A new column devoted to the less-than-celebrated world of tech mixers, drinkups, LAN parties and other events for nerds and by nerds. Nothing says that computer junkies have to be anti-social!

Monday: The penguin army descends on the Moscone Center for the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo. Come celebrate open source operating systems, gripe about hardware support issues, and make unflattering comments about the BSD kernel.

Also, Web Monday, a regular event for web developers in Germany, is visiting Silicon Valley. Meet up with Web 2.0 enthusiasts from the continent at SocialText's offices in Palo Alto for snacks and cross-cultural code exchange.

Wednesday: Follow that up with the third installment of the French-American Tech Connection meetup put on by the French embassy. Product demos and finger food, what could be better?

Thursday: Meet up with the Zoomr crew at Pier 23 if you have feature requests or just want to talk Photoshop. Alternately, Apartment Therapy has arrived in SF and want to meet fellow interior design enthusiasts.

Saturday: The Craigslist Foundation's 2nd Annual Nonprofit Boot Camp is an opportunity for local nonprofits to get together for networking, seminars and social entrepreneurship solidarity. If the $50 registration seems steep, it includes free meals!