29 replies to this topic

[WreckWench]

Ok guys and gals...just for fun...just how much of a nerd/geek are you? Do you think you rate 'megageek' status? I know one of our members certainly thinks he does...but what about the rest of you? Are you going to let someone lay claim to 'mega-geek' without giving them a run for their money?

Do you invent useless things that are fun or neat just for the pure invention sake? Ya might be a geek!
Do you talk about how to 'improve this or that' even if standard convention says it is perfectly fine as it is? Ya might be a geek!
Do you enjoy talking about geeky things more than anything else? Ya might be a geek!
Do you have more geeky toys, gadgets and inventions than you do girlfriends/boyfriends? Then ya might definitely be a geek!!!

[Moose]

Ok, the gloves are off!

Yes, I own "Megageek.com" and have done so for over 10 years now. Here is the quote that sums up "geekiness" best...

"Black socks and Birkenstocks do not maketh the geek. I would argue that the essence of geekitude comes from within. To the true geek, it's not enough that things work. He or she must know how things work. And beyond that, there is the nagging temptation to make said things work just a tad bit better than factory spec. This curious and compulsive fixing of things that are not broken -- that's true geekitude." --David Plotnikoff


Since I'm not sure that most of you want to think you are geeks, here are a few questions...

Have you ever uttered any of the following phases...
-"This is only temporary, unless it works"
-"It if ain't broke, fix it until it is!"
-"buckle up, I want to try something. I saw it in a cartoon, but I'm SURE I can do it!"

Have you ever spent 10 hours to build a machine to do a job that would only take 30 mins to accomplish by hand?

Is your garage filled with broken items that you can't throw away because you know one day you'll need a part off of it?

Are you single?

Are your shoelaces untied?
-Did you have to look?
--do you only own shoes that have no laces?

Do you log into more than one time zone at a time?

Have you ever voided the warranty on your equipment?

Have you ever change the value of 4?
-Unintentionally?
--In a language other than Fortran?

Have you ever named a computer?

Can you recite Jabberwocky?
-Backwards?

Have you ever shown a novice the "any" key on their computer?
-Was it the power switch?

Have you ever seen voice mail?

Ever help the person behind the counter with their terminal/computer?

Do you have the Anarchist's Cookbook?
-Ever make anything from it?

Is your job secure?
-Do you have code to prove it?

Do you consume more than LD-50 caffeine a day?

Do you answer either-or questions with "yes"?

Do you own an up-to-date copy of any operating system manual?
-*every* operating system manual?

Do other people have difficulty using your customized environment?

Do you dream in any programming languages?

Do you despise the CAPS LOCK key?

Have you ever decorated with magnetic tape or punched cards?

Do you have a disk platter or a naked floppy hanging in your home?

Have you ever seen the dawn?
-Twice in a row?
--three times?

Do you use "fubar" in daily conversation?
-"bletch"?

Have you ever computed pi to more than a thousand decimal places?
-the number e?

Ever find a prime number of more than a hundred digits?

Have you ever built a black box?
-Can you name all of the 'colors' of boxes?
--and their associated functions?

Does your touch tone phone have 16 DTMF buttons on it?

Have you ever set off a Halon system?
-Intentionally?
--Do you still work there?

Have you ever hit the emergency power switch?
-Intentionally?

Do you have any defunct documentation?
-Do you still read it?

Did the breakup of MaBell create more opportunities for you?

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, you might be a geek
If so, lets talk.

BTW, if you are a female, and answered any two or more of these questions "yes," I'm rich and single, will you marry me?
-seriously!

[Moose]

OK, you Eastcoasters are really failing this test.

It's business hours, which means that a REAL geek reads personal mail on company time. They also have PDAs that let them read and respond to emails imediately.

Let me start out with some geeky inventions.

I already posted about my home made scuba gear, built with a bucket, vaccum cleaner and garden hose in another topic here. I think I even told the story of the boat that we designed to NOT float (hence, nessitaing the need to build the scuba gear!)

I posted a link to my remote contol lawn mowers. (email me if you didn't see them)

So, here is a new one. Ever "jackknife" a forklift loading 8 pallets of boxes on a truck? At your house? Was the truck only big enough for 7 pallets? Did you get it to fit?

Here are some pics...
http://www.megageek....0e?OpenDocument

Do you have a large garage to "tinker?"

do you, well check out the photo to understand...

http://www.megageek....02?OpenDocument

To keep things "dive" related, here is a scuba gear drying rack I made...

http://www.megageek....8c?OpenDocument

http://www.megageek....13?OpenDocument

and
http://www.megageek....31?OpenDocument

Ok, hows that for a start?

[Racer184]

Most of those questions are included in the "nerd test".
I, and about 30 other engineers at the security electronics company took the test.
They stated that the index would be that Dilbert would get a score of 100.
Some of the engineers scored as low as 90. Most of us got 120 or so.
The top score was over 160. I am the one who got that score.

A question that got us a LOT of points was if we checked our email BEFORE
brusing our teeth in the morning.

And I posting this response from gate C6 at Palm Beach International airport !...

gotta go, they just started boarding !

Edited by Racer184, 18 December 2006 - 09:34 AM.

[Moose]

Most of those questions are included in the "nerd test".
I, and about 30 other engineers at the security electronics company took the test.
They stated that the index would be that Dilbert would get a score of 100.
Some of the engineers scored as low as 90. Most of us got 120 or so.
The top score was over 160. I am the one who got that score.

A question that got us a LOT of points was if we checked our email BEFORE
brusing our teeth in the morning.

And I posting this response from gate C6 at Palm Beach International airport !...

gotta go, they just started boarding !

You were doing so well until you mentioned the scores!

I've been hosting an "updated" verison of that test for years now on my site...

http://www.megageek....hlight=0,hacker

BUT, the scores are done in hexi-decimal. In fact, the test as it stands starts off with the following qualifier...

Scoring - Count 1 for each item that you have done, or each question that you can answer correctly.
If you score is between: You are
0x000 and 0x010 -> Computer Illiterate
0x011 and 0x040 -> a User
0x041 and 0x080 -> an Operator
0x081 and 0x0C0 -> a Nerd
0x0C1 and 0x100 -> a Hacker
0x101 and 0x180 -> a Guru
0x181 and 0x200 -> a Wizard
Note: If you don't understand the scoring, stop here.

But you do get points for posting from the airport. There is a massive bonus adjustment if you can takeover and control the airplane from your PDA. While I have never done this, I did write a macro in Excel to land the plane in case I do!

[Racer184]

There are only 10 kinds of people in the world.
Those that read binary and those that don't.

My score was ctrl-G ctrl-G ctrl-G ctrl-G

5C


A lot of that stuff is out of date. I believe a person might be more of a nerd than me yet be too young to have ever read punch cards by looking at the holes. And I did not give myself a point for the collection I have in my closet that progresses from punch cards to 12 inch disk to 8 inch disk to ...... (since it is not actually hanging on the wall yet). And that test did not ask me about loading boot code on the 30-30 from 9 track tape.

Here is some stuff to add..

When someone offers to buy your lunch, will you turn down the offer because the restaraunt does not have open 802.11a, b, or g ?

Have you ever built a cantenna ?
Have you used it to use your neighbor's 802.11b ?
It worked so well, you quit paying for DSL at your place ?

Have you ever tried to explain that an item carbon-dated to be 1500 years old is much more recent than 506 AD, more like 600 AD?

Does it irritate you ;

• that many clocks that only display from 01:00 to 12:59 which makes then wrong for 12 hours each day !
• some clocks misteriously jump ahead one hour once per year and jump an hour behind once per year? (Who wrote that code ?)
• people actually USE thermometers that indicate in farenheit ?
• to see force stated in kilograms ?
• recipes that use tablespoons and ounces instead of grams ?

When someone asks "how much do you weigh" you answer something like "it depends on barometric pressure" or "that depends how fast I am accelerating"

When someone sends you to the store for a 6 pack of 12 ouncers you have to ask him "how big is a 12 ounce?"

When someone asks how tall you are, you say "a few centimeters short of 2 meters"

Do you own a gieger counter?

Do you remember your parking spot at the airport by the GPS coordinates?

When a cop stops you for driving 55 miles per hour in a 20 mile per hour zone you calmly state "you did not measure my velocity for an entire hour, therefore your claim is not statistically signifcant"


(sent from gate C-6 of Atlanta airport with a verizon 'broadband access card'

Edited by Racer184, 18 December 2006 - 02:37 PM.

[WreckWench]

Ooooooh Racer you are giving Moose a run for the money!

This is fun...even if I can't understand half of what you all are saying!

Now where are the rest of the geeks/nerds out there? I'm sure you haven't been run off already have you???

[Blackhawk]

Ok guys and gals...just for fun...just how much of a nerd/geek are you? Do you think you rate 'megageek' status? I know one of our members certainly thinks he does...but what about the rest of you? Are you going to let someone lay claim to 'mega-geek' without giving them a run for their money?

Do you invent useless things that are fun or neat just for the pure invention sake? Ya might be a geek!
Do you talk about how to 'improve this or that' even if standard convention says it is perfectly fine as it is? Ya might be a geek!
Do you enjoy talking about geeky things more than anything else? Ya might be a geek!
Do you have more geeky toys, gadgets and inventions than you do girlfriends/boyfriends? Then ya might definitely be a geek!!!

There are alot of big replies out there.... to put it simply I'm a geek..
How do I know? Simple I'm a software developer! What else could I be


Do I talk about to improve this or that? Nah simply try and find new ways to use this or that... http://thedailywtf.c...ead/101329.aspx

(not me but something I would deffinetly do!

[finGrabber]

I admit...I'm a geek too!

I spent 2 hours at my reg techs house Saturday when I was supposed to be at the Wenches' house asking "why"???

Why does that work? how come? what do those numbers mean? what makes a reg breathe good? the 1st stage? the second stage? a combo? has the design been improved over the years? are the improvements tweeks or fixes for major flaws?? why would someone design something like that??

you get the idea! luckily, he's really cool about answering my questions

so Moose:

Are you single? Yes

Have you ever voided the warranty on your equipment? Yes, I added a DVD-RW/CDRW to my desktop machine...I pulled the useless DVD drive out and installed a double-sided DVD-RW/CDRW burner in it's place

I added a second hard drive to the machine before this one, too

Ever help the person behind the counter with their terminal/computer? Yes! I told a trainee at DFW the commands to check me in about 3 years ago; I have numerous other examples too

Do you despise the CAPS LOCK key? Yes! That damn thing is the devil himself, I’m sure of it!

Have you ever computed pi to more than a thousand decimal places? That thing just keeps going and going and going; I think that’s where the energizer bunny came from; of course, that's how Mr Spock got a virus out of the Enterprise's computer system - he told it to compute pi

Do you have any defunct documentation? Yeah, I still have a manual for Microsoft 3.1, Windows 95, Windows 98, not to mention some manuals for Mercury products

Have you ever named a computer? No, but I helped name a BOWE machine “Big Bertha” back in the late 90’s…does that count?

[Racer184]

Some of us are geeks way beyond the average diver !

dididid dahdahdah dahdah dit dahdahdah dididahdit dididah dididit

didah didahdit dit dahdidit dit dit dahdiddah dididit

dahdididit dit dahdidahdah dahdahdah dahdit dahditdit

dahdiddahdah dahdahdah dididah didahdit

didah didididah dit didahdit didah dahdahdit dit

dahdidit didit didididah dit didahdit




hmmmm the forum takes out all the "extra spaces" so this will not be very easy to read.

Edited by Racer184, 18 December 2006 - 08:51 PM.

[jholley309]

Hmm, Megageek? Maybe not. But certainly a Kilogeek. (And if that doesn't prove the point, I don't know what will!)

For instance: I own, and regularly use, various optical instruments used solely for the observation (and more recently imaging) of astronomical objects. I can explain in great (excruciating, even) detail the importance of accurate polar alignment of an equatorial telescope mount, even to the extreme of properly using words like "arcsecond" and "right ascension". Yes, I own a camera that is specially and exclusively built to take long exposure images through a telescope.

I also own a radio or two that I am licensed to transmit with, along with various home-built gadgets that allow communication over those radios with my computer and no less than two antennae that I built and optimized myself. Why? So I can talk to people whom I could just as easily dialed on my cell phone. I have even seriously contemplated building an entire transceiver from scratch, and now consider December a month to observe specially each year since it was the month that the FCC finally dropped the Morse Code requirement for all amateur radio license classes.

Now, just to clear up any confusion that I may be of the Pencil Necked variety of geek, I am also an avid mountain biker and outdoorsman, although both my bike and most of my camping/hiking gear are either custom built by me or heavily modified from their original condition. And yes, I do know where the closest source of antimicrobial water filters is (Bass Pro Shops here in Macon).

I built an Excel spreadsheet to calculate air consumption rates for diving.

I routinely use The Wheel instead of flat tables. I do not, however, own a dive computer, as I prefer to do my thinking for myself.

I can explain and demonstrate the use of the E6B flight computer.

I own both Star Wars trilogies on DVD.

I own all three Extended Versions of the Lord Of The Rings trilogy.

I can successfully identify a slide rule 4 out of 5 times.

I have a flight simulator, a spaceflight simulator, and a railroad simulator all on the same computer.

I have skipped work to watch a shuttle launch.
- More than once

I can explain in great detail how DirecTV and Dish Network give you your local broadcast channels over the satellite.

I have actually used the word "perturbation" in a sentence, more than once.

I know from firsthand experience that it is possible to pop a bag of microwave popcorn in front of a radar antenna, given the correct type of radar set. (Hint: the radars that the FAA uses for air traffic control won't do it. Neither will that dinky little handheld radar gun the cop used to clock you at 30 MPH over the speed limit on your way home today.)

I don't worry about brain tumors from my cell phone because I know where to find the Permissible Exposure Limit for RF radiation in that frequency range.

I have a map of the Moon's surface on my computer, along with planetarium software.

I built my own nav board using leftover Lexan and a compass that's supposed to screw onto the console air hose.

I have the FCC website bookmarked.

Egad. I must stop.

Cheers!

Jim

[Moose]

HUM, it sounds like we have a real contest going on here. Let me address some of your statements. Points will be awarded. Non-geeks may want to bail here.

>Hmm, Megageek? Maybe not. But certainly a Kilogeek. (And if that doesn't prove the >point, I don't know what will!)

Ok, you were off to a bad start with this one. Kilogeek is too obtuse. “Kilo” does not always denote 1000 but sometimes it means 1024 (210). You should have been more clear. Another acceptable answer would have been, “Alphageek.” (which was registered only days before I tried to get it!)

>For instance: I own, and regularly use, various optical instruments used solely for the >observation (and more recently imaging) of astronomical objects. I can explain in great
-some stuff deleted-

Serious points are awarded for this!

>I also own a radio or two that I am licensed to transmit with, along with various home->built gadgets that allow communication over those radios with my computer and no less >than two antennae that I built and optimized myself. Why? So I can talk to people >whom I could just as easily dialed on my cell phone. I have even seriously contemplated >building an entire transceiver from scratch, and now consider December a month to >observe specially each year since it was the month that the FCC finally dropped the >Morse Code requirement for all amateur radio license classes.

AWH!!!! So close!!! In fact, this was set to throw you well into the lead until that last sentence! You should have PROTESTED the dropping of this requirement! To hell with all the dim witts that can’t take the time to learn 26 letters and ten digits. 8>)

>Now, just to clear up any confusion that I may be of the Pencil Necked variety of geek, I >am also an avid mountain biker and outdoorsman, although both my bike and most of >my camping/hiking gear are either custom built by me or heavily modified from their >original condition. And yes, I do know where the closest source of antimicrobial water >filters is (Bass Pro Shops here in Macon).

Again, this paragraph shows that you are well rounded (and if this was a real “geeky Pissing war” would have cost you points, but there are ladies here, so no points awarded or taken away from this paragraph.) Oh, BTW, a real man don’t need no stinking “antimicrobial water filter.” In fact, I DRINK the water in Mexico!

>I built an Excel spreadsheet to calculate air consumption rates for diving.

Points awarded, but more detail should have been given on the workings of the spreadsheet. Like does it account for water temp variations, or diver’s health, or the position of Saturn? (extra points for that last one!)

>I routinely use The Wheel instead of flat tables. I do not, however, own a dive >computer, as I prefer to do my thinking for myself.

I’m not sure how to score this one. Bonus for using your own brain, but a geek can never have enough computers. In fact, the more extraneous computers the better. (Did I mention that I’m trying to reverse engineer my dive computer so I can customize the interface?)

>I can explain and demonstrate the use of the E6B flight computer.

Bonus points

>I own both Star Wars trilogies on DVD.
>I own all three Extended Versions of the Lord Of The Rings trilogy.

UGGH!!! MASSIVE point loss. FIRST, there is only ONE Trilogy. It started with Star Wars ep IV and ended with the Return of the Jedi!
Lord of the rings wasn’t even a movie, it was a story about people walking! Hell, the trees even walked in that story! For your geekiness slip, you must watch Clerks II.
Oh, points lost for not mentioning Star Trek. And if you have to ask if “NexGen” counts, stop here!

>I can successfully identify a slide rule 4 out of 5 times.

Oh, not bad by today’s standards. But can you use one?

>I have a flight simulator, a spaceflight simulator, and a railroad simulator all on the >same computer.

Real bonus points for this one. A spaceflight simulator is cool! The railroad one is a plus. But don’t talk about a flight sim unless you coded it. 8>)

>I have skipped work to watch a shuttle launch.
>- More than once

Points awarded. Side note, this discussion would be over, and you would be declared the winner if it was your job to WATCH the shuttle launch!

>I can explain in great detail how DirecTV and Dish Network give you your local >broadcast channels over the satellite.

Yawn, unless you can follow it with a 20 minute or more rant on the proper installation of a dish to prevent weather related interference. Bonus points if you can tell someone the proper heading and declination of their dish just by their street address.

>I have actually used the word "perturbation" in a sentence, more than once.

But in what tense? There is an astronomy root of the word, and you admitted to being in those circles. Hence using the word is almost common. If you used it less common sense, points awarded.

>I know from firsthand experience that it is possible to pop a bag of microwave popcorn >in front of a radar antenna, given the correct type of radar set. (Hint: the radars that the >FAA uses for air traffic control won't do it. Neither will that dinky little handheld radar >gun the cop used to clock you at 30 MPH over the speed limit on your way home >today.)

Points awards ONLY because of the qualifier “firsthand experience!”

>I don't worry about brain tumors from my cell phone because I know where to find the >Permissible Exposure Limit for RF radiation in that frequency range.

Small point award for this

>I have a map of the Moon's surface on my computer, along with planetarium software.

Cool, but did you code it? Or did you build a planetarium to run it?

>I built my own nav board using leftover Lexan and a compass that's supposed to screw >onto the console air hose.

Now we are getting more into the essence of “Geek”

>I have the FCC website bookmarked.

Good one! Points awarded.

In the end, this is a great entry. You are definitely one of the finalists!

[jholley309]

>I built an Excel spreadsheet to calculate air consumption rates for diving.

Points awarded, but more detail should have been given on the workings of the spreadsheet. Like does it account for water temp variations, or diver’s health, or the position of Saturn? (extra points for that last one!)

Hmm. Jupiter, actually. Closer, and more mass. Hence, greater gravitational interaction than Saturn, But those rings around Saturn are pretty cool to look at...

>I have skipped work to watch a shuttle launch.
>- More than once

Points awarded. Side note, this discussion would be over, and you would be declared the winner if it was your job to WATCH the shuttle launch!

Actually, my company provides the satellite uplink as well as the transponder bandwidth to air the launches from the Cape for NASA TV. Close?

>I can explain in great detail how DirecTV and Dish Network give you your local >broadcast channels over the satellite.

Yawn, unless you can follow it with a 20 minute or more rant on the proper installation of a dish to prevent weather related interference.

Can't be done. The "weather related interference" you're referring to is called "rain fade", and is an immutable fact of life in Ku band satellite communications due to the fact that a large number of those rain droplets are nearly perfect 1/4 wavelength reflectors at that frequency. The RF is being scattered in the atmosphere before it ever gets to the dish, making dish size or pointing irrelevant for rain fades. It's going to fade, it's just a question of how fast.

>I have actually used the word "perturbation" in a sentence, more than once.

But in what tense? There is an astronomy root of the word, and you admitted to being in those circles. Hence using the word is almost common. If you used it less common sense, points awarded.

Most often during a discussion of orbital mechanics and the application of Kepler's laws of motion as they apply to artificial satellites in geosynchronous orbits. It's why they appear to make a tiny figure-8 in the sky until they run out of thruster fuel (or the reaction wheels seize and stop turning), at which point the perturbation of their orbit by the Moon puts them into a steadily decaying orbit. Then they start to make really big figure-8's in the sky, and eventually it'll turn into an egg shape. Then the Martians come get them to strip them of parts.

>I know from firsthand experience that it is possible to pop a bag of microwave popcorn >in front of a radar antenna, given the correct type of radar set. (Hint: the radars that the >FAA uses for air traffic control won't do it. Neither will that dinky little handheld radar >gun the cop used to clock you at 30 MPH over the speed limit on your way home >today.)

Points awards ONLY because of the qualifier “firsthand experience!”

It works with C-band troposcatter terminals once you crank up the transmitters to about 2,000 watts or so, too.


Cheers!

Jim

[Hipshot]

Okay, it's nerd confession time. I must confess that at one time, for work, I regularly used a pocket protector. At the time, I was carrying drafting pencils, which have very narrow and sharp points, and "international orange" china markers (wax pencils, for writing on glass). I was also working in a lab, wearing a white lab coat, and without the pocket protector, my front pocket would be shredded, and I'd look like I'd been hit with a bullet in the aorta. I also used a pocket protector when I was working for an engineering firm (again, the drafting pencils would have wreaked havoc with my front shirt pocket). There...that wasn't so bad.

Rick

[WreckWench]

Okay, it's nerd confession time. I must confess that at one time, for work, I regularly used a pocket protector. At the time, I was carrying drafting pencils, which have very narrow and sharp points, and "international orange" china markers (wax pencils, for writing on glass). I was also working in a lab, wearing a white lab coat, and without the pocket protector, my front pocket would be shredded, and I'd look like I'd been hit with a bullet in the aorta. I also used a pocket protector when I was working for an engineering firm (again, the drafting pencils would have wreaked havoc with my front shirt pocket). There...that wasn't so bad.

Rick