Posts from my Fatal Exception blog at InfoWorld have been linked on Slashdot a lot lately. This morning it was my editorial “Was JavaScript a mistake?”, which asks whether we’re spending entirely too much effort trying to standardize a single language for client-side Web programming. Other recent posts to receive the royal Slashdot treatment include “The Web development skills crisis” and “Java is free at last. Now what?”, among others.

Naturally I’m pleased as punch with the attention. The so-called Slashdot effect is well known, and while visitors from Slashdot have yet to bring InfoWorld’s servers to their knees, the mention is always a surefire way to bring in a lot more traffic. It’s especially great in this case, because the Slashdot audience is pretty much exactly who I had in mind when I launched the blog. I’m a longtime Slashdot junkie myself — and in fact, long before you saw any of my editorials linked on the site, you’ve probably seen my posts in the comments.

Just how long have I been hanging around Slashdot? I can’t count the years. But to give you an idea, my logon is PCM2 and my user ID is 4486. (These days, new user IDs are up to seven digits in length.)

Now you’ll all go searching through the comments to find all the dumb things I’ve said over the years. That’s fine. Hey, what can I say? It’s not like I have some kind of agenda to push, or want to use it to set myself up as some kind of “expert.” I see Slashdot as a gang of folks with whom I check in regularly, who share my passion for all things geeky. As much as people like to knock it, I think it’s been a source of great conversations over the years. (So who cares if I might have posted just a little ol’ troll once in a while? Sue me.)

BTW, don’t go looking for me in the discussion threads related to my own articles. I do read them, but I seldom post. Something just doesn’t seem right about chiming in to bicker about my own work. Maybe I’m wrong, but I feel like that crosses the line between trying to be an interesting and engaging commentator and just being a blowhard.

Anyhoo, as I said before, I’m glad that some of my recent ramblings seem to have captured the attention of the Slashdot audience and I look forward to all you have to say about them. I’d just like to point out that this, my own site, is a good place to find out about all of the other writing I’m doing, for InfoWorld and elsewhere. As always, I’ve got a couple of new features on the burners that might appeal to you in the coming months.

And next time you see me on Slashdot, don’t hesitate to post and say hi. 🙂