Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Yeah, the air conditioner bit was excellent.  Unfortunately, prior to this
conversation, I have been unaware of Mikki's excellent work in this regard.
I mention this only because the A/C parable immediately raised an important
issue in what's left of my mind: Does the book distinguish between hardware
geeks and software geeks?

While it may seem a trivial distinction to the non-geek part of the
populace, the reality is that the chasm between these groups can be as deep
and broad as the Grand Canyon.  In my travels and travails in SiliValley
engineering departments, how any times have I heard: "Don't ask me!  I'm a
hardware guy!"? How many times have I heard the converse?  I can't count
them all!

Mikki, if you have not consistently made this distinction, perhaps you can
fit it into a sequel.  Alternatively, it could provide the framework to the
type-of-geek/non-geek dating guide, so brilliantly suggested by <obizuth>
above.  After all, the hardware/software distinction is not so different
from, for example, the introvert/extrovert differentiation used by other
personalty taxonomies.

Finally, I have one last question: While there is clearly a geek meme, is
there a geek gene?
  

    

Mikki does make a distinction between hardcore geeks, which I took to be the
types with "developer" in their job title or description, and the more
softcore variety (such as myself) who deal in content, design, or online
community building.
  

    
she also makes distinctions between hardware and software geeks,
tony. excellent (and amusingly written) question.

can i tell you about my favorite parts of the book? (i must say i am
enjoying the fact that in this interview, my journalistic objectivity is
taking a hike.)

in addition to the airconditioner example, i LOVE section 3.2.4, Eating
Out With Your Geek. let's just say it's another one i can strongly relate
to. mikki, will you reprint that one too?

also, i love the timeline of great moments in geekdom. i particularly
enjoy the grafs about John Napier and Ben Franklin.

come, mikki, my lovely little performing pony.
  

    

bad news! I have just been informed that the house I am off to for the next
two days hsa no phone service! after i spent $250 getting my laptop fixed so
I could be with you lovely people! there is a phone card/pay phone theory.
will investiagte, worst case scenario see you all thurs afternoon, esat
coast time.
  

    
you BITCH.
  

    

I love you, Marjorie.

And, thanks to Mikki, I now know that my bf is a geek!  Why didn't I see
this before?

Although, come to think of it, perhaps he's not.  I have tried to entice
him to build us a network so I, too, can use the lovely cable modem I gave
him for Christmas in *1998*, but he is unable to tear himself away from
his online computer gaming geekiness.

Maybe I have the wrong type of geek?
  

    
dad sent all my relatives email saying that i was interviewing mikki (who
was the Official Fashion Consultant at my wedding, so most of them know
her). dad THINKS he is a geek (which is a constant source of stress to my
husband, who is an ACTUAL geek, but i digress) but dad referred to this
interview as a "chat." 

cousin janet (hi janet!) has been lurking! she emailed me:

You know, I vaguely know there is a difference between "chat" rooms and
message boards, etc, because of a friend with cancer and a friend who
adopted, who each got all kinds of info from fellow travellers in this
manner.  But since I never really grasped this brave new world, I believed
that this made me a "geek"  (ie: a rather uncool, dweeby person).  Now, I 
come to find out that a "geek" is some cerebral guru who is totally in the 
forefront of this new computer/cyberspace world and that this is now a
positive term, and that I am definitely NOT , and will never BE, a
"geek".  (For better or worse). 

see, i think this is a way more common perspective than that of the lifer
geeks who have been posting here. 
  

    
Lifer geeks. Wear the badge with pride.
  

    
There's
  

    

Are all software developers geeks, or only some?

I am starting to think I might be a geek after all, and still. I
haven't written any software myself for at least six years. However I
still know all about Star Trek, and I have to admit "I'm sweating like
a pig" seems a very strange way of saying "Please fix the
air-conditioning". Not that I would know how to do such a thing -
that's hardware.

Perhaps a quick reference sheet on the API of non-geeks would be in
order.

Incidentally this all reminds me of "The Soul of a New Machine", which
I read in 1983. Strange that the culture is just the same when so much
else around the industry changed.
  

    
The air conditioner routine is not only brilliant, it is: educational!
  

    
 Only some software developers are geeks.
  

    

Chiming in with admiration for the air conditioner gambit.
  

    
what the heck kinda name is that "mikki"?
  

    

Is there a fundamental difference between the self-aware geek and the
oblivious geek in terms of interpersonal functionality?  Is the former
easier to deal with because they are aware of the geekdom, or is the
latter easier because they don't even recognize that you're "dealing with
them"?

As "geek" increasingly becomes a badge of pride, how do we tell true geeks
from wannabes?

Does "geek" only mean techies and math nerds, or does it include anyone
who was unsocialised and ostracised in school?  For example, Anthony
Michael Hall's two friends in school were doubtless classic geeks, but was
Anthony Michael Hall's character a geek?

Does a geek remain a geek forever?  If a geek grows up to find a
supportive community, achieves happiness and confidence and possibly some
variety of alternative sexuality, does residual geekiness remain?
  

    

Mary Ezzell writes in:

I've been looking for a good term to describe a personality type which shows
up in geeks, engineers, etc -- and also in  farmers, adventurers,
homesteaders.... Common factors: Mr. Spock, Indiana Jones....

The key is, relying on facts and/or physical reality, instead of on others'
opinions or perceptions. Techie -- even if it means low-tech. Into problem-
solving, not charm....

Feel like I'm probably missing something obvious. Any suggestions?

More musing at http://www.gore-in-context.com/geek.html
  

    
MacGyver.
  

    

Heh!
  

    

One thing I wished for in this otherwise amusing book was a discussion
of the geek tendency to take things apart and to tinker with stuff. While
geeks are often handy when it comes to repairing equipment, there's a
counterbalancing impulse that often makes things worse, at least for a
while. As when geek disassembles new laptop to get a look at the
daughterboard slots, is called away by a beeper, and geek's SO comes home
to find laptop disassembled on dining-room table.

Also, isn't there a generic geek mentality that applies outside of the
tech world? Seems to me that there are opera geeks, theater geeks,
pop-music geeks (e.g., John Cusack's character in "High Fidelity") and (of
course) law geeks.

How connected is the Geek Way of Being to technology, on other words?
  

    
I enjoyed the book very fast but was still left with the only way I can tell
of my girlfriend being a greek was her lovely complection and penchant for
feta cheese.
  

    


Good question, menmonic.  I once knew a guy who was a "rail fan," one of
those obsessive types who lives for railroad history, watching trains,
taking train trips, etc.  Clearly a geekish tendency.
  

    
Is that the same as a trainspotter?
  

    

Dumb question department, part 2: What is the difference between a geek and
a nerd?
  

    

From: "Sam Patton" <wsampatton@earthlink.net>
To: <inkwell-hosts@well.com>
Subject: Mikki Halpin - The Geek Handbook
Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2000 21:35:07 -0500


Mikki, in your research did you run across the term Aspergers Sydrome?
It is autistic specturm disorder and about 33%(estimated) of all
programmers and engineers have it to some degree.  I could go into
details but it would take some time and I am not a psychologist.   My
son has a mild from of the disorder.  If you go to the web and find out
some of the traits of Aspergers Sydrome, I would be interested in what
you think the precentage of the geek you encountered.
  

    

I think it was the NYT Magazine (although I can never remember where I read
what) that had a fascinating article about this sometime in the last few
months. I had never heard of it before that, but I agree, it does seem to be
a "geek" disease of sorts. I'll be interested to hear what Mikki thinks.