When Geeks Go Camping

mikep.maine writes "CNN and Business 2.0 have an interesting article on Tim O'Reilly's Foo camp for geeks - not just any geek - people like Google founders, Tim Bray (invented XML), and venture capitalists. Stashed away in the rolling hills north of San Francisco ... Foo Camp, a new breed of geek gathering organized (somewhat) by O'Reilly & Associates. The idea: Get 200 or so smart folks with a lot in common together in one place at one time, let them pitch tents, toss in a Wi-Fi network, and see what happens. Turns out, quite a lot. You are as likely to bump into a founder of Google (both were there) as the vice chairman of Warburg Pincus. Yes, they had Wi-Fi and marshmallows."

Geeks!

[by Anonymous Coward]

Well, I consider myself a geek, but when I go out camping, all I need to take with me is a couple of gallons of gasoline and then I got entertainment for a whole weekend.

Re:Geeks!

[maelstrom (638)]

So do you burn it or sniff it?

Re:Geeks!

[NanoGator (522640)]

"But I do wonder if gasoline can really replace beer? "

Only if its your turn to buy.

marshmallows?

[rduke15 (721841)]

they had Wi-Fi and marshmallows

I suppose that's a typo. You meant mushrooms, no?

Campfire Activities

[SomeoneGotMyNick (200685)]

Do they all sit around the campfire popping pimples and telling network management horror stories while holding LED flashlights under their chins.

Re:Campfire Activities

[xmedar (55856)]

Thought they just recounted tales of BOFH?

Re:Campfire Activities

[AndroidCat (229562)]

".. and all they found was a hook in the firewall .."

Re:Campfire Activities

[by Anonymous Coward]

...and then she discovered that the ping of death was coming from 127.0.0.1

Re:Campfire Activities

[Tablizer (95088)]

...telling network management horror stories while holding LED flashlights under their chins.

"And just when SCO was about to take a final swipe to forever kill the Great Penguin....."

And tonight...

[AndroidCat (229562)]

We'll go snipe fragging!

I dunno man

[sulli (195030)]

Chaos Communication Camp [www.ccc.de] sounded more fun. Wish I could have made it.

hehehe

[Dark Lord Seth (584963)]

Tim O'Reilly's Foo camp for geeks - not just any geek - people like Google founders, Tim Bray (invented XML), and venture capitalists.

The idea: Get 200 or so smart folks with a lot in common together in one place at one time, let them pitch tents, toss in a Wi-Fi network, and see what happens.

So, were the VCs there for comic relief then? Please say so, it'll be very hard to sleep tonight when I keep grinning like this...

Not a lot of difference...

[young_hacker_1991 (739658)]

There's not a lot of difference between outdoorsy boyscout types and computer geeks -- I have several friends who enjoy both, and I'm sure there's a lot of overlap between both groups in general. Both camping and hacking require an ability to pay *very close* attention to relatively tedious tasks, and offer a similar feeling of relaxed accomplishment.

My dad and I go camping all the time, and he's the one who's encouraged me to get into computers!

Re:Not a lot of difference...

[Bagels (676159)]

Yup. I work at a Boy Scout camp during the summer (Camp William Hinds), and at least half of the staff is the biggest group of computer/anime/gaming geeks you can imagine. One of the guys there has quite literally over four hundred VHS tapes of fansubbed anime; I can also remember incidents such as putting together "new" computers for the camp from the scavenged parts of older machines. Fun times.

Re:Not a lot of difference...

[Daniel Dvorkin (106857)]

What-fuckin-ever. I'm really sick of Slashdotters, of all people, perpetuating this stereotype. Maybe that's the kind of geek you choose to be (and yes, it is a choice) but there are plenty of the rest of us who enjoy physical activity that doesn't involve a mouse, keyboard, or joystick.

UNPLUG, you guys!!!

[MadChicken (36468)]

Camping is the anti-tech. It's the ultimate getaway when over-teched.

Camping is not about wi-fi. It's about burning things. And reading fiction.

Re:PLUG, you guys!!!

[rw2 (17419)]

Camping is the anti-tech

Codswallup. Camping is very high tech. It may not typically have many electronic parts, but it is very high tech in almost every other way. Heck ever when it comes to transistors GPS and two-ways are devices many wouldn't care to do without.

*And* you've missed (or made light of) the entire point. Get away from the office and chat with your peers about the work that makes you peers. They happened to do it camping. Sounds fun to me!

Maybe we should have slashstock at a national park somewhere.

Re:PLUG, you guys!!!

[s0l0m0n (224000)]

Depends on how you camp. My tent is kind of high tech (if you consider aluminum poles and canvas high tech), as is the stove.. Sure, we've got a tent with fiberglass poles, but it seems like the dogs always crash through it in the dark, breaking the poles.

My reason for camping (which I do a lot of) is not to get away from the office. It's to get away from the noise of the city. It's to get back to the way I grew up. I don't take my peers camping. I take my freinds, and my family.

I sure don't need a gps to know where I am. A map, a compass and the sun seem to work pretty good. I sure don't have WiFi in camp. Can yell almost that far. I don't bring my laptop, because I don't go out there to do the same thing that I do everyday.

They brought Venture Capitalists to the picnic says to me that this was a purely bussiness meeting in an abnormal setting, nothing more. I'm sure that the folks who went will remember it for the rest of thier lives. I'd have run for the woods, personally.

josh

Come on...

[Faust7 (314817)]

Camping is not about wi-fi. It's about burning things.

Actually, I'd say that a great deal of the thrill in geek-camping comes from having lots of sophisticated electronic equipment in a setting where it's not really supposed to exist. The surreal superposition, the defiance of nature and embracing of technology -- I mean, cool, eh?

And reading fiction.

So load up Slashdot while you're out in the forest.

Re:Come on...

[Telex4 (265980)]

Actually, I'd say that a great deal of the thrill in geek-camping comes from having lots of sophisticated electronic equipment in a setting where it's not really supposed to exist. The surreal superposition, the defiance of nature and embracing of technology -- I mean, cool, eh?

Why do people like feeling that they're defying nature? To borrow an old Taoist saying, When you climb up a mountain, you haven't conquered that mountain... the mountain has lifted you up that high. What a team -- you and the mount

Re:UNPLUG, you guys!!!

[pavon (30274)]

You are looking at it like a vacation. Think of it instead as the ultimate telecomute:

* You don't have to pay rent
* You don't have to shower
* You get to live off ramen noodles
* The company pager is futile
* You have the biggest most scenic office window ever.

Sounds like a geeks dream to me :)

Homebrew cooker

[va3atc (715659)]

put all the wi-fi access points in one spot
and you have yourself an outdoor lowpower microwave :)

UF Storyline

[Beolach (518512)]

This storyline [userfriendly.org] on UserFriendly is about geeks camping. It's one of the best storylines, IMO. It continues until July 04, 2000.

Too easy

[worst_name_ever (633374)]

Get 200 or so smart folks with a lot in common together in one place at one time, let them pitch tents...

Ladies and gentlemen of the audience, you are cordially invited to supply your own joke here.

The sweet smell of success?

[by Anonymous Coward]

Geek camp? I guess the fact that the campsites don't have showers won't be a problem for these folks.

Sebastopol is not San Francisco

[Aqua OS X (458522)]

Um, Sebastopol's not near any rolling San Francisco hills. I lived their a few year ago. It's at least an hour and a half north... if traffic is good.

And on a side note. I wish I would've stayed friends with the folks I knew at O'Reilly, Then perhaps I could've gone to geek camp :(

damn :(

Campfire stories

[Concerned Onlooker (473481)]

"He was all alone in the house, when suddenly...the Blue Screen of Death appeared right in front of him!"

around the campfire...

[wo1verin3 (473094)]

Around the campfire sat the founders of Google when someone came around and tried to scare them with a SCOst story..

Elites group together..this is news?

[swb (14022)]

Elites have been grouping together in these kinds of retreats forever. Bohemian Grove is one of the older ones, although it tends to attract more of an "old money" crowd and I believe is all male as well. Then there's that one out east that Clinton made somewhat well known during his tenure.

All in all, I don't really see why its news. That VCs were there just explains its about figuring out new business schemes under the guise of fun. I guess Tim O'Reilly's presence there somehow adds a sheen of approval over all of it.

As far as camping goes, the most advanced thing I take with is a gas stove. Why the fuck you'd want Wifi or any of the other trappings of city life in the peaceful woods is beyond me.

I hope they have lots of batteries...

[twoslice (457793)]

"It is pitch black, you are likely to be eaten by a grue"

Tim Bray's account of camp

[by Anonymous Coward]

It's always interesting reading his journal and here's his take on the camp.

http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/200x/2003/10/11/ FooNotes [tbray.org]

I didn't invent XML dammit

[tbray (95102)]

There were 11 other people on the committee and a couple hundred more in the discussion group. Geez.

Re:I didn't invent XML dammit

[eniu!uine (317250)]

Well, you must have done something because I went camping not too long ago and no one cared.

Re:I didn't invent XML dammit

[neurojab (15737)]

Sure... cast the blame on someone else.

Re:I didn't invent XML dammit

[Dachannien (617929)]

Well, you must have done something cool. Any mere mortal would have gotten modded -1 Troll for that!

Re:I didn't invent XML dammit

[Munra (580414)]

No -- *I* didn't invite XML!

Manta

Re:I didn't invent XML dammit

[kelzer (83087)]

Cool!

I have a LOWER Slashdot ID than the inventor of XML!!!!!

Nice n toasty

[switcha (551514)]

And if anyone brought a Powerbook, bonus for them!

No fire needed for toasted marshmallows!

caption fun

[mrpuffypants (444598)]

caption this picture if you dare! It's from the camping expedition...

http://www.searls.com/doc/foocamp2003/roll1/imag e/ foodoc_38.jpg

When geeks go camping

[use_compress (627082)]

The following things happen:

1. Nose bleeds
2. Homesickness
3. Experimentation
4. Under cooked hotdogs
5. Lost Maps
6. Eventual Helicopter Rescue

Toyota Prius?

[swimfastom (216375)]

For relaxation, campers ... disassembled a Toyota Prius, then put it back together again (it was a rental).

Sounds like fun!

Elitism is bad

[Fefe (6964)]

How do you help society or mankind if you bring together 200 dot-com millionaires and let them talk about how to make more money by relaying emails?

Yeah I am oversimplifying this, but here in Europe, we have been doing geek camping for years. We have a geek summer camp every two years, alternating between Holland and Germany. And you know what? We let everyone in, not just the rich and famous.

And it pays off. This kind of elitism is bad for everyone. Where do you expect the next generation of good hackers to come from if you don't let them come to your hacker camps? Elitism leads to losing the ground under your feet.

And it makes the whole thing less fun. The harder you have to fight or the more you have to have achieved to be perceived as the "brightest and most intelligent" people who are then allowed in, the less you can just be yourself, the more this becomes an ego show where everyone is concerned about how to look good so he will be invited again next year. It's style over substance.

And frankly, who cares about the Google founders?
Who cares about some egomanic bloggers who write up profound sounding essays on their blogs to keep their name in circulation? The people who are really important and interesting are people like Brewster Kahle (archive.org) and John Gilmore (eff).

Rainbow Gathering

[spun (1352)]

Here's my 'Geeks go Camping' story. I go to the national Rainbow Gathering every year and camp for a couple weeks. For the majority of you that don't know about Rainbow, it's a gathering of twenty to forty thousand freaks of all stripes. All kinds of people go, not just hippies: there are large Christian, Jewish, and Krishna contingents, even an AA group. It's free, but donations are accepted (they go mostly toward food, which is also free) and it has a mostly non-heirarchal, anarchistic sort of organization. Volunteer wherever you want, or don't, donate money, or don't, it's all good. I usually work at least six hours a day at the medical tent while there, and pitch in money the years that I can afford to.

One camp there, called cybercamp, is a meeting point for geeks. I don't know if they have ever set up a local wi-fi network, but a lot of folks bring laptops. One of my friends there, Rob Savoy, is very involved in open source (he works on the gcc project, porting the compiler to new platforms). He also helps set up our old fashioned communications system, consisting of walkie-talkies with a repeater.

Like I said, it's a free event, and cash isn't used in the gathering except for donations, but people love to trade. Trade circle, as it's called, looks like a hippy version of a middle eastern bazaar. One year another friend of mine made a killing there, scoring a number of interesting, um, items by burning custom CDs for folks (eek! copyright violation! damn hippies want everything for free.)

If you live out in the boonies and you hear that a national Rainbow Gathering is coming, don't freak out. These hippies don't (generally) shoplift, and we won't steal (many) of your children, but we will pump hundrds of thousands of dollars into your local economy. Most every place that has had one says, "come back any time!"

So that's my 'geeks camping' story, and my little plug for the Rainbow Gathering: coolest anarchist gathering anywhere, non-anarchists, geeks and libertarians welcome too.

geek =! VC

[Awptimus Prime (695459)]

Since when is a VC considered a geek? It seems to go against a true love for whatever you are investing in. Since the VC are the first to pump and dump, meanwhile leaving the tech firm they invested in holding the bag. Much of the time this stifles technology, as opposed to helping.

I've met a few VC's over the years and would put them in a completely different kind of boat than anyone who cares about anything beyond lining the wallet, hence the term 'venture capitalist'...

Overprepared?

[kalieaire (586092)]

Is it me, or are geeks always a bit overprepared?

When I used to work at a small start up company, we weren't full of those stereotypical portly nerds that drink mountain dew all day long and have a goofy laugh.

Instead, we had nice upstart individuals that were well motivated and very athletic. (if it's any consolation to you, they didn't take showers after working out)

Whenever there were any sorts of group events, we'd have at least two individuals with experience with hiking, backpacking, rock climb, scuba diving, spelunking, sky diving, flying jets or planes, rocketry, maguyvering stuff(a lot of them were engineers in mechanical, electrical, chemical, etcetera btw), and even inventing little items for personal use with fellow hobbyists.

Yes, I believe it is the insatiable quality of nerds that keep them above the rest in society. Always prepared for any event. If you stuck them on an island without electricity or any signs of human life, they'd be able to make a quaint existence on it until someone rescued them.

For examples of weirdness and whackiness for self made items. Check out this forum [candlepowerforums.com] for flashlight enthusiasts.

A bunch of them make their own flashlights, or even offer modifications to Mag-Lites to make them into hand-held HID setups just like the UnderWater Kinetics Light Cannon 100 HID Dive Light [uwkinetics.com]

Yes, nerds are too overprepared.

Re:Camp Foo teaches valuable skills . . .

[Patrik_AKA_RedX (624423)]

Lesson 1: navigating in a wood-like enviroment.
Lesson 2: starting a fire without matches
Lesson 3: starting a fire with matches
Lesson 4: starting a fire with matches and gasoline
Lesson 5: preventing wild life from coming too near to your fire.
Lesson 6: How to extinguish a burning rodent.
Lesson 7: treating burn injuries
Lesson 8: How to leave a burning forest.
Lesson 9: How to look very, very innocent

Re:omgwtf

[theLime (4908)]

Am I to old to snicker at "let them pitch tents"?

'cause I did.

slashdot.meetup.com

[js7a (579872)]

Propose a campground as the next venue. [meetup.com]

Re:Games?

[flewp (458359)]

They're only campers if they wait in the same spot for a whole round and then kill you. PWNED!@#(@!

Re:I'm a geek, I like to camp

[talleyrand (318969)]

'd advise you to Google for "beaver fever" but you probably wouldn't get the result I'm thinking of (SafeSearch probably won't let you search at all...) And darned if I can remember the formal name for it. Somebody else remember? Anybody? Bueller?

Giardia [google.com] Nasty stuff