Log in

View Full Version : e-Holster Turned This Geek into Cool Hombre


Jason Dunn
03-27-2003, 05:31 PM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.businessedge.ca/ViewNewsItem.aspx?NewsItemID=2722&editionID=1' target='_blank'>http://www.businessedge.ca/ViewNews...722&editionID=1</a><br /><br /></div>We've linked to Business Edge writer Grant McKenzie's articles in the past, and he's even participated in our forums before. In fact, it was a recent forum discussion that prompted him to write his most recent column:<br /><br />"In the website’s forum pages, registered users discuss the latest news items. When my column “Geeks can rule with too-cool gadgets” was linked, I discovered that, among the hardcore geeks, I just wasn’t being dorky enough to fit in. As site administrator Brad Adrian pointed out: 'This author calls himself a geek? Granted, he’s got some cool toys and admits to carrying his Dell Axim when he skis, but unless he’s wearing MobilePants or an eVest, I consider him simply a geek-in- training.' "<br /><br />Give the whole article a read, it's pretty funny. Grant originally sent me a slew of questions, and I spent a good hour or so answering them because I thought it was an interview for publication, but what happened was much like the local news coming to your home - you get interviewed on camera for ten minutes and they end up using a three second quote where you said something stupid. :roll: Most of you will recognize some of the inaccuracies in the article (we're not a "PDA site" we're a Pocket PC site), and for the record I said <b>visitors</b>, not "hits". Whenever I see people talking about hits it makes me feel like I'm back in 1996 listening to start-up CEOs brang about "millions of hits". Ah, the memories. Anyway, I'm going to prep the full Q&A for publication here, because I spent a lot of time working on it and I think some of you will find my answers interesting.

Sven Johannsen
03-27-2003, 05:52 PM
So there I was being mocked by geeks, my poor wee heart breaking.

Interesting sign of the times, when one becomes despondent over not being geeky enough, :D as tongue-in-cheek as that may have been. :wink:

I do wish folks would differentiate between PPC and Palm, etc. when it is appropriate.

markan
03-27-2003, 05:58 PM
Given that he's not writing for a specifically technical publication, I think that PDA will mean more to more people than PocketPC.

I take more issue with his definition of git. For us Brits it is more a**hole than just an idiot!!

McInk
03-27-2003, 06:38 PM
Hey Mark:
I'm actually Scottish (born and bred) although I now live in Canada. But you're right. I write for a business magazine, so my audience is more generalized. Git did become an abbreviation of eejit, although its definition can vary depending on the audience. "Don't be a git" can have a different meaning than "that bloody git is gettin' on me nerves". Besides, I'm not allowed to say a**hole in print ;-)
Cheers,
Grant
http://www.mckenzieink.ca

rlobrecht
03-27-2003, 06:58 PM
online geek haven

Gotta like this moniker. I think this should go right under daily news, views, rants and raves

PetiteFlower
03-27-2003, 07:32 PM
I agree!

DrtyBlvd
03-27-2003, 09:25 PM
online geek haven

Gotta like this moniker. I think this should go right under daily news, views, rants and raves

www.OGH.com ? :lol: (Taken actually, by, would you believe:
"Oldham Gyms & Healthclubs

Welcome to the Oldham & Lancashire section of Health-Club.net,
the definitive guide to gyms, aerobics, fitness and health clubs in the UK")



And to this 'Scot', 'Git' was as Mr McInk suggested - 'Arsehole' is a little strong on this occassion! :lol:

I must confess I always thought 'Get' was the Irish word. Go figure LOL

markan
03-27-2003, 10:37 PM
The thing for me is that git implies some deliberate attempt to be troublesome whilst idiot is more of a genetic thing :mrgreen:

Underwater Mike
03-27-2003, 11:03 PM
Grant,

Great article! I have to say, though, that you'd really have the geek chic nailed in the illustration if you had a Bluetooth headset for your phone instead of using the handset. And, anyone who can tolerate the discomfort of a shoulder holster would HAVE to carry the iron there and the PDA on the belt, not vice-versa. (I tried a shoulder holster once and it felt like I was wearing one of the man-bras from Seinfeld. You know, the "Manssiere" or the "Bro.")

:2gunfire:

Duncan
03-28-2003, 03:30 AM
In the last school I taught in GIT was used as an acronym for 'Generally Irritiating Troublemaker' in the register - not what we told the kids or parents it stood for though... and nobody ever seemed to question why we'd chosen those particular letters...(!) nothing quite like telling your colleague that a student is a GIT, in front of said student, and getting away with it... :)

BTW - if being a geek is now cool - doesn't that automatically disqualify us from being geeks by definition?