Wil Wheaton had a panel at the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo over the weekend and something extra wonderful came out of it. A mother asked Wheaton to tell her newborn daughter (via video to be watched later in life) why being a nerd is awesome. He hits just about every point I try to hit when someone asks me what it means to be a nerd – it’s not what you love, it’s how you love it. We’ll allow Wheaton to explain further…

(via Laughing Squid)

Are you following The Mary Sue on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, & Google +?

Earlier this week we reported on a few new scripted series coming soon to the Syfy channel but the network also has a few reality shows in the works you might be interested in. One centers on cosplayers, the other is basically the Real World with geeks.

I’ve been telling myself to stay out of this debate. I’ve been assuring myself that any time spent reading rants, posts, and their circular comments will only make me feel resentful and defensive. I tell myself that the fight is over and no one won. I rationalize that only a few people are ruining it for the rest of us and therefore, those few should just be ignored. I vow to stop drawing attention to this ridiculous creature, to stop reinforcing the idea that the “Fake Geek Girl” exists.

“Why don’t you just drop it?” “Why can’t you take a joke?” “Why aren’t you over this?” I ask myself these things too.

The truth is, I don’t know.

I won’t say this comic from Jemma Salume is better than the one we posted last week from Meghan Danger, but it wins for illustrating exactly what artist Tony Harris seemed to be accusing certain cosplayers of in his recent Facebook rant. In the most literal, comedic way possible. Hit the jump to find out what happens when this “Fake Geek Girl” preys on the unsuspecting, “Super Mang” reading dude at VeldtCon. 

It’s been an interesting week in geekdom. If you missed the most recent kerfuffle, you can catch up here. Luckily, tumblr user sailorsway (aka Meghan Danger) has created a delightful two-panel comic strip that explains why some of us ladies are frustrated. Here’s how the conversation goes between two men when a Green Lantern t-shirt is spotted. Now hit the jump to see what happens when it’s a woman wearing the shirt.

A lot of people in the geek community have differing opinions on what they like to be called or call themselves. Personally, I have no problem identifying myself as a geek girl, geek, nerd, dork, etc. but not everyone is so comfortable. But what happens when you travel outside our relatively small, close-knit, group? Do people still see the term “geek” as derogatory, or on the contrary, do more people consider themselves “geeks” than ever? Turns out, the answer is yes to both. 

If there’s one thing nerds love, it’s proving they know more than other nerds. In that way, Laura Massey is a genius because she came up with the idea for NerdTrivia on Twitter. 

I admit to not being a big fan of the “Sh*t Girls Say” videos, because for every line that makes me defensively go “yeah, I say that all the time, what?” there are three that confirm that the video has a very narrow definition of “girls.” You know, to one specific kind of personality type, in a specific kind of demographic group, and blah blah blah big words but basically it’s those kind of sweeping generalizations that ruin a joke for me.

Now, Sh*t Nerds Say might visually narrow itself to male nerds, but, as you might have guessed, I’m far more comfortable labeling myself as nerd or geek than as girl, and on top of that it leaves me feeling proud that I belong to a nerd community when I say these things.

(via GeekMom.)

It’s Sunday morning, and (if you are a geography nerd) you’re probably wondering what the capital of Idaho is. It’s Boise, but rather do any unnecessary Internet research now that you’ve thought of what Tennessee’s capital might be, you should watch this supercut of several state capital mentions that have occurred in film. (BTW: Nashville is the capital of Tennessee.)

Click through to see the entire list of references, provided by YouTube user dondrapersayswhat.

For us, one of the defining factors for being a nerd is sheer enthusiasm. In the words of one John Green:

“Nerds like us are allowed to be unironically enthusiastic about stuff… Nerds are allowed to love stuff, like jump-up-and-down-in-the-chair-can’t-control-yourself love it. Hank, when people call people nerds, mostly what they’re saying is ‘you like stuff.’ Which is just not a good insult at all. Like, ‘you are too enthusiastic about the miracle of human consciousness’.”

Well, this guy is very enthusiastic about the miracle of human consciousness. And the Power Rangers. Mostly the Power Rangers. And we are unabashedly happy for him, for we have surely had similar reactions when confronted with the geeky things we love. We also remember when they got their ninjeti coins and new zords and saved all those children on that runaway monorail.

And yes, this is what a fangasm looks like.

(via I Heart Chaos)