Warning: This product contains rants

As a fan of The Screensavers on TechTV, I had to take this test, to see which cast member I'm most like. The result was as predicted:

The Show
For those of you without access to TechTV, The Screensavers is a live 90-minute show for geeks, with a mixture of tech news, software and hardware how-to's, interviews and nonsense.

The Problem
In the past few months, however, it's had its content changed, by a new producer, who seems to be aiming at a more mainstream audience. There seems to be an unending stream of celebrity interviews, most of which are banal to say the least. Some of the people being interviewed know nothing of tech stuff, and aren't interested in it. So why have them on such a geeky show? You guessed it. Ratings.

This is stupid. This is a show on TechTV, not a mainstream network. They're never going to get the viewing figures of a major network, and besides which, people who watch TechTV are into tech. They don't give a flying fuck about what computer Ben Afleck uses!

I'm sorry about the bad language, but you have to understand that I'm a geek, and proud of it. When my favourite geek show becomes less technical than its supposedly simpler cousin (Call For Help), it's frustrating. When I started watching this network, and more specifically, The Screensavers, it was way more geek oriented.

I've read, and contributed to some bulletin boards about the show, so I know I'm not alone in feeling this way. As of this week, there seems to have been a slight shift back towards techiness.

Today, for example, they had their top hardware ‘modder’, Yoshi, showing us how to 'mod' an optical mouse. He replaced the red LED used by the mouse for optical tracking with a blue one, and made a see-thru scroll wheel, to replace the solid one, which he lit internally by adding a second LED. Total cost: $10 plus mouse ($40). Not bad. This is the sort of thing us geeks like to see!

Staffing
Finally, if the producers need to make more redundancies, next time don't sack a guy who everyone likes (Scott Herriot), sack the tech-clueless annoying arts graduates. Specifically, get rid of Morgan Webb. She looks way too much like British serial killer Myra Hindley, creeps me out, and contributes nothing of geek value to the show.

I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, but showing us how to tidy up the icons on our Windows desktop does not constitute worthwhile content on a geek show. I think the final straw was when her so-called "Windows Tip" segment, involved showing us how to hack the high-score table in Minesweeper! Just who do they think gives a shit about such things?

Thankfully, the producers have already cut down on the appearances of the cute but irritating Cat Schwartz, with her Valley Girl 'upspeak'.

It's not that I'm against women on the show. On the contrary, the show used to be hosted by the geekiest woman on television, Kate Botello, who was a joy to watch, such was her knowledge of, and enthusiasm for, tech stuff. Oh, and she made the 'geek-girl look' sexy.

Also, in the past few weeks, they've finally let Megan Morrone host the show (she's normally in more of a sidekick). As it transpires, she was a superb host, and an absolute natural at it. She was paired with the very manic Adam Sessler (host of computer gaming show Extended Play), and they made a great team.

I could go on. Oh, wait a minute, I already did.