geek\b

kaizouman :
Who needs friends? My PC is user friendly.

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The word geek\b

is a slang term, noting individuals as "a peculiar or otherwise odd person, especially one who is perceived to be overly obsessed with one or more things including those of intellectuality, electronics, gaming, etc."^[1] Formerly, the term referred to a carnival performer often billed as a wild man whose act usually includes biting the head off a live chicken, bat, snake or bugs. The 1976 edition of the American Heritage Dictionary included only the definition regarding geek\b

kaizouman :
As a development process, chaos does not scale well.

shows.

This word comes from English dialect geek\b

, geck: fool, freak; from Low German geck, from Middle Low German. The root geck still survives in Dutch gek: crazy, and in the Alsatian word Gickeleshut: geek\b

kaizouman :
I don't care if the software I run is unstable crap, as long as it is the LATEST unstable crap.

's hat, used in carnivals^[2].

Contents 1 Definitions 2 Reclaiming and self-identification 3 Geeks in popular culture 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

Definitions

The definition of geek\b

has changed considerably over time, and there is no longer a definitive meaning. The terms nerd, dweeb and dork have similar meanings as geek\b

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, but many choose to identify different connotations amongst these terms, although the differences are disputed. In a 2007 interview on The Colbert Report, Richard Clarke said the difference between nerds and geeks is "geeks get it done".^[3] Julie Smith defined a geek\b

kaizouman :
COFFEE.EXE Missing - Insert Cup and Press Any Key.

as "a bright young man turned inward, poorly socialized, who felt so little kinship with his own planet that he routinely traveled to the ones invented by his favorite authors, who thought of that secret, dreamy place his computer took him to as cyberspace—somewhere exciting, a place more real than his own life, a land he could conquer, not a drab teenager's room in his parents' house".^[4]

Other definitions include:

• A derogatory reference to a person obsessed with intellectual pursuits for their own sake, who is also deficient in most other human attributes so as to impair the person's operation within society.
• A person who is interested in technology, especially computing and new media. Geeks are adept with computers, and use the term hacker in a positive way, though not all are hackers themselves.
• A person who relates academic subjects to the real world outside of academic studies; for example, using multivariate calculus to determine how they should correctly optimize the dimensions of a pan to bake a cake.
• A person who has chosen concentration rather than conformity; one who passionately pursues skill (especially technical skill) and imagination, not mainstream social acceptance.
• A person with a devotion to something in a way that places him or her outside the mainstream. This could be due to the intensity, depth, or subject of their interest. This definition is very broad but because many of these interests have mainstream endorsement and acceptance, the inclusion of some genres as "geeky" is heavily debated. Persons have been labeled as or chosen to identify as physics geeks, mathematics geeks, engineering geeks, sci-fi geeks, computer geeks, various science geeks, movie and film geeks (cinephile), comic book geeks, theatre geeks, history geeks, music geeks, art geeks, philosophy geeks, literature geeks, historical reenactment geeks and roleplay geeks.

Reclaiming and self-identification

Although being described as a geek\b

tends to be an insult, the term has recently become more complimentary, or even a badge of honor, within particular fields. This is particularly evident in the technical disciplines, where the term is now often a compliment, denoting extraordinary skill. Nerd Pride Day has been observed on May 25 in Spain since 2006. The holiday promotes the right to be nerdy or geeky, and to express it in public without shame. A new convention, geek\b

kaizouman :
Who needs the library? I've got google!

.Kon, has sprung up in Madison, Wisconsin with a purpose to celebrate all things geek\b

kaizouman :
I spent a minute looking at my own code by accident. I was thinking "What the hell is this guy doing?"

. The website BoardGamegeek\b

kaizouman :
If at first you don't succeed; call it version 1.0.

is an online community of boardgamers who identify themselves as geeks at game conventions; they call their website "The geek\b

kaizouman :
There are 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't.

", for short. Technical support services such as geek\b

kaizouman :
Who needs the library? I've got google!

Squad, Geeks on Call and Dial-a-geek\b

kaizouman :
The difference between e-mail and regular mail is that computers handle e-mail, and computers never decide to come to work one day and shoot all the other computers.

use the term geek\b

kaizouman :
My software never has bugs. It just develops random features.

to signify helpful technical abilities. In recent history, some geeks have cultivated a geek\b

kaizouman :
I see fragged people.

culture, such as geek\b

kaizouman :
Better to be a geek than an idiot.

humor and obscure references on T-shirts. The so-called geek\b

kaizouman :
Ethernet (n): something used to catch the etherbunny.

chic trend is a deliberate affectation of geek\b

kaizouman :
My software never has bugs. It just develops random features.

or nerd traits as a fashion statement. Nonetheless, the derogatory definition of geeks remains that of a person engrossed in his area of interest at the cost of social skills, personal hygiene and status.

Geeks in popular culture

• In 2005 and 2006, the former WB Television Network (now The CW) ran a reality game show called Beauty and the geek\b
  kaizouman :
  Ethernet (n): something used to catch the etherbunny.
  , where "geeks" try to share their knowledge with "beauties" while trying to learn a modern style from them. The show is currently in its fifth season.
• Comedy Central ran a game show named Beat the Geeks from 2001 to 2002. It featured contestants competing against a movie geek\b
  kaizouman :
  Girls are like internet domain names, the ones I like are already taken.
  , television geek\b
  kaizouman :
  Who needs the library? I've got google!
  , and a music geek\b
  kaizouman :
  As a development process, chaos does not scale well.
  , along with a special fourth geek\b
  kaizouman :
  As a development process, chaos does not scale well.
  . The fourth geek\b
  kaizouman :
  As a development process, chaos does not scale well.
  would have a certain area of expertise such as Star Wars, The Simpsons, horror, Star Trek, and comic books.
• The IT Crowd, produced by Channel 4, focuses on the shenanigans of a three-person IT support team located in a dingy, untidy and unkempt basement. Moss and Roy, the two technicians, are portrayed as socially inept geeks, while Jen, the newest member of the team, is hopelessly non-technical.
• The show Freaks and Geeks explores the social conundrum of new students adapting to existing social norms. Geeks were shown to be interested in Star Wars, Star Trek, Dungeons and Dragons, Saturday Night Live and related actors, Monty Python, AV club and Atari. Members of their group acknowledged being different from others for their interests, looks, intelligence and lack of social skills.
• Planet Nerd is a variety show for and about nerds and geeks.
• Nerdapalooza is a planned geek\b
  kaizouman :
  A computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any invention in human history - with the possible exceptions of handguns and tequila.
  music festival.
• geek\b
  kaizouman :
  Who needs friends? My PC is user friendly.
  Monthly is a recently launched lifestyle magazine, published twelve times a year in the United States of America by CFQ Media. The magazine is positioned in the marketplace as a more "fanboy" version of established magazines such as Wired and EW as well as the discontinued Gear. The first issue featured Rainn Wilson on the cover in a James Bond pose, whilst features included that of Sci-Fi, Lifestyle and Woody Allen.
• The TV show The Big Bang Theory on CBS is about two socially inept prodigies in their 20s who are living across the hall from a beautiful girl with a more conventional intellect. The male characters are consciously modelled around an extreme caricature of the geek\b
  kaizouman :
  Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning.
  /nerd stereotype, and mainly as physics geeks (with references to laboratory work, lasers, and academia). There is a dispute over if they are nerds, geeks, or both.
• The William Lindsay Gresham novel Nightmare Alley filmed with Tyrone Power begins and ends with a carnival geek\b
  kaizouman :
  Who needs the library? I've got google!
  .
• Robert Lanham

See also

• Anorak (slang)
• Blogger
• Boffin
• Cracker (computing)
• geek\b
  kaizouman :
  A Life? Cool! Where can I download one of those?
  Code
• geek\b
  kaizouman :
  That's a PEBKAC problem. (Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair).
  rock
• Geekcorps
• Geekism
• LARP
• Nerd
• Otaku
• Programmer
• Scientist
• Social anxiety
• Technosexual

References

1. ^ "Dictionary: geek\b
   kaizouman :
   I'm not anti-social; I'm just not user friendly.
   ". Dictionary.com-Merriam-Webster entry. Retrieved on 2007-10-12.
2. ^ French Wikipedia geek\b
   kaizouman :
   A Life? Cool! Where can I download one of those?
   Article
3. ^ The Colbert Report - 2007 Archive - 1/17/07 - Television - SPIKE Powered By IFILM
4. ^ Reconstruction 6.1 (Winter 2006)

External links

• The geek\b
  kaizouman :
  COFFEE.EXE Missing - Insert Cup and Press Any Key.
  Test
• geek\b
  kaizouman :
  I don't care if the software I run is unstable crap, as long as it is the LATEST unstable crap.
  Culture: The Third Counter-Culture, an article discussing geek\b
  kaizouman :
  A Life? Cool! Where can I download one of those?
  culture as a new kind of counter-culture.