Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with geek

Geeky things to do in Paris?

mediamelt — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:15:46 -0800

Geek loose in Paris for a week - What to do? So a friend of mine is going to Paris for a week and is looking for a few geeky things to do while there. Not the typical touristy stuff, she's looking for some hard core nerd experiences. Having never been there and my google-fu failing me, I'm turning to you, the metarati. You're my only hope.

Tell me what to buy myself for xmas!

cgg — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 13:31:01 -0800

What cool tech toy should I buy? My family isn't doing presents this year. Given that, I'm taking the money I would have spent on them (or rather, them on me), and buying myself something fun. Trouble is, I can't figure out what that fun should be... I've got about $200 to spend, $250 max. I'm looking for something techy and fun. I'm a tech geek, but not an audiophile. I live in a Linux world and love my iPhone, for example, but I'm still ok with the crappy original earbuds. I love some of the the ideas at thinkgeek, but their ridiculous shipping costs to Canada ($15-$50 bucks!) means it's gotta be really really worth it, and so far I haven't seen anything that is. I have a PS2, Wii and Nintendo DS, but I don't use them much anymore. I live in a very cramped condo, so anything bulky is out.

I was debating getting a Slingbox and its iPhone app, which together with a jailbroken iPhone means I'd be able to watch TV and my video library (thanks to my Tivo server) anywhere I want. Although cool, I have a feeling I wouldn't really need to watch a lot of TV on my iPhone after the initial honeymoon period wore off.... or not. I'm not sure. And it seems so... 2005. Still... TV on the iPhone!

But before I meander down to the evil BestBuy (it's on sale this week) to pick one up, I'd thought I'd see if the Mefi geeks had any better ideas. What should I spend my Xmas money on? Difficulty: it has to be available in Canada for less than an arm a leg. What would you buy, if you were me?

Pseudo-geeks, Google Maps, bus routes and the quest for happiness.

eytanb — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 14:56:24 -0800

How complicated is it to create a bus map on the Google Maps API? So I saw this Google Maps mashup with NYC subways and I was wondering how hard it would be for a someone with decent geek-fu to figure out how to do it. I know that any self-respecting geek would just tuck down and tinker but I am a little stressed for time.

I am a little familiar with Javascript, PHP and MySql (more in terms of adapting then writing) and am willing to learn. I just need to know that this is not going to be a time sink. I can spend my commute throwing the actual bus routes into a KML map (is that what it is called? My knowledge in this field is limited at best.)

So what I ask of you, oh Giant Seething Meta-Brain, is what are the main steps I need to take for this? What will this require of me? How long would this take someone who is relatively proficient? What about someone with the coding skills of a drunk duck?

I'm in need of a (new) hobby!

cofie — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:10:47 -0800

How do I go about getting back into hobbies, or finding new ones (suggest some)? I'm slowly lost a few of my hobbies - stores close, friends move on, interests wane and change. I've recently finished uni, and I'm just having a break until I start full-time work next year.

What I'm after is something (or more than one something) to get me out of the house and doing things that are quite different from my usual routine. Stuff I can start now and keep going even when I have less time due to work.

Some background: I'm a web developer, both as my job and my past-time. I have a large collection of Magic The Gathering cards, I cycle (although I don't want to cycle competitively), I used to (and want to) play sports - volleyball, touch, indoor soccer. I'm interested in creative pursuits but have never really given any a good go.

I have some ideas, but what I'm really after is brand new ideas or some discussion of how best to get into something, and stay with it.

Party ideas for a geeky gamer's 30th!

tastybrains — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:08:38 -0800

My husband is turning 30 next month, and because his birthday typically gets overshadowed by the holidays, I am throwing him a BIG surprise party at our house. I am trying to come up with a loose theme that I can tie into the cake/cupcakes, decorations, and some little scavenger hunt hint cards I am going to leave for him. Some of my ideas have been pretty lame, so I'm turning to the hive mind for ideas! My husband is an electrical engineer and a gamer. He used to be really into World of Warcraft, so I had been planning to do a bit of a WoW theme (quest completion "question mark" cupcake toppers, relabeling beer bottles as beer from the game with stats & all, using WoW colors & fonts in banners and crap), but he really hasn't been into it lately and one of our friends who also plays w/ him thinks the idea is a little dated. He's not really into any ONE game right now, I think he's playing about 3 or 4 at the moment, and they're not ones I know much about (I have played WoW on and off, so I felt like I could do a decent job with that theme).

Other things he likes are the typical gamer/geek themes ... robots, pirates & ninjas, sarcastic humor, and beer (in an interest in brewing way, not in a bud lite chugging way...in fact, one of his surprise birthday presents is being sent to brew some beer). He also really likes moose, but that's a kind of lame party theme in and of itself.

So what can/should I do? I want to do something kind of fun and different. I am crafty and really enjoy projects like creating unique decorations/favors and want this party to be really memorable for him. It has to be child friendly as there will be family as well as friends there, and I also do not want to spend TOO much. I've budgeted several hundred for the party, but a lot of that is going for food and drink. I want things I can make by hand, with no more than a couple hundred for supplies.

What's a good bank or credit union in Las Vegas?

metalheart — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 05:40:21 -0800

Henderson, NV / Las Vegas Filter: What bank or credit union would work best for us? You've all been really helpful with my other Vegas-related questions, so hopefully this time will be no different! My fiance and I are in search of a good bank or credit union to use in Las Vegas, now that we've moved here. Here are some of the things we're looking for in a bank/credit unions:

- Low/few fees.

- Good online banking that will hook up with Mint. We're geeks.

- Fairly good savings account rates. It'd be nice if it was with the same bank/credit union as our checking, but I suppose it's not absolutely necessary.

- Something that links up pretty well internationally. We've moved from Melbourne, Australia, and we both intend to travel back there, as well as elsewhere in the world, and it would be nice if we could just stick with the one bank/credit union without trouble. I know that'd likely be Bank of America, but we've not heard great things about it, so if someone knows something better, we'd like to know about it.

Any other recommendations or advice would be greatly appreciated, too, of course. Thanks!

The Best Automobile Driver's Seat

five fresh fish — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 21:11:11 -0800

Which driver's seat. To my surprise, replacement automobile driver's seat -baby -infant didn't google up anything useful. Surely there's a widely-held opinion as to which junkyard car seats are the best! If it matters, it would be for a custom desk, not for a car. Seems to me a car seat designed for long drives would make a good reclined seat for a geekdesk.

Gotta dance!

mgrichmond — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:02:18 -0800

Where can a 300+ pound, 39 year-old geek go dancing in Seattle without feeling *too* self-conscious? This past weekend, I participated in an "80s Prom" charity event here in Seattle. Everybody was dressed in their finest Wedding Singer drag, and having a great time dancing to the songs we remembered from high school.

I realized that night that even though I'm 39 years old, over 300 pounds, and as uncool as they come, I still love to go dancing. Despite my Wookiee-like appearance and complete lack of grace, as long as I stay hydrated I can go for hours. Not to mention that I could use the cardio benefits.

I'd like to go dancing more often, but I have no interest in being the creepy guy hanging out with the twentysomething beautiful people. Anyone know of some places in Seattle where people go to get their groove on, rather than to be seen?

Steampunk Lincoln & the Robot Monkey need company

braveterry — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 15:15:36 -0800

I'm looking for art with a certain geek/nerd aesthetic. So far I like Robot Destruction, Steampunk Lincoln, and various Penny Arcade prints such as this one. My criteria are:

No cats. "LOL" or otherwise.
No posters.
Has to be frameable

Any recommendations? The backstory:

My wife has decided that my man cave (spare bedroom) is no longer pretty enough to meet her standards. My old particleboard desk from Wal-Mart is marked for death and she has informed me that "things" will need to be placed on the walls to aid in the prettification of the room. I have been given some discretion regarding the "things", so I'm looking for some cool/geeky prints to help spice things up a bit.

have you ever got the notion that he's just a bat with wings?

NoraReed — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 16:10:43 -0800

MixTapeFilter: I'm looking for songs about fictional characters, particularly ones from geeky fandoms (comic books, video games, etc.) Examples: Thank You Mario But Our Princess Is In Another Castle by the Mountain Goats and Kaki King, Aquaman's Lament by Mark Aaron James. Preferably ones that are not just funny-- I know about that "Link is come to town!" one; I'm not a huge fan of it.

In particular I love stuff that takes a deeper look at two-dimensional characters, particularly throwaway villains in videogames (goombas, etc.).

Wizard Rock is okay but please recommend individual songs, not bands.

My Subculture Is Becoming Mainstream, Oh No!

signalnine — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 18:29:26 -0800

What is a geek? Does the term still have meaning? Recently, I've noticed that large groups of people I'd have never considered to be geeks claim the label as their own, citing interest in things like video games and social networking sites which were once the domain of geeks but have now become entirely mainstream. So, what does it mean to be a geek? If you self-identify as such, why?

What to see in the Bay Area for a former resident who's lost his way?

kalessin — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 06:38:51 -0800

Fun/Geeky things for me to do in the Bay Area next week either by myself or with my (retired but adventurous) parents? Details in extended. I grew up in California, went to high school in Berkeley, and a few years of college in Santa Cruz/Monterey until, in 1989, just after the earthquake, I relocated to the MidAtlantic and currently live in Baltimore, MD.

Each time I visit the Bay Area, I feel more and more out of touch with the area and my old haunts keep disappearing or changing. I sometimes have a completely inaccurate idea, too, of neighborhood safety when I visit (usually I am too cautious).

Every couple of years I make it out for a week or two to visit family and a few close friends. It turns out that this trip (Wednesday to Tuesday, starting 8/5/2009) is overlapping with friends' other family visits, so I may have a lot more time than I had anticipated to spend alone or with my parents.

I'll be staying with them very near the Ashby BART station. (Thank G-d, it sounds like BART will not be shut down during my visit.)

When I was living in the area, I liked various geeky attractions (Lawrence Hall of Science, Exploratorium, Dark Carnival, various comic book and book stores) and used to hang either in North Berkeley with various friends or would walk to Telegraph Ave or College Ave or through UCB campus and window shop. Sometimes I'd also explore various neighborhoods in SF (The Castro, Market, the Ferry terminals, Golden Gate Park, etc.) I'm also half Chinese which is relevant because I also find a lot of comfort and interest in going to and exploring the various Chinatowns around the bay.

I am now quite the food snob, and still a science/computer geek.

My question is for area residents. I am interested in foodie destinations and other geeky destinations I might not have heard about to visit by myself or with my parents. Can you help enlighten me and let me know about your favorite spots like this around the Bay Area?

The limitation is that it needs to be public transit/walking accessible for the most part, but my parents and I are adventurous with Bay Area public transit and can walk 2 or 3 miles comfortably on any journey's walking leg.

Oh, I should also say I'm not interested in wineries but might be interested in microbreweries, depending. :)

Thanks very much in advance for any answers. Also, I did search for previous questions, but nothing I could find quite fit my quesion/sought answers, but please let me know if I missed something!

If you were travelling the world, what geek tools (software & Hardware) would you take to help on your trip?

thelost — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:21:02 -0800

If you were travelling the world, what geek tools (software & Hardware) would you take to help on your trip? My housemate and his soon-to-be wife are going travelling after they get married next year. He's too busy to post this himself, so I thought I'd help out.

The trip is currently in its embryonic stages, so will be liable to many changes. They will start in the UK and make their way east, using the rail systems to head through central Europe, eastern Europe, Russia, china and beyond.

As a card carrying geek my housemate is after technical solutions to help make the journey go smoothly. He is also after any advice hardy seasoned travellers can give in regards to travelling in general.

He has decided to get a netbook for travelling. If there are good websites that help travellers plan and execute their journeys please mention them. More importantly please mention any good software for route planning/itineraries etc. My first thought for route planning was google earth but it won’t necessarily cache everything you need for offline use, so that’s not an option.

Any and all advice is welcome.

Gear Porn

Juliet Banana — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 09:42:48 -0800

Tomorrow, my boyfriend and I will be photographed nude and somewhat covered in electronics (music making equipment and cords). Is there anyway to attach expensive, somewhat heavy mixers and controllers to our bodies? For non-music nerds, imagine we're covering ourselves with video game equipment. The items range in weight and size from a video game controller to an old school Playstation. Here's some of the stuff we have to work with; the major pieces are a Korg KP3, a Monome, a Korg Kaossilator, some guitar pedals, and a laptop.

Worst case scenario, he's going to hold his Monome sixty four (yeah, he got it) over his bits and I'll cover up with a Kaossilator and we'll wrap a few cords around ourselves. I wouldn't mind getting a bit more coverage, through, half to illustrate the concept and half for modesty's sake.

The concept? We're modeling for a sex-themed issue of an extremely small press art magazine. It's a riff on the cover of Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins (NSFW). The more gear we can fit into the shot, the better.

So, how the hell do we cover ourselves with music geek paraphernalia without breaking the gear and ripping off skin? I own some skin-safe double stick tape, but I doubt it could hold up the Kaossilator, much less the KP3. Rig the items to the cords wrapped around us? Rope? Duct tape? Just pile it around our feet?

We wanna get Down & Nerdy. Now we need music.

jbickers — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 16:51:20 -0800

Help me come up with opening theme music/sounds for a geek-oriented radio segment. Later this week, we're going to debut a new feature on my morning radio show - "Down 'n' Nerdy," a 5-minute bit where myself and a fellow nerd co-host offer a weekend nerd culture recommendation, whatever we're excited about lately ... a new comic book series ("Irredeemable" for the win!), the season debut of Torchwood, a new Decemberists single, that kind of thing.

So, I'm looking for the perfect 6-10 second bit of music to open the segment. It needs to immediately suggest geek/nerd ... but, and here's the rub, it needs to suggest that to someone who isn't steeped in that culture. (Otherwise, the Doctor Who theme is a no-brainer. And maybe it's still the right choice, but I worry that too many people will not recognize it.)

So, can you help? What's the perfect musical opening for a nerd radio segment (one which will be podcast, BTW). Theremin music? Some old TV show theme? 8-bit blips and bloops?

Richmond Geeks?

Catbunny — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 12:09:23 -0800

Where can some geeks in Richmond, VA go for a good time? My boyfriend and I are relocating from Long Island, NY to Richmond in September. We are moving away from all our friends and family and will not know anyone who is less than 2 hours away. We are both SciFi geeks and are used to getting together with friends to play Arkham Horror, Munchkin and other assorted board/card games. Are there any good hangouts in the area?

DEATHMATCH: Tenori-on Vs Monome

Juliet Banana — Fri, 29 May 2009 15:08:56 -0800

Which is a better musical instrument: the Tenori-on or the Monome? So, to a lay person (me!) they look like the same thing; buttons and LEDs. Most people either are in love with one or the other, or think they're absolutely different, apples and oranges.

The Tenori-on is made by Yamaha, sells for $999, and is probably best known as that weird lite-brite thing Little Boots uses. It can generate it's own sounds and the software it pairs with is not configurable by the user.

The Monome devices are made by Monome and vary between $500-$1,400, providing you can snatch one when they become available or find one on ebay, or put it together yourself. It does not produce sound on it's own; it's simply a controller for software. Many user-produced software exists for it, and you can write your own.

I'm asking this for my boyfriend, who does a fair amount of DJing live and bedroom-recording of music that sounds like if glitchy robots could beatbox. He mostly uses Ableton Live, and is learning Max/MSP. If I got any information wrong in this question, it's because I'm not a DJ, just a club kid; feel free to correct me harshly.

Does the Monome make sense if you're not a programmer and Max/MSP looks like some scary moonman software you'd have to be Venetian Snares to understand?

Which is better for playing live?

Which is a better deal for the money?

What's on your personal wishlist? If you bought one, do you regret not buying the other?

Where do the nerds hang out in NYC?

miskatonic — Sat, 09 May 2009 08:11:44 -0800

I'm looking for some awesome geeky and/or nerdy places to go and things to do in New York City. I've noticed that since my friends and I finished college and scattered to many different cities, a lot of my nerd-life has migrated online. (Online games, that sort of thing.) I want to bring some of it back to meatspace, because I live in a great city and I often feel like I'm not taking full advantage of it.

I'm looking both for things I can do by myself and also (maybe especially) for places I might meet and befriend other nerds in the city. I love all types of gaming, plus the usuals - science, sci-fi, fantasy, math, history, etc. I've found the D&D group on Meetup, though if anyone has a better D&D recommendation I'd love to hear it (I'm not comfortable enough with 4th Edition to DM yet). Also looking for any good places to play Magic, video games, etc. What's your favorite comic shop? Are there other meetup groups I should be aware of?

I am also interested in any geeky landmarks or things to visit which don't really fall into the social hangout category. I love the Museum of Natural History, for example, and I plan to check out the Medieval festival at Cloisters in the fall. More things like that would be great.

I'm primarily looking for Manhattan recommendations, but the occasional outer borough option is fine too as long as it's walking distance from the subway. Also, if there's a place you usually hear about these kinds of things in NYC (a forum or mailing list, maybe), I'd love a link to it.

Nerd Alert in the PDX!

phredgreen — Sat, 02 May 2009 18:05:38 -0800

I've read all about where to eat, drink, club, stay, and chill in Portland - now I wanna get my geek on! The missus and I are driving out to the PDX next week as a scouting mission for an eventual move sometime in 2010. We'll be checking out places to live, local attractions, and some of the nifty places to eat and drink, but what I'll really need in my new hometown are places where I can fly my nerd flag.

I've read a bit about Ground Kontrol and Backspace, and they're already on my to-do list. What I really don't know much about are the best comic shops, the gamer stores that do board games and MTG nights, the anime shops that have screenings and sell the coolest new figures and other otaku goodies. I want the places that feed my geek need and that will make me excited for my move.

What are your favourite spots in the Portland area for geek culture?

Weird Geeks 'r Us

diode — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 10:57:42 -0800

I've been tagged with labels like 'weird' or 'geek' since high school. This is usually coming from someone who has no positive frame of reference for something I've said or done. Hey, I'm unusual, no doubt, but I just get tired of hearing this word. What's a good comeback that doesn't leave scorch marks? Let's say I've posted something on a blog or social networking site that's creative, unusual and/or funny. A subset of my friends don't know what to make of this information, so the default response is, 'you're weird.' I've been running into this forever. I can't help it if they can't process the information. These are my friends though and I don't want to download on them with a big flame-out about their lack of imagination.

From my perspective, about 98% of the populace is mentally beggared by too much TV with a vocabulary to match. That's where 'weird' comes from, an inability to find a descriptive term that is suitable other than the pejorative use of 'weird'. I understand that people's default response sometimes is 'that's weird.' It's just gets kind of old and it would be nice to have some comeback that informs and teaches, without lecturing, hectoring or leaving burn marks on the receiver.

I suppose I could own the term and make it something positive for myself. I'm curious if anyone has a way to bounce this interaction back at the sender. 'You're a geek' falls into this category too.

I suppose creative people in every field of endeavor run into this response and have for millenia. I suppose one attitude is to ignore it or acknowledge that any response is better than no response.

Looking for hands-on, IT-related demo for middle schoolers.

buck09 — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 14:33:08 -0800

What kind of hands on activity would be good for a group of middle-schoolers interested in a career in IT? A colleague and I have about 20 minutes of time with 8 groups of middle schoolers at a local career fair. 10 minutes is devoted to Q&A and should also include a hands-on type activity.

We should have internet access via 3G wireless card. We're pretty geeky in terms of doing tech (hardware, development, etc.), but we would like something that doesn't require more than 2-3 hours of prep time.

Any suggestions?

Happy Yb, Dad!

Nathanial Hörnblowér — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 11:19:57 -0800

My dad is turning 70 and is a retired professor/scientist. What can I put on his birthday cake to represent 70 in some scientific way? I thought about the Periodic Table of Elements (Yb for Ytterbium) but he may be too removed from that at this point to get it. He was a soil scientist, so anything having to do with agronomy would be great.

What should my LED belt buckle say?

solipsophistocracy — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 07:44:58 -0800

What are some clever or entertaining messages I can put on this scrolling LED belt buckle? 5 of the 6 messages can be up to 256 characters, and one can be 512. I'm pretty open to anything here. I already have a few highly personalized ones that have been painstakingly entered solely for the benefit of particular friends, but I'm looking for good messages or quotes to share with the world via my belt. I can do upper or lowercase letters and pretty much any symbol you would find on a standard QWERTY keyboard.

No holds barred here. If it's something you would find amusing in the slightest, please don't hesitate to suggest it.

Unfortunately, I imagine it would be ill-advised to wear such a contraption to graduate school interviews, but if someone out there has a brilliant suggestion for a scrolling belt message that would wow potential advisors, please go ahead and lay it on me.

Make me an internerd.

greekphilosophy — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 11:24:44 -0800

Help me become a better geek. So I read MetaFilter, which is itself pretty geeky. And often there are great suggestions for things to look at on the internet, sites to check out, things to keep in reading rotation, etc. And there are even a couple useful questions on the subject - but searching them out can often require knowing what you are looking for.

I learned HTML back in high school (almost ten years ago). I read Penny Arcade and xkcd. I have a LiveJournal. I play World of Warcraft.

But that's not nearly as geeky as I'm sure I have the capacity for. What can I do to up my geek factor? What do you do to stay geeky? What books/websites do you read? What skills do you hone?

Enter Sandman

cazoo — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 10:14:59 -0800

Does anyone know where I can read a copy of The Sandman film script by Roger Avary? A few years back, I remember reading Roger Avary's movie script adaptation for Neil Gaiman's Sandman. The PDF file was hosted on Mr. Avary's site around 2002, but since then he no longer has it up. Perhaps he was threatened by the copywrite owner to take it down. Would anyone happen to have a copy or know of where I can find it? It doesn't appear on any of the other film script collection web sites. Thanks.

I am 100% positive it was Avary's and not Rossio's draft I had read and I believe it may have been written mid to late 90's or possibly early 2000.