| Colin
McDonald has a great post that I felt compelled to pass on to our community. He
named the Top 11 Geek T-Shirts of the Web 2.0 age. Check them out for a chuckle and see
how Internet savvy you really are: |
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According
to none other than Wired magazine, T-shirts have come into their own
as a form
of media, one that uniquely documents messages and stories, not
to mention emergent technologies and companies changing the way we
use the Internet. Here at Switched, we write a lot about these
next-gen, "Web
2.0" companies and technologies, which include everyone from
MySpace and
Facebook to
Twitter and even
Google.
Specifically related to Given
that we're partial to t-shirts with nerdy, tech-infused jokes and
terminology, we figured it was high time to find the best geek
t-shirts Web
2.0 speak (like the "Your Podcast is Lame" t-shirt,
flickr user ericskiff,
pictured above). So here, dear readers is our humble survey of the
wild, cotton-meets-code world of Web 2.0 t-shirts. If anything, it'll
give you something cool to talk about during your podcast.
|
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From
Facebook and
MySpace on
down to countless start-ups, social
networking sites are Web 2.0 bread and butter. Unfortunately, the
facts and pictures on someone's profile don't always match
the real, offline version. If you enjoy racking up virtual friends,
but worry about the real world rendezvous, you'll be prepared for the
worst with this straight-shooting t-shirt. |
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For
all of its entrepreneurial, spare-garage innovation, Web 2.0 has bred
some sprawling companies. Google's certainly risen to the top, but a
$600 share price has incited a fair amount of jealousy and worry
from outsiders as the company continues to buy startups and expand
its information empire. Only time will tell what the men of the
"Don't Be
Evil" mantra hath wrought, but for now you can preserve the
madness across your pecs. |
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Success
has a strange currency on the social news site Digg,
where links rated positively by users (given a 'digg,' in other
words) can drive Web sites, blog posts, and all kinds of stories to
new heights of popularity. Isn't this the kind of validation we yearn
for offline? And what will this shirt do to the 'Kiss me I'm Irish'
industry? |
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Michael
Scott's classic catch phrase might be a tad different if he had
been written as a Web entrepreneur instead of a regional manager at
Dunder
Mifflin (from 'The
Office,' for those of you who don't watch TV). Twitter
traffics in brief update messages that its users can send from any
Internet-connected device, making it ripe for compulsive
friend-monitoring as well as double-entendre hunters. "Come
Twitter on my sensitive iPhone
touchscreen?" The possibilities are endless. |
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While
the lolcat
phenomenon started on Internet message boards, sites such as I
Can Has Cheezburger? brought goofy cat pictures and idiosyncratic
captions to the Web masses. It might not fit the strictest definition
of Web 2.0, but ICHS is a vast social network with some very cool
features (it also mints ad money, which always helps in Web 2.0
circles). This shirt allows for easy, dry-erase marker customization
of a classic lolcat caption meme. Prepare to be the life of the
party. Im in ur Switched blogging ur tshirts! |
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This
might be what
she Twittered if she thought your bookmarks were del.icio.us.
Or if she really wanted to StumbleUpon
your toolbar discoveries. Or... never mind. Fact is, tagging
links, images, and other pieces of information online are the hot way
to organize things in Web 2.0, and this shirt means its wearer is in
the know. Just remember to stop staring and make eye contact
occasionally. |
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'Don't
drink the Kool-Aid' is a warning adopted by those skeptical of Web
2.0 optimism and wary of a second dotcom bubble. Mule Design's Feed
Store describes this shirt as an "image of Tim O'Reilly
(acknowledged as the coiner
of 'Web 2.0') busting out of his lawyers office." Indeed. |
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Events
like the 'Snakes
on a Plane' phenomenon suggest that Samuel
L. Jackson is down with Web 2.0, but as 'Pulp
Fiction'
fans
know, there are some words that he'd rather not hear repeated.
Despite your awesome Technorati
ranking, friends and relatives might feel the same way. Tread
carefully. |
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The
nonprofit Electronic
Frontier Foundation has been fighting for digital rights since
its founding in 1990. The importance of its work grows with the
ever-expanding reach of the Internet, a place where things like free
speech, intellectual property, and privacy
are still being defined and contested. Wear your support for digital
freedom and the EFF on your sleeve with this shirt. We hear that the
Internet finds it irresistible. |
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We
couldn't end this roundup without a second shout-out to this gem of
ridiculous T-shirt technology that we've already written about in a
previous story. No Web.2.0 wardrobe would be complete without a shirt
that actually lights
up
when you're in range of a wireless network.
How else is a geek to know whether they're in a good place to live up
to the claims of their other emblazoned cotton treasures? This number
may be perfect for a layered ensemble – just in time for winter, of
course. Bring along a hot thermos of Kool-Aid, and nothing can stand
in your way.
For more of Colin's blog and links to the sites where you can purchase these shirts and more, click here. |
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