This is one of those "aren't kids crazy" entries. One of my most tech'd out advisees was spilling some crazy information on me yesterday. The guy builds his own computers, knows all the chemistry behind scone-making, and is turning into a pissed-off, jacked-up, urban teacher ... unless he goes into the Peace Corps. He drives me insane (e.g., "I was up late") but I love him like the Sun. He gets this huge glow when he's spilling arcane information.
I have no idea how we got onto the topic (but this is par when Ryan's around) but somehow Linux programming and The Craftsman book came up. I gave him my one last copy of that book. He in turn shared the term T3H with me. Apparently, I'm one of the last ones to know about this language where gamers and coders use numbers instead of letters: 4 for A, 3 for E, that sort of thing. And the character | is called the pipe. He also told me about sites where people attempt to post the most disturbing images -- so disturbing that you can't erase them from your mind. He said "there's no such thing as eye bleach." What a wonderful world he lives in.
I spent a little time looking this stuff up. Clearly some of this is "code" that keeps others (i.e., adults) from knowing what's being communicated. Another is that it produces an arms race in which one has to be heavily engaged to not be left behind. I suppose this is akin to knowledge of fashion that separates the hip from the not-so hip. One texting abbreviation I found on an urban (?) dictionary was IYKWIM ... AITYD. It translates to If You Know What I Mean & I Think You Do. What a liberating phrase. Don't you suppose that having the knowledge required to send, receive and translate this code would cause the brain to be wiree in different ways. I think I'm coming to grips with the notion of the Digital Natives. And just like Italian, I despair at the realization that I am never going to fully catch on to this way of interacting. But as long as I can check the weather online and point to the gelato flavor I need when in Florence, I don't suppose I'm going to suffer ... IMHO.
I have no idea how we got onto the topic (but this is par when Ryan's around) but somehow Linux programming and The Craftsman book came up. I gave him my one last copy of that book. He in turn shared the term T3H with me. Apparently, I'm one of the last ones to know about this language where gamers and coders use numbers instead of letters: 4 for A, 3 for E, that sort of thing. And the character | is called the pipe. He also told me about sites where people attempt to post the most disturbing images -- so disturbing that you can't erase them from your mind. He said "there's no such thing as eye bleach." What a wonderful world he lives in.
I spent a little time looking this stuff up. Clearly some of this is "code" that keeps others (i.e., adults) from knowing what's being communicated. Another is that it produces an arms race in which one has to be heavily engaged to not be left behind. I suppose this is akin to knowledge of fashion that separates the hip from the not-so hip. One texting abbreviation I found on an urban (?) dictionary was IYKWIM ... AITYD. It translates to If You Know What I Mean & I Think You Do. What a liberating phrase. Don't you suppose that having the knowledge required to send, receive and translate this code would cause the brain to be wiree in different ways. I think I'm coming to grips with the notion of the Digital Natives. And just like Italian, I despair at the realization that I am never going to fully catch on to this way of interacting. But as long as I can check the weather online and point to the gelato flavor I need when in Florence, I don't suppose I'm going to suffer ... IMHO.
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