Geek/Nerd Venn Diagram. Finally....it's clear.

The Nerdist alerted me to this slice of genius that was created by GreatWhiteSnark.  Finally someone has made a clear, visual explanation of the definition of Nerd, Geek, Dweeb and Dork.  This is the number one question I get asked in interviews.  I never do the answer justice and inevitably spaz out.  Which leads me to the glaring omission of "Spaz".  I think it is a valid level of social disintegration that a geek or nerd may suffer from at any time.  But 'tis a minor complaint.  It really is brilliant.  So which one are you?

I am pretty sure I cycle through all of them through the course of any given day.  Including spaz.

   

Squishing Bugs and Watching Lost

Day two since we relaunched the site and asked you all to be a Master Beta for us.  Things are going well and we are madly squishing all the bugs you guys are reporting.  I adore my geeks.  You guys hold our feet to the fire and you are also incredibly understanding and patient.  The feedback has been amazing so THANK YOU!  It's nice to know you like the work we've put in.

If you missed the launch here is the LIST of many of our new features.  

The events calendar needs to be fleshed out so if you know of events of any kind that would be of interest to SOG members please add them.  We hope to make the most comprehensive geek event list possible.    If you have a forum topic you would like to see created or want to be an admin so that you can help shape it just let us know.

Side note :  Comic Con sold out already.  Holy crap and woe to the geek republic.

Another happier side note: we heard from another happy couple today!  They are met on SOG over a year ago and have been making it work long distance.  We love to hear stories like that.  More on them later.  :)

Ok, back to work.  Only taking a break to write this....watch LOST...have a grape popsicle and then back at it.

Thank you all again for the really wonderful response to the new site!

Be a Master Beta for SweetonGeeks

After a really long long long time.....we finally finished the new version of SweetonGeeks!

New Features Include: 
Newsfeeds
Friends
Video Comments can be made everywhere.
Events with mapping, galleries, walls and more.
Groups with walls, discussions, galleries and more.
Twitter updates on your profiles.
External URLs if you choose to share your profile with a non-member.
Last Log-in profile time stamp
Enhanced Forums
Make your own winks or send one of ours.  Your creations can be added to collective.
Status Walls everywhere.
Permissions and privacy can be customized.

And loads more that I can't think of right now with my fried brain.

Now...this is just the beta launch and we know it will be buggy.  And you guys have never been shy about telling us what you like and what you don't like so please email us at office@sweetongeeks.com with any bugs you find.  Please, including the browser and any other conditions that are relevant.  The ad system isn't presently up but it will be soon.

Be the first to add an event or start a group!   Make it your own.

We sincerely hope you like it.  Thank you all for your continued support!

Joyce, Jeff and James
The 3Geeks of SOG

COUNTDOWN!

Just a couple more hours of migration and testing and the site will be up. Hopefully by 1pm or sooner. Man what a ton of work this has been. But I'm happy with the product and I hope you will be too. Need more Caffeine.

Want a Geek Makeover?

1) First....an urgent call for a nationally syndicated talk show looking for hard core geeks wanting head to toe makeovers.
This will be filmed NEXT Thursday and Friday so do not delay!!!
APPLY BY EMAIL (try to get your email in by Sunday, March 28th...as in two days from now)
lilponz12@aol.com
ehamiltonharris@gmail.com
Send a photo and all pertinent contact information.
Please remember that these are “spectacle” shows. In the past they have been handled in a very lighthearted fun way so I feel confident it will be again.
Please understand that the geekier you are the better so that the makeover effect will be dramatic. So if you are comfortable with that and you think a makeover is just what you need this spring then by all means apply. The Sweetongeeks members in the past who have volunteered for these things stated that it was respectful and enjoyable.  Feel free to email me with concerns or questions and I’ll do my best to help.   This is open to our entire U.S. membership.

SweetonGeeks is in no way responsible for whether or not you enjoy this experience. We are just passing on the info.

2) We got a great review and I wanted to share it with you.  READ IT HERE.
3) The beta launch is just a few days away!  :)  Join us to make the new SweetonGeeks all your own.
We would love your feedback and as always it's free!

Discount for Being Smart

 ABC article about how Cornell offers "Nerd Discounts".  

                   ABC's Jared Wiener reports from New York:
Restaurant owners in Cornell University’s hometown of Ithaca, NY are so proud of the basketball team’s      performance in the NCAA tournament, that they decided to offer some special discounts today.  But these aren’t what you would expect for basketball-related offers; Ithaca, a small city dominated by both Cornell University and Ithaca College, is embracing its braniac image.Showing off your Mensa membership card at any Gimme! Coffee location will get you a free macchiato. 

Just bringing a Rubiks Cube to Felicia’s Atomic Lounge will get you $1 off your drink.  If you can solve it in less than three minutes, the drink is free!

The Boatyard Grill is offering a free dinner to anyone who brings their Nobel Prize.  So far, that’s happened twice, but it probably will not turn the Boatyard bankrupt. 

“I don’t know how many Nobel Prize winners are left in our area,” said Mark Campagnolo, who owns the restaurant. 

They are also offering 50% of the check to any Pulitzer Prize   winner, but so far no one has taken advantage of that deal.

Read original article here  (although that was pretty much it). 

A discount for being smart....what a great idea.  I think there should also be fines for being stupid.
I hope this catches on nationally.

The NaVi People of Hometree Wisconsin Have Captured My Heart

Soon.....

In a few days we will finally be ready to release the new version of Sweetongeeks. It has been a long nine months in development but I think it will be utterly worth it.
The features are so great. I'll wait until the launch press release to get into exactly what the new features will be but I promise they are so useful and fun. This will be a beta release and will likely have some bugs but as usual we will rely on you, our brutally honest members, to tell us what works and what doesn't. We've taken every single suggestion into consideration and implemented as many of them as was humanly possible. That will remain our policy because this is your site. Shape it, play with it and make it your own. And most of all...thank you for being a part of the SweetonGeeks community. May it live long and prosper! :P

soon my friends...soon.
Oh and the site will still be free, of course!   Sillys.
 (I miss Bloom County Oh so much...am I alone here?)

Geek's Dream Girl

I have been exploring a site called GeeksDreamGirl the last few days.  I'm intrigued.

It's a service that assists you in creating your very best online dating profile and you can also hire a dating coach.  There are varying levels of service and membership and it's all very interesting.   Personal levels of matchmaking.  Brilliant.

It appears to be run by two genuinely geeky women and women owned geek businesses are few and far between!  I really enjoy their blog posts, advice and the general tone of the site.  Real geekery with a female touch.  FUN!  I totally support it.

The blog post that sucked me in today was:

Five Gosh-Honest Reasons Why Your Dating Life Sucks

In summary it is very entertaining, clever and useful.  Enjoy!

Defining Geek Moments of My Childhood.

So I'm an old geek.  I am thirty----something (more that 35) years old.  Old.  Old.  When I was a girl being a geek was really a rather exclusive boys club.  My older brother went to Ren Faires, played D&D, had a wicked cool cloak, and a velvet pouch with amazing misshapen dice.  I didn't understand what they were for, because no one wanted to teach an annoying tomboy how to play but man did I want some of my own.   The one thing I was allowed to play was Dark Tower (does anyone remember it?) and I thought that game was the MOST fun EVER.
I may do a whole post about that!

My younger pre-teen geekery had to be satisfied through things like my ridiculously extensive Unicorn collection.  And I didn't just think Unicorns were totally awesome because they were pretty and I wanted to be a Princess who rides one.  Nooooo.  I believed they were real and I thought that if  I spent enough time alone in the woods I would be deemed worthy to see one.   To this day I still have my figurines, posters and mythology books.
I was a goonie in my heart.
I waited for my own ET and imagined how I would conceal him in my stuffed animals.
I played the close encounters song over and over on my Casio while gazing out my window at the sky.
I turned sticks into light sabers when other girls were playing house.
I believed animals could speak....like in Narnia and got mad at my cat for not giving it up.
My world was full of science fiction and magic through movies and books.
So yeah...no one showed me how to play D&D but my youthful geeky soul still got fed.

Anyway, the reason I got started thinking about my early geek development was because I came across an article about the movie "Young Sherlock Holmes" from 1985.  You can read it HERE.  The author perfectly captures how I felt about that film.   I loved it so much so that I tried to turn the book into a stage production and convinced a teacher to direct it.  I still have the script in my hope chest.  Seriously.  If I dig it out this summer I will scan the yellow manilla file folder cover that has some amazing pencil doodles on it.   I was/am a nerd.

So hey,  MaryAnn Johanson,  thanks for the walk down memory lane.   Excellent article.  Oh,  and the meaning of life is 42...but I'm sure you already know.  :)

Now This is Art.

Now that's some Steampunkery goodness.

I found this HERE.

The artist is Brian Rood.

I love the 501st. They honor and celebrate something that helped define my geekery.  

Geek Baby Gifts

For the Geeklings

Geek Dad did a great piece on a recent FIRST event that recently took place in TX.

In case you've never hear of FIRST here is some basic info.


FIRST ~ For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.  An organization is an organization founded by inventor Dean Kamen and Woodie Flowers in 1989 in order to develop ways to inspire students in engineering and technology fields. The organization is the foundation for the FIRST Robotics Competition, FIRST LEGO League, Junior FIRST LEGO League, and FIRST Tech Challenge competitions.   


Being a NH native I am extremely proud of this organization. I so wish something like it had existed in the early 80's.  They even have a FIRST Lego League for the younger kids.  My little one will hopefully want to participate when the time comes.  If not...that is ok.  I'm just so happy she has the option.  There is a spectator pledge on the FIRST website encouraging people to attend and support this awesome program and these brilliant kids so please check it out.

Dating Geeks With A Smattering of Politics

Being glued to all things political today I noticed this quote on a tea party website while I was was trolling for logic and trying to unravel the madness.  While I didn't find anything logical or reasoned I did find this quote just floating on a page with no explanation:

THE JOY OF DATING NERDS: “My girlfriend is a magnificent nerdess, a tornado of wonder. And even better, we have complementary nerd fixations, like comic books and politics. My life, however, is vastly improved by her own idiosyncratic pursuits. Everybody wins when everybody shares.”

????Why in the world was this brilliant statement there?????  I followed the link and was brought back to the source at The Frisky.  It was a brilliant little article that addressed idiotic geek/nerd stereotypes and the article was full of gems like the one above and this:

Nerds can be jerks. Douche knows no race, religion, or creed. I’ve known some very loyal, honest, and interesting jocks. But if you date a nerd, just know you’re dating someone who wears their daydreams on their long wizard’s sleeve.

Well done to the author Mr. John DeVore!
Follow John DeVore’s preening narcissism on Twitter. (his words not mine).

Anyway,   there is a ton of thunder and lightning here in So. Fl today so the wifi is iffy at best.
I'm off to bake banana bread and to continue working on the website.
I am a geek mommy to a child with a significant "pre existing condition"and a person who runs her own business...so today is a banner day.  Happy health care everyone!

Great Obama/Trek pic from http://jimsmash.blogspot.com/

This is just icky. It's a Steve Jobs Cheese Head.

Geek Love Casting Call for California Geeks ~ Deadline ASAP

They are looking for all breeds of geeks.
               Interested people should email right away as they are hoping to start filming ASAP. 

The email is cosplaydatingshow@yahoo.com but this is not limited to cosplay participants only.  They want all geek types.....techies, gamers, otaku, trek, fanboys and girls, larpers.....anyone who is out and proud about being a geek.  

cosplaydatingshow@yahoo.com

Happy Pi Day !

You can read more about Pi Day at PiDay.org.  Celebrate this most Holiest of geek holidays with a slice of Pi.  But only one piece....not 3.141592653.  That would be unhealthy and since the geek collective already has an issue with Mountain Dew and Fritos we should use restraint.  It's easy to over indulge during the holidays.

Friday Roundup

The trailer for Eclipse has arrived (well...a couple of days ago) and while it looks wonderful it lacked the punch the trailers for New Moon had.  However, it won't slow my enthusiasm as a Twihard one bit.

On a side note I'm so happy  Taylor Lautner is finally 18 so I can finally stop feeling like a sick inappropriate freak. Yup.  I'm one of those sad 30-something chicks at the midnight showing.  Carrying my Team Jacob Sigg bottle and wearing my wolf charm bracelet.  (not even joking a little) Anyhoo...here is the trailer.



 I've also come across a new favorite website for my geek gifts. Urban Collector is a utopia of fandom goodies from Harry Potter to Hellboy to Where the Wild Things Are. Excellent variety for the hard to shop for geek.

And lastly....the magic of LARPING.  Ahhhh

I can't wait for TRON

When I was a awkward, dejected, little nerd girl I went on my very first date with a boy named Scott. We went to see Tron. It was magical. Until, in typical fat kid fashion, I ate all his Starbursts and killed the romance. I can't wait for the remake. The anticipation makes me shiver. I'll get my own Starbursts this time dammit.
I found this. Somehow I don't think it's the official trailer.

DROOL

I'm so Happy I Could Poop a Tribble

Four separate Star Trek movies have been nominated for ten Oscars, but none have won. Until now.

I'm so happy!!!!

Star Trek won for Best Makeup .

Ghosts for Sale ~ Is that ethical?

Is this ethical?  Just plain creepy?  Or stupid?

You decide.

According to the HeraldSun in Australia two New Zealand ghosts have been captured in an exorcism and are now for sale in an online auction.




Here is the listing as seen on the auction website.  See it for yourself HERE:

Captured ghosts from our house .  Captured by an exorsist from a spiritualist church

One spirit we believe is a man by the name of Les Graham, managed to track down a photo. He died in the house in the 1920's.
Exorsist believes this spirit likes to make himself known and spook people. but he is not a very strong spirit.

The other spirit came from when me and my partner stupidly did an Oujia Board. We believe it is a little girl who likes to move things and turn things on and off. Exorsist says she is VERY strong and if left will get stronger .

Now apparently this has created a global firestorm of paranormal controversy.  People seem to deeply object to the sale and potential abuse of an actual human spirit.  That could be someone's mother after all!  Then others simply object to the stupidity of all human kind.  Now, I'm a person who believes in Bigfoot, that Aliens make crop circles,  Mothman and that every episode of Ghost Hunters' is 100% legit ( I can admit it).  Yet, this has the logical part of the paranormal investigator in me all up in arms.  I don't believe you can capture a ghost with a proton pack or a tiny bottle and some rosary beads. 
This perhaps reveals too much about me.  Chupacabra....perfectly reasonable.  Ghosts in a bottle....ridiculous.  However, I have to admit that if I were the owner of those bottles I would chuck them off a cliff and RUN.   The current price ~  $ 1,010 NZ  ($700 US).  If you are the one who buys them could you email me at Joyce@sweetongeeks.com and let me know what happens?  Unless, of course, you are possessed.  Then you can please keep that sh*t to yourself.

Buying Comics on a Budget

I found some great advice on buying comics in this tough economy at GeeksandComics.com  .
If you're like me  and consider purchases like that a luxury or fun brain candy then it's tough to justify the expense no matter how minor.   So for you comic geeks here is some frugal wisdom and from a grown up point of view which is nice.

   "Our new contributor, Bayard Sartoris, asked a question in a commment on an older post asking for less expensive ways to acquire trade paperbacks or for "Buying Tips for the Economically Strapped New Collector".

Here are the places I go to to buy stuff.

First online options:

While I do like to support my local comic shop, there isn't a local comic shop in the town where I live. Also, the nearest comic shop is at least 40 minutes away and has a distinct focus on gaming. While I have nothing against gaming or gamers, when I have to ask a table of kids playing Magic to move so I can look at the in the back issue bins, it isn't worth my time and obviously the owner of the shops priority isn't comics. I acquire comics and trades from a variety of online sources."


Read the rest of the article HERE

Geek Roundup

Vader and his Kitty.  I was alerted to this bit of wonderfulness by the Wanderinggoblin.com. 

R2D2 Cake as found on

goblinqueeen @ deviantart

Bizarre Kirsten Dunst video.   Weird!!!!

Hey, Thanks Tim! :)

A wonderful compliment from a new user:

         "  I think your site rocks. It is also uplifting. I spend so much of my time filtering my geekness it's great to find a place that is accepting of this and helps geeks find other geeks.

This helps fill a gap that exists in Facebook and myspace.  Thank You!!! "

You know....it DOES feel good to be understood.  :)  So THANK YOU!

 

Rajesh Koothrappali's Soundtrack Shirt

Yeah, I want one.

Tribbles are F***ing Hot!

Tribbles are F***ing Hot!