I do not see the negative connotations that you do with the word "geek". I describe myself as a geek or geeky.

That aside, the article is a good one and I have read it several times before and feel that it gets much right.

The term has evolved over time, but it definitively had negative connotations, at least at the beginning.

From the Wikipedia article> This word comes from English dialect geek or geck (meaning a "fool" or "freak"; from Middle Low German Geck)... In 19th century North America, the term geek referred to a performer in a geek show in a circus, traveling carnival or travelling funfair sideshows (see also freak show).