Wake up people, do you remember that goofy guy with the glasses that was smarter than everyone in class, and you used to tease him because of it? How about the person that you would pay to do your math homework, just because it was that easy?

Well it is time to realize we live in an age where the latest gadgets and blogs are just part of a culmination of our generation. It is OK to look at those guys behind the counters at Apple and Geek Squad and thank them for helping us unleash the geek inside of us.

Over the last few years, we have been bombarded by MTV, VH1, Comedy Central and all the rest of network TV for displaying the mindless idiots that we watch and enjoy on a daily basis.

Not that it is not funny because these idiots bring in ratings, but it has become an ailment that we have never been able to cure-a habit, like biting nails or smoking, that we never can seem to break.
And we are all guilty – whether we are man enough to admit it is another story.

We watched Johnny Knoxville and Bam Margera perform the most insanely stupid stunts imaginable and secretly wanted to try them too. We watched Clueless and somehow avoided ear damage after hearing Paris Hilton’s “The Stars Are Blind” on the radio 20 times too many.

But times are different now. In so many ways, our generation has watched the world completely change with the Internet, the largest information source available, amongst many other technological
innovations.

So pull your socks up real high, tape your glasses together and throw on your nicest pair of suspenders – nerds are in control. As the world has shifted, our interests have as well.

Almost 10 years ago, Steve Urkel was the one captivating the small screen; now it is Dr. Gregory House of the self-titled medical drama “House,” Jamie and Adam from MythBusters and Justin Long of the Mac commercials. CBS currently airs “The Big Bang Theory,” a television show that hits on subjects uncomfortable enough to make even the most secure nerds squirm a little. The show chronicles two socially awkward geeks as they attempt to take on the dating world, pursuing their conveniently gorgeous next-door neighbor. As for the silver screen, a remake of “Star Trek” has already made mucho money, and a sequel to 1982’s “Tron” is in production as we speak.

Now, before Hermione gets her robes all in a bunch or Napoleon starts throwing ChapStick, let me clarify. The new nerds are a different kind of geeky; they are a bit cooler but just as lovable. “Superbad” stars Michael Cera and Jonah Hill and even Seth Rogen have made their living
being nerdy in a cool way.

Nerds are the definition of popular culture; because of them, it is hip to have the newest iPhone, cool to type on your laptop to update Facebook and even outrageous to go anywhere without being glued to the latest gadget around our bodies.

This is what we owe to nerds for bringing out what we already knew existed but secretly wish we did not. So next time, do not pester the guy with the thick glasses. It is because of him that we have been thrown in a direction where we will not be classified as Generation Y anymore but as Generation N, for the era of the nerds has just begun.