Geekdom

April 4, 2006 1:11 PM

This 'How Geeky Are You?' quiz illustrates how geekdom today means something completely different from what it used to. Out with unwashed hair and actually programming, in with mindless purchase of consumer goods.
posted by splitpeasoup (65 comments total)

wow. seriously underwhelmed. yep, it's the goods, not the brains. someone at MSNBC really doesn't grasp it.
posted by horseblind at 1:21 PM on April 4, 2006

The Geek Code
posted by mcsweetie at 1:22 PM on April 4, 2006

Out with "What kind of blank are you?" quizzes, in with thinly veiled market research!
posted by team lowkey at 1:22 PM on April 4, 2006

Officially: meh.

I wrote a program back in high school. That program administered the Purity Test and gave you your results.

I am heading towards geekhood.
posted by LondonYank at 1:25 PM on April 4, 2006

Wow, that's a crap quiz. What a waste of time for everybody involved.
posted by davejay at 1:26 PM on April 4, 2006

I'm so geeky that the article didn't render correctly in my browser.
posted by illovich at 1:26 PM on April 4, 2006

had it been written by a geek, at least all of the questions would have been on a single page, for efficiency
posted by davejay at 1:27 PM on April 4, 2006

The first question led to a broken logic loop. I have five funcitoning computers in my home. I could not complete the quiz.
posted by mr_roboto at 1:41 PM on April 4, 2006

geekdom today means something completely different from what it used to.


posted by keswick at 1:46 PM on April 4, 2006

I stayed up late reading Raymond Lull and had combinatory dreams all night. Literally. Dreamed about letter permutations all night long.

Are there checkboxes enough in the whole web for my geekiness?
posted by sonofsamiam at 1:48 PM on April 4, 2006

Apparently not geeky enough. Quiz doesn't even display in Safari.
posted by Thorzdad at 1:51 PM on April 4, 2006

I'm "heading towards geekness." My friends would tell you otherwise. Internet phone? That makes you a geek?!
posted by brundlefly at 1:52 PM on April 4, 2006

Wow, Thorzdad. Safari is actually one of the listed answers!
posted by brundlefly at 1:53 PM on April 4, 2006

I liked how a lot of the questions assumed a geek would own and watch a TV.
posted by MonkeySaltedNuts at 1:55 PM on April 4, 2006

That quiz silly. It's author(s) is as fine an example of a poser as you'll ever find.

Move to delete.
posted by teece at 1:55 PM on April 4, 2006

Wow, Thorzdad. Safari is actually one of the listed answers!
Ah, irony.
posted by Thorzdad at 1:58 PM on April 4, 2006

I am a geek. I have always been a geek. I will continue to be a geek, and yet this quiz has me "stuck in the last century." Because I don't have a camera phone??? LAME.
posted by Biblio at 2:00 PM on April 4, 2006

That page was so obnoxious. But for some reason I answered all 20 questions, and got a 35. Agree with the poster that it's a shit quiz, and wonder why it was posted.
posted by knave at 2:00 PM on April 4, 2006

keswick: that makes me laugh!
posted by jepler at 2:12 PM on April 4, 2006

Years ago, I was part of a two-person IT-training team. My co-worker, Jennifer, sent out a newsletter to all employees, telling them what classes they could sign up for. She always wrote the newsletter in a sort of jovial manner. One month, she started it with, "Dear Geeks-in-training, we have a great selection of classes for you this month..."

One VP got EXTREMELY offended by the implication that he was a geek and he got Jennifer in trouble. She and I were totally confused, because we referred to ourselves as geeks and never meant it as an insult.
posted by grumblebee at 2:17 PM on April 4, 2006

Yep, this looks pretty buzzword-y: iTunes, MythTV, World of Warcraft, a "home network" (gasp! Although I wonder how many people considered themselves "administrators" after turning on an unsecured wireless access point so that they could use their win XP (home edition) laptop with it...)

I think a more realistic geek quiz would ask things like "How many computers/appliances have you destroyed by tinkering with them?" or "Have you ever spent ten times as much energy than it would have taken to do things normally to do something a certain, elegant or automated way?". Geekdom is a thing of the mind, not of material things - it is channeled by things like MMORPGs or linux but would find other outlets if they were not available.

Oh, and: 71
posted by PontifexPrimus at 2:17 PM on April 4, 2006

I rated just at the bottom of "Heading to Geekdom" (30). Actual geek "cred"? I could bore you with it. But instead let me tell you how proud I am that I don't have a camera phone, don't own any recent gaming consoles, don't watch broadcast or cable TV, and believe that "I have a PAPER MAP in the glove compartment" is a legitimate answer to one of those earlier questions.

PS here's the secret cheat code for the quiz: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11977271?pg=22&score=31337#anc_nwk_060323_geekpage
posted by jepler at 2:21 PM on April 4, 2006

That quiz isn't a waste of time at all. It's a marketing survey and you just provided MSNBC with valuable information for free about what gadgets you own and how you use them. Suckers.
posted by 2sheets at 2:37 PM on April 4, 2006

A much better geek test.
posted by sonofsamiam at 2:47 PM on April 4, 2006

This isn't a very good test. For one thing not only did we give them demographic data but we also gave them tons of page impressions for all their ads. For another thing, is there some reason why we can't program and play with gadgets? Also, 46.
posted by Songdog at 2:59 PM on April 4, 2006

sonofsamiam, according to your test, I am a "Total Geek." I feel pretty.
posted by brundlefly at 3:07 PM on April 4, 2006

1. To answer the couple of people who asked why this was posted at all - I posted it not just because it's a lousy quiz, but because it epitomizes the way many people today view geekiness - a sort of stylish, hip, lifestyle of owning and using new consumer toys and associated pop culture. The word used to mean someone wearing freebie tech company T-shirts that hadn't been washed in a while who had stayed up all night writing some obscure program that's not interesting to anyone else. Today it means someone with stylish eyeglass frames who owns a slim new laptop and works in coffeeshops.

2. jepler wins this thread, for that 'secret cheat code' URL. (keswick is a close second with the timeline graphic.)
posted by splitpeasoup at 3:12 PM on April 4, 2006

My God I MUST find our how geeky I am!
*fumes*
posted by Smedleyman at 3:13 PM on April 4, 2006

It's okay, guys. You're all geeky.
posted by thirteenkiller at 3:34 PM on April 4, 2006

But ... is there a Cowboy Neal option? No geek quiz is complete without one.
posted by nlindstrom at 3:42 PM on April 4, 2006

Jesus H Christ, the FPPs have been bad today. I mean wow. I'm gonna go read the matthewchen thread again.
posted by spiderwire at 3:53 PM on April 4, 2006

I think I broke it. It gave me my score as an exponent and told me to move out of my grandma's basement.
posted by loquacious at 3:54 PM on April 4, 2006

It's a marketing survey and you just provided MSNBC with valuable information for free

Yes...they presented me with a list of books I wouldn't read in a pink fit & I had to choose one. They presented me with a list of movies I wouldn't wipe my ass with & I chose one. They presented me with comic books. Unfortunately, I consider anybody over the age of seven who reads comics to be somewhat of a moron. Still, I had to choose one. Great market research information!
posted by UbuRoivas at 4:17 PM on April 4, 2006

Fuh. I scored 18 and they tell me I'm
"Stuck in the last century". Not bad for someone with a desktop in London, three laptops in New York, daily internet use, an IT professional for 25 years yada yada...

I think it may be the fact that I despise cellphones, television, 99.9% of modern computer games, crap modern sci-fi and Lord of the Rings which saved me. I mean let me down.
posted by Decani at 4:24 PM on April 4, 2006

Unfortunately, I consider anybody over the age of seven who reads comics to be somewhat of a moron.

Are you fucking with Seth Cohen?
posted by cillit bang at 4:31 PM on April 4, 2006

Crap quiz:

9. Which game system are you playing most often today?
None
Xbox 360
PlayStation Portable
PlayStation 2
Holding out for PS3 or Nintendo Revolution
Analog (wood) chess set

Yeah, because those are the only options in the console market right now.

Also, can't i have Mac and Windows and a home built linux box?

Also, while i don't have a VoIP phone, i spend all day doing administration on them (hence me not having a VoIP phone).

[i scored a 59... Bah!]
posted by quin at 4:34 PM on April 4, 2006

Unfortunately, I consider anybody over the age of seven who reads comics to be somewhat of a moron.

The man ain't got no culture.

The quiz asked me which video game I would most like to have on a desert island, and I answered World of Warcraft. I've never played WoW, and have no intention of starting, but it was the only MMORPG on the list, which would allow me to contact someone who could get me off the freakin' island!
posted by Faint of Butt at 4:35 PM on April 4, 2006

Faint of Butt writes "The quiz asked me which video game I would most like to have on a desert island, and I answered World of Warcraft. I've never played WoW, and have no intention of starting, but it was the only MMORPG on the list, which would allow me to contact someone who could get me off the freakin' island!"

You missed the point: it was a bit of a trick question. You see, there's no electricity on a desert island (and let's just forget about internet connectivity!), so you're not going to be playing the game. You should have picked the option that gave you the most survival resources. For example, documentation and paper packaging makes good kindling, so go for a computer game over a console game, etc.
posted by mr_roboto at 4:40 PM on April 4, 2006

96 - I am a consumer whore...
posted by Derek at 4:42 PM on April 4, 2006

Unfortunately, I consider anybody over the age of seven who reads comics to be somewhat of a moron.

The man ain't got no culture.

Well, I have yet to read a comic or graphic novel praised as being intelligent, sophisticated, literary or adult, and not come out thinking "that was about as profound as a bunch of 12YOs at a slumber party having a deep-and-meaningful conversation..."

/derail
posted by UbuRoivas at 5:35 PM on April 4, 2006

10 years in IT and a 30 on the test. I suppose that I should go buy a PSP and an xBox360 or go get a job in marketing.

/Scored 43% on sonofsamiam's link.
posted by cmfletcher at 5:53 PM on April 4, 2006

To me a geek is a funny-looking non-athletic guy who bites the heads off chickens. And I should know.
posted by davy at 6:43 PM on April 4, 2006

Score of 31. Apparently like most of you, not owning and utilizing a bunch of pointless shit makes me too hip to be a geek.

I also thought the question that asked you what browser you used was a tad humerous since it had an option for Safari and I couldn't get the damn quiz to load with Safari.
posted by slip81 at 6:50 PM on April 4, 2006

8. Which of these devices have you connected to your TV?

I watch tv maybe 3 hours a week. Why would I plug a box into it?
posted by delmoi at 6:58 PM on April 4, 2006

Score of 31. Apparently like most of you, not owning and utilizing a bunch of pointless shit makes me too hip to be a geek.

I guess. I got 30, the one pointless thing I did have was a GPS reciver.
posted by delmoi at 7:02 PM on April 4, 2006

AHAHAH, jepler wins the thread
posted by delmoi at 7:09 PM on April 4, 2006

I got 33% on sonofsamiam's test, That's a "total geek" but very close to a "major geek"
posted by delmoi at 7:25 PM on April 4, 2006

Well, I have yet to read a comic or graphic novel praised as being intelligent, sophisticated, literary or adult, and not come out thinking "that was about as profound as a bunch of 12YOs at a slumber party having a deep-and-meaningful conversation..."

How about Gaiman's Sandman?
posted by dd42 at 7:41 PM on April 4, 2006

quin : "Yeah, because those are the only options in the console market right now."

No shit. Where's my damn gamecube? I put "waiting for Revolution" because that was the closest I could get.
posted by graventy at 7:44 PM on April 4, 2006

You only get three points if you wrote your own browser!
It should be worth at least 6.
posted by grex at 7:49 PM on April 4, 2006

delmoi wrote: I got 33% on sonofsamiam's test.

Uh-oh. I got 42 point four something. Plus I'm sure I deserve another five or ten percent for actually taking the time to complete the damn thing. Oh well. We all know why we're here.
posted by Songdog at 7:55 PM on April 4, 2006

How about Gaiman's Sandman?

Sandman's OK - I actually own a Sandman book. But I really didn't want to spark a literature v comics debate, so...

...it may not be surprising if various IT pros score low on the geek index. After all, a lot of us who sit in front of computers most of the day can think of nothing we would want to do *less* than sit in front of computers all night. I'd much rather go for a surf, play some pool up at the pub or catch a band or movie than fuck around with technology at home.
posted by UbuRoivas at 8:20 PM on April 4, 2006

From the article:
Current rating: 1.5 [of 5] by 4299 users

Truly, this is the best of the web!

Sandman's OK - I actually own a Sandman book.

So... you weren't really telling the truth then? Or you think that Sandman is "about as profound as a bunch of 12YOs at a slumber party"? I'm confused.

But I really didn't want to spark a literature v comics debate

...you expected to say that "comics are for 7 year olds" on this site in this thread and that it would just slide? Hm.
posted by spiderwire at 8:27 PM on April 4, 2006

You know, I'm a visual kinda guy. The picture they provided at the beginning of the test alone was an immediate indication of "Ah, craptacular crappity crap. Oh, wait, MSNBC. That's how I actually definie craptacular crappity crap."
posted by smallerdemon at 9:32 PM on April 4, 2006

So... you weren't really telling the truth then? Or you think that Sandman is "about as profound as a bunch of 12YOs at a slumber party"? I'm confused.

But I really didn't want to spark a literature v comics debate

...you expected to say that "comics are for 7 year olds" on this site in this thread and that it would just slide? Hm.

Forgive the literary snobbery. Perhaps some comics don't suck ;) Nasty habit of using gross generalisations.
posted by UbuRoivas at 11:03 PM on April 4, 2006

Perhaps some comics don't suck ;)

Welcome back to the light!

Speaking of comics for 7-year-olds... I realized the other day that my concepts of inertia, friction, and national sovereignty (seriously) are all derived from Scrooge McDuck comics. For real. I was thinking of writing an FPP about them if they're archived anywhere -- which, knowing Disney, they're not.
posted by spiderwire at 1:00 AM on April 5, 2006

I'm confused. Sandman is a comic book. Saying it isn't would be like saying Anna Karenina isn't a novel, because Danielle Steel also writes novels. Comic books are a medium/genre (in the wide sense of genre), not a quality measure.

Personally, I was thinking of Wil Eisner's A Contract with God. No one, no matter how skeptical or anti-SF&F could ever claim those stories were anything but brilliant and powerful.
posted by jb at 1:29 AM on April 5, 2006

I'm confused. Sandman is a comic book. Saying it isn't would be like saying Anna Karenina isn't a novel, because Danielle Steel also writes novels.

Tolstoy was the Steel of the 19th century. Sandman *is* a comic book. There are certainly intelligent comic books, and I am an idiot for suggesting otherwise. On the whole, however, I think it is a genre in which high quality is the exception to the norm, much like sci-fi, fantasy or anime movies. *ducks ;)

A Contract with God? - will try to find (2nd hand, natch)
posted by UbuRoivas at 3:07 AM on April 5, 2006

'high quality is the exception to the norm'

Kind of like movies, music, literature, photography and fine art.
posted by slimepuppy at 3:23 AM on April 5, 2006

Comics are a medium, not a genre. Saying that comics suck is like saying that "novels suck" or "movies suck". Superhero comics dominate the medium because they sell better than other things, but there are plenty of exceptions that should surpass anyone's criteria for unsuckiness: Maus by Art Spiegelman (failed to suck so much that it won a Pulitzer), Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis, Alan Moore's From Hell and even our beloved Sandman.
posted by vraxoin at 7:40 AM on April 5, 2006

illovich writes "I'm so geeky that the article didn't render correctly in my browser."

No kidding. I had to fire up IE in a VMWare session to get the thing to load.

quin writes "9. Which game system are you playing most often today?
"None
"Xbox 360
"PlayStation Portable
"PlayStation 2
"Holding out for PS3 or Nintendo Revolution
"Analog (wood) chess set

"Yeah, because those are the only options in the console market right now."

Had to go with the PS2 'cause that's the only choice that allows you to play NetHack.

I got a 45 on this test but only because after the second question implying mandatory camera phone ownership I tried to game the quiz.
posted by Mitheral at 8:35 AM on April 5, 2006

On viewing this thread, I got this ad:


posted by ninjew at 9:35 AM on April 5, 2006

It asks whether you would take Star Wars: A New Hope to a deserted island, but it fails to distinguish between the original and the special edition.
posted by bingo at 9:50 AM on April 5, 2006

What Special Edition?
posted by keswick at 11:46 AM on April 5, 2006

This thing makes me want to hack a script that will submit random answers to the questions in order to skew their data.
posted by elderling at 11:54 AM on April 5, 2006