a dip in readership as of 2011, primarily due to the increase of technology-related blogs and Twitter feeds. In 2002, approximately 50% of Slashdot's traffic consisted of people who simply check out the headlines and click through, while others participate in discussion boards and take part in the community. Many links in Slashdot stories caused the linked site to get swamped by heavy traffic and its server to collapse. This was known as the "Slashdot effect", a term first coined on February 15, 1999 that refers to an article about a "new generation of niche Web portals driving unprecedented amounts of traffic to sites of interest". Slashdot has received over twenty awards, including People's Voice Awards in 2000 in both of the categories for which it was nominated (Best Community Site and Best News Site). It was also voted as one of Newsweeks favorite technology Web sites and rated in Yahoo!'s Top 100 Web sites as the "Best Geek Hangout" (2001). The main antagonists in the 2004 novel Century Rain, by Alastair Reynolds – The Slashers – are named after Slashdot users. The site was mentioned briefly in the 2000 novel Cosmonaut Keep, written by Ken MacLeod. Several tech celebrities have stated that they either checked the website regularly or participated in its discussion forums using an account. Some of these celebrities include: Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, writer and actor Wil Wheaton, and id Software technical director John Carmack. Blocking Slashdot has been blocked throughout the various periods of time in the following countries: Cuba See also Digg Fark Hacker News Phoronix Reddit Solidot , a Chinese clone of Slashdot, whose name comes from "solidus" (alternate name of slash) and "dot" References External links Geeknet Internet properties established in 1997 Internet services supporting OpenID Online computer magazines Reputation management Washtenaw County, Michigan