Geek as a compliment
If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you’ll know that I pride myself in doing my own stunts. I write most of my HTML meta-tags by hand, almost never use the visual editor, and I did the whole redirection of my blog URL (hummingbird604.com) and registration all by myself (with the very capable guidance of Rebecca). Heck, I even have the geek-wear to prove it!
A couple of months back, I was talking with someone (can’t recall exactly who it was) and with Rebecca, and I praised said person “you ARE a geek“. Rebecca was very quick to explain “to Raul, that is actually a compliment, so you should take it that way“. It’s true. If I ever tell you that you ARE a geek, I am complimenting you.
The nouns “nerd“, “geek” and “dork” have been ostracized for so long that, for many people, they have negative and derogatory connotations.
Not for me. I am actually proud of my geekification. Before I started using WordPress, and before I started blogging, I knew nothing about RSS feeds, Web 2.0, domain propagation, clean URLs, hashtags, Twitter, and all that jazz. I now feel comfortable even speaking about cloud computing!
(Hat tips to Anthony Nicalo who just tweeted about how he was trying to gain geek credibility – Anthony, I think you’re pretty geeky alright!).
Related posts:
- Bowen Island Geek Road Trip (daytrip)
- I’m the Geek of the Week (The Georgia Straight)
- Geek-wear: Funky t-shirts for your inner geek
- The clash of two worlds: Enviro-geek or social media geek?
- The Sarah Lacy/Mark Zuckerberg interview debacle (seen from a non-geek perspective)
I remember taking one of those pointless quizzes a long time ago to determine if I was one of nerd, geek, or dork. I have since used the distinct definitions provided at the end of the quiz as my benchmark (geek = life-long learner/generalist), but this can surely bring out a discussion that all three are just terms for the same thing.
Geeks unite!
I do not want to be a geek. I have no interest in how it is done – I just want it to happen. When I am forced to code “by hand” I think the platform I am working on has failed me. For me content is king and I cannot be distracted by css and whatever “hashtags” might be. I feel the same way about my car. I have not once lifted the hood since I took delivery, and sincerely hope I never have to. It’s just transportation not a hobby. I enjoy blogging but I Hate Computers
I an a geek! I am proud to be a geek. I had a conversation with a friend about the difference between a geek and a nerd and we came to the conclusion that…
geek = passionate and knowledgeable of tech-gadget etc.
nerd = passionate about books and such…..
Though I always found to be passionate about higher-learning etc.. you know they got straight A’s throughout school, did extra work for just praise etc..
Where as I have been around computers for over 22yrs and I like to think myself pretty tech savvy
dork = whale penis
btw isn’t META tags what you use in the of an HTML document. It lists things such as keywords and a short description of the page being loaded?