Editing Geek Code

{{Short description|Letters and symbols used by geeks to describe themselves}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2016}}
[[File:Código geek, AA 2012.svg|thumb|upright=1.3|Geek code example, which opens by stating that the user is a Geek of Technical Writing (GTW) who usually wears jeans and a t-shirt (d-@), is of average height and above-average weight (s:+), and is aged between 25 and 29 (a-).]]

The '''Geek Code''', developed in 1993, is a series of letters and symbols used by self-described "[[geek]]s" to inform fellow geeks about their personality, appearance, interests, skills, and opinions. The idea is that everything that makes a geek individual can be [[Code|encode]]d in a compact format which only other geeks can read. This is deemed to be [[Algorithmic efficiency|efficient]] in some sufficiently geeky manner.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/culturesofcomput00susa |url-access=registration |pages=10–20 |title=The cultures of computing |publisher=Wiley |author=Susan Leigh Star |author-link=Susan Leigh Star |year=1995|isbn=9780631192824 }}</ref>

It was once common practice to use a geek code as one's email or Usenet signature, but the last official version of the code was produced in 1996, and it has now largely fallen out of use.<ref name="wapo">{{cite news |last1=Romenesko |first1=James |title=The Code of the Geeks |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1996/05/17/the-code-of-the-geeks/764cb760-d6f4-4ba2-860c-e1d1bcc69919/?noredirect=on |access-date=14 November 2018 |newspaper=Washington Post |date=17 May 1996}}</ref><ref name="geekcode"/>

A number of similar codes were developed for other subcultures, such as a Goth Code for the [[Goth subculture]], and the [[Natural Bears Classification System]] for gay men.

==History==
The Geek Code was invented by Robert A. Hayden in 1993 and was defined at geekcode.com.<ref name="geekcode">{{Cite web |url=http://www.geekcode.com/ |title=The Geek Code |access-date=April 9, 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090228200740/http://www.geekcode.com/ |archive-date=February 28, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> It was inspired by [[Natural Bears Classification System|a similar code]] for the [[Bear (gay culture)|bear]] subculture - which in turn was inspired by the [[Yerkes spectral classification scheme|Yerkes spectral classification]] system for describing stars.<ref name="jargon"/><ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/bitwise/2014/08/online_gay_culture_and_soc_motss_how_a_usenet_group_anticipated_how_we_use.2.html|title=The First Gay Space on the Internet|journal=Slate |date=August 20, 2014 |publisher=[[Slate.com]] |last1=Auerbach |first1=David }}</ref><ref>Unlike the Geek Code, the Yerkes system uses classes, subclasses and peculiarities for categorization. These systems differ in their [[orthogonality]]: the Geek Code is very [[Orthogonal (computing)|orthogonal in the computer science sense]] (where variables may be [[Projection (linear algebra)|projected]] onto [[basis vectors]]), where the Yerkes system is very [[Orthogonality#Taxonomy|orthogonal in the taxonomic sense]] (representing mutually exclusive [[class (computer science)|classes]]).</ref>

After a number of updates, the last revision of the code was v3.12, in 1996.<ref>
{{cite web
| author=Serge K. Keller
| url=https://www.geekcode.xyz/
| title=An archival copy of The Code of the Geeks v3.12.
| date=May 8, 2017
}}
</ref>

Some alternative encodings have also been proposed. For example, the 1997 Acorn Code was a version specific to users of [[Acorn Computers|Acorn]]'s [[RISC OS]] computers.<ref>
{{cite web
| url = http://www.werewlf.demon.co.uk/quintin/code.html
| title = The Acorn Code&nbsp;– Geek Code Supplement
| access-date =May 5, 2011
| last = Parker
| first = Quintin
| year = 1997
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970713210304/http://www.werewlf.demon.co.uk/quintin/code.html
| archive-date =July 13, 1997
| quote = The problem is, for us Acorn users, is that it asks you quantify all your opinions of UNIX and PC programs, whereas many of us wouldn't even touch them with a bargepole!
}}
</ref>

==Format==
Geek codes can be written in two formats;<ref name="geekcode"/> either as a simple string:<br>
{{sxhl|GED/J d-- s:++>: a-- C++(++++) ULU++ P+ L++ E---- W+(-) N+++ o+ K+++ w--- O- M+ V-- PS++>$ PE++>$ Y++ PGP++ t- 5+++ X++ R+++>$ tv+ b+ DI+++ D+++ G+++++ e++ h r-- y++**|zeek}}
...or as a "Geek Code Block", a parody of the output produced by the encryption program [[Pretty Good Privacy|PGP]]:<br>
{{sxhl|-----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
  Version: 3.1
  GED/J d-- s:++>: a-- C++(++++) ULU++ P+ L++ E---- W+(-) N+++ o+ K+++ w---
  O- M+ V-- PS++>$ PE++>$ Y++ PGP++ t- 5+++ X++ R+++>$ tv+ b+ DI+++ D+++
  G+++++ e++ h r-- y++**
-----END GEEK CODE BLOCK-----|pem}}
Note that this latter format has a line specifying the version of Geek Code being used.

(Both these examples use Hayden's own geek code.)<ref name="jargon">{{cite web |title=geek code |url=http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/G/geek-code.html |website=The Jargon File (version 4.4.7) |access-date=16 November 2018 |archive-date=August 14, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180814154444/http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/G/geek-code.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Encoding==
===Occupation===
The code starts with the letter <code>G</code> (for Geek) followed by the geek's occupation(s): <code>GMU</code> for a geek of [[music]], <code>GCS</code> for a geek of computer science etc. There are 28 occupations that can be represented, but <code>GAT</code> is for geeks that can do anything and everything - and "usually precludes the use of other vocational descriptors".<ref name="geekcode"/>

===Categories===
The Geek Code website contains the complete list of categories, along with all of the special syntax options.<ref>{{cite web|author=Robert Hayden |url=http://www.geekcode.com/ |title=geekcode.com |publisher=geekcode.com |access-date=March 12, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090228200740/http://www.geekcode.com/ |archive-date=February 28, 2009}}</ref>

==Decoding==
There have been several '"decoders" produced to transform a specific geek code into English, including:
* [[Bradley M. Kuhn]], in late 1998, made Williams' program available as a web service.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ebb.org/ungeek |title=The Geek Code Decoder Page |publisher=Ebb.org |access-date=March 12, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130301204113/http://www.ebb.org/ungeek/ |archive-date=March 1, 2013 |df=mdy }}</ref><ref>The site first appears in the Internet Archive on December 7, 1998 ({{cite web 
 |title=Geek Code Decoder history at the WayBack machine 
 |publisher=The Internet Archive 
 |date=December 7, 1998 
 |url=http://www.ebb.org/ungeek 
 |access-date=January 5, 2008 
 |url-status=dead 
 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130414153627/http://www.ebb.org/ungeek/ 
 |archive-date=April 14, 2013 
 |df=mdy 
 }}).</ref> 
* Joe Reiss  [http://www.joereiss.net/geek/ungeek.html made a similar page available] in October 1999.<ref>Reference to the site first appears in the Internet Archive on October 7, 1999({{cite web
 |title       = Geek Code Decoder history at the WayBack machine
 |publisher   = The Internet Archive
 |date        = February 9, 1999
 |url         = http://www.joereiss.net/geek
 |access-date  = October 5, 2016
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://archive.today/20161005144259/http://www.joereiss.net/geek/
 |archive-date = October 5, 2016
 |df          = mdy
}}).</ref>

==See also==
*[[Leet]]
*[[Newspeak]]
*[[Signature block]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*Robert Hayden's [https://web.archive.org/web/20090228200740/http://www.geekcode.com/ official Geek Code web site] (presenting v3.12)
[[Category:Internet self-classification codes]]
[[Category:Internet culture]]
[[Category:Lifestyle websites]]
[[Category:Nerd culture]]
[[Category:1993 introductions]]