OList > OGeeks

OGeeks @ OList.com

Do you wish to join OGeeks?

After you review the list criteria and rules, you can request a subscription to the Google Group. Questions? E-mail the list manager, Rose Wiegley.

OGeeks is an informal private discussion list for Objectivists and others interested in geeky topics like science, computing, engineering, mathematics, and technology. Its purpose is to facilitate discussion and sharing among Objectivists about all things geeky, such as best practices in programming, software reviews, scientific discoveries, educational resources, logic puzzles, technology trends, and geek comics.

Any Objectivist with serious geeky interests in science, computing, engineering, mathematics, and/or technology may subscribe and post to OGeeks. Moreover, non-Objectivist geeks, as well as non-geeky Objectivists, are welcome to subscribe to the list, but only as lurkers; they cannot post. OGeeks is not moderated, but members who violate its rules will be subject to moderation, if not unsubscribed.

OGeeks is managed by Rose Wiegley. Rose has a Masters in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. She has had programming jobs that ranged from a Fortune 500 company to a small startup. She currently stays home with her children but programs and reads technical manuals for fun during all that spare time most sane people spend sleeping. She blogs at A Little Bit of Green. She can be reached at rwiegley@gmail.com.

OGeeks was launched in January 2011. At present, it has over 115 members.

Subscription

To join the OGeeks mailing list as a poster, you must meet two criteria:

• You must be an Objectivist, meaning that you agree with and live by the principles of Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism as best you understand them.

• You must have serious geeky interests in science, computing, engineering, mathematics, and/or technology.

Note: You do not qualify as an Objectivist if you consider yourself to be a libertarian (or associate with the Libertarian Party), advocate revising Objectivism (like David Kelley's "open system"), or associate with the false advocates of Objectivism (most notably David Kelley, Nathaniel Branden, Barbara Branden, and Chris Sciabarra).

You can request a subscription to OGeeks via this web form. You must briefly explain how you meet the list's criteria for membership: please write a few sentences. If you are confused or doubtful about the subscription criteria, please do not request a subscription without first e-mailing the list manager Rose Wiegley.

To join the OGeeks mailing list as a lurker, you need only meet either the first or the second criterion. Please indicate that you wish to only lurk -- and why -- when requesting to join the list.

The list is hosted on Google Groups, so subscribing requires an account with Google. (It's free and easy to create.) Click here for instructions on managing your OList subscriptions.

After you subscribe, please post an introduction, including your name, location, and a bit about your interest in geeky topics.

Rules of the List

The OGeeks list has a few basic rules:

1. Please be friendly or at least civil in posts to the list and in e-mails to the list manager. Subscribers who behave like asses, such as by insulting other list members or attacking Objectivist intellectuals, will be removed from the list. Also, please do not gripe about other list members in posts to the list.

2. Please respect the purpose of the list. Subscribers who prove disruptive -- such as by arguing against Objectivist positions or posting on irrelevant topics -- will be unsubscribed or subject to moderation. Please note that list policy is always off-topic: please direct any comments or questions about the management of the list to the list manager.

3. Please respect the privacy of other list members. Don't forward list messages to blogs, e-mail lists, or other public forums without the author's permission, unless the message is a public announcement meant to be disseminated.

4. Please be considerate about what you choose to post to the list. If a message is likely to be of interest to just one or two people -- such as "thank you!" or "good job!" -- please send that privately, rather than to the whole list. Notably, you are welcome to announce your own work on the list, if relevant.

5. Please refrain from debate on the list. The common goal of all the OLists is to serve our real-life values, not to foster ivory-tower or acrimonious debate. If you disagree with opinions expressed on the list, state your own views and give reasons for them. Any back-and-forth arguments, however, should be taken off-list. (For elaboration, see "A Discussion is Not a Debate" by Jean Moroney.)

List Mechanics

Mail to OGeeks should be addressed to ogeeks@olist.com or ogeeks@googlegroups.com. (Mail to the former address is automatically forwarded to the latter address.)

If you are a subscriber, you can access OGeeks through this web interface. There, you can peruse the archives and change your subscription.

Click here for further instructions on managing your OList subscriptions.

Contact

If you have any questions about or problems with the list, please e-mail the list's manager Rose Wiegley at rwiegley@gmail.com.