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Gizmo's Tech Support Alert Newsletter Merges with Windows Secrets

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mouser:
From Gizmo announcement:

On July 24, the Support Alert Newsletter will merge with the Windows Secrets Newsletter to bring you a better publication on software and technology.

 The amazing growth of the Support Alert Newsletter has made it too much work for me to handle by myself. The administrative requirements of 150,000 subscribers meant I was spending too much time sorting out subscription problems and not enough time finding you the best free products.

By merging the two e-mail newsletters into one, I'm getting production and administrative help from Windows Secrets, which will free up my time to write more stuff for you. That means more great freeware finds and more useful and practical PC tips.
 
  I'm becoming the senior editor of the combined newsletter, which will be called Windows Secrets & Support Alert, as shown in the image at left. (After a transitional period, we'll shorten the name.) After the merger, the combined newsletter will reach more than 400,000 tech users.

 The combined newsletter will come out weekly rather than monthly, and my  freeware reviews will be in every second issue. That means you will be hearing from me twice as often as before. However, each newsletter you receive will be shorter (but more timely) than the old, monthly Support Alert.

While Windows Secrets & Support Alert are merging our newsletters, we are not merging our websites. My website techsupportalert.com will continue on as before. Indeed, in its new  freeware wiki format, I will be giving it my full personal support to make it the best freeware resource on the web.

I'll be working on the combined newsletter with editorial director Brian Livingston, who is the co-author of 11 books in the "Windows Secrets" series. Some other writers I'll be joining with are Woody Leonhard, the co-author of several "For Dummies" books, and Scott Dunn, who's been a contributor to PC World magazine for 15 years.

 I do hope you'll support my new writing project. I'm sending you this special announcement today because there are are just a few small steps you need to take.

--- End quote ---

tomos:
hmm,
there seems to be some confusion ...
I got two identical [well, I thought] mails headed "Gizmo's Support Alert Newsletter Special Announcement, 9th July 2008"

The link for managing my subscription from first "special announcement" mail, didnt recognise my Support Alert subscription and asks me to subscribe/donate - turns out this is sent to Windows Secrets subscribers where I'm not a paid subscriber.
The other mail recognised my subscription

Also Gizmo's stuff seems to be only in the paid version from now on (I'm not objecting to that, just stating it!)

What you get                                       Free     Paid
The newest Windows tips you need              Yes  Yes
Gizmo's newest ratings of free software               Yes
In-depth analysis of Windows' latest patches         Yes
How to guard against unpatched threats                 Yes
Access to all old and new paid content                   Yes
--- End quote ---

justice:
Also Gizmo's stuff seems to be only in the paid version from now on (I'm not objecting to that, just stating it!)
-tomos (July 10, 2008, 03:13 AM)
--- End quote ---
That would be a shame, at least we still got the wiki.

40hz:
I've got mixed feelings. Big time.

I think it's been pretty obvious that something was going on over at Tech Support Alert since the beginning of this year. Long time readers couldn't miss how the newsletter seemed to be getting...shall we say... less substantial, recently?

But the thing that really hit me over the head was when Gizmo asked for people to become section editors for the freeware list. Now I can understand how he might have been feeling the need for help. Anybody that runs a website knows all about that. But it just seemed strange that somebody, who was as militantly individualistic about his newsletter as Gizmo, would hand over full editorial duties to somebody else.

Then along came the wiki.

I don't have anything against wikis per sce. But to my mind they smack of "self service." Right up there with pumping your own gas and checking your own groceries. If you want to encourage discussion, a forum is the better way to do that.

Now I can't speak for everyone, but the thing that made it for me with TSA was the "tone', the style...the voice of the man himself. Lots of other sites carry much the same information. I didn't go to TSA to find out about freeware. I went there because I wanted to hear what Ian Richards had to say about freeware. And I can't see how that voice can become anything but more diluted by this change. Especially when it's merging with something many of us always felt was a TSA wannabe.

I'm glad to see things are going well for Mr. Richards. He's put a lot of time and work into creating one of the arguably best websites around. And I sincerely hope this is going to get him some of the recognition and financial rewards he deserves. But there's a saying by Spider Robinson: "Nothing really good ever survives being discovered." And I'm afraid Tech Support Alert has been discovered.

And I sincerely hope that I'm wrong.

CWuestefeld:
Chiming in with my identical two cents.

Actually, I'd recently cancelled my (free) subscription to Livingston's thing. It seemed of late to carry content that targeted the less technically savvy.

Really, TSA and the DC newsletter have been the only ones that I look forward to anymore. I hope that list doesn't lose one more.

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