and find out what those in the know REALLY know. This week under the microscope is "SpLiZaat" of TwistedMods. It's the story of how one man lived his dream of becoming the first male go-go dancer to win an Olympic Gold Med…, wait, wrong story. It's actually the story of how one modder parlayed his PC modding passions into a damn nice site and had fun doing it. Sit back, relax, have a drink and listen in.
COD: Ok, we all know that Twisted started out as your personal playground then morphed into the very busy site we see today. What was your initial push to transform your hobby into a full-fledged obsession?
SpLiZaaT: I started the site as a way to share my own modding work with the rest of the world. I used to read gideontech and modthebox a lot back then, and I guess it influenced me into posting my own work. I didn't really expect anybody to be interested in it, but it was fun to post, a lot like blogging is popular nowadays. I noticed that a lot more people than I'd expected were reading it and I started to wonder if maybe I could have my own site like the ones I enjoyed reading, so I decided to try it.
COD: Knowing how COD got started and the quirk of circumstances that caused our little group to blend together, what forces of nature compelled you to associate with characters known as Win2kITPro, ImaginaryForce and rm-rf?
SpLiZaaT: Win2kITPro and ImaginaryForce were originally the owners and staff of the review site known as Review-Shack.com. As you're probably aware, we webmasters maintain regular communication through AIM, MSN, E-Mail or even the telephone. Over the course of about 6 months, I became great friends with Josh (Win2kITPro). He explained that his hosting was due soon, and that he couldn't keep up with posting news on his site. I recognized that he had a fair amount of hardware expertise, as well as company contacts which TwistedMods did NOT have at the time. I presented the idea of a merger between sites, and that's exactly what happened. Now, he is a co-owner of TwistedMods, and deals mainly with hardware reviews. ImaginaryForce was also a member of Review-Shack, and we pulled him aboard our staff during the merge. I met rm-rf at a local Oregon LAN Party, and I remember him mentioning that he worked at Intel. It's funny how I was hired onto the same campus, same building and same floor as him the very next week, and I actually saw him on the elevator my first day. Since then, we've grown a more than awesome friendship where we work together, chill, LAN, go dirt-biking weekly and he also recently began editing nearly every article posted on TwistedMods. I would honestly consider rm-rf one of my best friends. He's reliable, funny, and practical; not to mention one of the smartest people I know.
COD: Those in the PC web services industry know that, for the majority of the time, it is a labor of love (i.e., not very lucrative). Considering the discussions circulating concerning the quality of reviews, manufacturers providing product in exchange for favorable reviews and the recent blowup between [H], Amdmb.com and Tom's, what is SpLiZaaT's perspective?
SpLiZaaT: Well, I don't really want to get involved in any debate about those sites. I think they're all great sites, and they have a vast following. I think it's unfortunate that they've gained such a reputation, but I want to maintain a neutral opinion and a healthy respect for all of them. They are great syndicates and supporters of our site, and the feeling is mutual. I can, however, assure you that our main goal at TwistedMods is to provide truthful and unbiased reviews. We refuse to accept payment for any review, and we take other measures to ensure that we are not falsely labeled or "blacklisted" as a bad site.
COD: Another hot topic right now is the RIAA. How about some more Twisted commentary? Also, some comments on P2P specifically and file sharing in general?
SpLiZaaT: I remember when Napster first came out and the p2p community was booming. I actually started my own network of Open Napster servers, which was later shut down by the RIAA. My network was neither big nor small, however, I do remember that at that time, everyone was afraid of the RIAA and Metallica for starting the battle. I actually discussed this topic recently with rm-rf on a long ride home after a dirt-biking trip. I used to think nothing of trading a while back, but as the RIAA recently has become more active, I've decided it isn't worth getting into trouble for such a stupid subject. Also, when someone making millions of dollars a year tells me that I am stealing from his kids when I trade an MP3, all I have to say is that I feel no pity. Move into a smaller house, charge less for your CDs, or support the cause. People started trading MP3s because they were tired of paying 20 dollars for 2 good songs on a 21 song album (and they tell me I'm ripping THEM off.) The amount of money they can make in one year is more than many people can even dream about making in their LIFETIME. With this said, I feel absolutely no pity for them or their family.
COD: With a site named TwistedMods, you have surely seen it all. What is the wildest PC mod you have ever seen and is this as far as we can go? Is there more for the modding community? What is beyond the window and the cathode?
SpLiZaaT: The craziest thing I have seen to date is easily CrimsonSky's newest project known as "The Matrix: Rebirth 8.0" where he has decided to take a screen shot of a Matrix scene and turn it into a case; replicating a cocoon style environment with a little fetus and everything. I'm not exactly sure how he does it, but his use of bondo, airbrushing, dremel work, and other resources easily make him one of the most skilled modders alive. I have been following every one of his projects since he started, and he has always been number one to me. I often talk to him online, and his personality makes his mods even better than words can describe.
COD: How about the battle heating up between AMD and Intel?
SpLiZaaT: Was there ever a battle? If so, I don't recall. Intel has always owned 3/4 of the processor market segment, and AMD has been trying to keep up. This may sound "Twisted" but the only thing I have ever bought or built customer systems with has been AMD processors. Ironically enough, I now work for Intel. The fact that a 1.8GHz AMD will outperform a 2.2GHz Intel has previously persuaded me to stick with AMD processors. However, with the recent release of the 800MHz FSB 3.2GHz Processor by Intel, my mouth has been watering, and I am almost tempted to move to the dark side. One thing that amazes me is the amount of advertising and marketing that Intel puts into everything. AMD, being the underdog and as small as they seem by comparison, could easily be as big as Intel if they wanted to, by by simply throwing review sites a couple of samples, and paying for a news ad every once in a while.
COD: The battle between Nvidia and ATI?
SpLiZaaT: Hrm - I am more of a Processor person, and I really haven't paid much attention to the video card industry lately. Once again, I am very one-sided and thick-skulled when it comes to components. I tend to stick to one company only, and that would be NVIDIA. I have never owned an ATI Video Card, but have always heard good things about them. In fact, once again, I am considering switching to them with the recent release of the Radeon 9800. I am tired of playing games with NVidia putting out new video cards that perform weaker than previous cards. Everyone hears "GeForce FX 5600 Ultra" and immediately their eyes open, but when I say "GeForce 4 ti4200" everyone suddenly tells me I suck. Do they not realize that both cards are nearly identical in performance?
COD: What do you know about PCI Express?
SpLiZaaT: PCI Express is a new bus technology designed to increase the bandwidth available to add-in devices in a system. This is necessary, since even a simple Gigabit Ethernet NIC is capable of maxing out the bandwidth on a standard PCI bus. Sure, there are other solutions currently available in servers, but I haven't seen those making it down to the desktop platforms that we know and love. If you want to know more, do your own research. We're TwistedMods, not TwistedBusArchitecture. :)
COD: How do you see the PC industry in a few years? What can we look forward to in 2010?
SpLiZaaT: In the future years, I see processors that operate faster than a human being can even tell. Of course, computers will continue to get faster, and people will continue to buy new systems as long as they keep forgetting that once a PC gets so fast, you can't tell the difference anymore! I also see nice 3.2GHz computers inside my watch, and I also see hovering cases... Ok, I'm a little bit ahead of myself. :) 2010 isn't that far off; I wouldn't expect anything different than improved versions of what we are seeing today.
COD: One final question, who's the genius that decided on beige anyway?
SpLiZaaT: I have no idea. In fact, I'm not even sure if there IS an answer to this question. If you ever find out, though, let me know. I'd like to send them a letter about how I really feel about the color. :)
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