This is only the second webcomic I've ever seen that even mentioned Knuth. (The first was http://www.xkcd.com/c163.html). Clearly more geeks need to write comics.
Mark Zuckerberg is not arrogant. People who are convinced that Mark is anybody but a busy person who has way more responsibility to society on his free breakfast, lunch, and dinner plate[1] than any other 22-year-old on the planet, are misleading themselves and their friends.
It is very easy to point a finger at Mark and say "the arrogant one," similar to how a woman may say "the bald guy" to point her husband out on a long street to a cab driver. But, this is a relative comparison only. Applying a label on a person deducted from a relative comparison is inconsiderate. Mark is actually very deserving of his happiness, sucess, and pride he has earned. One mustn't compare Mark's mannerisms to those of millions of other 22-year-olds or Saturday's Startup School speakers', unless they compare and constrast what these people actually accomplish during the day versus Mark, as well.
While I am unqualified to speak about Mark, and in fact, I didn't, I stand by what I said. nickb made an arguably general comment, and I made an arguably general response. I apologize for the ambiguity, but--
It's very easy to point a finger at a general response and say "that comment is aimed at this guy," because this guy is the tallest tree in the forest. But the comment applies to the whole forest.
I have no doubt that Mark is deserving of his success. Mark worked hard, Bill Gates worked hard, Warren Buffet worked hard. The kiko guys worked hard too. And if kiko took over the world, they would be invited to speak everywhere, and they will have things to say, and reporters will scribble down what they hear as if deities are speaking, when every person's interpretation of the path to success does not work for all others.
I believe the truth in what nickb said is right here. All instances of success are a mixture of factors, but somehow they are read as a result of one. And as such, as a general principle, I certainly believe that arrogance is always unneccessary, regardless of who you are and what you have achieved.
Even in the most informal of gatherings, there is someone blogging or video recording (Justin) everything said.
It's probably going to lead to more canned/cliched talk in the future.