Transitioning into Geekdom
Ha! There is no transition, really. The more I listen to techno music, take classes, work, surf the 'net, and talk to people (friends and mere acquaintenances), the more I realize I've /always/ been a geek.
According to Dictionary.com, the word "geek" really has nothing to do with computers. In fact, it's originally from the circus and indicated such people as those who bit the heads off of live chicken! (Ick!) According to its present definition, however, it's also a clumsy person, foolish, inept... and/or a person who is *this deep* into scientific or technical pursuits but is socially inept, although the word is mainly associated with computers these days. Officially, it seems to mean the same thing as "nerd" although in usage I don't think it really does. There /are/ nuances between those two in my opinion (namely, that geeks aren't necessarily antisocial/unpopular/socially inept and nerds almost always are).
Anyway, I'm listening to a techno version of the Knight Rider theme. I noticed that the theme itself is often intact in this song, with the "techno" beat and effects added to it. Not unusual. But it also struck me how very technoish this song was in the first place. I loved this show as a kid and still want that car to this day just because it looked so cool. I even have this dream that one day I'll have one that still works and I'll be advanced enough by then to add a computer to its dashboard complete with voice recognition and a two-way watch to talk to it with. And an always-on camera so I could see who was near the car whenever I was alerted of nearby body heat. It would even have one of those car starters in the watch so I could start it if a thief tried breaking in. May deter them until I could rescue the car, you know? I was also thinking that a couple places could harbor buckshot... ::wicked evil grin:: Oh yeah, and wireless internet access, of course. That way I could have it look something up on the web for me while I'm in the bathroom of a friend's house. Not that they wouldn't have internet access, but you never know. Nearly-as-strange things have happened, right? Right! So, anyway, it's a cool idea, no? I think so. What? Oh, you think I should just get a phone with internet access to accomplish my dream? HA! Shows how much YOU know... what phone can also access all your personal data, such as that huge collection of favourite jokes, quotes, and quips? Or things like the catalogue to your mp3 collection so that when someone asks if you have "that cd" yet, you can tell them QUICKLY if it's one they can get for your birthday or not? Or what if you wanted to quote someone's email to them and all your email is downloaded into your computer? Huh? What then, smartiepants? Hm? I see you have no further arguments to my wrist-watch-to-car concept... hehhehheh Okay, I will admit that if I don't get to do all this to the ultra-cool Trans-Am, then I'd want to do it to an ultra-cool black truck. LOL.
How did I become a geek, though... is it in the brain's wiring? Is it learned behaviour? Is in the genes? Or is it a choice based on all of the above? I know I have innate talent when it comes to certain aspects of computers, and this talent seems to relate to other things in life, too. For instance, I tend to have a somewhat logical mind. Computers are logical. I see music as logical (usually music is patterned in some way). I love collections - and computers and music are exactly that - collections. I love words. More collections (letters, word, styles, etc - even languages). I love organizing and building. Legos are great for both. While people are interesting to me, and even make sense somewhat, they are unreliable and not for me to fix. Computers are generally all right with my tinkering in their insides, whether it be hardware or software. And if I mess up, I can /usually/ undo what I did and start again. Can't do that with people, fer sure. I even like cooking (which I don't usually see as a geek thing, but I guess that only makes me more special as a geek). Cooking is another collection and building thing. Not to mention its results can be tasty or at least something that can be experienced after creation (the testing phase of the programming process).
Perhaps geekiness, then, isn't merely a set of commonly shared interests that geeks have. Maybe it's the way the geek mind works in general. Where so many people merely enjoy music for the feelings it evokes, the geek enjoys it for the patterns it has within it, the structure itself, the way all the parts and pieces work together. And while so many kids loved Knight Rider because Michael Knight and his car K.I.T.T. were always winning over bad guys, I loved it because the car was a wise-a**, was serviced by the ultra-cool Bonnie (whom I've finally figured out was a fellow geek, no wonder I always rather liked her) and was always rescuing Michael. Ha. Ha. And remember when Knight Rider 4000 or whatever came out? They KILLED KITT!! They turned him into a red ditzy car complete with a female voice. Puh-leez. Not that I have anything against red ditzy cars, but black is soooooo much cooler, and the female voice was more sexy than smart. It acted more of a servant than a car with spunk. Bugger off, really.
Note that I never liked K.A.R.R. either... he was mean.
Well, I'm off to continue reorganizing Selene's hard drives. Then I'm going to defrag the hard drive while I find breakfast.
Happy Harmonies and Contented Computers,
~nvnohi
According to Dictionary.com, the word "geek" really has nothing to do with computers. In fact, it's originally from the circus and indicated such people as those who bit the heads off of live chicken! (Ick!) According to its present definition, however, it's also a clumsy person, foolish, inept... and/or a person who is *this deep* into scientific or technical pursuits but is socially inept, although the word is mainly associated with computers these days. Officially, it seems to mean the same thing as "nerd" although in usage I don't think it really does. There /are/ nuances between those two in my opinion (namely, that geeks aren't necessarily antisocial/unpopular/socially inept and nerds almost always are).
Anyway, I'm listening to a techno version of the Knight Rider theme. I noticed that the theme itself is often intact in this song, with the "techno" beat and effects added to it. Not unusual. But it also struck me how very technoish this song was in the first place. I loved this show as a kid and still want that car to this day just because it looked so cool. I even have this dream that one day I'll have one that still works and I'll be advanced enough by then to add a computer to its dashboard complete with voice recognition and a two-way watch to talk to it with. And an always-on camera so I could see who was near the car whenever I was alerted of nearby body heat. It would even have one of those car starters in the watch so I could start it if a thief tried breaking in. May deter them until I could rescue the car, you know? I was also thinking that a couple places could harbor buckshot... ::wicked evil grin:: Oh yeah, and wireless internet access, of course. That way I could have it look something up on the web for me while I'm in the bathroom of a friend's house. Not that they wouldn't have internet access, but you never know. Nearly-as-strange things have happened, right? Right! So, anyway, it's a cool idea, no? I think so. What? Oh, you think I should just get a phone with internet access to accomplish my dream? HA! Shows how much YOU know... what phone can also access all your personal data, such as that huge collection of favourite jokes, quotes, and quips? Or things like the catalogue to your mp3 collection so that when someone asks if you have "that cd" yet, you can tell them QUICKLY if it's one they can get for your birthday or not? Or what if you wanted to quote someone's email to them and all your email is downloaded into your computer? Huh? What then, smartiepants? Hm? I see you have no further arguments to my wrist-watch-to-car concept... hehhehheh Okay, I will admit that if I don't get to do all this to the ultra-cool Trans-Am, then I'd want to do it to an ultra-cool black truck. LOL.
How did I become a geek, though... is it in the brain's wiring? Is it learned behaviour? Is in the genes? Or is it a choice based on all of the above? I know I have innate talent when it comes to certain aspects of computers, and this talent seems to relate to other things in life, too. For instance, I tend to have a somewhat logical mind. Computers are logical. I see music as logical (usually music is patterned in some way). I love collections - and computers and music are exactly that - collections. I love words. More collections (letters, word, styles, etc - even languages). I love organizing and building. Legos are great for both. While people are interesting to me, and even make sense somewhat, they are unreliable and not for me to fix. Computers are generally all right with my tinkering in their insides, whether it be hardware or software. And if I mess up, I can /usually/ undo what I did and start again. Can't do that with people, fer sure. I even like cooking (which I don't usually see as a geek thing, but I guess that only makes me more special as a geek). Cooking is another collection and building thing. Not to mention its results can be tasty or at least something that can be experienced after creation (the testing phase of the programming process).
Perhaps geekiness, then, isn't merely a set of commonly shared interests that geeks have. Maybe it's the way the geek mind works in general. Where so many people merely enjoy music for the feelings it evokes, the geek enjoys it for the patterns it has within it, the structure itself, the way all the parts and pieces work together. And while so many kids loved Knight Rider because Michael Knight and his car K.I.T.T. were always winning over bad guys, I loved it because the car was a wise-a**, was serviced by the ultra-cool Bonnie (whom I've finally figured out was a fellow geek, no wonder I always rather liked her) and was always rescuing Michael. Ha. Ha. And remember when Knight Rider 4000 or whatever came out? They KILLED KITT!! They turned him into a red ditzy car complete with a female voice. Puh-leez. Not that I have anything against red ditzy cars, but black is soooooo much cooler, and the female voice was more sexy than smart. It acted more of a servant than a car with spunk. Bugger off, really.
Note that I never liked K.A.R.R. either... he was mean.
Well, I'm off to continue reorganizing Selene's hard drives. Then I'm going to defrag the hard drive while I find breakfast.
Happy Harmonies and Contented Computers,
~nvnohi
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