The Geek in Me

'Geek' isn't a term I really like - it reminds me of days when all I had to offer the world was a little bit of arcane technical knowledge. Being knowledge-based, it's funny how that tends to push people away rather then draw them closer, but I digress. I think "Geek" is a state of mind - Lifehacker understands this and includes projects that aren't just technical. You can catch up on new apps for Ubuntu or Windows or check out an el-cheapo way to water your backyard garden. 'Geek' isn't limited to your technical ability - it's related more to your ability to be curious about the world, your passion to do things yourself and your desire to fix those things that can be fixed in your life.

That doesn't end with gadgets or doo-dads. It's a way of life and I'm starting to wrap my head around that. I'm completely off the grid when it comes to consumer buying habits or picking up consumer electronics. I just bought my first video game console in years; actually ever - since I never officially bought the Atari 2600 we owned in the 90s. I feel all weird now with the new toys in my house - I didn't buy it for the games, I bought it because I wanted a new DVD player and I didn't want to have to re-buy a player in a few years with the upgrades in DVD formats. It's weird how my mind works - some part of me is saying "do without - you don't need it" and another is going "stop being Archie Bunker!"

Geek is beyond computing and beyond technology - I think that's another fact I'm waking up to. It's the DIY-spirit - the challenge to figure out something you didn't know before, the little voice in your head that says "Other people figured this out - there's no reason that you can't." It drives you forward - it's weird. A fellow geek, a guy I'll just refer to as 'Matt' (because that's his name), showed me a personally designed hydrogen fuel cell that he designed and was testing (by popping clouds of hydrogen off...always a party favorite). He's also completed a vegetable oil / biodiesel conversion on his Land Rover. It wasn't computer-related, but it was very, very technical. It reminded me of the line from the short story Johnny Mnemonic 'you have to be pretty technical before you can even aspire to crudeness.'

I like solar power - have liked it for a long time now. The investment has always been cost-prohibitive (big investment up front that gets returned over 3-5 years) for me. I've been inspired by people like solarwarrior.com - I'd love to tell PG&E where to go. It's been one of those if-and-or-when projects that sit somewhere in the back of my head. Now - enter this:

Helium solar-power ballons

Imagine being able to tether some balloons and live 100% off of solar power. My geek sensor is tripping off the scale at the far end! It couldn't be for any other reason - I don't like balloons that much.