Is there such a thing as a geek dress code?

The last day of PAX East, I was exhausted. I didn’t feel like putting on a dress or pantyhose, so I went with something simpler: my bright pink cardigan, jeans, and an I <3 Steampunk shirt my awesome friend and artist Brigid Ashwood gave me. Then I put my glasses on, turned to my husband and asked, “How do I look?”

“Like a geek girl,” was his response.

I stared at him for a second. I wanted to argue. But you know what? He was right. For the last few days I had noticed there was a certain… well, dress code among the women at PAX (to say nothing of the men, of course).

I’ve always considered myself something of a fashion stand out. I don’t tend to buy to trends. I like wearing glasses and cardigans, with hints of punk rock here and there (and the occasional corset), as well as some dresses. Not much has changed since I started picking out my own clothes. I also love thrift stores and vintage clothing, as well as curious shoes and jewelry.

But looking around at PAX, I realized many of us had come to the same fashion conclusions: dark rimmed glasses, red lipstick, hair often dyed a shade of auburn or red. T-shirts, cute shoes. (In other words: impeccable taste, ladies.)

Wait a second! How did we all come to this same conclusion?

Now, I’ll preface this with saying that I don’t hang out with a lot of girl geeks that dress like I do. I’ve noticed the trend among guys, which has only been exacerbated by the presence of Splitreason and other t-shirt companies (how I wish we could get them to dress in something other than t-shirts!).

But being at PAX made me feel part of something, sure. As Wil Wheaton said, I felt like it was home. Still, a little part of me kind of squirms at the idea that we’re becoming so recognizable, we geeks. Is it subliminal media messages? Have we come to a point where we need to recognize our own by dressing alike? Am I over-reacting? Is this just coincidence?

We geeks tend to approach the mainstream with trepidation, and that’s understandable. They cancel our shows and ruin our franchises. But as we are becoming larger and larger, are we homogenizing ourselves?

I’d love to know your thoughts. ?

[Photo CC by Zitona]

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Just for the record: This site rocks

It’s probably a safe bet that most geeks grew up as fans of the Guinness World Records books. (If you want to know if you’re a true geek, reading reference books as if they were literature is usually a sign…)

But the problem with the Guinness book is that, to maintain its long-established authority, it’s a little staid. In this Internet age, some people call for records which are a little more… well… stupid.

Enter the Universal Record Database, a site which works on the uplifting theory that everyone has the capacity to be the best in the world at something. Unlike the Guinness system, the only URDB rules are that records must be quantifiable, breakable and legal, though there’s a preference that record attempts should, where possible, have a positive rather than negative impact on mankind and the world.

Participants are encouraged to get witnesses to verify records wherever possible and provide evidence; where there’s doubt, site users can vote on whether a claim should be accepted.

I came across the site after the Guardian newspaper’s tech correspondent Jack Schofield took the crown for the most unread e-mails in an inbox with a staggering 30,422. But that’s utterly conventional by the standards of the site: recently broken records include:

  • the most number of times you can get a Mattress World employee to say “mattress” in a single phone call (12);
  • the most number of rows inserted into a single table in a database (10,053,958,867);
  • the most number of times a relative of Sarah Palin can be punched (39); and, as I’m sure you’ve already guessed,
  • the largest group of people to inhale helium and sing I Think We’re Alone Now while hogtied (18).

And then there’s this one:

Ask [GaS]: Dirty Duty on the Front Lines of IT

Since a large percentage of our readership is composed of IT pros, we figured this article listing some of the dirtiest jobs in IT may be of interest to some of you.

More often, though, dirty IT jobs put people in tough positions — like having to explain to a crew of arrogant geeks why the network can’t be upgraded the same day payroll needs to run; or why you’re not a spammer despite what it says on your business card; or how lying about your company’s products is probably not a good strategy for long-term growth. You may be forced to take the blame for a failed project even when it’s not your fault or to expose wrongdoing at your workplace even if it puts your career at risk.

Dirty jobs never rest, and neither do the people charged with doing them. Be thankful you aren’t one of them. And if you are — well, at least you have a job. Right?

Got any dirty IT jobs stories to share with us? If so, then we’d love to hear all about them in the comments section below (anonymously, of course!).

iPad: uWait

If you’re a non-American waiting for the iPad, make yourself comfortable: the international release has been delayed for a month.

The official reason for the delay is that US demand has been so much higher than expected that it will take time to get extra stock ready for non-US orders. Apple reports that it delivered more than half a million iPads in the first week after release.

While that’s no doubt the main reason for the delay, there are a couple of other factors which might have played a part. One could be that Apple now wants to avoid having the international release coming at the same time as the US debut of the 3G version: if there are technical issues that arise with this version, it may be easier to sort them out while the audience is limited to the US.

Another possibility, which is admittedly dependent on your level of cynicism, is that Apple wants to buy more time before making overseas pricing decisions. If it concludes that the US figures will translate into international demand being higher than expected, it may be tempted to make overseas prices higher than it originally planned.

As it happens, Apple has announced that it won’t be releasing international pricing until it begins taking pre-orders on May 10.

There are some new details available for international users though: Vodafone has been confirmed as a mobile service provider in Australia, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK. There’ll be some competition in those four European countries as Orange will also be offering iPad plans, while the UK will have three plans on offer thanks to O2 striking a deal.

Those expecting a price war are likely to be out of luck: the iPhone is available on multiple networks in the UK but, while the breakdown of pricing varies, the total costs are suspiciously similar. Of course, that may be different with an unsubsidized device such as the iPad, and users will also have the option of choosing the carrier which offers the best coverage in their area. That may be particularly useful if European carriers follow AT&T’s lead in offering monthly deals with no long-term commitment.