::::They‘re here. They‘re geeks. Get used to it::::

<div class=&quot;custm_img_blk&quot;><img src=&quot;http://www.techgig.com/files/photo_1337999772_temp.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;300&quot; height=&quot;200&quot; align=&quot;left&quot; /></div><p>Turns out, geeks are inheriting the earth.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>Thanks to ubiquitous consumer electronics and the prominence of technology executives like Facebook Inc's(<span>FB.O</span>) Mark Zuckerberg and the late Steve Jobs of Apple Inc(<span>AAPL.O</span>), it's no longer an insult to be called a geek.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>The geek -- broadly speaking, the tech-obsessed, socially-awkward type who spends more time online than offline -- is more respected than ever, according to a survey by Modis, the technology staffing arm of Adecco SA (<span>ADEN.VX</span>), the world's biggest staffing company.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>Most Americans -- 51 percent -- now consider geeks professionally successful, up from 31 percent a year ago, Modis' annual &quot;Geek Pride&quot; survey found. More people also consider geeks to be extremely intelligent: 54 percent say so, up from 45 percent last year.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>The survey is Modis' way of marking Geek Pride Day, held each year on May 25th, the anniversary of the release of the first &quot;Star Wars&quot; movie in 1977.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>&quot;When you talk about a geek, you used to think of the guy in the back of the room, pocket protector with a bunch of pens in it, the white shirt, the high pants, very socially inept,&quot; said Modis President Jack Cullen.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>&quot;Today, when I think of geeks, I think of Steve Jobs. One guy has redefined the geek concept. You could put Zuckerberg in the same category.&quot;</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>Pop culture has had a big hand in the mainstreaming of geek. Popular U.S. television shows like &quot;The Big Bang Theory&quot; and &quot;Glee&quot; make geeks cool, while stories based on comic books, such as &quot;The Avengers,&quot; dominate the movies.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>Much of the shift is generational.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>&quot;Millennials, every year, have more and more visibility and these are people who were born with technology,&quot; Cullen said. &quot;For the millennials it's all about openness. 'Find me. I'm eating a taco right now.' It's such a different view of the world.&quot;</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>Millennials are people in their 20s and 30s who became adults around the turn of the millennium.</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>Once pejorative, the word &quot;geek&quot; is now synonymous with &quot;aficionado.&quot;</p><p style=&quot;margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px&quot;>&quot;Dork,&quot; however, is still a negative, Cullen said.</p>

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