It is an interesting incongruity to me that Geeks of all stripes have traditionally been painted as either anti-social or otherwise completely incapable of existing in any form of community. This I believe is a misrepresentation brought on by the dissonance between our behaviors and the social norms that exist around us. In my experience though, It is not anything like an accurate portrait of the average Geek. Quite the contrary I believe that our culture, while certainly out-of-phase with the mainstream, may in fact be more socially oriented than the norm – we just tend to have a different center of gravity for our social connections.

It is really a very typical sort of encounter for me. I’ve quite gotten used to it. I am standing in a store aisle lusting after some new technological toy when the lady in the purple dress suit approaches me and asks, “Excuse me, Sir. Can you help me?” It used to bother me, but [...]