I’ve whacked that last post because it was just whiny, and because things are looking up since then. The business partner that was headed out on vacation called me back and laid the groundwork for me to keep hammering while she’s gone, which is awesome, I got an email from a new potential client which could be excellent, and now I’m sitting in a coffeehouse in Evanston relaxing a little.
The biggest thing, though, is that I bit the bullet and went out and bought that Treo 650 I’ve been eyeing for months. It’s sitting here next to me now, and I’m scouring the web for all the additional stuff I’m going to need. The first thing I’ve discovered is that the call quality on this sucker is marginal, but there’s a ROM update I need to install which should help with that — plus, I have every intention of using the Bluetooth headset I just ordered instead of holding a bloody great PDA to my jaw every time I have to answer a call. I am Geoffrey of Borg. Pleased to meet ya.
I’m also a little mortified by the sheer wiredness of my setup right now. I have my iPod jacked into my PowerBook, recharging, and the headphones jacked into the ‘Book as well. I also have the smartphone plugged into the wall, as is the ‘Book. This is really damn geeky. I’m going to have to figure out a better system for all this stuff, I can tell.
I’ve actually been thinking a lot about this lately — what it means to be a geek in the 21st century, and how such an existence can be tempered, improved. I’m always going to be wired, but how does one live the wired life without being, well, a geek? I mean, there are aspects of being a geek which are good intelligence, independent thought but there are also aspects which make me as a designer shudder. A stereotypical geek lacks social skills, fashion sense and personal hygiene. Paris Hilton packs a fair degree of hardware, but no one thinks of her as a geek per se, because she does just fine in these three arenas (and she fails miserably in the ‘intelligence’ and ‘independent thought’ arenas, but I digress).
Hmmm. I wonder if I could pen a ‘designer eye for the geek guy’ article for Inkblots. There are certainly things that a geek can do to improve one’s image which could bridge both worlds, right?
Right?
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Storyteller, scholar, consultant. Loving son, husband and father. Kindhearted mischief-maker.
I'm the Director of the Games and Simulation program at Miami University in Ohio, where I am also an Assistant Professor in the College of Creative Arts' Emerging Technology in Business and Design department. I'm also the director of Miami's Worldbuilding and Narrative Design Research Laboratory (WNDRLab). I have a Master's in Comparative Media Studies from MIT and a PhD in Media Arts and Practices from the University of Southern California.
In past lives I've been the lead Narrative Producer for Microsoft Studios and cofounder of its Narrative Design team, working on projects like Hololens, Quantum Break and new IP incubation; in a "future of media" think tank for Microsoft's CXO/CTO and its Chief Software Architect; the Creative Director for the University of Southern California's World Building Media Lab and the Technical Director, Creative Director and a Research Fellow for USC's Annenberg Innovation Lab; a Visiting Assistant Professor at Whittier College and director of its Whittier Other Worlds Laboratory (WOWLab); the Communications Director and a researcher for the Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab; a founding member of the Convergence Culture Consortium at MIT (now The Futures of Entertainment); a magazine editor; and a award-winning short film producer. more »
The opinions put forward in this blog are mine alone, and do not reflect the opinions of my employers.
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