Nerd Word going on hiatus

Due to a surfeit of commitments -- and the fact that it's starting to feel like a me-too feature nobody really needs -- the Nerd Word of the Week is going on indefinite hiatus. In fact, the entire content makeup of JayGarmon.net may be in for an overhaul here as soon as I clear some daylight in my schedule. Stay tuned for details.

Nerd Word of the Week: Schminternet

Image by Steve Rhodes via FlickrSchminternet (n.) - A version of the Internet that does not operate under net neutrality standards and thus has tiered access and "surfing tolls" for certain content, services, or websites. The phrase is named after Google CEO Eric Schmidt who notably reversed course on net neutrality when Google forged a traffic prioritization pact with Verizon. The term was coined by Jeff Jarvis who snarked on Twitter: "The Schminternet = not the internet. Comes with new fees."

I bring it up because: The Google-Verizon wireless traffic pact just won't die. Wired referred to Google as a "net neutrality surrender monkey" (earning extra points for the Simpsons reference) and Jon Stewart took shots at Google from his perch atop The Daily Show. While some predicted Google would sell out years ago, it is nonetheless disillusioning that the company once seen as the champion of the open internet is now playing the same self-serving corporate games it formerly opposed. If things keep in this direction, the backlash is only going to get stronger and calling Google's tiered internet the Schminternet is the nicest thing web activists will say about Eric Schmidt or his company.

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Nerd Word of the Week: HOPA girl

Image mercilessly stolen from theChive.

HOPA girl (n.) - An internet meme that seems too good to be true, but becomes popular anyway. Also known as a dry erase girl, whiteboard girl, Jenny DryErase or HPOA girl. Named after a hoax perpetrated by theChive, a meme-centered website, in which a brokerage employee resigns by mass-emailing pictures of herself holding a whiteboard to her colleagues. The whiteboard details the employee's reason for the theatrical resignation: Her boss referred to her as a HOPA, a mangled form of the acronym for hot piece of ass.

I bring it up because: HOPA girl went down this week, and in so doing sparked a navel-gazing debate amongst the blogosphere about the nature of memes and the gullibility of traffic-starved bloggers. Basically, once one major site runs with a HOPA girl meme -- which by definition seems too good to be true and thus likely to be a hoax -- every other major meme site has to run with it too. All it takes is one high-profile sucker and the whole Internet is obligated to play along for fear of losing immediate traffic. Thus, expect to see more HOPA girls, not less --especially since the guys behind HOPA girl have done this before. So much for the web being the future of (serious) journalism.

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Nerd Word of the Week: Plutoed

Image by Dallas1200am via Flickr

Plutoed (adj.) -- From the verb to Pluto, refers to any idea or object that science has determined either didn't exist, or existed in manner very different than previously believed. Basically, anything that has been scientifically retconned. The term comes from the celestial object Pluto, which was infamously reclassified as a non-planet in 2006.

I bring it up because: As Greg Van Eekhout noted -- and possibly coined this week's nerd word in so doing -- they just totally Plutoed torosaurus. While the dinosaur species triceratops and torosaurus were originally thought to be separate, recent evidence shows that a triceratops is really just a juvenile torosaurus. Thus, one species had to be Plutoed, and since triceratops has more name recognition, torosaurus is now a deprecated species. Frankly, I wish this logic had been around when brontosaurus was Plutoed, because apatosaurus just isn't as cool.

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Nerd Word of the Week: Jailbreaking

Image via Wikipedia

Jailbreaking (n.) - Circumventing the Digital Rights Management (DRM) on a device to use it in a manner not intended or desired by the manufacturer. The term was originally applied to the Apple iPhone and then extended to any device running the iOS, though jailbreaking or jailbroken can now be applied to most any smartphone or consumer electronics device. (Jailbreaking an Android OS device is sometimes called rooting, as in attaining root access privileges on the phone, though only "we were never in Steve Jobs's jail" Android OS enthusiasts tend to insist on the distinction.) Failed jailbreaks can result in your device being bricked, which is to say rendered useless.

I bring it up because: A federal judge ruled this week that jailbreaking is legal. Specifically, circumventing DRM is legal, so long as that circumvention doesn't then lead to actual illegal activity. Thus, you can break the DRM on your DVDs in order to make backup copies of your movies or convert them to run on incompatible devices you legally own. You can't break the DRM and then use your newfound powers to produce and sell discount copies of your film collection. This ruling now makes it legal to jailbreak devices so long as you don't then use those devices for illegal purposes. Apple, as you might expect, wasn't happy about the ruling and reminds you that jailbreaking still voids your iPhone warranty. Techcrunch thus asks if we're about to see jailbreaking go mainstream, but then answers its own question -- by way of a Harvard Law professor -- that while jailbreaking is now legal, providing jailbreaking software may not be. There's been no firm ruling on what happens to jailbreak developers, but you can bet that's who Apple and friends go after next.

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Nerd Word of the Week: High ground maneuver

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High ground maneuver (n.) - A public relations tactic wherein the guilty party admits fault, but suggests that this mistake was due in part to a larger, universally acknowledged problem. The result is to frame the public debate around the larger issue, rather than the guilty party's specific gaffe. The guilty party stakes out the "moral high ground" of trying and failing to solve a broad, systemic problem. The term was popularized by Dilbert creator Scott Adams.

I bring it up because: Adams outed his high ground maneuver phrase just this week in his analysis of the Apple iPhone 4 "antennagate" press conference. Steve Jobs basically staked out the high ground of trying to fight dropped calls -- a problem every smartphone has -- and admitted that Apple failed to topple this unbeatable enemy. While Apple isn't getting a total free pass, the debate has moved on to how every smartphone deals with signal drops, rather than exclusively about how Apple's iPhone 4 exhibits the problem. That, my friend, is a classic high ground maneuver.

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Nerd Word of the Week: Bacn

Image by funkandjazz via Flickr

Bacn (n.) - A type of automated e-mail that is less onerous than spam but less wanted than actual, human-generated communications. The classic contemporary examples are Facebook e-mail alerts, which are spam in the sense that they are automated, but desired in that they alert you to Facebook-native content you want to see. It's better than spam, it's bacn.

I bring it up because: Google hates bacn, and it's suggested that's why Google can't build a successful social network. Google is all about the practical, useful, and minimal, while Facebook is a bacn-coated timesink. Google can't beat Facebook because Google is so spam-averse it won't even touch bacn.

UPDATE: Clearly I was wrong, as Google+ is a total bacn-factory.

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Nerd Word of the Week: Pseudonymity

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Pseudonymity (n.) - The practice of using a consistent pseudonym to develop an online persona that is not openly connected to your real name or offline identity. A portmanteau of pseudonym and anonymity. Pseudonymity is different from anonymity in that postings made anonymously online can never be tracked to any single person. Pseudonymous postings made with a consistent, recurring pseudonym held by a single poster can over time accrue their own following, reputation, and online social capital.

I bring it up because: Blizzard just launched RealID over at Battlenet, which ends pseudonymity for anyone participating in the ragingly popular World of Warcraft forums there. This has sparked a privacy debate, as RealID exposes your real name on all your Battlenet postings, and some folks don't want the world knowing how much time they spend in WoW forums, much less what gets said there. Everyone from CTRL+ALT+DEL and Penny Arcade to the Geek Feminism Blog and The Washington Post have weighed in. Many are claiming this is a loss of anonymity, but in truth Blizzard is eliminating pseudonymity, as your posts we're always tied to a consistent username. The move was made to ostensibly cut down on trolling -- in line with Gabriel's Greater Internet Dickwad Theory -- but Seriously Not Okay refutes that logic thusly:

It is a common misconception that trolling is caused by anonymity. It is not. It is caused by people being assholes.

Some people simply enjoy being griefers, and don't care if they do it under a real name or a fake one. Eliminating pseudonymity or anonymity doesn't eliminate the asshole factor. That's worth remembering as more sites make sweeping changes like as Blizzard just did.

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Nerd Word of the Week: Unicorn Pegasus Kitten

Unicorn Pegasus Kitten (n.) - A mythical beast modeled after the chimera that combines the rear legs and wings of a pegasus, the forelegs and head of a giant kitten and the horn of a unicorn. Seriously.

The unicorn pegasus kitten, sometimes referred to as the UPK, was created as a parody of conflated internet memes by artist Jeff Zugale at the request of author-blogger John Scalzi (depicted as an orc in the original UPK painting) and actor-author-blogger Wil Wheaton (depicted as a clown-sweatered orc-hunter in the original UPK painting) as part of a fundraising project to benefit the Lupus Alliance of America. The unicorn pegasus kitten instantly became a meme unto itself, with sci-fi songwriter John Anealio already providing its immortal ballad.

I bring it up because: As of today, the co-inspirator of the unicorn pegasus kitten is President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Already his campaign platform has given way to a reign of terror. And unlike in the painting, there is no clown-sweatered spear-toting meme-rider to save us. Hooray!

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Nerd Word of the Week: Day-and-Date

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Day-and-date (adj.) - A term from the film industry that describes a movie which is released in multiple formats simultaneously, such that movie theaters, home video, television and/or online video can all sell the same film on exactly the same day and date. Day-and-date projects eliminate the so-called release window between the different formats and venues. Naturally, the venues that benefit from a preferential release window -- namely, movie theaters -- don't like the idea of home video or online video cannibalizing their audiences. Others view day-and-date releases as a means of combating movie piracy by offering movies in whatever format fans prefer simultaneously.

I bring it up because: Day-and-date isn't just a film issue anymore, as both Marvel and DC comics have announced digital comic book strategies -- the latter just yesterday -- that include day-and-date releases for certain titles. This has comic retailers in a tizzy, which is why Marvel has priced their digital comics as more expensive than traditional comics, and why DC is diverting some of its digital profits to directly support retailers. The traditional book industry is also struggling with the day-and-date issue as applies to ebooks versus physical books, with fans staging Amazon one-star rating protests for books that don't offer day-and-date ebook versions. Meanwhile, Hollywood has found new ways to create day-and-date release conflicts, with some studios forcing Redbox to delay renting movies by 28 days to prop up DVD sales. Meahwhile, Paramount earned kudos for dropping the 28-day Redbox release window. Some see day-and-date releases as the future of all media. How fast we get there remains to be seen.

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Nerd Word of the Week: Motion gaming

Image by Dekuwa via Flickr

Motion gaming (n.) - A subset of video games that use the physical movements of the player as the primary basis for game controls. The concept is a crude implementation of a gestural interface. Motion gaming is often more intuitive for novice players, as their physical movements are directly emulated in the game environment, sparing players the need to abstract the game controls through buttons, joysticks, or other conventional input devices. The Nintendo Wii is the first major home video game console based around the motion gaming concept.

I bring it up because: The power gamers just joined the motion gaming revolution this week at E3 2010, with Microsoft unveiling Kinect for the Xbox 360 (formerly known as Project: Natal) and Sony debuting the Playstation Move for the PS3. Both employ some version of the motion gaming paradigm pioneered by the Wii -- though Kinect does so without a physical controller -- bringing us one inching step closer to the eternal dream of a personal immersion holodeck. Call me when the augmented reality gamer glasses get here.

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Nerd Word of the Week: Spoiler alert

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Spoiler alert (n.) - A warning given to an audience that the following content or discussion will divulge plot details of a particular work of fiction. The term originated in online forums devoted to discussing movies, television shows, and books; if you have not seen or read the works under discussion, the spoiler alert warns you to proceed no further in the discussion thread lest you "spoil" the surprises inherent in any future reading or viewing experience. Tossing out spoilers without a spoiler alert is considered a serious breach of netiquette and geek civility -- to the point that Wikipedia articles describing many fictional works are required to exclude spoilers or to clearly segregate such content and mark it with spoiler alerts.

I bring it up because: The long-running plot-complex TV show Lost aired its finale last Sunday, and the web has been overridden with dissections of the series resolution. For those of us that have never seen Lost but may wish to view it on DVD or Hulu someday, the appropriate use of spoiler alerts is much appreciated, as was the case with reimagined Battlestar Galactica, The Shield, The Wire, and Sopranos finales before it. Basically, any cult-favorite show that has ended since the advent of Twitter in 2006 has been subject to a delicate balance of fan commiseration and judicious spoiler-alerting, as divulging too much via a social networking post can earn you ire and scorn from the masses, and divulging too little will miss the point. Such is the online geek paradox.

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Nerd Word of the Week: Silver Age

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Silver Age (adj.) - Describes a period in comic book history that saw science-fictional remakes of many famous superheroes, most of them in reaction to the publication of Fredric Wertham's Seduction of the Innocent, a scathing indictment of comic books as endorsing delinquency, sexual deviance and even communism. The Silver Age birthed many inventive new characters and concepts, but is perhaps best known for the campiness and absurdity of the 1966 Batman television series, which epitomized the worst excesses of the Silver Age aesthetic.

I bring it up because: Today would have been Gardner Fox's 89th birthday. Fox, along with legendary editor Julius Schwartz, almost singlehandedly invented the Silver Age with science-fictional revamps of The Flash, Hawkman, Green Lantern and The Atom. Fox in particular was notorious for sprinkling interesting factoids into his comic works, especially from forensic scientist Barry "Flash" Allen, who often introduced these trivial tidbits as "Flash Facts." Moreover, DC Comics has recently gone to great trouble reinstalling the Silver Age versions of many characters -- including the Fox-created Hawkman, Atom, and Flash -- to some less than enthusiastic response. While the campiness hasn't reemerged, the return of these fondly remembered but often outgrown Silver Age icons is viewed by many (myself included) as a move backwards.

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Nerd Word of the Week: Genericide

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Genericide (n.) - The process of a trademark becoming interchangeable with the type of product the trademark describes, to the point that the trademark is almost totally worthless and legally indefensible. Examples include Band-aids, which are synonymous with any brand of adhesive bandages, Zippers, which are synonymous with any brand of interlocking slide fasteners, and Escalators, which are synonymous with any brand of motorized staircase. All of these previous terms used to be defensibly trademarked, but have since become so popular as to defy being identified with any one company. Next up: Google, which is now a verb and may soon be a genericized trademark.

I bring it up because: Velcro was trademarked 52 years ago today, and its still (barely) holding the line against genericide, forcing imitators to refer to themselves as "hook and loop fasteners." We'll see if Google has the same luck.

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Nerd Word of the Week: Ecopocalypse

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Ecopocalypse (n.) - Collapse of civilization caused by widespread and rapid environmental degradation or change. A subgenre of apocalyptic fiction that focuses on ecological collapse. Sometimes referred to as The Ecopocalypse. Also used as a derogatory (and/or ironic) slang term for human impact on the environment.

I bring it up because: The term ecopocalypse tends to bubble up whenever a major environmental disaster, like the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, makes headlines. If you're a bookseller, now would be a great time to stock up on some apocalyptic fic with an environmental (or, at least, post-peak oil) bent, such as Paolo Bacigalupi's The Windup Girl, Margaret Atwood's Oryx & Crake or The Handmaid's Tale, The Rift by Walter Jon Williams, or S.M. Stirling's Dies the Fire.

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Nerd Word of the Week: Openwashing

Image by trawin via FlickrOpenwashing (n.) - Portraying a product or technology as open when in fact it's closed and proprietary. Yet another play on the notion of whitewashing, applied to open source and open standards of technology.

I bring it up because: Facebook is trying to brazenly openwash itself again, this time with the Open Graph Protocol. The OGP is open in the sense that you're free to share data with Facebook, and Facebook might share data with its partners, but all the data belongs to Facebook and only businesses that play by Facebook's rules can get at it. That's not an open protocol; that's a cartel. The OGP is also open in the sense that your Facebook friends can now share data about you unless you explicitly forbid it, which takes some doing. Doc Searls reminds us that we've seen this kind of openwashing before -- Microsoft called it Hailstorm/Passport -- and it didn't work. Sun Microsystems was also a victim of its own openwashing. Maybe the same will be true this time, but I wouldn't bet on it. Regardless, just because you call yourself open doesn't make it so. Beware of CEOs bearing (open) gifts.

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Nerd Word of the Week: Expanded universe

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Expanded universe (n.) - Stories set in a fictional universe that occur outside the franchise's original medium, such as comics that tie into a popular movie, or novels that are set in the universe of a popular television or video game franchise. The Star Wars expanded universe is the seminal example, largely because George Lucas maintains such tight control over its content, though Star Trek, Doctor Who and Buffy the Vampire Slayer also maintain healthy and successful expanded universes.

I bring it up because: LucasFilm has confirmed at least two more mainstream Star Wars expanded universe projects, a Star Wars sitcom from Seth Green and the Robot Chicken guys, and an animated series chronicling the post-Jedi adventures of Han, Luke and Leia. This doesn't even touch on the news that Joss Whedon may be writing and directing the Avengers movie, which plays off the highly successful Iron Man movie continuity, including Iron Man 2 which opens May 7. It's fair to say that a great many more people saw Iron Man the movie than have ever read an Iron Man comic, and Marvel's plans for a cohesive movie continuity between Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America and The Avengers will pull equally one-sided numbers. This begs the question, which is the expanded universe: The Marvel movies, or the Marvel comics?

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Nerd Word of the Week: Conlang

Conlang flag - Image via Wikipedia

Conlang (n.) - Slang term for constructed language, which is a language created for a specific purpose rather than one that evolves naturally from consensual public usage. Conlangs are often created for use in fictional settings, with classic examples including Tolkien's Elvish from the Lord of the Rings book series, or Star Trek's Klingon, created by linguist Marc Okrand. There are, however, conlangers -- creators and consumers of constructed languages -- that develop these fictional tongues strictly for amusement, separate from any attachment to a book, television, or movie series. Some geeks use conlangs to flesh out their favorite fictional worlds, and some conlangers are just fake language geeks.

I bring it up because: HBO has commissioned a conlang of the Dothraki language for its miniseries adaptation of George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire book series. Just chalk it up as yet another concession to the too-passionate-to-be ignored geek demographic.

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Nerd Word of the Week: Con

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Con (n.) - Accepted slang term for a science fiction or fantasy convention, so much so that many of these conventions work the term con into their unofficial or even official titles. For example, the World Science Fiction Convention -- whence come the Hugo Awards -- is known as WorldCon. Moreover, Dragon*Con, GenCon and Comic-Con -- arguably the preeminent American science fiction, gaming, and comic book conventions, respectively -- all include con in their formal titles. Some conventions have even gone so far as to artfully work con into their namesakes, including Hunstville's Con+Stellation, Pittsburgh's ConFluence, and Tulsa's CONestoga. Who says puns are a dead art?

I bring it up because: This weekend my local sci-fi con, ConGlomeration, gets underway -- and I've never been above a shameless plug. If you need a better reason, the 2010 Hugo nominations came out this week, which means WorldCon membership -- which you need to vote on the awards -- is top of mind in the nerd-o-sphere.

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Nerd Word of the Week: Mythology gag

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Mythology gag (n.) - Any subtle reference to the larger continuity of a TV show, movie, or book -- especially if it's the kind of namecheck that only devoted fans would pick up on. The 2009 film reboot of Star Trek got most of its comedy from well played mythology gags, and the TV series Smallville seems to stay on the air simply so it can perpetuate as many DC Comics mythology gags as humanly possible (quality optional).

I bring it up because: Apparently mythology gags are now so pervasive and expected that fans feel entitled to get upset about how they are presented. Case in point, fanboys getting bent out of shape that Angela Bassett is playing Amanda Waller in the Green Lantern movie. Waller, nicknamed "The Wall," is portrayed in comics as having roughly the same build as a starting NFL nose guard. Thus, having the slim and trim Bassett portray her is viewed by some diehards as a kind of fan betrayal. The outrage, by the by, has nothing to do with Hollywood once again skinnying up a curvy character for the mainstream; the fanboys are raging because Bassett as Waller is inaccurate. Nevermind that Waller is tangential as best to the Green Lantern mythos -- she has had almost no major encounters with the Green Lantern characters in comic book continuity -- and that including her in the movie at all is simply a gift to knowing comic book fans. There was a time when simply having any version of Waller in a Green Lantern film would have been a grin-inducing gift to comic readers. Today, we not only expect six dozen mythology gags in the trailer alone, but we want them on our terms. Oh, how fanboy entitlement hath grown.

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