Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with Nerds

"Like the cast of a Fellini movie."

zoomorphic — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 11:51:12 -0800

How do I meet other bookish people in New York City? I’ve finally accepted the fact that I’ll eventually need to attend grad school in English to satisfy my curiosity and bookish ambitions (and to lead a more enriched life paying off my debts) but I’m going stir-crazy in the meantime. I want to meet people who genuinely care about literature and magazine journalism, though not necessarily Mary Wilkie-types. I meet great people who seem to like reading, in terms of whatever they tote around on the subway, but I think they find me a tad pretentious. Then I feel like a jerk and try to curb that side of my personality as much as I can, but I’d also like to meet my own kind who won’t judge me for getting worked up about James Wood’s new lit crit tome.

Right, I know that “Book clubs” are the way to go, but I’ve been to about four since moving to Brooklyn and they struck me as glorified social gatherings in which the members caught up with friends they only see once a month. I didn’t want to be a schoolmarm about it, but conversation seemed to only peripherally pertain to the reading itself. And I know I’m being a hypocrite, because I want friends who will talk about books as much I want to talk about books themselves, but no one seemed especially rigorous in their desire to discuss the material.

I know Chicago has a great program where lay folk can sign up to take a class lead by a professor (I think last year they had Ulysses), and I’d love something similar. Popular bars, good book festivals, and any local blogs that list literary events would be much appreciated.

What did pre-Enlightenment geekery look like?

sonofslim — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 21:37:49 -0800

I write software for a living. Assuming this is due to some confluence of skills and interests, what job(s) would I be qualified for if I'd been born in the year 1,000?

There are Olympics geeks, yes?

exceptinsects — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 22:08:24 -0800

I would like to read some blogs about the Olympics. Can you recommend any? I am interested in things like:

The uniforms of different countries.

Olympic Village accommodations.

Backstagey stuff about the opening/closing ceremonies. (And THEN five thousand goats, carrying third grade jump-rope champions in glow-in-the-dark ballerina dresses, come out from behind the proscenium...)

Discussions of arcane track and field scoring.

What sports should SO TOTALLY be official now, or are and SHOULD NOT BE OMG.

Why the commentators are wrong, wrong wrong.

and other nerdery.

I'm not so much interested in the political aspects.

checkmate.

allkindsoftime — Fri, 16 May 2008 05:32:34 -0800

Me and a friend want to play chess on a roller coaster this weekend. In Coney Island. Please help. A) Can you confirm either the existence or the certain non-existence of one of those photo-taking cameras on the Cyclone coaster at Coney Island?

B) I'm flying into EWR from ORD this afternoon. Do you know of anywhere between ORD and Manhattan that I can find one of those mini-chess boards for said roller coaster riding? Preferably somewhere on the west side, if in the city.

C) How long is the train ride out to CI from Union Square-ish? Friend has to be back in the city for a bus by 5:00.

Best answers will be rewarded with picture links. Thanks.

What happens to nerds that strike it big early in their careers?

vizsla — Wed, 14 May 2008 19:53:15 -0800

What happens to rank-and-file tech guys after they strike it rich in a tech boom? Do they keep working? How do they spend their money? Do they waste their lives away? Im not talking about the big shot entrepreneurs. I am talking about the typical developer who gets rich from options or from his share in the company. Anyone have any anecdotes, first hand experience or biographies? I've always wondered what happens to people after they don't have to work anymore.

Calling all nerds/geeks/dorks and Socially acceptable people

hadjiboy — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 23:51:29 -0800

Asking this on behalf of a friend of mine: can you help him out with a quiz that will give him an accurate description of how someone will stand on a DNG/SA scale that he's created--where DNG stands for Dork, Nerd, Geek, and SA stands for Socially Acceptable? (Bear with me for a second, will you?) "So while out with my roomie and a friend of ours, we discussed how my g/f rates as a 4.5 on the nerd scale. However, she disputed this, saying that the rating system was overly subjective and that she would like to appeal the rating given out by the committee (the committee consists of myself, my roomie, his brother, and two friends). So, we've decided to come up with a rating system. The "Dork/Nerd/Geek" rating divided by the "socially acceptable" rating gives us the DNG/SA ratio. Our goal is to come up with enough questions covering the DNG area of things (with varying degrees of dork, nerd, and geek dom) while still factoring in how socially acceptable or "normal" someone may be or might appear. So, to keep some sense of objectivity in the creation of this, I thought I'd seek some suggestions.

What I'm looking for from you guys are some activities, habits, or quirks that may make someone either DNG or SA and give that activity a rating between 1 and 10. For instance, what the committee agrees upon as the a 10 in the nerd area of things is LARPing (Live Action Role Playing). For the record, I've never done this, never plan to, but I've known people who have. Another instance would be watching sports or following a popular TV series...that would garner somewhere between an 8 or 10 (depending on the sport or TV show) on the SA rating.

So, if you have any suggestions, please, let me know. Also, if you're suggesting anything for the DNG, please indicate whether you believe this activity to be dorky, nerdy, or geeky.

Once we figure out which questions to include, we're going to figure out whether or not we'll do a "yes/no" format, or the "strongly disagree/often/whatever thru strongly agree/least often/whatever" format that you see on weirdo personality tests and job apps sometimes. After that, it's a matter of figuring out the math and a little bit of coding. We're thinking of putting it online ;p Yes, our DNG/SA ratio is undoubtly high."

How do I turn my best friend into something more?

kldickson — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 12:14:59 -0800

How do I turn my current best friend into something more? I'm a college student - 20 years old, a female, majoring in neuroscience. The person in question is male, and my age, and also majoring in neuroscience. We are both utter, utter nerds. He is my closest friend among my group of friends, all of whom are science and/or philosophy majors, and having known him for a reasonable length of time (4 months), I am sure I'm not insane. (Neither he nor I have any problems such as major mental illness or drug abuse; the only drug we partake of is booze and we only drink in a social context, and I do have a bit of anxiety, but it's under treatment) .

He and I are both extremely intelligent, have long histories of nerdiness, share core beliefs (we're both atheists), outlooks, goals (we both are getting our PhDs and are studying very similar things), and activities, and are both reasonably socially adept, although I am somewhat more asocial than he is.

What are some situations I could get my friend and fellow neuroscience nerd into to communicate the fact that I want more than a friendship with him ?

Help me locate this photo of atmospheric scientists in dorky helmets

mjbraun — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 06:23:32 -0800

I'm trying to find a quality version of this poorly-scanned picture of two atmospheric scientists in zany helmets. My understanding is the photo was somewhere in a 2007 "Discover" magazine, but I can't find it online. At a minimum, a link to the Discover page would be nice, but if I can get a link to the original, that would be superb! BTW: the caption reads "Atmospheric scientists in the 1930s, when their kind proudly donned white lab coats and rigorously designed helmets" Thanks for any help!

I (heart) nerds .... in bag form.

cschneid — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 22:40:38 -0800

Where can I find a new I (heart) nerds purse like this one? This one is falling apart, and a google search and a froogle lead nowhere. It was originally bought at Kohls, and we haven't seen a new one since. Any leads on where I can buy one online?

How to deal with a brand-new geek boyfriend?

goofyfoot — Sun, 24 Sep 2006 17:44:42 -0800

My new lover is one of those lovely geeks. He’s never had a girlfriend. He has no frame of reference for the odd sexual awkwardness, the occasional times of coolness, the unapologetic want to be alone. I’ve had lovers and know this can be worked through, but he doesn’t. Do any former geeks have advice? So my lover of four months is the kind of geek you read about (and while checking previous askme queries I found this here). He’s in his mid-thirties and was sexually inexperienced until recently; I’m a few years older and have been in long-term relationships. For several months we’ve gotten along beautifully, except for one rather big thing: he is not used to talking.

Some of the posters here must have made the transition from being a loner to being a partner. Do you have any wisdom for him?

Thinking of opening a game store...

teishu — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 23:41:01 -0800

Thinking of opening a Gaming store...help...So me and the wife are seriously considering opening a gaming store, (roughly half board/casual type games and half "hobby" type games). I've read a bunch of stuff on opening a retail store in general, including some threads on here, but not much on anything gaming specific. So, two broad questions, 1. first off, any great general resources to read/get involved with for opening a retail store i may have missed?

2. We'd especially like to hear from people who might be customers of such a shop, any suggestions you have about really any aspect of the store would be most appriciated.

Little background, we're both long time gamers, I've been playing D&D since the mid 80's, so we both know most of the basics having been customers at many a gaming shop ourselves over the years (our personal fav is game towne in San Diego), but neither of us have much retail experience at all so who knows what little details we might be completely oblivious to. We're speaking with GAMA (trade organization) so thats been, and is going to be, a huge help. We currently plan to carry only gaming and gaming related accosories. There is a great long standing comic shop in town, so no reason to compete with him. We would ideally like to see the store become something of a community, with lots of regular events and special events and things like that.

More than anything, what we're looking for right now is as much input as possible from different perspectives on what people would like out of such a shop.

The Knights of Ni. Heh.

Aknaton — Tue, 09 May 2006 21:28:37 -0800

What did nerds recite before Monty Python existed? Monty Python seems to be a touchstone of nerd-specific culture (whose boundaries have always been porous, and ever moreso after the dot-com boom). What were the corresponding shared bits of culture that helped establish us vs. them, among college nerds (say) before Monty Python existed? I've asked my parents (nerds) but they can't remember.

I use to be a superhero

nadawi — Sun, 23 Apr 2006 12:49:27 -0800

It's time for my boyfriend's birthday and I need clothing advice. [The boyfriend needs to stop reading and friends should probably skip it]

On his birthday I dress up like a superhero (or, really, comic book character). First it was Wonder Woman and then Supergirl. This year I want to blow his socks off, do something clever and inventive, and for added difficulty my budget is VERY small.

To accomplish the first two outfits I just bought the pajama sets...tight tee shirt or tank top and panties with stars or thong with the Superman symbol. I definatly want to break out of that mold this year. I know The Baroness and Poison Ivy are on the wishlist but I kind of want to wait to do The Baroness just right and I don't really know how to accomplish Poison Ivy.

So what have you dressed up as? What do you wish your woman would dress up as? How do I score sexy points while also scoring nerd points?

I have two weeks.

Suggestion for best offline role-playing game?

It ain't over yet — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 10:05:24 -0800

Suggestion for best offline role-playing game? To give to a geek who is not living up to his true geek potential. Game should obviously be tons of fun, and relatively easy to learn.

When did the cool kids discover computers?

bondcliff — Fri, 17 Mar 2006 08:42:18 -0800

At what point in time did computers go from being something the nerds used to something all the cool kids used? I'm asking specifically about high school age and below. I find it fascinating that what was once nerd hobby is now the central hub of communication and entertainment for kids and it seems to me it was a much bigger shift from, say, vinyl to CDs or the rise of VCRs.

When I graduated high school (1987) if you demonstrated any kind of proficiency at computers your reward was an atomic wedgie. When it came out in 8th grade that I got a computer for Christmas (TRS-80 CoCo kicks the C64s ASS!) I got shit for it. Basically, anyone who knew anything was a marked man.

Now, in 2006, my 14 year old nephew, the star athlete in his school, has friends he only knows on-line. He downloads music. He introduced me to Homestar Runner. He had to do some HTML for a school project. He's one of the cool kids. All his friends are the same way.

Rumor has it that computers have even made it easier to get dates, and not in the Virtual Kelly LeBrock way that we used to dream about. For someone my age this is like acne becoming fashionable. I'm not bitter. Bastards.

When did this happen? Was it gradual or did it happen overnight? Was it a certain technology that kicked it off? Obviously, the 'net was the catalyst but what specific use of the 'net? AOL? The discovery that dad's computer was an unlimited free porn machine? Did the alpha-kids suddenly decide computers were cool and the rest of the kids followed or was it just what you knew if you were born after 198x?

What's the line that separates nerdy computer use from normal use these days? Do the nerds all use Linux? Does the definition of a nerd even have anything to do with computers these days?

"Look at poindexter using a command line! What's the matter, dweeb, your alcoholic dad can't afford a GUI?"

I realize the same thing happened in the adult world but a lot of adults had PCs forced on them through work and fitting in is less important than it is when you're in high school, at least the high school I remember.

I'm like a cat lady, but with books. Also, not a lady.

Eideteker — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 08:46:22 -0800

How should I organize my personal library? I have four large bookshelves and several hundred books, currently in boxes. I've put off unpacking them because a) I'm a bit anal about organization, and b) I love my books and want them to look nice and be happy next to each other. I have a decent-sized fiction collection but a rather substantial non-fiction collection as well. I don't feel like simple alphabetical order will cut it anymore, at least not for the non-fiction.

I'd like to start a subject-based hierarchical ordering system, like the Dewey Decimal System or the Library of Congress system (which is what my university's library uses). But if I do this, how do I know where each book goes? And they're only for non-fiction, right? I also know there are "problems" with either system; are there better systems that are as widely used (outside the US, maybe)? Should I just go with LoC for ease of navigation across libraries (again, primarily university libraries)? And lastly, what's the best way to keep things in order across moves? Should I write/stick numbers on the spines as in libraries? Make a note inside the front cover very lightly in pencil? Keep a database on my computer? All three?

I use my library for academic purposes as well as my own writing, both fiction and non. I want it to be both scalable and browseable, such that all the books on serial killers are adjacent, the books on organizational psychology are together and are next to but not mixed in with those on behavioral, social, etc. Thanks for all your help, fellow bibliophiles!

Crucio Bitch!

skjønn — Thu, 17 Nov 2005 17:59:56 -0800

Am I wrong for being angry at my friend? I bought four tickets for tonights midnight showing of Harry Potter. One for me and a date, one for my litte sister, and one for my friend Katie.

Katie is 22 years old and very nerdy, as in Klingon speaking nerdy. That's cool, I'm kind of a nerd sometimes too. I thought I would be going with my long term boyfriend, but we ended up breaking up after I bought the tickets.

I bit the bullet and asked a cute guy in my apartment complex to go in place of my boyfriend. He is *definitely not* nerdy in any way, shape or form.

Since this is our first date, I want to do everything I can to make a good impression on him. Letting him know that some of my friends are 20-somethings that dress up as fictional wizards is not my idea of a good first date impression. Katie was planning on wearing a full slytherin costume, complete with cape and magic wand.

I asked Katie as gently and as nicely as possible if she would mind wearing regular clothes to the movie tonight (my date will be driving us all there and back). I even told her that I would buy us both tickets to go see the movie again on Saturday morning and we could do the costume thing together.

Katie flat out refused. "It's tradition!" she protested. I tried to gently hint that it was really important to me. She wouldn't yield.

I'm more than a little miffed. Considering I bought the ticket for her after she couldn't find midnight tickets on her own and am indirectly providing her transportation there and back, I feel like she could have compromised on this little bit.

So what is it- am I a shallow bitch or is Katie being unreasonable?

Transporters and Death

interrobang — Mon, 17 Oct 2005 22:47:22 -0800

Do you die when you go through a transporter? A Star Trek-style transporter--as far as I understand it--basically records everything about you, and then disintegrates you. I assume it swallows the atoms and keeps them in some sort of holding facility wherever you transport from, saving the atoms for whoever's coming down next.

Aboard the spaceship, your information is received by that computer--your actual atoms are not transported--and you are reassembled by the computer out of material on the spaceship, presumably the same material that the reconstituted food comes from. The shitometer burps and goes down by 160 pounds or so.

Is it the same you that arrives on the ship, or is it just something that looks, acts, smells, and remembers everything that you do, and thinks it's you?

I know this is touched on in Alan Moore's "Swamp Thing", where it is revealed that Swamp Thing is not the man who "became" Swamp Thing": it just thinks that it is.

I'm not (really!) a big Star Trek person, but I've for a long time felt that going through a transporter meant certain death. Does anyone else feel this way, and has anyone else written about this?

And yes, I'm aware of Algis Budrys.

I will not be crucified on a cross-compile of gold...

mzurer — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 18:55:53 -0800

I am having problems with crosstools on OS 10.3.9 - Does anyone have this setup working? Any general advice on crosscompiling on a Mac for ARM is also welcome. When I try to get crosstools going, during the stage where is it building glibc, it pukes out and tells me my versions of as and ld are out of date or missing. Poking around on the internet, and I see that the version of binutils distributed with XCode 1.5 (the most up-to-date available for 10.3) is not the latest and greatest, and this is causing some problems for other people. When I try to build the most recent versions from the gnu ftp site, I find that my platform doesn't seem to be supported.
Questions:
So what's up with that?
If I upgrade to OS 10.4 and XCode 2.1, are later versions of as and ld included?
I am not terribly tied to crosstools, but it will probably be used in the "standard" development tools for this project. What exactly would I need to have if I am not going to use crosstools? I think I need gcc, glibc, binutils, and some other stuff all targeted to building the ARM target on my Mac.
What exactly do I have wrong in my description above?

Honor Society? Me?

elwoodwiles — Sun, 01 May 2005 12:18:38 -0800

Should I join Phi Kappa Phi? I recently received some mail informing me of my eligibility for an Honor Society. It costs some money and promises some kind of vague prestige. I'm honestly skeptical, but I'm not against the idea. Any Phi K Phi members here? Did membership seem worth it it?

Where to find a geek/nerd/SUPERSMART guy?

INTPLibrarian — Fri, 29 Apr 2005 12:31:43 -0800

So, if it's really true that Geeks and Nerds Are Worth It, where does one find them? In particular, single science PhDs in thier 30s in the Chicago area... but I'll take general advice, too. ;-)

Question number 14976

timeistight — Thu, 10 Feb 2005 10:13:30 -0800

How can I become a unix super-geek?

Question number 11870

Peter H — Wed, 17 Nov 2004 14:15:48 -0800

Horribly specific somewhat-old videogame question: Is SSX3 on the Playstn2 really that much better than SSX Tricky? Specifically, is SSX Tricky worth keeping for the courses or should I just chunk it in exchange for SSX3. I have come in late to owning a PS2 (just got the new model as a gift) and picked up SSX Tricky, looking for a 1080 fix. But then I find out I have the older version of the game, and that the current installment makes the version I have obsolete. Snowboarding nerds, please advise. I want SSX3 but basically don't know if I should trade in SSX Tricky for it, or keep the older version, too. Thanks!

Question number 10012

milovoo — Wed, 08 Sep 2004 12:07:44 -0800

Is there a way to gently steer someone away from constant Simpsons or Monty Python quoting? [MI]

Question number 9226

mecran01 — Fri, 06 Aug 2004 15:36:30 -0800

rent-a-geek: Is there a site/service out there where I can hire someone to do some micro-jobs for me related to running a server? Something like Google Answers but instead of paying someone $10 to find out the history of hemophilia in New Zealand, I would pay someone $10 to fix my WebDav installation, or get mysql working, or some task that would take a Smart Person about 10 minutes of poking around. It's not that I can't figure this stuff out eventually but I am short on time. Such a site would have to have some sort of reputation management, I suppose.

(Geesh, I sound like I'm writing a business plan)