tsarina's Journal: News for ALL Nerds!

Slashdot has declared itself as 'News for Nerds'. However, some posts I've read have called for Slashdot to only cover technological issues, but not world events, movies, etc etc etc. They say that this site is only for computer-nerds. However, I must challenge this assumption.

I am fairly computer literate for my purposes, though I have forgotten virtually all the code I used to know. My OS is Mac 9.1; I also know Windows, which my school insists on using to my disgust. My dad works with Linux, but though I respect it as a cool OS, I don't use it.

Anyway. I am a nerd. However, I'm no scr1ptk1ddy. I don't hack, or code, or anything like that. I'm sorry to say I can barely program my graphing calculator, though I'd like to learn how. But I am still, proudly, a nerd.

I am a debate-nerd, to be exact.

I am a Minnesotan debater, of the Lincoln-Douglas flavor. I'm actually pretty good at it, and I also judge rounds. I know what Locke's Social Contract, Utilitarianism, and the Veil of Ignorance are. I've taken courses in logic. I CAN argue anything (though, unlike some of my colleagues, I don't HAVE to...). How do I spend my weekends? I get up at 6 AM, put on a suit, get on a bus, and inflict sore throats on myself arguing decentralized government, hate speech, sustainable development, or whatever else. I save my money to go to summer debate institute (costs thousands of dollars to basically work your butt off and learn truckloads). I am, thoroughly, a nerd. But one of another variety.

This is why posts saying to take all the politics off Slashdot worry me. These articles are what I enjoy most. You don't have to know code to follow foreign policy, nor do you have to be a political science major to discuss your government.

Perhaps Slashdot started out as a purely computer-nerd thing. But it has grown far past that, whether you like it or not. Other people are perfectly able to use computers, the internet, and this site, whether you like it or not. Just because I am not a code poet doesn't make me a flamer or a troll. I choose not to post on the especially technological articles. But I have the opinions, insight, and knowledge to post on the political, humor, science, and other articles. People who code also can post on these perfectly legitimately. To cut this splendid variety from Slashdot would be incredibly closed-minded.