to geek or not to geek .. =)

[Bernie Vande Griend]

A good test of being a geek is when you have difficulty explaining to your wife and mother what it is that you really do at work.
When people ask my wife, she just says, "Oh he works with computers, but he's not a programmer." :-)

[Jason VanDerMark]

With regards to WarGames, I was lucky enough during my Naval career to be stationed at the Naval War College in Newport, RI. That's one of 2 locations where the military does the computer simulated wargames. Lots of great UNIX boxes, lots of fun, lots of geek. :-)

Regards,
Jason V.

[Satish Y]

Me,a geek but not yet reached peak of any....:)

want a geek stoiries???!!!! watch starwars series...

Cheers...
Satish.

[Rob Galloway_1]

This one is a fair indication

"You rig up elaborate mechanisms to do really basic tasks."

http://gogeek.virtualave.net/uknow.htm

[Alan Riggs]

Geek: one who solves the problem again because the first solution wasn't elegant/efficient/fun enough.

I qualify.

[Jeffrey S. Sims]

Definately a geek, but a cool one (sure that is what we all say).

They call you a geek as if it is an insult then ask you for money when they are broke (I guess geek dollars spend just as well as theirs). They buy a new computer and ask you to set it up for them. They read about something entirely over their head and as you what it means.

They say geek as if it is an insult but who do they always come to for help?

[Mary Ann Lipa]

I became a geek when i started working with the helpdesk/IT tech support. based on you guys' answers above, well... im very geek, too... I can also fix almost every electrical equipment in the house, and even do the plumbing... ;-)

the feeling is very geeky,
d_b

[Michael Tully]

Harry, you've inspired me....

I guess I'm a crossgeek/redneck....
I drink beer
I drink loads of coffee
I drive fast (for some reason I don't get tickets..)
I can't fix these new cars..... Under the hood (bonnet)
everything is now colour coded... only touch the stuff that is yellow!
I dress like a pig.... (must be the office environment)
I can cook on the bbq.... pass on the rest
I hate politics... sorry Harry!
I graduated from high school and university
but got bored with my chosen profession....
Now look what I do.... uggh!

Good thread Richard!

Cheers
-Michael

[Steven Sim Kok Leong]

Hi,

Geeks are earning big bucks as well, even if we are not in 'the biz'.

With the economy not going well for a big part of the world, it is usually the geek jobs that provides the most stability, especially so since the demand is still there.

Nothing wrong and many things right about being a geek. :)

Regards.

Steven Sim Kok Leong
Brainbench MVP for Unix Admin
http://www.brainbench.com

[Roger Baptiste]

Looking at this thread, i am reminded of a chain-mail which was in circulation few years ago: Here it is.
Enjoy!
****
Michael Jordan makes over $300,000 a game. That equals $10,000 a minute, at an average of 30 minutes per game. With $40 million in endorsements, he made $178,100 a day, working or not. If he sleeps 7 hours a night, he makes $52,000 every night while visions of sugarplums dance in his head. If he goes to see a movie, it'll cost him $7.00, but he'll make $18,550 while he's there. If he decides to have a 5 minute egg, he'll make $618 while boiling it. He makes $7,415/hr more than minimum wage. He'll make $3,710 while watching each episode of Friends. If he wanted to save up for a new Acura NSX ($90,000) it would take him a whole 12 hours. If someone were to hand him his salary and endorsement money, they would have to do it at the rate of $2.00 every second. He'll probably pay around $200 for a nice round of golf, but will be reimbursed $33,390 for that round. Assuming he puts the Federal maximum of 15% of his income into a tax deferred account (401k), he will hit the federal cap of $9500 at 8:30 a.m. on January 1st. If you were given a penny for every 10 dollars he made, you'd be living comfortably at $65,000 a year. He'll make about $19.60 while watching the 100 meter dash in the Olympics. He'll make about $15,600 during the Boston Marathon. While the common person is spending about $20 for a meal in his trendy Chicago restaurant, he'll pull in about $5600. In his last year, he made more than twice as much as all U.S. past Presidents for all of their terms combined. Amazing isn't it? Keep reading!!!!

However, if Jordan saves 100% of his income for the next 250 years, he'll still have less than Bill Gates has today.

Game over. Nerd wins.

****

-raj

[Deepak Extross]

I still remember the first time I introduced myself as a geek - well, not using the word 'geek' exactly, but explaining that I was into 'software', which itself was a rather vague and mysterious term back in those days.
The setting: Waiting to pick up my date for a movie, making small talk with her pop.
"So", he says, "you make computers, eh?"
I had to admit I didn't.
"Oh I see. If my computer was broke, you'd fix it".
Nope, not that either.
"Well, what exactly do you do then?"
I explained that I write stuff telling the computers 'how to run'.
"Huh? but when you switch on a computer, it runs on its own..."
I should have just lied and said 'yes' to the first question

[Alexander M. Ermes]

Hi there.
According to my wife i am a computer geek.
Started decades ago with an old VC64 and was proud to buy the complete set( bread box, floppy and tape recorder but no money for the display )for 2,500 DM.
Started as junior programmer and analyst.
Now i have been kicked into HPUX and Oracle some years ago ( I STILL LOVE IT ).
My wife still calls me a geek, but as been sayed before, it pays the rent, the car, the food and the university for my son.
People can call me a geek, but i do not care.
I smile to myself and and count the money in my pocket.
Richard, that was one of the best postings in the last months. My special thanks for that.
Rgds
Alexander M. Ermes

[Ian Dennison_1]

Combat Geek.

I was a Computer Programmer in the New Zealand Air Force when the Gulf War broke out. Some of my non-miltary and non-geek friends were phoning up and asking 'You're not going over there, are you?'

The phrase 'Combat Programmer' was born! The image I now have in my mind is myself sitting on my bed sharpening the corners of 3 1/2 floppy disks to take out sentries at 30 yards.

Share and enjoy. Ian

[Paula J Frazer-Campbell]

Hi
If dealing with something that can only remember two things (Users) and the computers that rember Zero and One give you enjoyment and a challenge, then yes I am a geek.

And my pay packet tells me so.

Other pointers to geekiness:-

My car is 14 years old - Karmann Golf GTI Convertable.
I also work as a magician.
I teach fencing -swords not panels.
I cannot spell !!
I can get by on 4 hrs sleep a day.
Working computers are OK but broken ones more fun.
My caffine intake is off the scale.
My mobile phone will have to be surgically removed from my hand when I upgrade it.
My friends dont understand what I do.


Paula

[Ian Dennison_1]

You know you are considered a geek when,...

Someone who cannot find a calculator looks to you to perform the mental arithmetic to figure out the answer. (eg. splitting a bill equally when dining out).

Share and enjoy. Ian

[someone_4]

wow great posts ! great replys. good stuff !!
And the fact that no one knows what I do .. Shoot some people at my own company dont know what I do! .. LOL

Richard

[Denver Osborn]

I'm 99% geek 1% nerd! After all, I've just spent the last 45mins reading this post and visiting links.

-denver

[someone_4]

Denver
It was well worth the time spent.right ?? ;)

[Wodisch]

Hello again,

am I a geek if I am able to generate my geek-code???

Wodisch
GO d+(x) s+: a>? C+$ UH++++L++V+++S++$ P++ L+ E--- W++ !N o? K- w O- !M V PS+ t 5 !X R+(*) !tv b+++

[Eugen Cocalea]

Hi,

Nice thread. I am a geek, hell!

I am harry d. brown jr except politics, combined with marco paganini except I don't have a laptop or a car and I don't wear hiking boots, take the 'driving fast but no tickets' from michael tully (explain the paradox of no car and driving fast with 'friends' car'). At the amount of coffee so far, add Paula's two days intake and that's me.

Ah, and as a side note, my wife, friends and relatives, can't understand what I speak over the phone, can't see the numbers I dial on the phone, and the last thing, my wife can't decipher what I say while sleeping. Seems like I 'type' some scripting then :)

E.

[Thierry Poels_1]

okay, some more sites to put in your favourites ;-) :
http://www.geek.com/gtoons/gtoonsmain.htm

http://www.compu-geeks.com/

regards,
Thierry.

[Wodisch]

Hello again,

I have found a new definition for "geekness" - at least for those on the forums:
Those of us reading and answering a "congrats" thread over the weekend:
http://forums.itrc.hp.com/cm/QuestionAnswer/1,,0xead59200caded5118ff40090279cd0f9,00.html

Just my ???0.0002,
Wodisch

[Andy Torres]

Just like Craig's wife (1st reply), my wife drives geek-provided cars & lives in a nice, warm, geek-provided home. She has no problem with using highly optimized PC's at home and impresses her workmates with things a geek showed her (even though she pretends to be talked down to). And it surely beats scooping ice cream with a silly hat on!

Wait a minute... do they get free ice cream?

Nawwww... I'll take the geek title, no qualms.

[Mark Vollmers]

I too have to admit to being a geek. I was sitting up with our MS server admin the other day and he had just bought a new sony vaio laptop for one of our executives (the really expensive one). It was the nicest looking computer I've seen. We were just talking about it and saying how cool it looked. My wife mocked me later for it. Oh, well.

Mark

[Mike Hassell]

Richard,

I'm a geek and proud of it. I rock the "rm -rf /bin/laden" T-shirt all the time and love having to explain it to almost everyone I come in contact with.

-Mike