Need To Know This article refers to the newsletter called `` Need To Know '' . For a discussion of `` need-to-know '' security classification , see the classified information article . Need To Know , also known as NTK , is an email newsletter , published late on Fridays , written by former Wired journalist and Irish Times columnist Danny O'Brien and former Wired and Future journalist Dave Green . NTK was published weekly from 1997 until 2004 , when it moved to fortnightly publication . In 2005 it changed to a monthly schedule . The newsletter bills itself as `` the week ^H^H^H^H now-monthly tech update for the UK '' and presents the highlights of the week happenings in the IT , blogosphere and general Internet community . NTK frequently concentrates on British issues , such as UK legislation like the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act and the UK Campaign for Digital Rights . It has also looked at less-weighty matters such as confectionery and nudity in films . It takes an irreverent tone that is similar to the later The Register and the earlier Private Eye and Viz , and remarkably dissimilar to the tone of this description . The original manifesto for NTK , showing its Special Projects origins , suggests the intent of the publication while attracting the target demographic . Format The newsletter is also available on the World Wide Web and has used a fixed-width ASCII text based layout since its inception . It is sent to subscribers in plain-text email . Since 2004 the website has offered readers the ability to use their own style sheet , providing some variety . The newsletter comprises the following sections : An ASCII art representation of the letters `` NTKnow '' , along with the strapline and date . An ironic or amusing quote of the week , not seen since April 2005 , when NTK was weekly . HARD NEWS : Important , but not necessarily mainstream , news stories from the IT world during that week . Each story is accompanied by URLs for further reading . ANTI-NEWS , later ANTI-MEMES : A collection of `` D'Oh ! `` s ; errors in mainstream news articles such as using the wrong image for a story , typos , inappropriate web adverts , meta-information for editors or page filler that was accidentally published without being edited or even outright nonsense like `` Columbia : shuttle travelling nearly 18 times the speed of light '' . This section has been recently spun off into another web-log , D'Oh ! the humanity ! . From 2002 onwards , the section also intermittently included `` puerile google goofs '' , which presented Google results for searches using misspellings such as `` first aid tit '' or `` penny farting '' . EVENT QUEUE : Events to attend that may be of interest to technologically-minded people . This includes visits to the UK by open source leaders , sci-fi conventions and blogging conferences , as well as talks and seminars by the NTK writers and their friends . The selections are frequently London -centric , attracting criticism from readership living north of Watford , although with O'Brien 's move to California , the geographical range of events covered has widened ; Burning Man also usually merits an annual mention . TRACKING : Focusses on interesting , useful , or just plain esoteric software . The selection is not limited to any particular platform ; software for Linux , Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X all features regularly , and occasionally software for the C64 and ZX Spectrum , such as a mini TCP/IP stack , is included if it is particularly interesting or can be mocked in an amusing fashion . The section also sometimes includes reviews of web-services like BugMeNot rather than conventional software . MEMEPOOL : like Memepool , a collection of the week 's best Internet memes . GEEK MEDIA : short synopses of television programmes or films that are of interest to a geek audience . Films also include quotes from CAPalert and the BBFC ratings for added irony . After the geek media section , there is a schedule of rotating extra items , including `` Confectionery Theory '' ( reviewing new sweets upon their arrival in the UK , now outsourced to snackspot.org.uk ) , `` feebdack '' ( as a form of letters page ; the title is a reference to a coinage in Rudy Rucker 's Hacker and The Ants ) , `` boners '' ( correction of errors in NTK itself ) , and an occasional music review section . SMALL PRINT : Other than containing the basic meta-information that NTK is a newsletter , published every week , etc. , this section always includes the motto `` THEY STOLE OUR REVOLUTION. NOW WE 'RE STEALING IT BACK '' and the phrase `` Registered at the Post Office as '' , which is usually completed by an oblique reference to another website or publication that has itself referenced NTK , Danny or Dave . For example , it linked to this Wikipedia page on October 1 , 2004 . Significant events February 13 , 1998 : NTK launched the Falco competition , named after the rock star Falco who died that week . Readers were encouraged to mail their predictions of which technology companies would fail ( dot-bombs ) , and NTK would proclaim `` FALCO '' with the list of accurate tipsters when announcing that companies had actually failed . This practise predated Fucked Company by two years . December 11 , 1998 : NTK launch STAND.org.uk , a UK campaign group lobbying for fair UK internet policy . February 1 , 2000 : NTK launch `` Kevin Warwick Watch '' in reaction to Kevin Warwick 's sudden popularity in the mainstream press . September 1 , 2000 : NTK launch a `` drily ironic t-shirt competition '' , where readers can come up with amusing t-shirt designs and NTK can sell the results back to them . December 1 , 2000 : NTK and STAND launch `` Fax your MP '' . They also launch their own ironic t-shirt sales site , NTKMart August 3 , 2001 : NTK publish the now infamous `` dancemonkeyboy '' video of Steve Ballmer dancing to Gloria Estefan music at a developer conference . June 8 , 2002 : NTK host their own conference ; X-COM 2002 March 28 , 2003 : NTK launch Snackspot June 6 , 2004 : NTK host another conference , NotCon '04 August 6 , 2004 : NTK launch doh the humanity ! External link Need To Know website Categories : News websites 