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February 8, 2012

Tag: social geekery

August 25, 2008

The Last Hero – Live on TV

by Frank — Categories: Social Geekery — Tags: , , — Leave a comment

If there’s anything that geeks have had to suffer through on a consistent basis, it probably is ridicule. Whether it’s about being too un-athletic to play sports, or being buried in their little gadgets to the point of being stuffed inside a locker, the geeks have sometimes never had it easy in the formative years. Heck, even when they reach the age that they get out of school, it’s not that much better.

Thankfully, we geeks have the wonderful world of TV and imagination to retreat into. Here at OP, we are all about giving people a boost – even if it’s one that only lives in the realm of fantasy and could never, ever come true no matter how many fanfics you write.

NBC’s “Heroes” gives us the last best hope for all geeks in the form of Masi Oka’s Hiro Nakamura. Obsessed with sci-fi, comics, and superheroes, the aptly phonetic “Hiro” shows us that even someone who is better at putting his head in the clouds instead of in reality has a chance. Sure, the fact that he’s able to stop, bend, and otherwise treat time like a toy just might be a big factor in Hiro’s success. And yes, maybe having the father he had (Star Trek actor George Takei) might have just been a little bit more than a simple coincidence. But that hasn’t stopped Hiro from becoming the darling of all the pencil-pushing, otherwise dull geek community.

The character of Hiro, more socially lame and far from a legend, is a paradigm where the traditional action hero, overmuscled and inexplicably possessing some kind of martial arts training which both kills and looks good at the same time, is thrown aside. Never mind that the fact that Hiro’s journey seems a little contrived even for TV and that he somehow gets to be in the right place at the right time even without his powers. And let’s just conveniently forget the fact that Hiro’s time traveling seems just a tad btit “overpowered” even for a show about superpowers.

Nope, everyone will be glued to the TV this September as Heroes’ new season starts, hoping to get some kind of sliver of meaning to their socially awkward lives as they watch a geek do something that no geek will probably ever do (at least in our lifetimes, or until the next evolution, whichever comes first). I know I’ll be watching while simultaneously scrunching my face into a raisin to try to turn back time a minute or so.

August 23, 2008

Geek’s Night Out

by Frank — Categories: Social Geekery — Tags: — Leave a comment

So I know that I make a lot of comments about all us geeks being shut-ins who like to hug their keyboard more than they would another human being. Not that there’s anything wrong with that – I mean, if you want to have a lovely anti-social lifetime behind a computer screen where you can get your social kicks telling someone they need to “learn2play”, then hey, more power to you. I’m not about trying to tell someone how to live their own sheltered, solitary, gaming achievement whore lives.

No, this post is about those of us who actually choose to go wandering around outside, in the big bad world of people, places, and things, where the resolution is turned up way high and you don’t get another life to start if you screw up your decisions. For those of you who are thinking of getting out and about for whatever reason (even if it’s because your computer needs to be repaired and your consoles are smoking from 14 hours of play a day), have I got some tips for you. I like going out – in fact, today I have a little date with a bunch of people to celebrate someone’s impending death of their single status. I’ve been there out in those scary places called “Restaurants”, “Bars”, and Tourist Traps, where people talk without the benefit of graphical smileys, notification sounds, and of course, blocking and ignoring.

Here’s some things to remember for all you socially challenged yet bar-curious geekfolks:

  • Internet shorthand is a no-no: Look, I know it’s been a while since you didn’t type it, but it would most certianly be helpful for your ability to blend in if you didn’t actually say “lol” when someone says something funny. Besides, your non-geek friends will have no idea what you are doing when you say “OMFG”, or “LMAO”, and they will definitely look at you weird if you are trying to tilt your head sideways while smiling.
  • Technology is only shiny: There’s no way that the non-geeks you talk to will have any idea what you are carrying with you unless it begins with a lowercase i, so to a lot of people, the really neat pda, USB stick, or pocket-size external hard drive with all your gaming “pwnage” vids on it means nothing. Don’t burden these folks – they won’t get it, so save sharing how you spend 20 hours a day for your online friends.
  • Adapt only when necessary: There are certain times when you geeky folks are going to need to be quicker on your feet than during that totally awesome flag cap you got in TF2 the other night. However, you need to pick and choose your battles, my friends. There are times when it is good to look like you can hang (talking about sports – just remember, the Cubs lost, the Yankees and Red Sox won, and the Patriots totally blew it), and then there are times when it is bad (any form of dancing).
  • Online lines do not work: Want to hook up with someone besides over MSN with your keyboards? Hey, go for it, just don’t make your first line “hi, a/s/l?”

Armed with these, you will most certainly survive any night out and will be back to blog about all the strangely dressed people doing body shots off of a bartender with no problems at all. Stay safe, and remember – there’s no logging out.

August 15, 2008

The Geek Essentials

by Frank — Categories: Conventions, Social Geekery — Tags: , , — Leave a comment

Mythic Producer Josh Drescher talked a bit today about fitting a bunch of junk into your little bags for a jaunt, pretty much calling out fellow employee Justin Webb for trying to cram everything into one carry-on bag for a trip to Germany’s Leipzig.

Now I’m not really sure what Justin is planning to do while at the convention, but you never really know – it’s entirely possible that a single bag can be filled by a geek in order to go to a gathering of other geeks. Times like these, we have to be thankful that the things that advance in technology actually are becoming smaller, and not the other way around. Can you imagine fitting a cellphone the size of a giant pizza into your carry-on?

I can’t really make a judgment either way whether or not Justin has the ability to stuff that bag silly. Granted, he has an advantage – he has a loving wife who can help. Women, and especially women geeks, somehow have this extradimensional power to put the necessities in purses – even things that aren’t really, as Justin says, “bits and bobs”.

Let’s take a look at the essential items any geek should take on their trip away from their precious, precious rig and Internet connection:

  • The Mobile Status Symbol - You know all those crazy people who buy an SUV even though the only off-roading they are planning on doing is pulling out of their clean suburbanite street into the driveway? They’re not really interested in off-roading, just saying “hey, lookit me, I gots me a gas guzzler!”. Geeks are the same way. Every geek has one mobile device that they like to whip out oh-so-nonchalantly and look sophisticated and advanced. An iPhone fits the bill nicely. So does a really slick-looking PDA that isn’t a Blackberry (because the geek more than likely has set up Blackberries for a clueless CEOa nd wouldn’t be caught dead with one). The point? Flaunt the technology you have that no normal person could ever hope to understand beyond “ooh shiny.”
  • The Computer – There’s no way a geek leaves home without some way to stay wired and feed their addiction to the OS of their choice. The funny thing is that we have this reverse Freudian thing where we like it small. The smaller, the better, the slimmer, the better. If you have an ultra-slim-light-featherweight computer with an 10 inch screen that you could break more easily than a pair of chopsticks, then you’re doing something right – and you’re saving space, too. Exceptions include geeks using largish computers to show off their latest 1080i render of a fan video of themselves killing the hardest boss in an RPG. See: Mobile Status Symbol.
  • The Sunglasses – Because the resolution of “the real world” is honestly too much for your refresh rate.
  • The Cool Quirky Thing – Every geek has something that they think is unique that they want to show to other geeks who might appreciate it. It might be a pen with light saber sounds. It might be the photocopied script of the latest Batman movie. Heck, it might even be the piece of lint off of Joss Whedon’s overcoat that he wore to the Serenity premiere. Either way, it’s cool, it’s needed, and it’s packed.
  • The Games – Geeks get bored easily, and trust me, you wouldn’t like geeks when they’re bored. Time-wasting games that geeks can bury their noses in are a must for any trip. With their gaming console probably owned by someone who is local, portable devices like a PSP or a DS rule the day. Anything to conveniently avoid unnecessary social interaction.
  • The Clothes – Geeks have three fashions – awake, asleep, and naked. Given the fact that they hopefully will not end up in naked mode at an inappropriate time, the only real difference between awake and asleep is which t-shirt, which unbuttoned or otherwise not-worn-in-the-intended way over shirt, and which pair of jeans or khaki shorts they choose to wear. At least 6 combinations can be had from three pairs of shirts and jeans, and you can count on a geek counting the clothes they are wearing as one combination. Still have space problems? Perpetuate the geek stereotype of being overweight by wearing multiple pairs of pants and shirts. Just hope you don’t get strip searched.
  • The Boring Stuff – toothbrush, soap, towels, undergarments, passport, plane ticket, toiletries, usually stuffed or thrown carelessly into the bottom, top, or sides.

Given all this, is it entirely feasible for someone like Justin to fit the essentials in a carry-on? That depends on Justin, but I’d have to say, don’t be surprised if one carry-on can hold a world inside of it.

August 13, 2008

Phototerrorism at its Best

by Frank — Categories: Social Geekery — Tags: — Leave a comment

It’s nice to know, even at people’s most serious, that there are people with a sense of humor out there.

Ever heard of the “photobomb”? Well it’s making its way around the Net right now in constantly forwarded email and links via Facebook or Myspace, but apparently it is the “fine art of ruining people’s photos”. It smacks of a mix of “haha” and “wtf”.

Now I can’t imagine what happened to the people who took these photos or the ones who bombed them, but I’m probably betting that some of them probably weren’t none too happy that their tender photogenic moment was ruined by some jackass with no pants pseudo-humping the statue behind them. But personally, I find it hilarious. Where else do you think that some people who would normally not be photogenic – like geeky people – get their revenge on the more popular and better looking of the world? I mean if you really think about it, what better way to hide the fact that your weight rivals that of a beached whale or your face breaks a mirror than to make a totally ridiculous expression in a serious photo?

Honestly, this stuff makes doing the whole “bunny ears” thing to someone in a picture really old and tired. When you can literally show your ass in a picture that is meant to evoke a sense of wonderment and feeling, then I’d have to say, mission accomplished. And if they really want your ugly ass mug off of one of these pictures, there’s always the use of the neato technology of Photoshop, which, since we’re probably the only ones who know a thing about operating it, could turn into a nice little wad of cash for a little “photo touchup”.

Of course, sharing is caring, so this link should help get you started on your photobomber career:

http://www.asylum.com/2008/06/13/photobombers-ruining-your-picture-one-click-at-a-time/

Happy ambushing!

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