@Jrsy is the dude, playin' the dude, disguised as another du...: My fiance owns more porn than I do. What's there to hide?

Lite

@pdditty: If you go here: [home.eunet.no]

Download that bootable CD. Pretty much what it does is overwrite the Windows Security Accounts Manger (SAM) file which stores all of your passwords. You could break into any Windows computer whether it's locked down on a domain or not if you have physical access. It will let you reset the password on any account including hidden accounts that may have been created by the Gold Disk (A disk designed to lock down Windows boxes--A.K.A. pure joke). you can find the hidden Admin account and reset/undo that.

It's about a 4 step process to reset/remove any passowrd. Comes in handy :) - You're welcome.

Joseph

@pdditty: If we told you we would have to kill you.

reddingofish

@Munch the BanNail: my points would have surely been higher had I not had to ignore everything involving an apple product or software.

zenpoet

i'm in the 30s range and went to a computer camp that focused more on sports and swimming than actual computer time. And I don't wish I was Japanese

but otherwise..fun list

arras

@BigRocket: The secret of a happy marriage is the ability to do what you want without your wife knowing about it.

reddingofish

21-30 and I'm glad to be socially comfortable, physically able, non-pasty, and have a girlfriend that other people in any profession would call attractive.

WIN! :D

FWIW, I love all of you in the higher percentile, as when I seek tutorials for anything (I love following the directions of the tried and true), I can find what I need and learn anything. Thank you.

om nom de plume

@Joseph: vi?? it practically does everything for you ;c) You want to be hard core it has to be some sort of line editor. But everyone knows for html you use AOL Press lol.

Rabid Penguin

43 woo! Shouldnt #50 take away points? Like maybe 10?

fogmaster

@pdditty:

ophcrack for XP or vista.

discounteggroll

@pdditty: How about instead of forgetting a password it should be you never forgot a password since you started using a computer?

midwestkel

Hey now! I should have been in the 20-30 range :(

xsecretfiles2

@godwhacker:

oops, i forgot, i have an original gameboy as well.

go 1989!!!

godwhacker

This list is like a memory lane.
Hah! Fun times.

mangochutney

Got 33, sweet. #50 is most important, but even more important is being able to bring tech and geekiness into normal conversation SUCCESSFULLY.

Ike_Skelton

I was mid 30's, buthink i could hit 50 if there was any motivation to do the things i haven't tried on this list. A little research always worked for eveything else.

But isn't the title of this post off? As a scale of geekdom it works, but as a list of "skills every geek should have" -- like minimum requirements --- I think it's over the top. For exmple, I don't think one needs to have built a fighting robot to qualify as a geek.

Zlevee

if i took out all the apple and gamer related questions, i would have done MUCH better. damn you, oldness!!

(haven't owned a console since sega genesis)

godwhacker

wow. that was amazing. esp #16, 18, 19, 47 & 50.
And remember, sometimes you had to do more than blow to get those pesky NES cartridges to work. Sometimes you would have to stick a finger in there as well or pop the game with the unit on then watch the screen flip and hit the reset button.

kaiban

@Joseph: I use a lot of different computers, most without vi. Instead of installing, I just use what is included. If vi is on there, all the better!

Lizard_King

Is number 24 that big of an issue? I've had two long-term relationships and watching porn was never an issue.

Quite the opposite.

Tastic7

I'm in the 40 +/- a couple range. I'll ignore most of the OSX ones because I don't intend to purchase Apple products, but the theory is sound and can be applied to other things.

Log1c

only one i haven't done is contribute kernel code and the dslr since i don't have one yet. hehe..

19. Enter Konami code. i love that one!! up up down down... hehe..

seamonkey420

@Joseph: Im missing 25 of them. I really should stay in more.

geiko

up up down down a b a b select start ftw!

PobreGizmo

I need to know #35

pdditty

@Lizard_King: NOTEPAD?? You need to step your game up to vi.

Joseph

@BigRocket: I guess I'm set for life then. :D

geiko

@BigRocket: True but depending upon how your s/o feels you may not even have to hide it...

Jrsy is the dude, playin' the dude, disguised as another dude

I'm missing 5 of em :(--I really need to get out more.

Joseph

Uhhg..so many Apple related. While I've never hacintoshed my PC (I prefer OSX on my Apples, thx) or replaced my iPod battery (why when an upgrade to a refurb one is not much more than the battery and has more memory) or jailbroken an iPhone (I do not have nor want an iPhone) .

I have completed 40 out of the 50... the hdiing the porn from my wife was a fail, I have never contributed to Linux code. My favorite HTML editor is notepad, I know where to buy cheap cables (though more importantly WHEN) and my house is wired top to bottom with enough CAT-6 and coax that I can add whatever gadget I can imagine.

I do ask your leniency on question # 16 as the only time I buy the extended warrantied is for my mice...I keep wearing out the left buttons (I think that alone should be a question)

Lizard_King

24. Hide porn from your significant other

The first one everone with a computer learns

shalegac

This list makes a load of assumptions about what a geek should like rather than what they can do.

TommySez

Boooooo - your scale has a clear iFanboi bias.

Munch the BanNail

I'm sorry, the version of Mozilla 1.3.1 I'm using on my System 9 OS that I installed on my iPhone that's built into a NES cart, doesn't let me vote in the poll. :-(

Toshie

@HeartBurnKid, creepy morbid freak:
Aspergers isn't tech related... so I guess they could :o

WEGGLES90

#24 is a Life Skill, not just a Geek Skill.

BigRocket

Where does it put me when I stopped reading the list half way through?

Should of added a "we just diagnosed you with ADD" option.

tande04

Looks like I've got some work to do this weekend...

Jrsy is the dude, playin' the dude, disguised as another dude

Hah, your scale is a little off. Nobody with Asperger's would be able to do #50.

HeartBurnKid, creepy morbid freak

i just need one skill. 1337, son.

Anonymoose

i can do almost all the ones i am interested in. Hacking, Digging, watching tv on my computer, and using Firefox, and messing around with multiple OSes for fun don't really intrest me.

drewheyman

#29: What about actually having a NES hooked up to your HDTV and surround sound? SMB in 8-bit HD FTW!

getabetterpic

More importantly is "Know how to hide porn from the family computer and the network so the kids and any geek neighbors performing #10 don't find it"

faabshaam

@zenpoet: Umm, 4 points higher?

Wilson Rothman

@BigRocket: I agree, I have plenty hidden, but the things she likes too...Why hide?

faabshaam

Um 50 is really the difference between a Geek and a Nerd. Nerds can't do #50. Apple stuck is too damn expensive so it will never be bought. I stopped playing games cause I am easily addicted to them so all the game related ones are out. I have programmed in at least 6 or 7 languages, enough to know that I don't enjoy it so all the coding except for the html thing are out. Too many of these are about things I am not interesting in buying or doing. I have a B.S.E.E degree - I think that trumps the who list here

cenceless

@cschmitz: Aww, why the disemvowelment? I kinda liked that trick.

formerglory

@Iron Sheep: And seconded.

formerglory

@TyneMagoostus: Now that's the way to teach kids!

formerglory

I dunno, I don't consider myself a super geek or nerd in any way, and I can do most of that list. There's about 5 I can't do, and about 3 "maybes".

I think the list is too easy.

lostarchitect

Hmm, maybe I'm a bit confused. There are some things on this list that I haven't done, but have the skill/know-how to do. Example: I've never commented on Giz on my phone, but I could if I wanted to. Does that count for scoring, or can you only count the ones you've already done?

formerglory

@Munch the BanNail: If that was the case I would probably have gotten a much better score than I did (I got about 15, didn't count them)

bostero2

Aww, 21...

Eruanno

@Toshie: Then you must have done it wrong...

bostero2

@Ike_Skelton: That's simple. Just wait for a pause, and then go, "So, I was reading on Gizmodo...."

That doesn't get annoying after 15 times, right?

OCEntertainment

I think this should be included:
Recognize a problem area by reading the windows stop error.... oh, wait a second that's not an iQuestion.

paristotle

Here's my deal: there are too many things in the world to know how to do. Sure, a big part of being a geek is to do things just because you can. However, there are a ton of things that are _not_ on this list that would be equally geeky, and perhaps more essential.

For those of you who don't like some of the brand-specific items, like the iPod battery one, feel free to make substitutions. For example, you can substitute a Creative product for an iPod, or an Xbox 360 for the Wii, I think.

I gave myself a point for everything that I actually did, or actually really learned how to do -- that added up to 37. I then gave myself half a point for all the things that I haven't done, but for which I know exactly where to go to learn about how to do it. (For example, I know where to go to find instructions on loading homebrew software onto a Wii, but I just haven't gotten around to doing it myself yet.) For 13 items in this category, I gave myself 6.5 points, for a total of 43.5 points.

(Is it a sign of geekiness that I scraped this list into Excel and created a tally system for it, to calculate my geek score?)

saifrc

@Iron Sheep: Agreed.

getabetterpic

@Joseph: Yeah. You know, because to the rest of the world, "computer guy" means you have absolutely every electronics skill known to man. "Why don't you just try hacking the mainframe?"

OCEntertainment

@WEGGLES90:
No, but it is a huge hindrance for another in anyway social; what with it being a form of Autism and all.

Calobi

@HeartBurnKid, creepy morbid freak:

Hahaha! This man speaks the truth!

@WEGGLES90: He's not referring to Aspergers people being good at technology, he's referring to the fact that they're painfully socially awkward.

shaft0

"Hack the encryption and mooch your neighbor's Wi-Fi"

So we have to be unethical in order to be a geek..

Greatbam

this should really be a list of 51 rules.

#51. Get laid without it being a felony.

geeks need to reproduce somehow, or they will all die out. :(

TonyRockyHorror

@Toshie: A triple mod and your stopped by an HTML compatibility issue? That's gotta be the worst kind of fail. ;-)

OCEntertainment

@godwhacker: That makes sense, but you need to be well rounded. You can't just have skills in one department; You need to exhibit swiss army knife-like ability when it comes to tech.

Joseph

@PobreGizmo: That'll forever be the best code ever. Just don't buy that on a t-shirt. You'll look like a dickwad.
(not directed at PobreGizmo or anyone in particular, just sayin')

lankysob

¡ʍp ǝpısdn ʇxǝʇ ɹnʎ dılɟ ʇ ʎʇılıqɐ ǝɥʇ ǝq plnɥs ɯǝɥʇ ɟ ǝ

cschmitz

@BigRocket: Well put.

getabetterpic

33

Some great suggestions here to geek up to the next level

Egeste

I think what sets a geek apart (and really defines general computer/tech literacy) is not necessarily knowing how to do stuff, but being able to figure out how to do stuff. Being able to harness prior knowledge and calmly confront the unknown is the true measue of a geek!

Iron Sheep

@Rabid Penguin: LOL you're making me laugh really hard over here :).

Joseph

Ouch...21/50. Luckily, my keen knowledge of X-men history and Star Wars/Ghostbusters factoids keeps me going.

Chromeo

#24 When my mom caught me looking at porn, the talk i got was "you should be better at computers than this, me and your father were dissapointed you didnt hide it better" She also commented on my impressive array of fetishes. I was 14

TyneMagoostus

How about setting up a dual monitor system on a Windows 95 computer?

reddingofish

25. Avoid DRM on everything

I'm sure you refer to the Windows DRM, cuz Apple's DRM is good...at least that what Steve says.

WD40

@PobreGizmo:

this death was brough to you by KUNAMII

nametilf

@shalegac:
Only if you're SO is your mom...

My girlfriend diggs our porn. :-)

Confuzius

I can seriously do nearly all of these things. There needs to be a RL achievement.

nachobel

I dont know how to do most of those things, but what I do know is enough geeks to ask so that I really dont NEED to know any of that stuff. (The only porn I hide are my own pics, and I do it quite well.)

Curves

35/50 i'd probably get 50/50 if i : sudo rm -rf ./girlfriend

inkslingerz

@tande04: right there with ya....these arent really all that "technical"...

jackbling

@om nom de plume: Show-off!
;)

mangochutney

Come on, how can you have a geek test and have Apple related questions on there? That is so anti-Apple. Everyone knows you are cool if you own an Apple and a geek if you own a PC. If you own both, you're just weird. I mean come on, haven't you been watching the damn Apple ads. They say it all right there. Make a real geek quiz and repost.

vincentw561

Remove the iPhone stuff...that is no way universal to Geek-dom.

shaniac

@PobreGizmo: Why does no one ever mention the sonic code (u d l r u d l r b a b a start)...I mean the contra code almost seemed necessary but definitely wore the sonic code out more

thedoctah

Most of these you can google if the need arises, but there not THAT hard!

brutaluser

@Greatbam: BAWWWWWWWWW

Egeste

@nutbastard: check, check, check (mmmh), check (not mine though), check (mmmh, afterwards), no check (note to self: buy Medusa-upgrade).

mangochutney

@Toshie: You forgot to install the keyboard on your iPhone. [gizmodo.com]

Invisobel

There are a lot of really valuable skills that should be substituted for the iStuff fan plugs. Being a geek should apply to normal life as well..

51. Browse securely and privately from any computer.
52. Have a solid understanding of differential equations and kinematics (physics, especially diffeqs describes how just about everything in Newtonian space works, quantum space, you're on your own.)
53. Start a fire w/o matches. Heck, start one WITH matches w/o paper or hydrocarbons.
54. Put an edge on a knife sharp enough to shave with, without one of those clamp sharpener thingies.
55. Explain a complex system or idea to somebody with little technical background in such a way that they understand the concept and the desired outcome.
56. Resist the urge to tell people how many of the above ^ you can do.
57. Understand vehicles and internal combustion engines enough so that you can, if you need to, replace a tire, change any fluid, replace a sparkplug or battery or fuse. Be able to troubleshoot a 2 stroke engine (ever had a weedwacker or lawn mower die?)
58. Have patience with those who don't seem to grasp the obvious stuff in this list. Help them out, if they are interested.

Shai

Wow, I so failed this. I only know like 10 of these at the most.

RE-L

42! Eat that 10053r5! I landed on the answer to life, the universe, and everything!

tinkertank

I think Giz, perhaps w/ Lifehacker should break some of these down. Do a geek life series.

noamjamski

@Eruanno: 21 is solid. The higher you go, the worse off your social life probably is.

Joseph

16 and that's a complete shock to me. There were a few that are in process or that I've considered but I didn't count those. I most come to giz to pretend that I'm a geek and dazzle people with my shiny new tech knowledge...but it appears you're slowly converting me...

thedoctah

yeah but can you clean a rifle, change a tire, cook an omlette, drift a car and gut a fish? not all at the same time you cant!

nutbastard

@Iron Sheep: To boldly go where other can only creep with a manual.

mangochutney

37/50... I'm a little ashamed of that.

Austenw

I think the scoring calculations are off. I scored 13, but 21-30 describes me more accurately.

charliew77

I can do a couple of those.

TF2Soldier914

@Zlevee: Maybe we should have called it "The 50 Skills The Ultimate Geek Should Have." But hey, now you have a handy list of aspirations.

Wilson Rothman

Actually you should never blow into a cartridge. The moisture in your breath encourages particulates to stick to the cartridge. You should clean it with a swab and alcohol.

Shervyn

My question is how old is Bill in this pic, please say like 30 cause man, his face looks old. Am I right?

mykalt45

@Munch the BanNail: True.
Having an Android phone at this point would be way more significant on "geek points" as far as I see.

Bokusatsu_Tenshi

@WD40: At least we know now that you're not from Norway.

mangochutney

@Eruanno: I'm right there with you, although I don't really agree with several of the Apple related topics as someone else pointed out. But, I guess being familiar with different OS's is important to being a real geek.

GTgeek

Fun stuff.

Re: #7: Not to pick nits, but I can't see a reason why I would use all of the ports on my AVR. This would require me to send composite, component, and HDMI all to the same input. There are *plenty* of unused ports on my AVR. Maybe "Needing a better AVR because you have no inputs left." or something. Okay, maybe I am picking nits.

Otherwise, agree with the rest who suggest scoring on the things you could do rather than the things you have done.

Fogbert

@TonyRockyHorror: Flying to Nevada isn't much of a skill if you can afford the plane ticket

GTgeek

A few of those are a little ridiculous but I'm sure some weirdo out there can do all of that. I can do 40-45 of those things.

Sollus

@OCEntertainment: It gets annoying. But if you do it right those people end up reading the Giz too.

mangochutney

@kaiban:

yes! ahh the memories of the NES..

'ok guys, did you blow on it? yea? ok, try putting another game on top of it. nothing? ok, kick it and then shake it! we're good!'

seamonkey420

> 16. Abstain from buying extended warranties

Ok I know it is geek wisdom to avoid buying these things but I love 'em. I bought a crappy laptop from Circuit City 5 years ago, it died 3 years later and they sent me back the complete purchase price to buy another laptop. I've gone through 2 mp3 players and a digital camera with similar results. You can't buy 'em for everything but if you are spending more than $3-400 on something that you know you might kill, it is pretty nice to be able to use it anywhere you want and not be afraid all the time you might break it. That's my $0.02 anyways.

Intersection

@Ibelieveinsandwitches: Lower the score, the cooler you are.

Joseph

got 32, in addition of being a graphic designer and typographer,
fontlab is in a whole level of geekness (:

bishara

only 16... does that mean i'm not cool anymore?
does that mean i was never cool?

Ibelieveinsandwitches

@reddingofish: Either this post is a part of what you said, or you're a fan of Dr. Taub.

mangochutney

@WD40: WTF!!! apple has DRM... NO WAY

Good Sir you have misinformed the public.

Apple Is God.

except for when you talk about the compatibility regarding apple everything

Monkiee

I have no use for:

3, 4, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 15, 28, 33, 38, 39, 41

but everything else I've done one time or another.

Superevil

#42 People actually call Customer Service?

Truth Bringer :D

5. Wire your house for Ethernet and Coax cable
- Wire my house? Am I living in 1999?

14. Design a webpage in HTML by hand that features a picture of your cat
- I am really good at this. Can I count it twice?

15. Use Photoshop to imperceptibly doctor a photo
- Real geeks use The GIMP.

19. Enter the Konami code
- You see kids, back before these new-fangled games came along...

sumocat

Your not a REAL geek until you can propagate the species.
Counting four geeks in training in my home! FTW!

Ohh... and fighting robots is now a priority.

DarthSensate

I was under the impression that anything ipod-related was a trendwhore skill, not a geek skill.

hooked-on-tronics

@PobreGizmo: so close, but no...

the konomi code is up up down down left right left right b a start. the contra code was up up down down left right left right b a b a select start.

[www.joystiq.com]

Synik103

WHAT? i have to manually count these up? you didn't make the web page to do it for me?

-5 GEEK POINTS FOR GIZMODO!

endless

#18 was all I did when I worked in a local electronics shop, and by parents I mean the tech illiterate of the world. *thinks back and gets shivers down spine* NASTY

crazyeoin

You should graph score on this against how often one gets laid. I'm envisioning a very negative slope there.

Nahnsense

More important than 50 would be one I have succeeded at many times.

51) Wrote code that got you laid.

Having a geek wife helps with that one a lot.

Alluvian

@TonyRockyHorror: Most places it's actually a misdemeanor with a fine.

John

@CommodorePerry: You are even slightly incorrect... You don't need to press 'select' at all unless you are playing two players.

Rabid Penguin

That was fun.
But we could end up making a 5000000000000000 (over9000) checklist if we started discussing what's valid and not.

Specially if we start speaking of ancient stuff...
Like having a modem almost the size of the PC case, monocromatic green displays, seagate 40Mb HDD, floppy disks (I could go on forever).

About the more recent stuff: Know the difference between several types and brands of RAM, know what RDRAM and SCSI stands for, dealt with/had a slot 1 pentium processor...

Yeah, I'm a huge nerd. Now I'm feeling depressed.

Bokusatsu_Tenshi

Ok... everyone who's ever owned/played with a graybox as blown on an NES cartridge to get it working again. Wouldn't the truly geeky thing to do be re-pinning your graybox? Or in my hubbies case, multiple grayboxes (apparently lots of people grow tired of giving their NES carts a blow job.) Just a thought.

AntonioPolo

@PobreGizmo:

Except it's up up down down left right left right B A select (select again for 2 player) start...

CommodorePerry

@Anonymoose:
1337?i got 30 so bare with me!!! :P

Fuji-kun

@Joseph: haha

pdditty

@Greatbam: Hey, you never know when Jack Bauer will need your help

pdditty

@Lite: the kiddie kind

The_Last_Skunk

Wow, most of you guys are Gods or liars.

TechSurfer

@TyneMagoostus: your mom is cool

pdditty

@inkslingerz: Ha! I see what you did there.

$> Man Woman
$> Invalid Query

Lupus_Yonderboy

I'm not clear, do you have to have done the thing, or just know how to do?

TechSurfer

@PobreGizmo: Fail.

Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B A Start.

Select was added if you were playing two players.

Deech

@Joseph: Thanks man, appreciate it!

@reddingofish: ...do what you gotta do! :-)

pdditty

@nutbastard: Ok, what if I can clean a rifle while changing a tire? Do I get half points?

I could totally gut a fish while making an omlette (all about timing) but...yuk...

Lupus_Yonderboy

This could have been an epic list, but you chose to post skills that are interesting this week, and do not pertain to geekdom in general. This COULD have been an epic list.....How about being able to start a fire with no matches? Being able to make good jello shots? So disappointing.....

PandoraMover

Is it just me or is this list based on the news articles posted over the past year?

thatdecade

there is one missing: "You have sent someone to /dev/null."

joandrade

@HeartBurnKid, creepy morbid freak: My brother has Asperger's and he's actually a social butterfly, so to say. Except once he gets home from school and starts playing WoW. Then all social skills leave him.

alexmetal

Build a fighting robot nah

Cyfer911

"16. Abstain from buying extended warranties"

teh truth

mikeness

apple shit shouldn't even be on a geek skills quiz. this quiz is stupid.

necrolingua

Wow, after getting 42 on this, I'm not so much excited, as I am terribly depressed that I am such a freakin NERD!!!

HannibalxLecter

Oh thats sad... i got 47 out of 50 hahaha.

LdPhebos

@pdditty:

ah, so i'm a 16 on the nerd scale
and a 34 on the cool scale... yeah that makes sense!

behold my coolness!

Ibelieveinsandwitches

@Etaripamai (XBL): well specifically at you... asshat

Etaripamai (XBL)

@Etaripamai (XBL): sorry Calobi... didnt mean to aim that one at you.... my bad

Etaripamai (XBL)

@Calobi: Fuck you guys, people with asbergers can function perfectly normal... with the exception of some very small (in some cases) social issues.... Tell my fucking brother he cant function perfectly fine you fucking ass hats

Etaripamai (XBL)

Yeah - no. There were a lot of geeks long before computers were in vogue for them, and this list as many do simply ignores a vast number of things you should know, be able to do, and understand fully. I see very few things related all but peripherally to actual science, mathematics or engineering here. If you can do most of these things, you're just a specialized mechanic to me, and I'd much rather spend my time and energy around people who can at least fix cars.

Laura

@shalegac: @Lizard_King: You haven't lived until you use an assembler to design a program that you then use to edit web pages.

Monty

Since almost half of the ones on the list are absolutely moronic or have nothing to do with being a geek, I would say this is not a few very good list of skills.

9. Use a DSLR in full manual mode
Any amateur photographer can do this, and most are not geeks.
14. Design a webpage in HTML by hand that features a picture of your cat
Wow, talk about super easy, that's just straight HTML, a HTML for Dummies book probably teaches you how to do that on page 3 or something.
18. Fix your parents' computer over the phone without looking at a computer
Only a glutton for pain would even attempt this one

r1chard

#47 OMG, it threw me off the chair!!!! Have i done that before!! Nowadays i ceremoniously do it to cds :P

Fuji-kun

@Shervyn: Blasphemy!

LastAndLeast

What about wirelessly networking a serial only laser print to work with os 9, os X, and a Newton?

Much more street cred than messing with the registry.

thecman

26 here, kind of disappointing...

f0rge

@Etaripamai (XBL): Score a win for your column.

ShrikirtiMarcus

@Curves: Good one! Knowing enough geeks so that you don't need to know hahaha! I think I know a lot but probably not enough.

RE-L

@seamonkey420: blowing on it is the ultimate solution... to everything! I've seen people blow on ps2 discs that wouldn't play and making them work again

Joaquin

@Etaripamai (XBL): Are you sure it's your brother who's the Aspie?

CaseyG

@pdditty:

How about you hack into your own router instead of messing with other peoples stuff. Use the sames hacking tools to find the password for your network.

Greatbam

#14 - i hate cats - how about my wiener?

Captain_Eh

It is a hell of a lot harder to upgrade a WM5 phone to WM6.1 than it is to jailbreak an iPhone.

My friend's 9y/o kid jailbroke his iphone for him...

Yawn @ mac skills, cuz they're not skills.

bpapa9013

@Fuji-kun: how can you read a tech blog and not know what 1337 is, I'm from the days of 31337 and I know the origin of it 20 points to anyone who can tell me the origins of 31337 and subsequently 1337

tehki

@Toshie: You need to recalibrate the flux capacitor so that it will be able to interface with the proper web-kit.

bpapa9013

@thedoctah: Or the sonic 2 code (19 65 9 17 (hold c) start (hold a) start 1 9 9 2 1 1 2 4 4 1 2 6 4 1 2 6 (hold a) start)

And I fail to remember to take out the trash.

Roast Beef

Except for the apple fanboy items, I got almost every one. I didn't give myself the Wii homebrew point, since I managed to fry my Wii while attempting to install the chip. Surface mount technology has gotten a lot smaller in the past several years.

Drowlord

@Joseph:

good point!

my fix it skills range thru everything from machinist to engine builder, to doing my motorcycle bits fabricating, to desktop builder (starting in the 286 days) to phone center guy to painter (automotive and otherwise). i am your standard jack of all trades, master of none.

most of the work i do is keeping the family's stuff running, and a few other people's business stuff up and running. all windows based, and when i need to find stuff out i have the tubes to help me. i still play with linux from time to time, and the skill sets developed over the years pretty much transfer to different platforms, just need to learn the new tweaks.

godwhacker

@midwestkel: I'll agree with this one. I have a long list of passwords in my head. I love playing the hangman game, trying to guess the correct password to an untouched 4+ year old account before hitting the max amount of incorrect attempts.

Roast Beef

Were is the "you can read 1337" as normal as you can read the paper.

And by the way, i got 46, but still, i'm not thaaaat geek, xDDDD

The ones that i didn't qualified, is cuz i hadn't found myself to do em (mostly the Mac ones and the HDTV one)

CarlosLopez

web page with a picture of my cat? the court order says i'm not allowed to have pets.

sayten

I failed at 16... there is value in a alot of them. some of them not so much.

flynboarder07

Step 1: Remain Calm
Step 2: Build a fighting Robot
Step 3: Laugh and Cry as the Robot enslaves the human race

novicestar

Anybody feel like pointing me in the right direction with the "Download pre-release movies from Usenet" item? Please? (already acquainted with Bittorrent, obvi)

Rhayader

So here's the deal. Are we supposed to count the ones we've actually done or the ones we believe we could do but haven't.

I could do all the Apple ones, but I don't think i ever will simply because I will never have to.

Breakdown;

33 done
9 I could do, but haven't
8 I have no clue about.

KLanD

Got 35. I've never been to a computer camp, but I do wish I was Japanese.

... and I was diagnosed with Aspergers' a few years back. Why the hell is it mocked so much? That's something I don't understand.

Dakota Courtois

Giz doesn't technically explain what we're to do with each of those skills - are we supposed to count the ones we HAVE done? Ones we haven't done YET? Ones we WANT to do? Ones we will soon be FORCED to do? Because depending on how we're supposed to count them my score will be all over the place.

Fierock

@Joseph: Notepad is for the real hardcore, only wusses use anything else.

tehki

@Deech: Damn, you beat me to it! Serious Fail man. Messing up the holy grail of codes... shame on you.

KLanD

@Intersection: I bought a 3 year one on my HDTV cause at $1000, a $80 isnt too bad to ensure i will at least get something if it breaks after the warranty expires, anthing under $400 isnt worth it though IMO.

Thanatos

dang! i only scored a 21... i thought i was a lot geekier than i really am i guess.

kaikai34

36

Thanatos

I think possessing most of these skills is a hell of a lot less valuable than being able to figure out how to do them without prior knowledge.

For example, a lot of the specific gadget repair or tweak things- I don't own every specific gadget on the list but I'm quite confident that left to my own devices I could figure out how to do whatever needed to be done.

mhlaxp

phew, I've never done most of those things...Glad I'm not a geek...

anti-hello-kitty

@mhlaxp: THIS

Most of the "skills" on this list are things that anyone with five minutes and an internet connection could figure out.

hooked-on-tronics

@Shervyn: Even that may be overkill. More times than not the contacts just weren't lining up so a simple pop out to re-seat the cart should have worked.

Poisonthescene

Need to add one: Gave away free reader demographics info on gizmodo.com!

Stix

@OCEntertainment: Lol, you would not believe how often I hear crap like that while fixing people's computers. "Did you try clicking repair!? Sometimes I click repair and it works." No lady. I didn't try hitting repair before I opened up the computer to install a new wireless card. I have no idea what I'm doing and don't know why I was hired when people can just click 'repair'.

Substance_D

51 write a blog comment first time withoiut makinf a fecking typo

ichi1

got a sweet 35 , i think I am not suible for integration into society. Can anyone write a book "A geeks instructions manual for integration into NORMAL society"

ichi1

@Tastic7: it de4pends on the porn you like

ichi1

@Wilson Rothman: The fact that there's no mention of having "been eaten by a grue" makes this list worthless.

soggy_cheerio

yaay 34

honozooloo

@Munch the BanNail: I agree. I probably couldn't do any of the Apple ones, but in my life they've really never come up. I mean...replace a battery on an iPhone? On any other phone, that wouldn't be a "geek point" so much as "has thumbs".

Brad

Anyone here that can't do #45 needs to get off the web and stop wasting our bandwidth! BTW, I excel @ #24!

apeguero

the sad part i was tryin to comment on this via crackberry, but i couldn't get it working. bah!

Framewerk

i dunno about #24, my right hand has a way of finding things.

-kXj-

@Rabid Penguin: I meant "some guy" ;c)

Rabid Penguin

@soggy_cheerio: Zork FTW! On the topic of Zork: zome guy is working on a remake of the original Zork in the NWN2 engine. The site is blocked here at work, but if you google "NWN Zork" or "Neverwinter Nights Zork" or something, you should find it... it should be out soon.

Rabid Penguin

@Monty: #24 was teh FAIL...what if you look at it with your significant other?

honozooloo

@tehki: I got 19... but I know what 31337 is ([www.urbandictionary.com])

@Anonymoose: yeah... and the skill(my skill) is google :)

shpe11

The problem with this list is that there should have been 42 things not 50. That is the answer.

fastm3driver

did someone forget to mention the proper use of search engines, wiki etc...

XneoX

"chip a console" should be in there as well...

Crazymonkey

@HeartBurnKid, creepy morbid freak: Number 24,on the other hand...

FiveLiters

@bpapa9013: Whoops, sorry all, it's working fine now. Apparently I had spilled some Jolt cola on the firewire800 thumbdrive connector that runs my linux DNS server and onion router. I knit a static free cloth from a sampling of belly button lint I happened to have and everything cleaned up quite nicely.

Toshie

You'd have to have quite a bit of disposable income to do some of those.

Jesse in Japan

What if I scored above 50?

petarro

Oh come on! no mention of ramen noodles being one of the major food groups?

longrun

28. I play no video games and read very few blogs, thank you very much.

shadowthief0

I guess I'm about average...

jeffed

@tehki: You're talking about the program that can't even understand carriage returns?

Joseph

A lot of the tasks require ownership of items that not every geek wants. The iPhone got two skills on the list associated to it, the Wii has one, and the DS has one. I own all three, but it still doesn't seem fair for other who opted to