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Jon Stewart calls out congressional nerd bashing over SOPA

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Re: Jon Stewart calls out congressional nerd bashing over SOPA

#21

Post by alexqgb »

georgieporgie wrote: post #11
firefoxman1 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's derogatory because they used it in a way to imply that they didn't particularly want to be associated with the group labeled "nerds." I've always preferred the term "geek." Anyone else feel the same way?

I've always thought "geeks" were Mac users (that was the crowd from which I heard the term used most, back in my Amiga days), and nerds were nerds. That said, I may call myself a nerd, you you best not be calling me a nerd. ;-) Seriously, though, for a group of people who like to call each other out on standards of conduct, it's pretty appalling that they used a derogatory term to jokingly dismiss their utter lack of…

Personally, I prefer 'nerd' to 'geek', but that's just because the former has a more appealing sound. In terms of actual meaning, it seems like difference without distinction.

But I agree about the way that either can be used as positive expression of self-regard, while still coming across as derogatory when used by people who are not in the club and unsympathetic towards those who are.

In this regard, both words differ from 'dork', which never seems to be a good tag.

Re: Jon Stewart calls out congressional nerd bashing over SOPA

#22

Post by brandall10 »

bravura wrote: post #8

On the plus side, all the conspiracy theorists who claimed that Jon Stewart and The Daily Shows were pawns of their parent multinational media conglomerate, and thus wouldn't negatively cover SOPA, these people were wrong. On the negative side, no one in the news media or whistleblowers and WTF-watchers like Jon Stewart knew what SOPA was until two days ago. That's even scarier.

Colbert actually discussed it all the way back on Dec 1

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/40346...

Re: Jon Stewart calls out congressional nerd bashing over SOPA

#23

Post by jean_valjean »

bcowcher wrote: post #19
btilly wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Either comedy is easier than it looks or these guys are really good at their jobs. I vote for B.

I think its a little from both columns. The US government makes Jons job alot easier than it has any right to.. and that scares me...

The US government has been a staple of comedy for many, many years.

See: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Will_Rogers His quotes from 80 years ago still sound timely.

Re: Jon Stewart calls out congressional nerd bashing over SOPA

#24

Post by HalibetLector »

neilk wrote: post #12
bravura wrote: post #8

On the plus side, all the conspiracy theorists who claimed that Jon Stewart and The Daily Shows were pawns of their parent multinational media conglomerate, and thus wouldn't negatively cover SOPA, these people were wrong. On the negative side, no one in the news media or whistleblowers and WTF-watchers like Jon Stewart knew what SOPA was until two days ago. That's even scarier.

More on the plus side: Jon Stewart and his team of researchers and writers can go from knowing nothing about a topic, to absolutely nailing some of the central absurdities, in less than a week. Either comedy is easier than it looks or these guys are really good at their jobs.

I find it unsettling that Jon Stewart and his researchers and writers can go from knowing nothing about a topic to nailing some of the central absurdities in less than a week, but our congressmen and their staff CAN'T.

Re: Jon Stewart calls out congressional nerd bashing over SOPA

#25

Post by kiba »

pinaceae wrote: post #17

it points to a big shift in society and the economy. software is now a cornerstone of the world economy. modern life runs through the internet. even if you personally avoid the internet, you depend on it. but the baby boomer generation, represented by these politicians has not understood it. they know engineers as the guys building houses, bridges, aeroplanes, rockets. but software? it is an invisible world to them.…

For last couple of centuries or so, each generation grows up with unprecedented change in their lifetime.

For example, I enter elementary school, the internet started to take off and browsers were primitive. Nowadays, we can enjoy the convenience of movie streaming, fast browsers, and extraordinary rich video games(Dwarf Fortress, I am looking at you). So it doesn't make sense to me that congressmen are literal dinosaurs. Rather, I think they stop updating their model of the world and refuse to absorb any knowledge for the last couple of decade.

In any case, the situation with copyright is not new. If you look at the issue centuries ago, you would realize that we been having this debate for a long time. Today, the internet only make pirating easier than ever and bring the issue of copyright to the forefront of public consciousness.

We thought about "old versus new" business model because we lack an understanding of the history of copyright. In reality, it have much more to do about how your model of how to make money.

Re: Jon Stewart calls out congressional nerd bashing over SOPA

#26

Post by ck2 »

Is "geek" too cool of a word now that they have to reach for the calculated more insulting "nerd"?

(my apologies to proud nerds - but my point is that's not how they were using it)

So if people who know what they are doing with computers are the equal of geeks, do politicians think they are the dumb jocks in this high school infantile throwdown?

Re: Jon Stewart calls out congressional nerd bashing over SOPA

#27

Post by mdonahoe »

kiba wrote: post #25
pinaceae wrote: post #17

it points to a big shift in society and the economy. software is now a cornerstone of the world economy. modern life runs through the internet. even if you personally avoid the internet, you depend on it. but the baby boomer generation, represented by these politicians has not understood it. they know engineers as the guys building houses, bridges, aeroplanes, rockets. but software? it is an invisible world to them.…

For last couple of centuries or so, each generation grows up with unprecedented change in their lifetime. For example, I enter elementary school, the internet started to take off and browsers were primitive. Nowadays, we can enjoy the convenience of movie streaming, fast browsers, and extraordinary rich video games(Dwarf Fortress, I am looking at you). So it doesn't make sense to me that congressmen are literal dinos…

I dont disagree with your thesis, but your example spans a mere twenty years.

Re: Jon Stewart calls out congressional nerd bashing over SOPA

#28

Post by kiba »

mdonahoe wrote: post #27
kiba wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For last couple of centuries or so, each generation grows up with unprecedented change in their lifetime. For example, I enter elementary school, the internet started to take off and browsers were primitive. Nowadays, we can enjoy the convenience of movie streaming, fast browsers, and extraordinary rich video games(Dwarf Fortress, I am looking at you). So it doesn't make sense to me that congressmen are literal dinos…

I dont disagree with your thesis, but your example spans a mere twenty years.

Well, I only exists for twenty one years.

Re: Jon Stewart calls out congressional nerd bashing over SOPA

#30

Post by lusr »

pinaceae wrote: post #17

it points to a big shift in society and the economy. software is now a cornerstone of the world economy. modern life runs through the internet. even if you personally avoid the internet, you depend on it. but the baby boomer generation, represented by these politicians has not understood it. they know engineers as the guys building houses, bridges, aeroplanes, rockets. but software? it is an invisible world to them.…

I've often wondered how to explain to non-developers the level of complexity in large software projects. I don't think the new generation will understand it any better than the old generation because, as you say, it's an invisible world.

I am currently contracted on a project with 1.5 million lines of code and dependencies on hundreds of services written by a number of different teams. It takes a few weeks just to get new developers productive on the code base. How do you even begin to explain the complexity of this to somebody in a way they can really relate to when they barely understand computers?

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