[net.general] Real Dweebs

robin@nmtvax.UUCP (07/19/83)

Exerpts from 'Real Dweebs Don't Socialize'(coming soon):
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NOTE: Dweeb is a term used here at New Mexico Tech to refer to Computer
Science majors. It refers to the beeps a terminal makes(as in a ctrl-G).
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   Sitting in the user area for Upper San Oberton Beach University's
DECsystem-30, Dan Lisp(formerly Dan Williams, but changed his name to
become closer to the computer) punches away on the keyboard of the 
VT100, watching letters accumulate in front of his eyes. "Y'know, there
is one thing that I cannot understand," he says in a free moment, "and
that is why people work with other people when they can work with the
machine." Machine is a term often used by dweebs to refer to a computer.
"People are simply not as dependable as a good Cray. Real dweebs know
this. They would rather program than party. They would rather go to the
user area than go to a Stones concert. They would rather play with a
heapsort than play with some female. I guess what I am trying to say is
real dweebs don't socialize."
   During the conversation, Dan punched in a program and attempted an
execution(that is, he tried to see if it worked). The computer informed
him that he made a mistake by flashing several lines of apparent gibberish
across the screen. In a mininum number of keystrokes, he had the thing
working joyously. "It is so easy to manipulate the machine. Their built
to be manipulated. This is not so easy with people."
   It may seem that Dan is totally enthralled with the computer, but he
still has his complaints. "Look at all this 'user-friendly' junk, systems
designed to make the machine easier for those wimps who don't know what
they are doing. And what does it accomplish? Those who didn't know what 
they were doing in the first place still ask the user-consultant for help
and the system becomes terribly bogged down in the process. There are 
reasonable degrees of 'user-friendliness', but c'mon.
   "Something else that gets on my nerve is people who are called dweebs,
who could never pass by my defintion. These are people who work with com-
puters(some who even enjoy working computers), but do things real dweebs
would never do. Some of these people actually care more about their wives
or girlfriends than they do about the machine. Others would rather play 
games on the machine than program. The ones that make me the most sick, 
though, are those who let anything occupy more of their time than the 
machine occupies. They simply don't place the machine first."
   I suppose that's it.