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Are You a Geek? Then Make Sure You Know This Stuff....

by Warren Riddle on May 9, 2009 at 11:10 AM



Sure, you speak Klingon and have figured out how to access blocked Web sites from your work computer, but does that really make you a geek? To find out if you actually qualify for geek status, Laptop Logic has amassed 64 processes and items with which every true geek should be familiar.

The list encompasses almost all facets of geekdom, from the mundane to the obscure. We raised an eyebrow at some entries, such as replacing a laptop keyboard or knowing the meaning of USB (Universal Serial Bus), while others -- like flashing the BIOS on your laptop -- definitely made us scratch our heads a little.

We do find the omission of tech literature to be a little troubling, since geeks do read, and we think writers like Frank Miller and William Gibson definitely deserve a nod. The list also makes no mention of conventions (you know, those gatherings of 'Star Trek' or comic book fans), which we geeks do so love to attend.

Despite the notable absences, the assemblage provides a wealth of beneficial knowledge, such as how to determine if someone is leeching your Wi-Fi, or how to retrieve data from a crashed hard drive. The tips on how to crack a Wi-Fi password or figure out someone else's IP address may seem a little more hackerish, rather than just plain geeky, but people forget passwords all the time and often call on their geek friends to come to the rescue.

Now, while we go study number 22 in order to learn about hot-wiring a car (Hey, we lost our keys at the Renaissance Fair. Honestly), check the list out for yourself and see if your knowledge qualifies you as a geek of the highest order. [From: LaptopLogic via Urlesque]

Top 11 Geek T-Shirts

    According to none other than Wired magazine, T-shirts have come into their own as a form of media, one that uniquely documents messages and stories, not to mention emergent technologies and companies changing the way we use the Internet. Here at Switched, we write a lot about these next-gen, "Web 2.0" companies and technologies, which include everyone from MySpace and Facebook to Twitter and even Google.

    Given that we're partial to t-shirts with nerdy, tech-infused jokes and terminology, we figured it was high time to find the best geek t-shirts specifically related to Web 2.0 speak (like the "Your Podcast is Lame" t-shirt, flickr user ericskiff, pictured above). So here, dear readers is our humble survey of the wild, cotton-meets-code world of Web 2.0 t-shirts. If anything, it'll give you something cool to talk about during your podcast.

    From Facebook and MySpace on down to countless start-ups, social networking sites are Web 2.0 bread and butter. Unfortunately, the facts and pictures on someone's profile don't always match the real, offline version. If you enjoy racking up virtual friends, but worry about the real world rendezvous, you'll be prepared for the worst with this straight-shooting t-shirt.
    From CafePress

    For all of its entrepreneurial, spare-garage innovation, Web 2.0 has bred some sprawling companies. Google's certainly risen to the top, but a $600 share price has incited a fair amount of jealousy and worry from outsiders as the company continues to buy startups and expand its information empire. Only time will tell what the men of the "Don't Be Evil" mantra hath wrought, but for now you can preserve the madness across your pecs.
    From Scary Go Round

    Success has a strange currency on the social news site Digg, where links rated positively by users (given a 'digg,' in other words) can drive Web sites, blog posts, and all kinds of stories to new heights of popularity. Isn't this the kind of validation we yearn for offline? And what will this shirt do to the 'Kiss me I'm Irish' industry?
    From NerdyShirts

    Michael Scott's classic catch phrase might be a tad different if he had been written as a Web entrepreneur instead of a regional manager at Dunder Mifflin (from 'The Office,' for those of you who don't watch TV). Twitter traffics in brief update messages that its users can send from any Internet-connected device, making it ripe for compulsive friend-monitoring as well as double-entendre hunters. "Come Twitter on my sensitive iPhone touchscreen?" The possibilities are endless.
    From Cottyn

    While the lolcat phenomenon started on Internet message boards, sites such as I Can Has Cheezburger? brought goofy cat pictures and idiosyncratic captions to the Web masses. It might not fit the strictest definition of Web 2.0, but ICHS is a vast social network with some very cool features (it also mints ad money, which always helps in Web 2.0 circles). This shirt allows for easy, dry-erase marker customization of a classic lolcat caption meme. Prepare to be the life of the party. Im in ur Switched bloggin ur tshirts!
    From ThinkGeek

    This might be what she Twittered if she thought your bookmarks were del.icio.us. Or if she really wanted to StumbleUpon your toolbar discoveries. Or... never mind. Fact is, tagging links, images, and other pieces of information online are the hot way to organize things in Web 2.0, and this shirt means its wearer is in the know. Just remember to stop staring and make eye contact occasionally.
    From CafePress

    'Don't drink the Kool-Aid' is a warning adopted by those skeptical of Web 2.0 optimism and wary of a second dotcom bubble. Mule Design's Feed Store describes this shirt as an "image of Tim O'Reilly (acknowledged as the coiner of 'Web 2.0') busting out of his lawyers office." Indeed.
    From Mule Design

    Events like the 'Snakes on a Plane' phenomenon suggest that Samuel L. Jackson is down with Web 2.0, but as 'Pulp Fiction' fans know, there are some words that he'd rather not hear repeated. Despite your awesome Technorati ranking, friends and relatives might feel the same way. Tread carefully.
    From coolestshop.com

    The nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation has been fighting for digital rights since its founding in 1990. The importance of its work grows with the ever-expanding reach of the Internet, a place where things like free speech, intellectual property, and privacy are still being defined and contested. Wear your support for digital freedom and the EFF on your sleeve with this shirt. We hear that the Internet finds it irresistible.
    From Electronic Frontier Foundation

Tags: geek, geek chic, geek culture, geek technique, GeekChic, GeekCulture, geeks, GeekTechnique, laptoplogic, top, urlesque

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