tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2981939676968481781.post8841530504985255873..comments2023-10-30T04:54:14.546-04:00Comments on Diana Kimball: Amusement Park Windmill: Week 1 of The Two Bits Processor ProjectUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2981939676968481781.post-71825100977697275482008-09-02T21:28:00.000-04:002008-09-02T21:28:00.000-04:00Geek used to mean "Nerds with social skills" in th...Geek used to mean "Nerds with social skills" in the age of Geek Houses which has died out more than a decade ago. The battle is still the same: Who vs. what. If we are asking *what* is a geek then all the "sciences" or objectifications of humanity are at our service. If we are asking *who*, then that provides a horizon for encountering the Other, and maybe the gods will answer us.sfpoethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17371301150476666206noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2981939676968481781.post-27818511130878611572008-07-07T17:24:00.000-04:002008-07-07T17:24:00.000-04:00True! One thing I've noticed that the entire geek ...True! One thing I've noticed that the entire geek culture "industry" as such spawns a whole other subculture of people who are popularizers, promoters, pundits, entrepreneurs, and blowhards that appropriate geekdom for their own ends. They definitely serve an important purpose in acting as an interface, but I wonder about the extent to which the groups are in conflict/support with one another...thoughts?Tim Hwanghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02692167932472973982noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2981939676968481781.post-66406822313726405252008-07-04T01:28:00.000-04:002008-07-04T01:28:00.000-04:00I think I failed to convey the basic essence of my...I think I failed to convey the basic essence of my interest in this "what is geekery" problem in my post, but you managed to reach it anyway in your post!<BR/><BR/>That is, I was interested not just in "are you in or are you out," but just what these outsiders can do to impact the inside: which is, in short, participation through caring. But not just caring. Because the arenas of general geekdom inevitably engage "core topics", these outlier geeks engage in conversation and even <I>pass judgment</I> on new developments in the core. Furthermore, to people outside the geek world, any geek represents <B>every</B> geek in some sense, which means that the outliers are also granted powers of reinterpretation and transmission. This, IMO, gives them a <I>lot</I> of power...<BR/><BR/>Just some clarifications. Or not?? I don't know. Thanks for the postcard!!Christinahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12196496614800244564noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2981939676968481781.post-91927928222050428312008-07-02T02:14:00.000-04:002008-07-02T02:14:00.000-04:00"This dilemma reminds me of something my friend Ma...<I>"This dilemma reminds me of something my friend MacArthur once said about Seattle: "I hate hipsters. But I love all the trappings of hipsterdom." As with hipsters, so with geeks: there's a way to access the trappings without espousing the identity.</I><BR/><BR/>I think this comparison is awesome. In some senses, the sense of an assured "cool" identity and established peer group is alluring about any subculture, its very nature as set of traits carving out the boundaries of an exclusive group are at the same time repulsive. <BR/><BR/>The unique difference with Free Software, I think, is that the posers and outsiders have a freakish regular talent for eating the Cool (relatively speaking) Kids' lunch.<BR/><BR/>Consider Lessig -- who in some sense could be a total poser in the Free Software world (he essentially voiced an agenda that was an old hat issue in the coding world). Or otherwise Doctrow, who seems largely outside on the "original" Free Software battles per se and focuses his attention most on upstart Free Culture concerns. Both have amassed huge power in the original geek community, and formed new ones as well.<BR/><BR/>I dunno, I'm still debating whether or not this is something unique to Free Software as a cultural movement. If so, I wonder whether the nature of Free Software being a recursive public has anything to do with it...Tim Hwanghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02692167932472973982noreply@blogger.com