My colleague and co-conspirator Gordon Mah Ung passed away this weekend after a battle with cancer.

I am heartbroken. Gordon is the journalist And the person I want to be when I grow up.

You can read why this is the case in PCWorld’s obituary for Gordon. I am I’m here to celebrate my boyfriend of 15 years. Instead, I want to talk about my favorite episode of Full Nerd – which isn’t a Full Nerd episode at all. Instead, it’s an episode of 2017’s CES After Dark, which in this case featured a full nerd mission and 100 percent more alcohol.

Every night of CES six years ago, a duo of journalists from our editorial team streamed from a couch in a hotel room in Vegas and were interviewed by our then-video director, Tyler Larsen, who was dressed to the nines in a tuxedo. The show adhered to a strict time limit of 30 minutes. Until the last night.

“CES After Dark Episode 3 Covers Day 2”

By this point in the CES schedule, most of our fellow reporters were leaving Vegas. Gordon and I had another day in the city because HARDCORE! So we were the couple for the final episode, with Adam standing behind the camera shouting questions to the viewers.

I can’t remember who came up with the idea, but it was brilliant: it was the end of an eventful week in Las Vegas, and since this was the last night of the show, we got it loose.

We covered the coffee table with Doritos bags and Metamucil. Kyle loosened his collar. Gordon wore a hat covered in dogs. Someone ran downstairs to grab the delicious three-foot tall margaritas that are available everywhere in Las Vegas. But even if the mood was more relaxed, the 30-minute time limit should remain the same.

But not when Gordon and I are beating up gigantic margins and chatting about the cool shit we saw in Las Vegas! We continued talking for almost an hour and only broke up because Tyler just wrapped it up (lmao). We completely ruined everyone’s plans by leaving Completely nerdy during the Guerrilla livestream. I love the memory so much.

I was re-watching CES After Dark Episode 3 covering Day 2 when I heard about Gordon’s death. And now I’m sharing it with you because this episode perfectly encapsulates how wonderful and wonderfully unique Gordon was.

Gordon’s family has launched a GoFundMe to help cover expenses. Please donate to them if you can.

Gordon commanded a room better than anyone I’ve ever seen – and I’ve seen Gordon in rooms with major CEOs and countless YouTubers. His charm shines through throughout the video, as he rants about the then-new GeForce Now gaming subscriptions (try it, Full Nerd faithful) and tosses out one-liners while drinking a ridiculous monster and a hat full of $100 bills carries. You can’t help but be fascinated by what the man is saying!

But it wouldn’t have taken 57 minutes to tell a few jokes. And so Gordon worked his magic.

Adam Patrick Murray / Foundry

Yes, Gordon’s Gordonness has captivated you. But his real goal was to find out and speak the truth. And CES After Dark Episode 3 covering Day 2 is a masterclass in that regard.

Watching the video again, I’m just amazed how much Information Gordon was able to cram into just 57 minutes, mostly because Tyler and I chatted a lot.

Right off the bat, Gordon brings real insight into the Dell XPS he tested You about its “big battery” and “real keyboard” compared to the Mac. Later, he doesn’t hesitate to mention that most of the first Ryzen motherboards looked pretty damn cheap (the records show that they were actually compared to Intel counterparts).

He tirelessly sprinkles in information drawn from first-hand sources – I’ve always been envious of Gordon’s Rolodex – and uses this combined with his deep-rooted computer expertise to provide truly insightful information analysis of the endless CES spotlight reveals. He gives everyone watching not just regurgitation of the news from the fire hydrant, but real reporting that allows them to delve deeper into that news and then contextualize it in a way that conveys what is real importantand why it was like that.

Gordon refused to let the moderator speak while we discussed and debated deeply nerdy material because he wasn’t ready to wrap it up yet. He had more to say. His focus was on tell people the truthalways. Gordon brought receipts, but they were backed up by receipts.

And that’s the truth about Gordon. Sure, he might have jazzed up his personality a bit for videos, but he wasn’t a personality. The Gordon you know is this Gordon, you know. He was personable, funny, hard-working, deeply connected, grumpy, smart, fair and honest, and completely devoted to the job of journalist and to presenting the truth as he saw it.

There’s a reason he never took a job in corporate marketing, even though he was promised far more money than journalism ever could. Gordon was Clark Kent personified (if Clark Kent was constantly angry at Microsoft Teams).

Like I said, I’m heartbroken. Gordon is the journalist And the person I want to be when I grow up. The world is worse without him and I am better for knowing him. Rest in peace, friend.

Gordon’s family has launched a GoFundMe to help cover expenses. Please donate to them if you can.