Sunday, March 23, 2008


cartoon from www.weblogcartoons.com

Cartoon by Dave Walker.

It's Easter Monday. Yesterday was a blast even with our diminishing family (JimmyD in London, Red in Melbourne, ClareBear in Peru, Hannabananna in Townsville)

Still, we had Easter Egg hunts, poker, BabyBro's famous chili prawns and one of my best lasagne's yet, loads of good red and sparkling white and a lunch that lasted until 9:30pm, then a quick game of Need for Speed at which I suck intensely (yet even a vodka ridden DrummerBoy excels) before bouncing off the walls on my way to bed!

This morning after two cups of tea I'm feeling decidedly thick headed and seedy so I went searching for something funny, silly, light-hearted and vacuous to post that was remotely connected to the Easter weekend. Then, I found out what you probably already know:

Easter eggs! Not the chocolate kind but hidden features placed by programmers in software applications, operating systems, and even some hardware. When the hidden command sequence is found, an Easter-egged product will perform an action, such as displaying a message, a small animation or playing a sound. In Halo for instance, it inserts characters doing funny things, random monkey men or in Code of Conduct 4 you can hear oddball comments such as 'this is Sparta!" Here's one hidden inside Final Fantasy:


Slightly off topic, I had a discussion with a young Irish bloke the other day and he was horrified that I alluded to him as a Geek but confessed he was slightly Nerdy which he considered a more favourable label. Weird. Being a nerd down here means you're a bit of a sociopath, pale and uninteresting, with an aversion to fresh air and a penchant for playing Warhammer or chess. A geek on the other hand, has kudos, good IT knowledge, is similarly pale but interesting.

Nerds have above-average IQ and no gift for small talk and ordinary social rituals. They place little importance on their appearance. Nerds are often aware of their status, but they don't mind. In fact, many take pride in the putdown, as it means they're smart and not wrapped up in superficial worries.

Geek is a more specific term. Back in the day, geeks worked at carnivals, and (according to the dictionary) "bit the heads off live chickens." Thankfully, the term now has a different connotation. Geeks have chosen concentration rather than conformity; they pursue skill (especially technical skill) and imagination, not mainstream social acceptance. Geeks usually have a strong case of neophilia. These are the people you make fun of in high school and later work for as an adult.

Being called a dork however is the biggest insult of the three. There's no way you can spin it into something positive. After all, even the dictionary writes that dorks are "stupid" people. And to make matters worse, dorks assume they're cool. Oh, and they smell, too.

So, to sum things up, if someone calls you a geek or a nerd, thank them. If someone calls you a dork, consider going back to school and investing in some new deodorant.

There, that wasn't too hard really . . . hope you all had a happy and safe Easter break . . . now . . . coffee time!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cheers! Baino

Have you been talking to my lad then?

I laughed so much at your definitions of nerds and geeks. I think the genes for both must run in our family.

My son is without doubt, a typical geek. He doesn't care what anyone thinks of him (and it shows), will party the night away and then keeps going through the following day and night if there's a technical problem to be solved. He has two cousins (on either side of the family) who are total nerds, who shy away from company yet possess the ability to change the technical world. Thankfully no dorks to report in the family!

Hope you had a good Easter break!

Anonymous said...

Nerd, geek or dork, no not me...

I'm a twit!

Anonymous said...

funny picture/cartoon

Anonymous said...

Dave Walker cartoons are very good. He does a thing called cartoonchurch which has the clergy well sussed!

Thriftcriminal said...

Baino, quick one, I've heard Aus is not at all in favour of Aspartame. My mate Mixer reckons it has been linked to cancer. Is that the case? Sorry for being off topic.

Baino said...

Hey Steph: No sadly I don't live with a nerd or a geek otherwise my computer performance would be 100%. Mind you he's very handy at other stuff! I work and talk to beautiful geeks all day. . .love their bones. Mattie Rattie has the patience of a saint, Ryan is incredibly helpful and Kahler is just fabulous clever and cuddly to boot. Had a very relaxed Easter, thanks.

GrannyMar, you are the epitome of cool . .groovy granny . .except you're not a granny . . um . . thinking cap on.

Thanks Ropi, I aim to please. You're slow on your blog this week sweet pea?

Ah Ian, I'm a regular subscriber and like the way he 'donates' his humour. Something for everyone but I wouldnt diss the clergy here! You're my special guru!

Thrifty: What the? Off topic - off the planet more like. Email me with topical questions please, happy to answer. Apparently causes lymphoma in rats so now we call them phenylkakasomethings. How dare you make me Google at 9:30pm! Don't worry, Nutrisweet is still on the shelves (but I'm sweet enough) - Use Sugar! It's natural. . unless you're a diabetic of course then you need to eat Bitter Melon stir fries . .but I ramble . . .feel free to Skype Baino1610. I have no friends!