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!

[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.

omgwtf

[Anonymous Coward]

If you went camping with your geek friends and you woke up the next morning and your butt hurt and you couldn't remember what happened would you tell anyone?

no...

Want to go camping?

marshmallows?

[rduke15]

they had Wi-Fi and marshmallows

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

Campfire Activities

[SomeoneGotMyNick]

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

"You geeks sure do ...

[burgburgburg]

have purty mouths. Can you squeal like a pig?"

I'll stick with the city, thank you very much.

And tonight...

[AndroidCat]

We'll go snipe fragging!

hehehe

[Dark Lord Seth]

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...

Homebrew cooker

[va3atc]

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

Too easy

[worst_name_ever]

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?

[Anonymous Coward]

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

Re:Geeks!

[Patrik_AKA_RedX]

A litre of gasoline and a match can kill any kind of insect, rodent and, well, pretty much everything smaller than a bear. So that explains why he doesn't need a generator and bugzapper. But I do wonder if gasoline can really replace beer?

Re:UNPLUG, you guys!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

No, I'm sorry, you're mistaken. Camping is about about roasting marshmallows over an open wireless router with 300 clients :).

How will they ..

[Anonymous Coward]

identify the bodies? RFID or fingerprint scanners? I'd privacy issues with either if I died thank you very much!

Campfire stories

[Concerned Onlooker]

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

around the campfire...

[wo1verin3]

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

I hope they have lots of batteries...

[twoslice]

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

Re:UNPLUG, you guys!!!

[pavon]

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 :)

Re:Camp Foo teaches valuable skills . . .

[Patrik_AKA_RedX]

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]

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

'cause I did.

Heres a thought

[3lb4rt0]

Do they all sit around a campfire and Instant Message ghost stories??

not fucking true

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't fret, folks, the novelty of being able to swear up a storm wears thin even with kids eventually.

I still haven't gotten over being able to run around the place with a goddamn pair of motherfucking scissors with no one to yell at me.

Re:Campfire Activities

[xmedar]

Thought they just recounted tales of BOFH?

Re:Campfire Activities

[AndroidCat]

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

Nice n toasty

[switcha]

And if anyone brought a Powerbook, bonus for them!

No fire needed for toasted marshmallows!

Re:Games?

[flewp]

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

Re:I dunno man

[Anonymous Coward]

To terrorize martians?

Re:Campfire Activities

[Anonymous Coward]

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

caption fun

[mrpuffypants]

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

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

Re:I didn't invent XML dammit

[eniu!uine]

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

Re:Geeks!

[NanoGator]

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

Only if its your turn to buy.

When geeks go camping

[use_compress]

The following things happen:

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

Re:I didn't invent XML dammit

[neurojab]

Sure... cast the blame on someone else.

Toyota Prius?

[swimfastom]

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

Sounds like fun!

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

[jonadab]

> But a computer is fucking heavy. My pack is heavy enough with food and
> shelter and extra clothes. About the most high tech thing I take is my
> iso-butane stove and my water filter.

Dude, your priorities are off. A butane stove? That's way heavier than a
laptop, and totally unnecessary. (It's *much* more fun to cook with real
fire. Take a box of strike-anywhere matches.) Water filter? C'mon, get
real. If you're seriously worried about the water, boil it, but in most of
North America (as long as you're not right downhill from a big city) the
ground water is potable as it stands. Just watch to see if the birds are
drinking it. Extra clothes? What *for*? It's not like you're going out
to the mall every afternoon and need to look hip. Shelter? Shelter? I
suppose that means a tent... personally I'd just take a nice plastic bag
(to put the computer gear into if it rains) and maybe a hat.

I suppose you're also taking a sleeping bag (dude, just wear a light jacket),
a big old pillow (put your head on your pack, stupid), toothpaste (water works
fine), shampoo and conditioner, a toaster, and a car door so you can roll
down the window if you get hot. By the time I finish taking superfluous
stuff out of that megapack of yours, there'll be room in there for a full
tower and 20" CRT. Make it a 17" PowerBook instead and you can say you're
travelling light.

Re:I didn't invent XML dammit

[Dachannien]

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]

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

Manta

Re:Geeks!

[maelstrom]

So do you burn it or sniff it?

You're lucky about that

[niom]

I was just going to suggest that somebody push you off a cliff, in case you feel like inventing something else.

Re:Geeks!

[Atticu5]

An artsman and an Engineer once found a gallon can,
Said the artsman, "Match me drink for drink, let's see if you're a man."
They drank three drinks, the artsman fell, his face was turning green,
But the Engineer drank on and said, "It's only gasoline!"

(from the Engineer's Hymn [oneparticularharbor.net]).

Re:Campfire Activities

[Tablizer]

...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....."

Re:Toyota Prius?

[Tablizer]

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

"Hey, what do we do with all these left-over parts?"

Re:I didn't invent XML dammit

[kelzer]

Cool!

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

Hmmm

[AuntieC]

D'ya think Tim might have some issues surrounding exclusion from the Bohemian Grove?

Re:Geeks!

[AtomicBomb]

The trick is to burn sufficient amount of material. May it be gasoline, charcoal, wood and whatever. No insect, rabbit, eagle, bear or whatsoever want to move close to you....

Many geeks love fire. Or in fact anything with high energy (performance??) that they can play around with... I think I don't need to mention those homemade HPM, rail gun, pumpkin Trebuchet projects to anyone around here...

Re:Toyota Prius?

[Squirrley]

well, they're geeks, right? so, didn't they all just use their leatherman multi-tools?

Re:I didn't invent XML dammit

[Kruid]

That's okay. I wouldn't admit to it either.

-k

The big question

[IM6100]

An importan question:

With everybody there being an equally good candidate to be the guy whose underwear are run up the flagpole, who would they choose?