Pin-up geeks
22 October, 2010 | Richard P. Grant |
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It started, as many good ideas do, in a pub. Unlike most such ideas, this one went somewhere, culminating in a launch party at the Free Word Centre in Faringdon last night.
I mentioned the Geek Calendar three weeks ago—but that was before I knew I was getting an invite to rub shoulders with the geekiest geeks in all of London. The Geek Calendar is a celebration of British Geekiness, all in aid of libel reform.
According to tech journalist Aleks Krotoski,
To be a geek is to be someone who wasn’t in the ‘in-crowd’ when they were younger, but is now changing the world and making it a better place.
The emphasis wasn’t so much on ‘changing the world’ last night (although, just like Science is Vital—the other geek-led campaign that’s been in the news recently—the campaign has had a positive effect), but rather on having a good time. And judging by the fact that the bar ran out of beer three times in the night, I think it succeeded.
It was, indeed, a “Who’s Who” of geekdom, together with props: from the molecular hairpieces to cookies shaped like Large Hadron Colliders, π, and labcoats.
We were even joined by Simon Singh (whose tussle with the British Chiropractic Association sparked the libel reform movement), Gia Milinovich and her husband Brian Cox (with his freshly-minted OBE)—fresh from what might be the Royal Society’s last-ever book prize award ceremony.
So, go on. Support libel reform, by buying a calendar. You know you want to.
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I want to breed with them!
Lots of luck changing the laws. The powerful interests who do not wish to be called into account for their actions will fight change tooth and nail, by fair means and foul.
I think you mean Farringdon Road, London, not Faringdon, Oxfordshire!!
Ha ha! Yes.