be a geek

...the book Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson

Thanks to some standing geeks and aspiring geeks, I have been given my next two steps towards geekhood.

1. Watch the mini-series Battlestar Galactic and subsequent episodes from the TV series.

2. Read the book….. oops, forgot the name. Well, read the book, none-the-less!

The two comments on the last entry prompted me to take a new test. This was because the first test only tested geekiness. The new test tested for Nerd, Geek or Dork.

I scored PURE NERD.

Pure Nerd
69 % Nerd, 13% Geek, 34% Dork
For The Record:

A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.
A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.
A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.
You scored better than half in Nerd, earning you the title of: Pure Nerd.

The times, they are a-changing. It used to be that being exceptionally smart led to being unpopular, which would ultimately lead to picking up all of the traits and tendences associated with the “dork.” No-longer. Being smart isn’t as socially crippling as it once was, and even more so as you get older: eventually being a Pure Nerd will likely be replaced with the following label: Purely Successful.

Congratulations!

I found a geek test on OKCupid.com and took it. The results was 72% geek. The commentary said something like…. Simple Geek – has latent geek tendencies.

Here’s the whole report:

The Simple Geek
You answered 72% of the questions as a geek truly would.
You don’t seem to sway in either direction, however you still seem to have some latent geek attributes within you. Maybe you’re interested in computers but not a gamer? Maybe you’ve got geek hobbies but none of the awkward social tendencies. You may be slightly geekier than you thought and in denial!
The simple geek usually has various quirks that friends may make fun of, but in general can be considered a fairly normal person. Your geek attributes make you less likely to conform to society. The popular kids don’t hate you but the geeks don’t either, so it’s a respectable demographic.

In a nutshell, you answered enough questions with geek tendencies and enough questions without geek tendencies that it’s difficult to pinpoint your exact alignment.

• Now, in my opinion, even taking the test might prove a little geeky. What do you think?

Okay – downloaded the pattern for the Dr. Who scarf. Going to see if my aunt can knit one for me. – I think this might qualify as geeky.

I’m going to try to add some geekyness to my life everyday. This may be hard. There is a difference between being a nerd and a geek. Seeing that I’ve often been called a nerd or even eccentric, I’m not sure I know what qualifies as geek.

Avi