When Geeks Go Camping 382
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."
I dunno man (Score:3, Interesting)
This sounds great! (Score:2, Interesting)
I'd go.
Elites group together..this is news? (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
Re:Not a lot of difference... (Score:2, Interesting)
One things for sure, we can defiantely be an imaginitave bunch.
Re:Not a lot of difference... (Score:4, Interesting)
slashdot.meetup.com (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:arghh! (Score:2, Interesting)
It's a dupe from last summer!
Like X-Mas was a dupe too, from last winter...!?
I thought it was +1 funny.
Elitism is bad (Score:5, Interesting)
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 (Score:5, Interesting)
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 (Score:4, Interesting)
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? (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
It's Giardia (Score:2, Interesting)