4 ms·

"This is the Silver Back Gorilla of nerds. The internet final boss." https://twitter.com/vxunderground/status/1774071339671794134 https://twitter.com/vxundergro

by wjb3 3y ago

"This is the Silver Back Gorilla of nerds. The internet final boss." https://twitter.com/vxunderground/status/1774071339671794134 https://twitter.com/vxunderground/status/1774071339671794134

idiotsecant 3y ago
I cringe every time I read this take. This guy is a craftsman, worthy of respect. Hundreds of years ago he'd be making watches or heirlooms or massive bridges and churches. To basically turn him into a parody of a man, like some kind of character in a marvel movie, is gross to me. Calling him a 'nerd' is somewhat dismissive and disrespectful. Call him what he is - a professional.
- lolinder 3y ago
  > Calling him a 'nerd' is somewhat dismissive and disrespectful. You must have missed that in the 2010s being a nerd became cool. It's not a derogatory term with the younger generations, it's a term of endearment and respect, an identity that is owned and aspired to.
  - Dalewyn 3y ago
    Or to look at it another way, the 2010s were when the people belittled as nerds came into the workforce en masse. Those born in the 80s and 90s and grew up living and breathing computers. The nerds were now in their 20s and 30s, so when the 50s and 60s geezers called them nerds as always the response was "Yeah. I'm a nerd and I'm making money while you're slated for retirement. Problem?" and the term became an identity for those generations. Whatever we're calling the Z-ers today, they will do to us what we did to those who called us nerds.
    - lolinder 3y ago
      Was "nerd" something that was used as an intergenerational label? In my experience (USA) abuse towards "nerds" invariably came from peers, so I don't think it's a question of a generation of nerds growing up—in the generation that entered the workforce in the 2010s nerds were firmly a minority. What I'm seeing is that starting in the mid-2010s the number of high schoolers who identify as nerds has gone up dramatically, to the point where from what I've observed even the popular kids who end up surrounded with their own gang are about as likely to call themselves a nerd and engage in stereotypical nerdy activities as they are to be the football players.
      - Dalewyn 3y ago
        I'd say that's a consequence of the nerd generation entering the workforce. The kids today see the nerds working "cool" jobs at "cool" employers like Microsoft, Google, etc. and become goals to strive to. Granted, that impression is probably on its way out with how much reputation/"cool factor" the tech industry is losing in recent years.
  - idiotsecant 3y ago
    No, its still disrespectful, but more indidiously and less overtly so. Its a subtle way to 'other' people who do technical work. It carries connotations of being bad at communicating and seeing the 'big picture', having a myopic view of culture, self, and organization. You need only consider the mental images that come up when you consider a 'nerd' vs. a craftsman or an artisan. This man is an artisan.
    - lolinder 3y ago
      No, I'm not reading this as a way to 'other'—look at this user's other tweets! They're a technical person who from the sound of their content is probably Gen Z. 'Nerd' is used by technically-inclined people in that age group as a term of endearment—it indicates that you're part of their tribe, that they recognize you as one of their own. You can take offense at that because it's not how you think of the word, but that's the way the language has gone.
- opello 3y ago
  It seems like it will be the apocryphal take-away given just how frequently the "500ms longer" detail is mentioned. Apocryphal because: > I was doing some micro-benchmarking at the time, needed to quiesce the system to reduce noise. Saw sshd processes were using a surprising amount of CPU, despite immediately failing because of wrong usernames etc. Profiled sshd, showing lots of cpu time in liblzma, with perf unable to attribute it to a symbol. Got suspicious. from: https://mastodon.social/@AndresFreundTec/112180406142695845 https://mastodon.social/@AndresFreundTec/112180406142695845
- bink 3y ago
  I'm not normally the conspiracy type but it would not at all surprise me if someone in a govt. agency was watching this happen but couldn't say anything, so they tipped off someone to sound the alarm.
r00fus 3y ago
So cliché. I dig the implied respect but it almost reads like a parody of respect.

by wjb3 3y ago

"This is the Silver Back Gorilla of nerds. The internet final boss." https://twitter.com/vxunderground/status/1774071339671794134 https://twitter.com/vxunderground/status/1774071339671794134

idiotsecant 3y ago

I cringe every time I read this take. This guy is a craftsman, worthy of respect. Hundreds of years ago he'd be making watches or heirlooms or massive bridges and churches. To basically turn him into a parody of a man, like some kind of character in a marvel movie, is gross to me. Calling him a 'nerd' is somewhat dismissive and disrespectful. Call him what he is - a professional.

lolinder 3y ago
> Calling him a 'nerd' is somewhat dismissive and disrespectful. You must have missed that in the 2010s being a nerd became cool. It's not a derogatory term with the younger generations, it's a term of endearment and respect, an identity that is owned and aspired to.
- Dalewyn 3y ago
  Or to look at it another way, the 2010s were when the people belittled as nerds came into the workforce en masse. Those born in the 80s and 90s and grew up living and breathing computers. The nerds were now in their 20s and 30s, so when the 50s and 60s geezers called them nerds as always the response was "Yeah. I'm a nerd and I'm making money while you're slated for retirement. Problem?" and the term became an identity for those generations. Whatever we're calling the Z-ers today, they will do to us what we did to those who called us nerds.
  - lolinder 3y ago
    Was "nerd" something that was used as an intergenerational label? In my experience (USA) abuse towards "nerds" invariably came from peers, so I don't think it's a question of a generation of nerds growing up—in the generation that entered the workforce in the 2010s nerds were firmly a minority. What I'm seeing is that starting in the mid-2010s the number of high schoolers who identify as nerds has gone up dramatically, to the point where from what I've observed even the popular kids who end up surrounded with their own gang are about as likely to call themselves a nerd and engage in stereotypical nerdy activities as they are to be the football players.
    - Dalewyn 3y ago
      I'd say that's a consequence of the nerd generation entering the workforce. The kids today see the nerds working "cool" jobs at "cool" employers like Microsoft, Google, etc. and become goals to strive to. Granted, that impression is probably on its way out with how much reputation/"cool factor" the tech industry is losing in recent years.
- idiotsecant 3y ago
  No, its still disrespectful, but more indidiously and less overtly so. Its a subtle way to 'other' people who do technical work. It carries connotations of being bad at communicating and seeing the 'big picture', having a myopic view of culture, self, and organization. You need only consider the mental images that come up when you consider a 'nerd' vs. a craftsman or an artisan. This man is an artisan.
  - lolinder 3y ago
    No, I'm not reading this as a way to 'other'—look at this user's other tweets! They're a technical person who from the sound of their content is probably Gen Z. 'Nerd' is used by technically-inclined people in that age group as a term of endearment—it indicates that you're part of their tribe, that they recognize you as one of their own. You can take offense at that because it's not how you think of the word, but that's the way the language has gone.
opello 3y ago
It seems like it will be the apocryphal take-away given just how frequently the "500ms longer" detail is mentioned. Apocryphal because: > I was doing some micro-benchmarking at the time, needed to quiesce the system to reduce noise. Saw sshd processes were using a surprising amount of CPU, despite immediately failing because of wrong usernames etc. Profiled sshd, showing lots of cpu time in liblzma, with perf unable to attribute it to a symbol. Got suspicious. from: https://mastodon.social/@AndresFreundTec/112180406142695845 https://mastodon.social/@AndresFreundTec/112180406142695845
bink 3y ago
I'm not normally the conspiracy type but it would not at all surprise me if someone in a govt. agency was watching this happen but couldn't say anything, so they tipped off someone to sound the alarm.

r00fus 3y ago

So cliché. I dig the implied respect but it almost reads like a parody of respect.