When Geeks Go Camping

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Posted by michael on Friday January 9, 2004 @11:29AM from the camptown-racers-sing-a-song dept.

mikep.maine writes "CNN and Business 2.0 have an interesting article on Tim O'Reilly's Foo camp for geeks - not just any geek - people like Google founders, Tim Bray (invented XML), and venture capitalists. Stashed away in the rolling hills north of San Francisco ... Foo Camp, a new breed of geek gathering organized (somewhat) by O'Reilly & Associates. The idea: Get 200 or so smart folks with a lot in common together in one place at one time, let them pitch tents, toss in a Wi-Fi network, and see what happens. Turns out, quite a lot. You are as likely to bump into a founder of Google (both were there) as the vice chairman of Warburg Pincus. Yes, they had Wi-Fi and marshmallows."

18 of 382 comments (clear)

Geeks! by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-09 11:30 · Score: 5, Funny

Well, I consider myself a geek, but when I go out camping, all I need to take with me is a couple of gallons of gasoline and then I got entertainment for a whole weekend.
1. Re:Geeks! by NanoGator · 2004-01-09 12:50 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  "But I do wonder if gasoline can really replace beer? "
  
  Only if its your turn to buy.
  
  --
  "Derp de derp."
marshmallows? by rduke15 · 2004-01-09 11:32 · Score: 4, Funny

they had Wi-Fi and marshmallows

I suppose that's a typo. You meant mushrooms, no?
Campfire Activities by SomeoneGotMyNick · 2004-01-09 11:33 · Score: 5, Funny

Do they all sit around the campfire popping pimples and telling network management horror stories while holding LED flashlights under their chins.
1. Re:Campfire Activities by AndroidCat · 2004-01-09 12:18 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  ".. and all they found was a hook in the firewall .."
  
  --
  One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
2. Re:Campfire Activities by Anonymous Coward · 2004-01-09 12:32 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  ...and then she discovered that the ping of death was coming from 127.0.0.1
3. Re:Campfire Activities by Tablizer · 2004-01-09 13:57 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  ...telling network management horror stories while holding LED flashlights under their chins.
  
  "And just when SCO was about to take a final swipe to forever kill the Great Penguin....."
  
  --
  Table-ized A.I.
And tonight... by AndroidCat · 2004-01-09 11:33 · Score: 5, Funny

We'll go snipe fragging!

--
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
Homebrew cooker by va3atc · 2004-01-09 11:37 · Score: 5, Funny

put all the wi-fi access points in one spot
and you have yourself an outdoor lowpower microwave :)

--
Candle burns its brightest in the dark
Campfire stories by Concerned+Onlooker · 2004-01-09 11:46 · Score: 5, Funny

"He was all alone in the house, when suddenly...the Blue Screen of Death appeared right in front of him!"

--
http://www.rootstrikers.org/
around the campfire... by wo1verin3 · 2004-01-09 11:49 · Score: 5, Funny

Around the campfire sat the founders of Google when someone came around and tried to scare them with a SCOst story..
I hope they have lots of batteries... by twoslice · 2004-01-09 11:50 · Score: 5, Funny

"It is pitch black, you are likely to be eaten by a grue"

--

From excellent karma to terible karma with a single +5 funny post...
Re:UNPLUG, you guys!!! by pavon · 2004-01-09 11:55 · Score: 5, Funny

You are looking at it like a vacation. Think of it instead as the ultimate telecomute:

* You don't have to pay rent
* You don't have to shower
* You get to live off ramen noodles
* The company pager is futile
* You have the biggest most scenic office window ever.

Sounds like a geeks dream to me :)
Re:Camp Foo teaches valuable skills . . . by Patrik_AKA_RedX · 2004-01-09 12:00 · Score: 5, Funny

Lesson 1: navigating in a wood-like enviroment.
Lesson 2: starting a fire without matches
Lesson 3: starting a fire with matches
Lesson 4: starting a fire with matches and gasoline
Lesson 5: preventing wild life from coming too near to your fire.
Lesson 6: How to extinguish a burning rodent.
Lesson 7: treating burn injuries
Lesson 8: How to leave a burning forest.
Lesson 9: How to look very, very innocent
Re:Games? by flewp · 2004-01-09 12:24 · Score: 4, Funny

They're only campers if they wait in the same spot for a whole round and then kill you. PWNED!@#(@!

--
WWJD.... for a Klondike bar?
Re:I didn't invent XML dammit by eniu!uine · 2004-01-09 12:48 · Score: 5, Funny

Well, you must have done something because I went camping not too long ago and no one cared.

--
My Blog
When geeks go camping by use_compress · 2004-01-09 12:53 · Score: 5, Funny
The following things happen:
1. Nose bleeds
2. Homesickness
3. Experimentation
4. Under cooked hotdogs
5. Lost Maps
6. Eventual Helicopter Rescue
Toyota Prius? by swimfastom · 2004-01-09 13:00 · Score: 4, Funny

For relaxation, campers ... disassembled a Toyota Prius, then put it back together again (it was a rental).

Sounds like fun!

--
http://tomgould.com/