Geekology

If you were to randomly approach any girl on campus and ask her what the word is on the tech guy, you would almost be certain to hear the quote “ The odds are GOOD but the goods are ODD.” I think that there is almost a 7:3 guy to girl ratio here at Georgia Tech. When I hear guys complaining that there aren’t enough girls on campus, I want to scream. It is almost just as hard to find guys on campus because of their love for video games. Guys and some girls spend hours playing video games instead of socializing or studying. It has become a rather large issue at tech. I think that is why they started the Freshmen Experience program. The faculty hoped that the peer leaders would be able to help some people socialize more instead of vegetating in front of a television or their computer.

I do not have a problem with people playing video games, but I do think that they should only play for a reasonable amount of time. I will agree with Dave that if they play for too long and do nothing else then they will begin to STINK and that is the biggest turn off for a girl ever!!!

Newsgroups are a way that a lot of groups and organizations at Tech choose to communicate. It is an effective form of communication among these groups because it is an easy way of sending a message to everyone involved in the group. If you need to arrange a meeting or an activity, a newsgroup is the way to do it. By sending one email you alert everyone in your club. But newsgroups have their limitations. In a small group they work very well, because only a few messages are sent out, and they are usually relevant. But once the group gets larger the newsgroup fills up with more messages and it becomes overbearing. Many of the messages aren’t important, and the important ones are often hard to locate in the sea of useless ones. Newsgroups can also be used as a form of group conversation. My dorm is setting up a Yahoo newsgroup. It really has no purpose other than what we make of it. There are also some Frats and Sororities on campus that use newsgroups in this way. They are a useful form of communication, and they affect social life at Tech, but they become kind of overwhelming when too many people join.

Have you ever wanted to know what your true personality is? Well I have the solution to all of your problems. There is a little place on the internet that I have grown to love called EMODE!! It is an extremely entertaining place where you take quizzes to figure anything and everything about yourself. I think it is extremely important to figure out my TRUE personality so, I took the personality quiz.........and so should YOU.

Its fun but don't get too addicted to the EmOdE world.

Dave and Andrew are one hundred percent correct on how cell phones have affected the college life and life in general, but cell phones can also be a scary thing. Only a few years ago, not everyone had cell phones. People had to plan things in advance and life was just a little more organized. Nowadays, people will change their plans five minutes before they leave. This makes life hectic and stressful. You never know when someone is going to call and tell you that a meeting has been changed and hour before it was actually supposed to occur. Then you are totally Fu*&*&! The schedule you thought you were on for that day has been completely destroyed. People have to become a whole lot more FLEXIBLE!

Cell phones have also affected the amount of control people can have over you. Most parents believe that since they pay the bill that you should have your cell phone on all the time, just in case they decide they want to chat. This control can be very overbearing. I never feel totally alone when I have my cell phone. I always think that someone is going to call and disturb my activities. There is a flip side to this. I never want to leave my cell phone because then I am afraid I will miss something HUGE!!! It is almost as if the cell phone has taken control of me. SCARY!!

     Cell phones have become so commonplace these days it’s almost strange to not have one. I didn’t have a cell phone all of high school, and every one of my friends kept asking me when I would get one. I got one this summer and I think it has generally made life a lot simpler. I can call anybody from anywhere that has reception, which is practically everywhere now, and anybody can get in contact with me if they need me and have my number. This is nice because before I had a cell phone I either used a friend’s or a pay phone. And how much do payphones cost now? I think it’s up to fifty cents, which is ridiculous, especially considering most of my calls from a payphone were less than one minute long. There are downsides to having a cell phone as well. I take my cell phone practically everywhere, and it’s always on. So that means that I never really have complete privacy. If I wanted to get away from calls I could turn it off, but I don’t because if I need to know about some sort of emergency then I need it to be on.

     I don’t use my cell phone that often for actual conversations. Most of its use comes in making plans. I will plan to meet people on it, and I will call them when I’m there. Or if I get lost I can call and ask where I am and how to get where I’m going.

My opinion on instant messaging is a bit different from most peoples. I HATE IT!! The instant messaging world has become a major part in most people’s daily activities. People will sit for hours in front of a computer just chatting about useless things when they could be out exercising or having actual conversations with people face to face. It is a part of the increasing obesity of young adult’s.

Instant messaging has also affected relationships. A guy or girl now considers it socially acceptable to ask someone on a date over AIM. I am appalled by this change in social understanding, partially because of my deep rooted southern beliefs. I think that if someone wants to go out on a date, they must build up enough courage to ask them out in person. It makes the process so much more meaningful.

People can also create false images of themselves through instant messaging. Take a shy guy for instance, he can become very outgoing over the internet but when you meet him you find that he is the exact opposite of what you would have expected. So basically I don’t think that instant messaging is in any way helping social relationships!!

PEACE YA'LL

     I guess I’ll be the first to kick this thing off. Alright, this week’s topic is instant messenger. There’s a lot of controversy over this topic, but, personally, I like instant messenger. Yeah, it has its downsides, but as a whole I find it a very convenient way of connecting with other people. If I need to ask someone a question, I can just type it into a message box and hit enter. Before instant messenger I would have to call them, which is a lot longer process. I can also talk to as many people as I want, which is also very nice. On the telephone I pretty much only talk to one person at a time. I can also keep in contact with people out of state. Most of my high school friends don’t go to college in Georgia. If I were to call them all the time I would run up a huge telephone bill. I also like the fact that when I’m talking to people online I can be doing other things. When I’m on the telephone I feel an obligation to devote a lot more of my attention to the person I’m talking to. Online I know that most of the people I talk to are doing other things as well, so if I don’t say something to them for five minutes it’s not considered an “awkward silence” as it would be considered if you sat silently on the phone for that amount of time.

     But don’t get the impression that I think IM is the greatest thing since sliced bread. It definitely has some weak points. If I really want to have a deep conversation with someone I call them. You can’t really have those types of conversations online. It’s really hard to portray emotions online (emoticons do not portray emotions). But for the most part I have a very positive attitude towards instant messaging.

WOW! They saved the best for last. I am Carol. I was raised in Winchester, Tennessee. I am a southern girl through and through. My drive home is about four hours, so I rarely go home. I love it here at Tech. I am a member of the sorority Alpha Gamma Delta. If they dont have me running aournd in cirlce, then Navy ROTC does. Most people wonder why I joined the military, and all i have to say on that is "F-18"!! On the weekends, I spend most of my time just hanging out at my sorority. We will typically go out to different faternities that are having parties. We love to socialize and have a good time!!

     Hey everyone, I guess I’m number three to post. My name’s Andrew. I live in Atlanta. Actually, I pretty much live down the street from Tech. It’s about a ten minute drive for me to get home. I decided to live on campus, though, because I wanted to get out of the house and live on my own. It’s also supposed to be a lot harder to make friends if you live off-campus. And since I live here, I have the HOPE scholarship, so paying for housing and food are my main expenses. Ok, now on to our topic. I’d say I’m not the most social person. I’m actually quite shy around new people. Around people I know, I’m very not shy, but if I don’t know you, it’ll take me a while to feel comfortable enough around you to actually talk a lot. But I’m trying to change this. I’m trying to meet new people more than I have in the past, and I’m trying to be more talkative and open to new people. I like Tech a lot, but I’m not really involved in clubs or organizations. I’m a member of the Co-op Club like Megan, but that’s not really a club. On the weekends I either hang out with my girlfriend or with a bunch of people from Montag (my dorm). Ok, that’s about all I have to say for now, I’m sure you’ll hear more from me later.