“...the Platonic nerd is invariably male. The stereotype is flexible to incorporate women and girls on an individual basis, but few people conjure up the image of a woman when they think about nerds.” Feminist blog Pandagon reviews two books about nerdiness and geekery, Jason Tocci addresses the question of why female involvement in geek culture seems to call for a special explanation, and two feminist geeks set out in search of an egalitarian future.
posted by velvet winter on Jun 26, 2009 - 142 comments

A Life Well Wasted is a new podcast about video games and the people who love them, created by freelance writer Robert Ashley. [more inside]
posted by Happy Dave on Mar 18, 2009 - 20 comments

Dorkbot is a "monthly meeting of artists (sound/image/movement/whatever), designers, engineers, students, scientists, and other interested parties who are involved in the creative use of electricity." Started in NYC in 2000 by Douglas Repetto, Director of Research at the Columbia University Computer Music Center as well as one of Wired's 10 Sexiest Geeks, there are now dozens all over the world. Past presenters have been featured here on the blue. For instance Jeff Han presented his multi-touch interface at dorkbot-nyc in April of 2006. Miru Kim presented her naked city spleen at dorkbot-nyc in October of 2006. Bummed that there's not one in your own city? Start your own! [more inside]
posted by funkiwan on Dec 30, 2008 - 19 comments

Slate Remembers Nerd Camp. I'd thought all parents everywhere were sending their kids to turn-pro-at-18 camp now, but it seems that CTY is bigger than ever. (Albeit subject to accusations that the standards have been watered down.)
posted by MattD on Jul 21, 2006 - 76 comments

Bill Gates or Steve Jobs? Who is changing the world more for the better? Some people believe Bill Gates and Microsoft are the Spawn of Satan, while others praise him for his philanthropy. [subs. req'd] Steve Jobs has more buzz on the internets than Bill Gates and a near religious following for his products with Apple. One might not give like the other, but one definitely is much more Zen-like.
posted by Mijo Bijo on Jan 25, 2006 - 92 comments

Listen to some of the g{0,1}[r]e[ea][tk]{0,1}[i]est minds on the planet. Some of the most ubarest geeks on the planet have an hour long interview talking about technology, ideas, and giving away the source code for MacPaint.
posted by eurasian on Nov 8, 2005 - 20 comments

How the Death Star Works — In this article HowStuffWorks will look at the Death Star inside and out, examine the fascinating history behind this powerful military and political tool, discover other incarnations of the Death Star and learn about what really happens when you blow up a planet. [via MonkeyFilter]
posted by Rothko on Nov 2, 2005 - 33 comments

National Geek Day. Neil "Sandman" Gaiman & Joss "Buffy" Whedon both have movies coming out this weekend; in honor of the nerd confluence of events, Time magazine conducted a joint interview with the two.
posted by jonson on Sep 28, 2005 - 26 comments

The Daily WTF features braindead code samples. High-larious to a nerd like me.
posted by sonofsamiam on Oct 15, 2004 - 41 comments

Are You Just A Little Nerdito, A Regular Nerd Or Full-Blown-Ambulance-Case Nerd Well, take the test and find out! (Via LinkFilter. Oh and perhaps someone will kindly take the time to explain to us strangers the nuances that distinguish nerds from wonks, pointy-heads, wusses and geeks?)
posted by MiguelCardoso on Nov 13, 2003 - 39 comments

Girls Don't Want to Be Nerds! You know, women like this are the worst enemies women in IT have. I look around the personal web and see nothing but energetic, creative young women embracing technology - not running from it.
posted by gsh on May 1, 2001 - 28 comments

wired does xxx... getting my daily fix of info, i stumbled on a coedsex.com add delightfully served by doubleclick! is there something that i don't catch or is it just plain stupid and [perhaps] illegal to serve adds like that on such a big portal? i don't mean i'm in favor of regulation, but Wired is a [ was a ] very visited portal, and even if kids don't have much to read there, it may be shocking for some people. Even if the server has snooped my hard drive till it found that videos he may contains, it doesn't mean that the current user is not my 2 years old that had somewhat lit my comp. if you have a kid that loves to smash the keys of keyboards, and if you don't want him to destroy your neat advanced keyboard, find him a old amstrad CPC. Heavy, robust and the keys are very clicky and easy to repair.
posted by deboute on Apr 7, 2000 - 1 comment