Just another reason to fight the massive goverment/corporate/microsoft conspiracy. Their propaganda campaign sucks up all the advertising talent, leaving poor old Massachussetts with the guy who's best idea was ".commonwealth". But that's all part of the conspiracy's plan, you see.. we'll all be too busy puking every time we hear another dumb slogan to notice them inplanting the mind control chips!
generated by MS Populace Diversion and Misdirection 98. This post will self destruct in ten seconds.
Must be some use t\of the word "insightful" I'm not familiar with, cause last I checked, it doesnt take much insight to regurgitate the Libertatrian party line. It takes some guts, and perhaps (IMO) a lack of sanity, but not insight.
Suggestion to moderator: Judge objectively, based on how informative or well thought out posts are, not whether you agree with them.
or you could just cover your tracks and give me a [-1, offtopic]
last sentence, first paragraph: "Some" = "Some people" - thereby changing the sentence from a reference to some random friend of mine who doesnt exist to a reference to an obsessively competitive billionaire you may have heard of.
Insecurity driving the need for mastery of something.. yeah i think i see that in many geeks.. but i think it might be in the same category as computers in a way.. geekdom makes you interested in computers --> computers provide reinforcement for geekdom --> positive feedback loop. geekdom makes "normals" taunt you in skool --> insecurity --> need for mastery of some environment --> obsessiveness --> geekdom. However, i think a point comes in many geeks' lives where they think "wait a minute, what am i trying to prove, anyway? what do i care what j. random jock thinks about me? why am i killing myself trying to be better than everyone else?" and they start to enjoy their geekdom more- to try to master something just cause they think it's fun. A bunch of my friends and I all reached that point around the beginning of high school. Some of my friends reached it sooner. Some (such as a certain redmond resident) will never reach it.
Anyway the point i originally meant to make was that insecurity is a trait that is commonly pushed upon geeks, not one inherent in being a geek, and it simply serves to magnify certain aspects of the "geek personality" (whether this magnification is good depends on whether you're talking to a psychiatrist or today's economy [hi, economy!]). The desire to explore the possibilities of a system is a strong geek trait, and one that can be converted into obsession fairly easily, by many factors, including insecurity, but also simple enjoyment of the system. I think for me insecurity was largely erased by having a tight knit group of geeks to hang out with for the past six years or so, so it's curable, but that doesnt mean one should go around trying to "cure" geeks of insecurity based solely on the fact that they spend too much time on the MUD.
Lately, I've been differentiating between "geeks" and "nerds" according to a definition scheme thats mostly in my own head, but i think has roots and applications in the "real" world. Daveo is right on about geeks, but in my mind the term "nerd" refers specifically to those geeks with the obsessive tendencies he mentions (with the "hyper-rational dysfunctional type" being the extreme form of nerd). A nerd is someone who enjoys totally enveloping their mind in something -often computers/tech, but it can also include gaming, books, science, the bible- anything that involves mental stimulation and seemingly endless possibilities for expansion. This single trait is probably present in all geeks, but the differences in degree are huge.. for some it is an obsession, both with the process and the object of their (current) interest. Others, such as myself, feel the pull less strongly, or can transfer their interests from one thing to another to the point of never being consumed with one realm. In my mind, both these types of people are geeks, but only the obsessive ones are "nerds". The division, of course, is not a a solid one, but it can help clear up some of the confusion in discussions such as this one, because some of the general traits of geeks and nerds are quite different- to take an example from this discussion, "open minded, social (sort of)" is a geek stereotype, and "intolerant of opposing views, antisocial" is a nerd stereotype. Both, in my experience, have only a little more than a shred of truth.
On another note, I'd like to speak out against the attitude among many geeks, esp on/. , that computer skills are prerequisite for geekdom. A geek is a geek because of that person's way of thinking, not because they can crack the pentagon in under 5 min. Computers can reinforce geekdom and provide a great medium for its expression/expansion/whatever but they are not the only such medium. Though most of the geeks i know know how to code, only a few of them want to make it their life's work. And I know several geeks who rarely even use computers.
I've been degenerating on summer break for a while now, and i'm a little rusty on my molecular bio, but don't prokaryotes have lipids, too? or was it the specific type of lipids they found that indicated eukaryotic life? If anyone not busy debating evolution vs. creationism and the true nature of what we call Randomness has some more detailed info it'd be appreciated.
Still, compared to most of the dominant software out there (particularly that of a certain monopoly) icq has pretty good code, especially for being the first major IM out there.. when it was first created i doubt the creators realized that enumerated uins were an open invitation for spammers.. now that such problems are known, the protocol could probably be perfected fairly easily.. but of course aol isnt interested in doing a crazy thing like that. No! they must add more features! like silly typewriter sounds! and ads! and memory leaks! oh, god yes! memory leaks! They cannot stop until every last icq user is forced to wallow in the degeneration of their crappy online service!
Because all the useful features and the same protocol were in icq98, the last version before aol took over, i just use that. if you're on windows, i recommend you do, too.. good luck finding it on the web, or (ha) on icq.com .
authors note: this is my first/. post. im a windows user, but im installing linux as soon as i get hd space (i promise!)
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Just another reason to fight the massive goverment/corporate/microsoft conspiracy. Their propaganda campaign sucks up all the advertising talent, leaving poor old Massachussetts with the guy who's best idea was ".commonwealth". But that's all part of the conspiracy's plan, you see.. we'll all be too busy puking every time we hear another dumb slogan to notice them inplanting the mind control chips!
generated by MS Populace Diversion and Misdirection 98. This post will self destruct in ten seconds.
Must be some use t\of the word "insightful" I'm not familiar with, cause last I checked, it doesnt take much insight to regurgitate the Libertatrian party line. It takes some guts, and perhaps (IMO) a lack of sanity, but not insight.
Suggestion to moderator: Judge objectively, based on how informative or well thought out posts are, not whether you agree with them.
or you could just cover your tracks and give me a [-1, offtopic]
last sentence, first paragraph: "Some" = "Some people" - thereby changing the sentence from a reference to some random friend of mine who doesnt exist to a reference to an obsessively competitive billionaire you may have heard of.
..what i get for posting at 7am.
Insecurity driving the need for mastery of something.. yeah i think i see that in many geeks.. but i think it might be in the same category as computers in a way.. geekdom makes you interested in computers --> computers provide reinforcement for geekdom --> positive feedback loop. geekdom makes "normals" taunt you in skool --> insecurity --> need for mastery of some environment --> obsessiveness --> geekdom. However, i think a point comes in many geeks' lives where they think "wait a minute, what am i trying to prove, anyway? what do i care what j. random jock thinks about me? why am i killing myself trying to be better than everyone else?" and they start to enjoy their geekdom more- to try to master something just cause they think it's fun. A bunch of my friends and I all reached that point around the beginning of high school. Some of my friends reached it sooner. Some (such as a certain redmond resident) will never reach it.
Anyway the point i originally meant to make was that insecurity is a trait that is commonly pushed upon geeks, not one inherent in being a geek, and it simply serves to magnify certain aspects of the "geek personality" (whether this magnification is good depends on whether you're talking to a psychiatrist or today's economy [hi, economy!]). The desire to explore the possibilities of a system is a strong geek trait, and one that can be converted into obsession fairly easily, by many factors, including insecurity, but also simple enjoyment of the system. I think for me insecurity was largely erased by having a tight knit group of geeks to hang out with for the past six years or so, so it's curable, but that doesnt mean one should go around trying to "cure" geeks of insecurity based solely on the fact that they spend too much time on the MUD.
duh.
Lately, I've been differentiating between "geeks" and "nerds" according to a definition scheme thats mostly in my own head, but i think has roots and applications in the "real" world. Daveo is right on about geeks, but in my mind the term "nerd" refers specifically to those geeks with the obsessive tendencies he mentions (with the "hyper-rational dysfunctional type" being the extreme form of nerd). A nerd is someone who enjoys totally enveloping their mind in something -often computers/tech, but it can also include gaming, books, science, the bible- anything that involves mental stimulation and seemingly endless possibilities for expansion. This single trait is probably present in all geeks, but the differences in degree are huge.. for some it is an obsession, both with the process and the object of their (current) interest. Others, such as myself, feel the pull less strongly, or can transfer their interests from one thing to another to the point of never being consumed with one realm. In my mind, both these types of people are geeks, but only the obsessive ones are "nerds". The division, of course, is not a a solid one, but it can help clear up some of the confusion in discussions such as this one, because some of the general traits of geeks and nerds are quite different- to take an example from this discussion, "open minded, social (sort of)" is a geek stereotype, and "intolerant of opposing views, antisocial" is a nerd stereotype. Both, in my experience, have only a little more than a shred of truth.
/. , that computer skills are prerequisite for geekdom. A geek is a geek because of that person's way of thinking, not because they can crack the pentagon in under 5 min. Computers can reinforce geekdom and provide a great medium for its expression/expansion/whatever but they are not the only such medium. Though most of the geeks i know know how to code, only a few of them want to make it their life's work. And I know several geeks who rarely even use computers.
On another note, I'd like to speak out against the attitude among many geeks, esp on
my longest post yet.. a good thing?
I've been degenerating on summer break for a while now, and i'm a little rusty on my molecular bio, but don't prokaryotes have lipids, too? or was it the specific type of lipids they found that indicated eukaryotic life? If anyone not busy debating evolution vs. creationism and the true nature of what we call Randomness has some more detailed info it'd be appreciated.
Still, compared to most of the dominant software out there (particularly that of a certain monopoly) icq has pretty good code, especially for being the first major IM out there.. when it was first created i doubt the creators realized that enumerated uins were an open invitation for spammers.. now that such problems are known, the protocol could probably be perfected fairly easily.. but of course aol isnt interested in doing a crazy thing like that. No! they must add more features! like silly typewriter sounds! and ads! and memory leaks! oh, god yes! memory leaks! They cannot stop until every last icq user is forced to wallow in the degeneration of their crappy online service!
/. post. im a windows user, but im installing linux as soon as i get hd space (i promise!)
Because all the useful features and the same protocol were in icq98, the last version before aol took over, i just use that. if you're on windows, i recommend you do, too.. good luck finding it on the web, or (ha) on icq.com .
authors note: this is my first