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Oh you also know you are a geek if you know that the concept of a software program error refers back to 1842 and also a lady, by the name of Ada Byron, who upon analizing the code for an analytical engine, and the problem was that the engine was supposed to compute data that was not yet entered in the software, so in her diary she refers to the error and formatting of the punch cards... mmmm computerhistorylicious :hihi:

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You know you are a geek if you know that that girl invented the first high-level programming language (Grace Hopper, AKA "the Mother of Cobol").
Very undermentioned in most histories, IMHO, “Amazing” Grace Hopper.

 

You know you’re not merely a geek, but an geek's geek, when you know (without wikipedia assistance) that the first compiled language was not FORTRAN, but A-0 (which, AFAIK, had purely numeric source code). You are a stupendous geek if you’ve actually even seen A-0 source code.

 

You’re a transcendental geek if you’re publicly or secretly sympathetic to the position allegedly expressed by von Neumann to John Backus concerning compilers, to whit that a competent programmer doesn’t needs them, and would do better to concentrate on the program, not the programming tool.

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You know you are a geek when you understand most, if not all, of these game references.

Clock Suckers: Game Over - CollegeHumor video http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1768570 (Explicit Language)

You are a geek with good humor when you laugh throughout most of it. ;)

 

You know you are a geek when you programmed helicopter games on a C64 in 1988.

You could be known to be a geek if you disassembled a computer (286) at age 12 to muffle the modem speaker with toilet paper so you and your friend could connect to a local BBS and play Yankee Trader (without the parents waking up). :doh::);):hihi::cup:

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You know you're a geek when you're first computer was an 8060 (SC/MP II) chip wired up with a row of 8 buttons, a row of 8 red LEDs and a button for next machine cycle and...... no PROM nor RAM. ;) The design I had found on Wireless World envisioned 256 bytes of static RAM and a switch from single cycle to free run once ya loaded the friggin' program in byte by byte, but I had wire that wasn't good enough for so much dense point soldering. I was having nightmares after trying to get the RAM chip in. :)

 

BTW, another digression: does the pronunciation of geek vary regionally? Do people in different places say the 'g' in the two different English ways? I tend to think of it as in "Gee that's cool!" or gem, gin, George etc. because the other way seems so cacophonic.

 

"there are only two kinds of salesmen you'll find in a computer store: 'experts' and 'novices' and the amount of experience separating the two is three months."
Actually, in cases like Alex's story the salespeople often know damn well, but have reasons to sway the customer's choice.
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It's not enough just to know you're a geek though. You need to compute your geek code to show just how much of a geek you are. Here is the last one I did for example. It's a couple of years out of date though.

 

BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK

Version: 3.1

GO d- s+:+>: a+ C++(+++) UL++> P+++ L++ E- W++ N++ |o K w O+ M? V? PS+++ PE Y+ PGP+ t+ 5 X++ R+ tv b+ DI++ D+ G e+ h---- r+++ z+++

END GEEK CODE BLOCK

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Craig, if you were hinting that i used Wiki, i didn't, actually some of the info is in my book for the OS class, such as the exact date of 1842 (i referenced back), but i do actually tell people including some of my programming teachers and many other geeky people that the first programming error recorded was sometime in the mid 1800, and that the problem was due to the possibility of not having all data entered before it was supposed to be processed. (is there even a wiki article on it, because i'd definitely like to read it? wait, its wiki, ofcourse there is :evil: its wiki...)

 

C1ay, terrible mistake with the code, you are just not geeky enough :hihi: yet...

 

I tried to compile it, and the GNU Geek+++ compiler returned an error:

 

Error: Version number parsing modulator returned an exception at 0x45F84A9: String too simplistic!

 

it points to line

Version: 3.1

 

oh, what a terrible Geekplusplusplus mistake, that many beginners make :D ...

its supposed to look something like this:

Version: 3.12-5.32.b3-rc6b654-2

That is consistent (translation of the relase for those who need translation: major version 3, sub version 12 and a half, bug fix 32, beta 3, release candidate 6, build 654, try 2.)

 

:P

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You know you are a geek when you are in the CIT (computer information technology) exploratory and some of the kids say that you taught them more about computers than the teacher taught them. :-P

 

(i go to a vocational tech school and when you first go there (in 9th grade) for the shop week you experience a shop you want each week)

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been there, done that theory.

 

You know you are a geek when you have learned more computer stuff on your own then the entire educational system has ever taught you.

 

You know you are a geek if you can speak more computer programming languages then real ones (and you speak at least 3).

 

You know you are a geek if you have ever attended high level classes that you can teach (like Operating Systems, or microprocessor design)

 

You know you are a geek if you can tell exactly what happens in an episode of futurama, in under 3 seconds of watching any of them from any place.

 

You know you are a geek if you can quote futurama down to what part of the episode the quote was given...

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You know, geekdom isn't just for you computer people. :naughty:

 

As an amateur naturalist, here are my geek criteria, according to my family.

 

You know you are a geek when you own the best pair of chest waders you could afford, but you don't hunt or fish.

 

You know you area a geek when your travel kit includes a regular fish net, a fine mesh fish net, collection vials, rubber gloves, insect repellant, a portable microscope, and a number of animal identification books.

 

You know you are a geek when you own 4 microscopes, but you are a stay at home woman, with no kids or scientific training.

 

You know you are a geek when you bring home mud samples from the local lake/river/puddle, and set it up in a jar, add water, and wait to see what creatures appear.

 

You know you are a geek when you know the taxonomical names of each of the species of fish in your aquarium.

 

You know you are a geek when you feel you absolutely must prove your geekness in a topic that was not at all about your brand of geekiness!

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