TECH TALK

By TJ MANOTOC

We are all closet geeks. Admit it or not, like it or not. Our hunger, our thirst for tech knowledge is there. It's some sort of innate lusting for the future. Who wouldn’t wanna know what the future holds?

I mean we all love psychics and manghuhulas, and I’d say that goes along the same realm of wanting to know what’s next in the world of technology. Because eventually, what may seem hi tech for us now, will just be normal in the near future, and in the extreme future it will be obsolete.

Take for example how I’ve been able to bring out the techie stories on a very masa level in a program such as TV Patrol. Why did it work? Well I was personally pleasantly surprised myself.

But I think it worked out because the Filipinos and people in general are aspirational. We simply like to know that something cool exists, whether or not we will ever afford it.

What is a geek?

So given all this, I’d qualify us all as closet geeks. Although some may argue that the term “geek” alone is relative or even hard to define. According to the Encarta World English Dictionary these are the three definitions of a geek:

1. somebody who is considered unattractive and socially awkward (insult)

2. a carnival performer whose act consists of outrageous feats such as biting the heads off live animals

3. somebody who enjoys or takes pride in using computers or other technology, often to what others consider an excessive degree (informal disapproving)

I would definitely oppose being in the first two categories, but I don’t think most would feel bad falling under the third. Maybe a stretch of it, or easing up on the “excessive degree (informal disapproving)”

Hip to be a geek

But for people who want to use the term nowadays, I think it's cooler. It's cool to be a geek nowadays. I don’t think you have to look like a bookworm nerd or the like. Modesty aside, I think I look normal, or at least I hope I do. 

If you wanna be a geek, let's try to live it right. Let's walk the walk and talk the talk. So lets take a moment or two to learn a few of the hi tech highfaluting words from geeklandia, courtesy of the cool geeks at Wired Magazine.

They put out this insert called Geekipedia, pun intended, in the October 2007 issue. You’ll never know, it could impress your date who’s into all this techie stuff too. So here goes my chosen few geek terms and their cool geekipedia definitions:

Brain Age – for those who don’t own a Nintendo DS you probably don’t know of this, but if you do and you haven’t heard of this one, then shame on you.  This was created by Nintendo with Neuroscientist Ryuta Kawashima.

It has sold millions all over the world. It consists of timed drills like solving math problems, reading aloud, counting stick figures all aimed to keep your cerebral muscles toned. These randomized test eventually assign you a “brain age” which represents your mental fitness.

Emulator – yeah it sounds like something that Luke Skywalker would be whipping out of his pocket, but actually, it's something that you load into something that goes into your pocket.

Wired’s Geekipedia says our hardware may have died and gone, but the software lives on. And that’s where emulators come in. Fortunately a bunch of hardcore geeks devoted hours and upon hours developing emulating programs that port old operating systems into modern day machines.

A basic example of this is how you can play family computer or even playstation 1 games on your cellphone. Fantastico.

Nanotechnology – Don’t you just love such a complicated techie word like this? It really sounds like it's straight out of a futuristic movie. To be honest, I’ve heard and read this many times, but I have no idea what on earth it meant, until today.

Geekipedia calls it a "geekilicious" marketing buzzword. It was coined by K. Eric Drexler (no relation to Clyde The Glyde) back in 1986 to describe his vision of atomic scale machines that would revolutionize fields from engineering to medicine.

But after critics like Nobel winning chemist Richard Smalley proclaimed it physically impossible, modern day geeks stole their word and they used it to describe  their work at the nanoscale (one-billionth of a meter small). So no, it has nothing to do with the iPod nano.

Open Source – Pretty much as literal as a meaning it can get, geekipedia calls it “the new black”. It seems like everybody these days is claiming to jump on the open source bandwagon.

It began when it was applied to peer produced software, meaning programs whose source codes are open to all, like the Linux operating system as opposed to those who geekipedia claims to to jealously guard their trade secrets like Windows. It was actually a morphing of the old phrase “free software”.

Social Networking – now if you haven’t heard this, than you may be showing your age. Your kids know this term like the back of their hand. Yes, this is the generic term that classifies them web phenoms such as Friendster, MySpace, Facebook, and Multiply.

Believe it or not it even made such a hit that billionare Rupert Murdoch dug deep into his pockets and shelled out half a billion buckaroos to buy one out even in its infancy. Sure beats passing around that “slumbook” in grade school.

Twitter – speaking of social networking sites, here’s a new kid on the block that’s beginning to grab some solid attention. Geekipedia says Twitter launched a revolution of sorts. It mashes up elements of social networking, journaling, and text message to create a platform for people to stay in touch via quick updates of up to 140 characters.

Users receive their friend’s messages instantly via mobile phone, Web, or an RSS reader app. Heck even BBC twitters its headlines now. And even Barrack Obama has been twittering away his supporters on his way (as he hopes) to the White House.

Ubuntu – talking about open source? Here’s one that’s grabbing the fiber optic lines too. It's named for a Zulu word meaning “selfhood through community and sharing”. This isn’t just the first version of the Linux operating system, it's the first distro designer to, as they say, save the world.

Some big names to drop who use Ubuntu now are Michael Dell (of the Dell company), Google (they dared call it Goobuntu) and even the French Parliaement who has ditched Windows for all the “freedom” Ubuntu has to offer.

WoW – no this has nothing to do Papi Wille and his bevy of dancing beauts on a hi tech stage. This is what is going on deep into the cublicle and into the night in those internet cafes. Yes this is THE World Of Warcraft, that insanely popular networking role playing game or RPG.

They even have world championship competitions for this. And some people are even spending thousands of dollars on therapy to cure them from WoW addiction. And yes, there are now an estimated 9 million strong WoW fanatics.

Well there you go boys and girls. A little more geek points to brag about the next time you find yourself deep into geek talk amongst you and your other “geek in denial friends”. Just remember, nowadays, it IS cool to be a geek. At least I say so. And so can you. See on Twitter ;-)