Look, almost all of us here are technical geeks and proud of what we represent. What constantly surprises me is while reading slashdot stories, the amazing disparity between "us". Antisocial, outgoing, poor, loaded, everyone between.. this one is for those on the "bad" side of all those distinguishing characteristics...
I'm a programmer, many languages over the years, mostly i've followed where the money is. By this I mean i've switched my specialty based on the market where i'm living, jobs available, pay scales etc etc.
I've worked with every type of IT person described in the posts attached to this article, and the lessons I've learned along the way? Abandon those things you most closely associate with being a geek while interacting with "norms". They don't care if you're technically smarter than them, they do care if you're dirtier than them. They don't want to hear your binary jokes, read your slashdot story of the day or hear about your diatribe on why asimovs three laws wouldn't work on your girl robot.
When your career is concerned, be a blender, a diffuser, a problem solver. Put your pride away on your shelf next to your thinkgeek nerf missile launcher. Check your righteousness at the corporate door. Realize the smartest people learn from everyone around them and don't know everything. Realize there are very few situations where you need to be right all the time, and even fewer where you need to let everyone else know about it.
Find friends like you, do all this sh*t with them, but at work, be respectful, people that aren't as smart as you are still people, and may still have something to teach you.
For all the posters on /. who talk about crappy jobs, low pay, basement windowless offices, no respect, blah blah blah and all the "stupid" people you work with.. STFU.
I'm not the smartest guy on this site, or at my company, but i'm smart enough to get my job done, interact well with people, and advance myself each and every time i change jobs. Because of this i've risen to a level of pay and respect in my job that very few people I meet can rival.
I still have like 6 shirts from thinkgeek, i still sometimes have to pause when presented with a new computer game or sex with my wife, but at work, i'm whatever i need to be, because thats what makes the rest possible.
