Last weekend Kyle MacDonald in Montreal threw a party to celebrate the fact that he got his new home in exchange for a red paper clip. Starting a year ago, MacDonald bartered the clip for increasingly valuable stuff, including a camp stove and free rent in a Phoenix flat. Having announced his aim (the house) in advance, MacDonald likely got a boost from techies eager to see the Internet pass this daring test of its networking power. “My whole motto was ’Start small, think big, and have fun’”, says MacDonald, 26, “I really kept my effort on the creative side rather than the business side.”

The word “techies” probably refers to those who are________.