01-15-2004, 06:00 AM
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Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 15,171
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Internet 'Geek' Image Shattered by New Study
Here's an interesting counterpoint to the article Jason linked to earlier this week ("Online Addicts Abandon Real World"):
"The typical Internet user -- far from being a geek -- shuns television and actively socializes with friends, a study on surfing habits said Wednesday. The findings of the first World Internet Project report present an image of the average Netizen that contrasts with the stereotype of the loner "geek" who spends hours of his free time on the Internet and rarely engages with the real world."
I'm curious to hear about our readers. The perception I get is most of you are outgoing, but am I correct?  I consider myself relatively socially active, although I've gotten bogged down with work as of late.
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01-15-2004, 06:15 AM
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Pupil
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 46
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wow. that is pretty accurate for me. i'm outgoing, i socialize often, and i haven't watched tv in over 5 years. (i used to be a HUGE tv freak when i was a younger)
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01-15-2004, 06:37 AM
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5000+ Posts? I Should OWN This Site!
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 5,616
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Or, the /. version. But I agree with the fact that people who use the Internet a fair bit but not extremely heavily also take time for other "real-world" stuff. I know that I've taken up activities since I started using the Internet that I wouldn't even have considered before. And I read a lot more also, especially in bed. Quite often I'll go to bed and by the time the light (incandescent or LCD ) is off it's two hours later.
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01-15-2004, 07:20 AM
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2000 Posts And This is All I Get?
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 2,017
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Well, I am off to work at 7 in the morning, and got back to apartment after 8pm. That leaves a lot of time for socializing, right ? =)
But of course my real life is between 8pm to midnight. Games, talking on the phone with future spouse, processing the photos I took during the day, etc. etc. ... Saturdays and sundays are usually for outdoorsy activities ..
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01-15-2004, 07:40 AM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 94
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i internet
i do not own a TV
i have never owned a TV
i train in martial arts
i lift weights 3 days on, 1 day off
i sail nearly weekly regattas
i drive a sports car
i'm writing a novel
i'm single but attached, still get carded at clubs
i live one mile from the ocean, left coast south of LA
geek? sure, i own an iPAQ
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01-15-2004, 08:11 AM
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Pupil
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 43
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Born and Raised being babysat by the the TV... Now, I can't stand it. I find the programming of late to be, well, just stupid. TV is becoming an R rated movie in my opinion.(I don't want to start a flame with this.. so moving on)...
Don't get me wrong, I'm only 19. I was known in Highschool as a geek. I went around and fixed teachers computers and for it, I could use a cell phone in school whenever and also the school bought my first PDA, an 8MB Handspring Visor Monochrome, I loved that thing, haha. I also had the option to wander the halls and leave class as I pleased. But, don't let that fool you, I was also Junior Prom King my junior year in school. I was lead singer in a band called "This Side Up" and frequently covered and played the songs that our highschool dances were named after. Now-a-days I work for an ISP doing web design and programming, it's a 10am-6pm kind of job. I'm also an entrepreneur. I started a concrete acid-staining business that does well to make a little extra money here and there. I have a serious girlfriend of 1 year on the 20th of Jan. I am buying my own house, drive an RX-7, and own a Desktop Computer and a few PDA's and have had a cell phone since I was about 14. I spend my weekends hiking, doing photography, going out to eat and watch movies, and going to the sand dunes and rock crawling(I have an '87 Suzuki Samurai with a few extra's I like to take out and play with). One more thing... I've actually had people get really suprised at times when I tell them what I do for a living. They end up telling me that I don't look like a computer geek in the least bit.
That's my 2 cents.
LZ
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01-15-2004, 09:23 AM
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Thinker
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 412
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I'm definitely a woman with a geek attitude...but I don't think like the stereotypical geek...
I drive a nifty 300 pony sports car, I'd like to think that I have a decent fashion sense, I love to see technology actually make lives better rather than think that my role is to make people think technology is better,... I work in an exciting industry and I make lots of money doing it.
Proud to be a geek, but not a loser...
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01-15-2004, 10:26 AM
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01-15-2004, 12:57 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 11
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I guess I'm a geek if I like the newest gadgets out there, but I'm a bouncer at 2 bars, have a girlfriend, socializes a great deal the 3 days I don't work at the bars, and I just got my CS degree from college. I don't watch nearly as much TV as I did 3-4 years ago, not nearly. Except maybe some ONDemand movies.
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01-15-2004, 03:36 PM
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Theorist
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 267
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40, married, two young boys, black belt, only stuff we watch on tv is educational programming, luxury car and a five bedroom house on a lake, with a room devoted to a home gym (workout 5 days a week). Oh, yeah, and the geeky stuff:
- iPAQ 2215 with my own work-related themes, Journal Bar, Battery Pack, Quick Agenda and Quick Tasks, PI 4.6.1, withMP3, PocketTV Enterprise, Resco File Explorer, Ambicom CF, three CF and one SD memory cards, etc., etc. Also have a T-Mobile Hot Spots account.
- Four networked PC's at home (wireless-g). One is a laptop from work. I built the other three - one with 19" LCD, one 17" CRT for the kids, a 19" CRT and additional keyboard for the laptop. The last one is a Shuttle box devoted to being a media server, attached to my home theater and viewed on the HDTV, with Gyration Ultra Mouse and keyboard (my wife refuses to use it). My PC (with the LCD) also has a WinTV card, with a Dish Network receiver attached.
- enough spare parts to build a couple more PC's, though some of the parts are very old. Maybe one day I will get rid of my 5.25" drives and my ISA cards. I recently got rid of my 5.25" floppies (a few hundred of them).
And I'm not a professional geek -- it's just a hobby. I'm in the restaurant business.
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