A bit of testimony from the murder trial of Hans Reiser:

On cross examination by defense attorney William DuBois, Andrew Conry-Murray said he was a computer technology writer and agreed with DuBois' characterization that computer programmers "are a little bit socially retarded."

"Some are more socially retarded than others?" DuBois asked.

"Yes."

hrm...

I'm playing a bit of wii tennis with my brother the other night, and he remarks, as most people do the first time they experience the wii and people's miis, how cool the miis are, and how much my mii looks like me.

Tam chimes in, "Even your mii looks like a programmer..." Ouch.

In the field of computer technology, one in which I find myself affiliated, people refer to themselves and others as geeks. Geeks are a breed of smart and talented people who supply the knowledge and skills that drive modern technology. Some would claim they are changing the world, and for the better.

There was a time that the term geek was used in a derogatory light, when geeks had braces and greasy hair and worked many hours alone in their room with their Radio Shack electronics kit while reading popular mechanics. Today it used as a point of pride. The more of a geek you are the greater your technical and intellectual prowess. To be labeled a geek is to be labeled a technology expert of the most highest degree. There are even some, at least purported to be some, attractive geeks that actual men and women would like to spend time with, even date, and at the most extreme engage in carnal relations.

The geek has reached a new pinnacle in modern society. Both feared and revered for their technical abilities, they are payed well and valued in the business world. Portrayed in popular media as hip kids with a flare for technology, the modern geeks have far surpassed their pencil necked ancestors. Slide rules have been replaced with laptops and ipods, greasy hair replaced with a tight cut and sideburns, band-aided glasses transformed into contacts or stylish rims. Their knapsacks and courier bags are filled with state of the art technology gadgets coveted by many. A quick trip to any Apple computer store will provide a crash course in the new world of geekdom. If technology is indeed the future, then the geeks have their hands wrapped safely around the yoke.

I never considered the term geek when I began my foray into computer science. Nerd was the prevailing derogatory term of the day. Geek wasn't included in the local lexicon during my school age years, so it was rare, almost never, that I heard the term. I distinctly remember the first time I heard the word used in a positive light. I was working as an intern under a smart, if not overly arrogant and self centered, Unix Systems Administrator. He was tinkering with 3D rendering software, and he was producing some interesting 3D images. A local advertising firm was trying to recruit him. He relayed the story to me and said, "I told them I don't want to be in advertising, I am a geek." I had never heard anyone refer to themselves as a geek before, nor had I heard anyone refer to anyone as a geek with the intent of compliment instead of scorn, and to hear someone refer to themselves as such, it was all a bit confusing. And yet, this was only the beginning. The Internet was just a fuzzy dream on Al Gore's horizon. 2400 baud modems were all the rage. The bubble was still an un-chewed piece of Bubbleyum sitting in a wrapper on some venture capitalist's desk somewhere. The nerds still languished in their parent's basements watching mail ordered laser disks of Return of The Jedi. The future wasn't now. It was tomorrow, or maybe the next day.

While reading the novel Geek Love I was reminded of the origins of the term geek.

geek is now chiefly associated with student and computer slang; one probably thinks first of a computer geek. In origin, however, it is one of the words American English borrowed from the vocabulary of the circus, which was a much more significant source of entertainment in the United States in the 19th and early 20th century than it is now. . .The circus sideshow is the source of the word geek, "a performer who engaged in bizarre acts, such as biting the head off a live chicken."

- Dictionary.com

As many professions of old, the original talents of the geek have slowly passed into history. The name has been co-opted by a new generation who wash their hands with anti bacterial soap after brushing by a package of chicken breast thawing on the counter. Even tails of Ozzy Osborn biting off chicken heads are wildly exaggerated. The modern day geek gently sips the head of foam from their half-caf latte while nibbling on the top of a biscotti at the local Starbucks and worries about the dangers of the avian flu.

And yet I wonder, are geeks really that different than their carny ancestors? Are they that far detached from the sideshow? Have they just wiped the blood from their lips, washed their hair, hidden their retainers and stepped out of the basement into the light of day? Maybe somewhere deep inside they long for the sliderule and a pocket protector. Maybe all they really need is a live farm chicken and a carnival stage.

"Words fail me. . ." - Peter

Dungeon Majesty

Dungeon Majesty is a cable-access TV show in which four young women play Dungeons and Dragons -- the show is intercut with Z-grade green-screen masks of them staging D&D fights in front of fakey caves or deep in spooky woods, and illustrated with flip-book animations fo D&D monsters drawn in pen on lined paper. This is really fantastic stuff -- it's got nerd pride to burn, and production values that make MST3K look slick.

Quicktime Teaser

-via boing boing