Geekdom

According to this rather long test, I’m 17.357% geek. Just enough, I think, to hold my own without being dysfunctionally geeky.

Here are my affirmative answers:

I HAVE…

– studied a language on my own. Programming language, that is.

– dated a geek.

– done homework for somebody else.

– looked forward to doing my taxes. I owed money. Like $4,000.

– attended public academic lectures on my own.

– worn 2+ watches at the same time. I can explain…one was a sportswatch and I needed the chrorograph!

– named a pet after a gaming, literary, or B-movie character.

– thought I could win a quiz show.

– corrected a professor in class. All the time…*sigh*

– corrected a salesperson on technical specs.

– corrected a supervisor on spelling or grammar.

– written a letter to the editor. I was an editor. But before that, I wrote letters.

– indexed and catalogued any personal collection. I used to have a thing for downloading movie trailers. Had hundreds of them at one point.

– gone to the movies alone. Matinees only, of course. heh.

– skipped parties to program or repair computers.

– skipped parties to read or study.

– skipped parties to talk online. …but only if I wasn’t too hot about going, anyway.
I HAVE BEEN…

– called a geek several times.

– in the chess club. I was VP of mine.

– to museums by my own freewill. I used to work at The Franklin Institute, doing papermaking demonstrations, and also an African mask workshop.
I HAVE READ…

– books on history outside class.

– gaming books.

– software/computer language books.
I WANT…

– GPS.

– more friends.
I BELIEVE…

– that anything can be fixed.
I ROUTINELY WATCH…

– documentaries.

– obscure movies.

– foreign films.

– History or Discovery Channel.

– bonus features on DVDs.
I HAVE SEEN MORE THAN TWICE…

– The Followship of the Ring.

– The Two Towers.

– The Matrix.

– The Neverending Story.
I OWN…

– 3+ computers.

– PDA, pager and cell phone. Assuming Nextel counts for a pager.

– DVD burner.

– 2+ DVD players. Four of them, if my computer drives count!
I WANT TO BE…

– a wizard.
I LIKE TO…

– play with words/sounds.

– turn on my computer first thing in the morning. And my projector…
-use 1024×768 or higher.

– program.

– tinker with electronics.

– watch public access TV. CSPAN…close enough.

– learn on my own.
I PLAY…

– chess.

– Weezer.

– music that nobody else listens to, ever. Electronica, Sigur Ros,Mum.

– computer strategy games. StarCraft, Unreal Tournament…

– games via the Internet. Same.

– an excessive amount of computer games.
I WEAR…

– my shirt tucked into my underwear. Just the undershirt!

– a digital watch. Only the sports watch.
I HAVE…

– had long Mac vs. PC debates. Many, many times.

– altered registry files.

– used Usenet or IRC.

– a hard drive dedicated to MP3s.

– a computer at home with no cover on it.

– built a computer.

– built my own network of computers.

– destroyed things to see how they work.

– played video/computer games for 12+ hours straight.

– created a Web site.

– created a Web site before 1996. And it’s still up! We created it using the _first_ graphical HTML tool, Adobe Pagemill 1.0. It looks totally unchanged, except for the frames. Those are even my pictures!

– submitted my own personal Web site to search engines.

– owned a personal domain.

– more than 3 e-mail addresses.

– more than 3 screen names.
I KNOW…

– C++.

– UNIX.

– CGI scripting (perl).

– HTML/JavaScript.

– what HTTP stands for.

– what DPI stands for.

– that AOL is the Spawn of Satan.

– that Bill Gates is both God and Satan.

– what RAM and ROM stand for.

– who first implemented windows on their OS.

– what a “patch” means in computer terms.

– what the blue screen of death means.
I KNOW…

– my age in binary. Actually, it took me a while to remember my age. Anyway, 00011000.

– that the new millennium started in 2001.

– that I am a geek.

BONUS…

– My profession requires a certain level of geekiness.

Take the test!