The 2006 DU Uber-Alpha-Geek contest thread:

[Robb]

Who is DU's biggest geek? Post your credentials in this thread, and we shall have a run-off later.

Myself, I own both a slide rule and a fully-functional Apple II, running as recently as today. Not shabby, but certainly not the winner if I know my Lounge.

[LadyoftheRabbits]

1. No real credentials but...

[ZombieNixon]

2. I wrote an animation engine from scratch with no formal training.

However, I am content to be Unter-Beta-Geek.

[LadyoftheRabbits]

3. I knew I'd see you here...

Geeks are very attractive

[ZombieNixon]

6. Say, can I have some of that popcorn?

[LadyoftheRabbits]

9. Why yes you may

[ZombieNixon]

12. Thanks.

[mainegreen]

26. Double or triple buffered?

I hope it's triple or else you can toss your geek credentials!
DX/GL or other?

[ZombieNixon]

29. I'm working on implementing triple-buffering as well as 4x anti-aliasing

and mesh collisions/deformers. (Currently runs on double-buffer and 2X AA, but I don't think it's good enough even though it gets the job done.)

It's scene-graphed so it can run on both DirectX and OpenGL.

[jpgray]

4. I have a NES in perfect working order. And I've beaten Ghosts 'n' Goblins

Granted I was eight at the time, and couldn't achieve same now even if a gun were held to my head. I have red boxers similar to those worn by the protagonist, though.

[Richard Steele]

38. I've got an Atari 2600 with a copy of "Pigs in Space"...

Still not as cool as a functioning Apple][ tho...

[VelmaD]

5. I own a hardback copy of the novelization...

of Star Wars that came out in 1976 before the movie did. It has production stills. If my apartment catches fire the cat is on her own...I'm saving that book.

And if that isn't enough...I also have a hardback copy of the novelization of Clash of the Titans.

[grannylib]

7. I would have to win for the non-techno-geek award...the kind of geek

that was just plain outcast...
never went to prom
never went to homecoming
never had a real date until well out of high school
ugly
awkward
dorky
bad hair
bad skin
loser all the way around except academically...

I was geek goddess of the universe in school.

NOW, of course, I ROCK.... *lol*

[LeftyMom]

8. I have a fully functional (but not programmed in multiple techniques)

pimped out Commedore 64 with two external floppy drives that outweigh most modern computers.

I'm a trekkie. I have a yearbook photo wearing a t shirt with Hugh the Borg on it, I was Ro Laren for halloween one year. I have signed headshots of some of the DS9 cast I won in a star trek CCG contest.

Other than that, well I was in Debate all four years in high school. That's pretty f'n geeky.

[Robb]

11. C64? Feh!

I've got a VIC 20, that runs Turtle Draw. On cassette tape.

Although the debate thing is hard to beat... unless someone here was on Model UN?

[LeftyMom]

13. I did student congress. Went to nationals in that.

I was also president of the Christian Club. Twice.

Oh, and I love tabletop role playing games. I actually understand and can play (or even run) Mage. Oh, and I Shadowrun. Any game system with high fantasy species and a post-apocolyptic setting is really geeky, I'd think.

[LadyoftheRabbits]

14. Oh! I finally have credentials!

I was in Model UN two years ^.^

[MrCoffee]

35. Hey, I was in Model UN for 2 years in a row!

Debate is for sissies.

[Deja Q]

10. Well

I have a working Amiga 500
I've kept a lot of original Amiga software
I have an Amiga emulator that works
I have an Atari 8-bit emulator on my PC
I use Linux
I have no social life
I love the classic "Doctor Who" series
I love "The Critic"
I own and use a PDA
I have an Atari 2600 emulator for my PDA
I have a NES emulator for my PDA
I have an Apple II emulator for my PDA
I carry a fold-out keyboard for my PDA and use it
I have 3 fully functioning PCs on my home network, Windows and Linux
I am good at remembering all sorts of arcane and trivial knowledge
The only real Star Trek is the Kirk era
I prefer film over digital
I think Leonard Nimoy has a cool singing voice
Hell, I grok Spock!
I know Microsoft programmed their first application (a BASIC compiler for the Altair computer) on an Altair emulator (not even a real Altair!)
The Atari 5200 SuperSystem is cool!
I have pasty white skin because I never go outside.
People gawk and gape at me, and not because of horny awe...


I could go on for some time.

In short,
I win!

[ZombieNixon]

15. Oh, yeah, I also qualified for the International Science Fair twice

and was my schools AV tech.

[jpgray]

16. Did you qualify for the International Language Fair?

[ZombieNixon]

18. Is there one?

The program I wrote for the science fair was about languages.

[jpgray]

20. Hmm. Are there any good pick-up lines in C?

I suppose some girls are pretty object-oriented.

[ZombieNixon]

22. Not to mention partial to an unsigned long...

[LadyoftheRabbits]

17. Oh that reminds me...

I was in Science Olympiad in 8th grade. Won second place, too But that's really it... except the Model UN thing.

[ZombieNixon]

19. Awesome!

[tinfoil tiaras]

21. Okay, here's what I got

-I got the Computer Award at 8th grade graduation
-I know html code
-The only guys I like are geeky guys (bowl cuts and or glasses are a plus!)
-I secretly like most of the books we read in school or read for summer reading
-I'm trying to try really hard at school this year
-I'm already worried about where I'm going to college
-I post regularly at DU
-I'm obsessed w/ the Lounge

My Geek credentials! w00t!!

[Ptah]

23. Pick me! Pick me!

[Giant Robot]

24. I am pretty geeky but may not make the cut here

I own over 10,000 comic books, with my prizes being Avengers #1 and Green Lantern #1 (Hal Jordan era)

I own an Atari 2600 and 7800. I still own my Atari 800XL with disk and tape drives, but the power supply is bad on it.

If there was an RPG for the PS I owned it at some point.

I played D&D, GURPS, and Champions throughout my high school and college years. My list of RPG's that I own includes: D&D 2nd ed., Champions, Robotech, Rifts, Mechanoids, Shadowrun, Call of Cthulhu, and Mechwarrior.

I really am a skinny, socially awkward pasty white guy.

I went to midnight showings for the Lord of the Rings, Matrix, and Star Wars Ep. 2 and 3 on their opening nights.

I have original art from the Robotech comic book series.

I have been to more comic book conventions than I can think of right now. Worked part time in a comic book store.

Actually has a Master's degree too, although its in social work, not any really geeky engineering stuff.

Thats my geek cred.

[SOteric]

25. 01001111 01101011 01100001 01111001 00101110 00001101 00001010

01001001 00100000 01101000 01100001 01110110 01100101 00100000 01100001 00100000 01110000 01101111 01100011 01101011 01100101 01110100 00100000 01110000 01110010 01101111 01110100 01100101 01100011 01110100 01101111 01110010 00101110 00100000 00001101 00001010 00001101 00001010 01001001 00100000 01110111 01100101 01100001 01110010 00100000 01101001 01110100 00100000 01100001 01101100 01101101 01101111 01110011 01110100 00100000 01100100 01100001 01101001 01101100 01111001 00101110

[anarch]

28. 01011001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01110111 01101001 01101110 00101110

01011001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01100111 01100101 01110100 00100000 01100101 01111000 01110100 01110010 01100001 00100000 01100011 01110010 01100101 01100100 01101001 01110100 00100000 01101001 01100110 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01101111 01110111 01101110 00100000 01100001 00100000 01110011 01101100 01101001 01100100 01100101 00100000 01110010 01110101 01101100 01100101 00101110

[mainegreen]

27. Here goes:

• Wrote a 'paint' type gui program on my Tandy 1000 in GWBASIC when I was eightish


• Wrote a fully complete gaming engine using DX and VB6 just to prove it could be done and still get high FPS


• Insist on using 'if and only if' instead of 'if' when appropriate.


• Can't spell without a spellchecker due to lifetime dependancy on spell checking.


• Enjoy writing financial engines.


• Currently reading 'Mathmatical Paradoxs and Fallacies'


• Got a thread deleted of DU for doing naughty things using css to 'alter' the layout of DU.


• Got some stupid award for being the best science student in my grade (something about taking sophmore-college level chemistry my sophemore year of high school).


• I have uber nerdy glasses and 20/800 vision


• I only read sci-fi or science or WW2 books


• 99% of all my music most people have never heard of, and after listening to some, no one ever wants to hear it again


• I still think model trains are cool


• I still play old DOS based games (Bullfrog Rules!)


• I enjoyed reading The History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides (seriously) along with other greek classics. Seriously, people should read more greek classics.


• I hate social situations (though I can 'fake it')


• I'm replying seriously to this thread


• I think the Atlantic is the best magazine published today


• Any time I find something I don't understand, I immeadiatly go to the library and study up on it. Yeah knowledge!


• I dropped out of college because I felt I could teach myself better than they could

[billyskank]

30. I taught myself assembly language when I was 15

because I thought it was more fun than going out to get drunk. I became quite good at it.

I also have a binary clock on my desk at work.

[hunter]

31. I found a mate and reproduced so I am probably disqualified.

But I did build a computer out of telephone relays for my eighth grade science fair project, and I've been on the internet since 1979.

I own two working Apple II clones, a couple of Atari eight bits, an Amiga 1000, an Apple GS, a Mac SE, a "fat Mac", an IBM PC with the big 5 1/4 floppy drives, various Sinclairs, etc., and I have emulators for them all on my Linux desktop.

I have a slide rule and I know how to use it, and oh, I collect postcards too.

[qnr]

32. Just visiting, as a longtime geek who is not in the least interested in

applying for the top-dog position.

[Robb]

33. Calcitrate

[qnr]

34. POKE 77,0

[Missy Vixen]

36. My husband is a software engineer

and a former preteen hacker. He also likes Star Trek, and forces me to watch stuff like "The Last Starfighter".

I am a pasty-faced redhead who lettered in music in high school, would rather watch news programs instead of "Survivor" or "American Idol", and instead of having a crush on an actor or a singer, I have a crush on a nerdy federal prosecutor.

You know you want to pick us.

Julie

[Zomby Woof]

37. Lifetime Member of the History Channel Club

To paraphrase Ralphie from "A Christmas Story", 'honors and benefits already at the age of 39!"

I also collect commemorative silver coins, first-day issue stamps (specializing in the Presidents of the U.S), and have Star Trek and Star Wars collectible Christmas ornaments.

I still have my comic collection dating back to the first issues I bought back in 1973... although I mercifully stoppped in the early 90's...

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

39. Programmed serial drivers in assembly language for CP/M.

Programmed serial and video drivers and BASIC interpreter extensions for the Tandy CoCo (6809 processor).