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Competition Aims To Make Cybergeeks Cool
itwbennett writes "The organizers of the Cyber Foundations program have some lofty goals. In addition to identifying a new generation of security experts, they want to make cybergeeks as cool as sports stars, said Alan Paller, director of research at the SANS Institute, a sponsor of the competition. The competition includes tests in computer networking, operating systems and systems administration. Registration is open until Feb. 18. and prizes include four full-ride college scholarships sponsored by the U.S. Navy, gift certificates, and letters of recognition from governors and members of the U.S. Congress."
Stop plastering "cyber" everywhere.
If geeks were cool they wouldn't be geeks. Part of being a geek is the whole uncoolness thing.
By registering you'll also be guaranteed to:
Have your privacy invaded for being a cyber terrorist
Be subject to additional searches at the border(s)
Have your name put on various lists of differing levels of evil by certain three letter organizations
Etc, etc, etc...
Linus Torvalds is already cooler than any football player.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
Sports stars, sadly, are often rich, objectifying substance abusers. While some few compete legitimately and are gentlemen, most do not embody fair competition or the kind of behavior that I, at least, think we should be encouraging in our communities, our nation, or our species. Shouldn't our real objective be to teach that accomplishments and respect for others are what make people cool, rather than to make one group cool by heightening their profile?
-- IANAL, this isn't legal advice, and definitely isn't legal advice for you. Also, Squee!
Like any true athlete, the joy should be in the sport, not the glory.
...we need to come prepared with lube, a horse size dildo and a picture of the goatse.cx guy? :D
C'mon, someone had to make the reference.
Really if we want to improve the image of a group of people, I would like to see a conscious effort to get people to look up to scientists. We try to say that we encourage great scientific research but we can't even bother putting great scientists on stamps? Mickey Mouse has been on how many stamps, yet I don't recall ever seeing an Einstein stamp.
But postage aside, we really end up - consciously or not - marginalizing scientists in our country. We don't give them the prestige they deserve, and we make them fight like American Idol contestants (to say nothing of the fact that many people can name more living Idol contestants than living scientists) for the kind of money that professional athletes would laugh at. Other countries hold their top researchers in great prestige; this may end up being just another sign of the decay of our empire here.
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
The only "cyber-skilled" (that word if from tfa, not my creation) high schoolers I can think of that would be interested in this competition, and in being cool for their leet security skills are the same people frequenting 4chan... They have plenty of experience with LOIC ddos tools, but I somehow doubt they are going to be viable candidates long term.
If the gov wants more "world class" security professionals how about offer some free training to those already established in the field. Oh and offer pay that is competitive with the industry.
No, that won't work. Something more along the lines of battle bots would have a much better chance of accomplishing their goal.
some monkeys climb down from their trees and talk about bullshit they'll print on toiletpaper
while nerds post photoshops of their pathetic monkey-lives on 4chan for the lulz
this article is absurd
I liked "Gamer" too.
Russell Crowe was great in it.
"prizes include four full-ride college scholarships sponsored by the U.S. Navy, gift certificates, and letters of recognition from governors and members of the U.S. Congress" ... and a permanent position on the FBI watch list?
I don't give a fuck what the jock-worshippers I already despise think so long as they stay out of my way.
I don't WANT every dumbshit out there to be a wannabe geek. We don't need to flood the market, we don't need any more noobs.
Exclusivity benefits people who provide services, be they a pipe weldor or a geek. Barriers to entry are fine.
"This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
...a security expert!
The competition includes tests in computer networking, operating systems and systems administration.
That doesn't sound especially cool. How can one show off one's creativity by taking a test?
prizes include four full-ride college scholarships sponsored by the U.S. Navy
That part is cool
When I hacked my first Gibson using an Osborne 1 and its Modem Peripheral all I got when I bragged about it to the captain of the high school football team was an atomic wedgie.
We already have a whole "sub-culture" of obnoxious shouty louts, by name of the IT security industry. We really don't need more of that shallow self-serving snake oil salesmanship. They even hijacked the term "hacker" and hung variously-coloured hats on it. They often even behave just like a spotty 16 year old, if they aren't any longer! How much more hollywood-y or sports-y do you want it?
The "cyber" thing, by the by, is usgov-ese for itsnakeoil's "hatted hacker". It is analogously nebulous and ignorantly disrespectful.
I agree with the poster lambasting the looking down on scientists in general. Scientific method is the foundation of modern comfort, so that's now boring and, er, vital to retaining our creature comforts. Oopsie. More experts in plugging holes in swiss cheese with easy cheez isn't going to cut it. Fundamental research in how to prevent those holes in the first place even if your workforce of programmers consists of barely literate simians-in-all-but-a-name, now that would be useful. But nobody is funding _that_. Yuck no, not glamorous enough.
making a high school aged competition won't make security "cool" any more than spelling bee's make good spelling cool, or academic quiz teams made academics cool.
Just because you got some high schoolers involved in a competition doesn't mean something is now "cool", and no, letters from congressmen or navy scholarships don't make things cool either.
This just shows a lack of understanding as to why people idolize sports/entertainment stars.
It's fundamentally impossible. And yes, quit putting "cyber" everywhere. I feel funny even mentioning that. I thought "cyber" was the bane of the 90s. I feel almost like I'm complaining about people saying it's "groovy" too much.
Hint - if you do win, don't tell any women - The Big Bang Theory is not a reality TV show.
For once, should we not stick with just plain simple friendly neighborhood rocket-scientist?
Never trust a spiritual leader who cannot dance -- Mr. Miyagi
I'm sick of this self-perpetuating bullshit that says geeks can't be athletic or interesting or cool (where "cool" means relatively unconcerned about what other people think about them) . Geeks are fascinating. They travel. They build things. They do interesting things with electricity and power motors. They make films, design cars, hike volcanoes, enter sporting events.
Being socially inept does not make one a geek. Certainly some geeks could give a rat's ass about how they appear to others, so they come off as anti-social, but that's often by choice. Boring chatter about the weather and the local sports team is fine, but boring is boring, and geeks often have better things to do.
Being non-athletic does not make one a geek. Yes, many geeks associate working out with some desperate attempt to impress others or the opposite sex (or the same sex if you swing that way) and just say no, but who can blame them?
I may or may not be a geek, who the hell knows or cares. But I do know that labels are a sad attempt to compartmentalize *people*.
I'm a geek (non-uber). I seek to be uncool. I don't care to be what the world wants. Read a different way: Who cares what others think. IMO
God is good all the time! -K
Geeks ARE cool... among people who want to be (or see themselves as) geeks.
Sports stars are cool among people who would like to fantasize about being a sport star.
There isn't a lot of overlap, and it's not something that you can manufacture.
The only way you can make geeks "cool" is if, in fact, most people wanted to be a geek but just didn't know it yet. Then it's a simple matter of exposure.
But I think we're past the point now where we can say that this is not the case.
This is a competition based upon skills in using consumer electronics, not science or engineering.
Oh great, this thread again. Seems like every time a cyber word is used, a cyber-bully rears their head, and cyber-comments about how cyber shouldn't be used all the time. This always just turns into cyber-rage.
Stop cyber-hatin', and start cyber-lovin'!
This is my footer. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
Don't you want to be radical/rad. like CYBERjack2000? [grin]
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
There are a lot of "cool" geeks already, and they're all famous. The guys who invented face-book and napster both had a movie made about them, so did Bill Gates and many others. There will never be anything like what football is in highschool for geeks. I know a lot of geeks want to be "cool" so they can get laid, but being a real geek isn't about that.
I'm tired of being the only cool cybergeek ;P
These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
This is the same mistake Obama once made. He collected some shit for it, and he knew right away he was wrong.
There's CYBERgeeks now? Damn I'm off the pace.
Honestly, apart from the obvious misconceptions, did the eds read the post at all?
prizes include four full-ride college scholarships sponsored by the U.S. Navy, gift certificates, and letters of recognition from governors and members of the U.S. Congress
How about meaningful relationships girls? (Or guys, as appropriate.)
Step one: bathe on a regular basis, as in daily, this includes brushing one's teeth.
Step two: include activities that might occassional result in eposure to UV and body perspiration (see step one).
Step three: partake in tribal ritual known as social drinking with people outside one's immediate peer group.
Step three.one: wear a shirt to said social gathering, that has buttons, is not black, and does not have a saying on it that only anime/manga fans would get.
Step four: save the high brow subjects for those who can apreciated them, such as in who shot first Han or Greedo or how string theory is important to our daily lives.
Step five: Go back to step one and repete.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw39qxcjiMk
... if you want to to shine up geeks image you want to help those who are mocked, who don't care about their appearance or social skills and rather focus on making them better people all around.
The real issue is the nerds/geeks people hate give those nerds/geeks who are not like the ones people hate a bad name.
You're never going to get rid o the stigma of geek/nerd = socially inept loser obsessed with difficult stuff, people always want a punching bag and someone to look down on, the only way to counter that is to show how people can become better people all around rather then trying to make something appealing through contest, make them *actually likable human beings* would be a start.
Most people are incredibly stupid, emotional and superficial and only value geek/nerd for his or her own knowledge, we tend to be sought to be used rather then to be associated with.
Anyone who thinks an official endorsement of coolness has any desirability has misunderstood the concept of 'cool'.
Actually a lot of countries did put out Einstein stamps, even the US did at least twice according to my quick Cyber Googling, 8 and 15 cents. Mickey Mouse probably has more lobbying clout in Washington nowadays, it's either this or somebody has a cyber string theory agenda.
Tired-ass people trying to warm-over some tired-ass bullshit from the 90's tech glory days.
That's what the hell this is.
You know what makes you "cool"?
Providing a lot of value to one group of people, and being idolized by a second, lower status group of people who wish they could do the same.
That's all.
Make some soul-less executive motherfuckers (who don't even remotely understand what the fuck you're doing) very rich, inspire n00bs just coming into the workforce to do the same ... presto, you're fuckin' cool.
I've had it with this whole "geek" thing really. I kinda bought into it when I was 23, just starting out, and the thought of working 14 hour days every damn day, including the weekends because I was *so dedicated to this awesome thing I was building* seemed romantic; glamorous in a way. All that 90's / early 2000's media sure re-enforced the notion.
Here's the thing. I wasn't "cool" I was just another cog in the system. All that effort and dedication? It didn't mean a damn thing to anyone but me, and in the end, I made other people a lot of money and didn't get too much out of it myself, other than the satisfaction of building some really neat shit that belonged to other people who didn't give a damn after a year or two.
So you know what? "CyberGeeks" don't SEEM cool because they AREN'T cool. They only ever WERE cool via means of self-delusion and propaganda.
Being the very best worker in a sweatshop isn't "cool", it just is what it is.
Dedicate yourself to something you love, and don't do it for any other reason than that. ... great. If not ... fuck 'em, they're not even part of the equation in the first place.
If other people think it's "cool"
From the source article it sounds like the students go through online materials for 2 weeks then take an online quiz. There doesn't appear to be any real hands-on anywhere. How many of us know "bootcampers" like John Doe, CISSP CCNA OMG WTF BBQ, that passed a test but couldn't work their way around anything they are certified in? CyberPatriot (also a US Cyber Challenge competition) has been providing real hands on competitions to high school students for the past three years.