From Wired – 100 Essential Skills for Geeks

UPDATE: I regularly check to see what search terms bring people to this site. Apparently lots of people are copying phrases from the list below and pasting them into Google to try to find the answers. Sorry, but I think that should automatically disqualify you for Geekdom. If you can’t phrase a search properly, you don’t belong.

Story continues…

Wired.com solicited input from its Twitter followers to compile a list of 100 Essential Skills for Geeks. I decided to see how I stack up with their list, and see just how much of a geek I am. (OK, I keep a blog. That should be a dead giveaway.)

To score myself, I’m going to use Wired’s guidelines, which state that…

Like all good Geeks you should be able to utilize resources to accomplish any of these things. Knowing where to look for the knowledge is as good as having it so give yourself points if you are certain that you could Google the knowledge necessary for a skill.

With that in mind, even though I may not personally have done one of these items, I may still give myself credit. Here’s the list, along with my annotations…

1. 1. Properly secure a wireless router. – yep, have to do it all the time.
   2. Crack the WEP key on a wireless router. – not sure I could do this one by myself, but I’m sure I might be able to find a routine online to do it.
   3. Leech Wifi from your neighbor. – Yep, this I’ve done especially before my sis-in-law broke down and got DSL.
   4. Screw with Wifi leeches. – I can think of several ways
   5. Setup and use a VPN. – Use a VPN all the time, and keep yourself updated all time with Anonymania VPN news.
   6. Work from home or a coffee shop as effectively as you do at the office. – That’s what a VPN is for.
   7. Wire your own home with Ethernet cable. – Did wireless at home, but I’ve drawn up wiring plans for at least ten major school construction projects.
   8. Turn a web camera into security camera. – Easily done.
   9. Use your 3G phone as a Wi-Fi access point. – Don’t have a 3G phone, but I think I can do this.
   10. Understand what €œThere€™s no Place Like 127.0.0.1€³ means. – localhost, anyone?

1. Identify key-loggers. -done
2. Properly connect a TV, Tivo, XBox, Wii, and Apple TV so they all work together with the one remote. done
3. Program a universal remote. done
4. Swap out the battery on your iPod/iPhone. – haven’t had to try.
5. Benchmark Your Computer – could do it.
6. Identify all computer components on sight. – pretty much.
7. Know which parts to order from NewEgg.com, and how to assemble them into a working PC. – not that I want to build my own computer, but I’ve played this game.
8. Troubleshoot any computer/gadget problem, over the phone. – the problem with having an IT job is that folks as you to do this all the time.
9. Use any piece of technology intuitively, without instruction or prior knowledge. – well maybe not any, but I can catch on quickly.
10. How to irrecoverably protect data. DVD’s
11. Recover data from a dead hard drive. Again, had to do this multiple times.
12. Share a printer between a Mac and a PC on a network. – I now have both a Mac and PCs on my home network, and they share three printers.
13. Install a Linux distribution. (Hint: Ubuntu 9.04 is easier than installing Windows) – I’ve got several Linux machines running.
14. Remove a virus from a computer. – Hey, I work in a school environment.
15. Dual (or more) boot a computer. – Done
16. Boot a computer off a thumb drive. – Done
17. Boot a computer off a network drive. – Done
18. Replace or repair a laptop keyboard. – Done
19. Run more than two monitors on a single computer. – Do it all the time.
20. Successfully disassemble and reassemble a laptop. – Done
21. Know at least 10 software easter eggs off the top of your head. – I’ll have to use the Google rule on this one.
22. Bypass a computer password on all major operating systems – Don’t know if I could do this
23. Carrying a computer cleaning arsenal on your USB drive. – A necessary tool in my environment
24. Bypass content filters on public computers. – Proxies, anyone?
25. Protect your privacy when using a public computer. Anonymizers with proxie.
26. Surf the web anonymously from home. Anonymizers
27. Buy a domain, configure bind, apache, MySQL, php, and WordPress without Googling a how-to. Well, that’s what this website is running.
28. Basic *nix command shell knowledge with the ability to edit and save a file with vi. OK, I’d have to look this one up’
29. Create a web site using vi. Same as 38
30. Transcode a DVD to play on a portable device. – Done
31. Hide a File Behind a JPEG. – lookup
32. Share a single keyboard and mouse between multiple computers without a KVM switch. do it all the time
33. Google obscure facts in under 3 searches. Bonus point if you can use I Feel Lucky. Do it all the time.
34. Build amazing structures with LEGO and invent a compelling back story for the creation. All I need are resources.
35. Understand that it is LEGO, not Lego, Legos, or Lego€™s. Yep
36. Build a two story house out of LEGO, in monochrome, with a balcony. See 44.
37. Construct a costume for you or your kid out of scraps, duct tape, paper mâché, and imagination. Done that.
38. Be able to pick a lock. OK, I’m not counting this one
39. Determine the combination of a Master combination padlock in under 10 minutes. …ro this one.
40. Assemble IKEA furniture without looking at the instructions. Bonus point if you don€™t have to backtrack. I don’t own any IKEA.
41. Use a digital SLR in full manual mode. Nikon D50 with old Nikon lenses all the time.
42. Do cool things to Altoids tins. Geocache containers, etc.
43. Be able to construct paper craft versions of space ships. Not a space ship, but I’ve built a working paper-craft Trebuchet catupult
44. Origami! Bonus point for duct tape origami. (Ductigami) – user to be pretty good at it.
45. Fix anything with duct tape, chewing gum and wire. Works great for camping.
46. Knowing how to avoid being eaten by a grue. l. turn on lantern.
47. Know what a grue is. Zork
48. Understand wherre XYZZY came from, and have used it. OK, I’m getting tired of notations, and I’ve got bunches more to go. I’ll only count from here out.
49. Play any SNES game on your computer through an emulator.
50. Burn the rope.
51. Know the Konami code, and where to use it.
52. Whistle, hum, or play on an iPhone, the Cantina song.
53. Learning to play the theme songs to the kids favorite TV shows.
54. Solve a Rubik€™s Cube.
55. Calculate THAC0.
56. Know the difference between skills and traits.
57. Explain special relativity in terms an eight-year-old can grasp.
58. Recite pi to 10 places or more. 3.14159268 – eight digits off the top of my head without looking it up. I can memorize two more.
59. Be able to calculate tip and split the check, all in your head.
60. Explain that the colours in a rainbow are roygbiv.
61. Understand the electromagnetic spectrum – xray, uv, visible, infrared, microwave, radio.
62. Know the difference between radiation and radioactive contamination.
63. Understand basic electronics components like resistors, capacitors, inductors and transistors.
64. Solder a circuit while bottle feeding an infant. (lead free solder please.)
65. The meaning of technical acronyms.
66. The coffee dash, blindfolded (or blurry eyed). Coffee <brew> [cream] [sugar]. In under a minute.
67. Build a fighting robot.
68. Program a fighting robot.
69. Build a failsafe into a fighting robot so it doesn€™t kill you.
70. Be able to trace the Fellowship€™s journey on a map of Middle Earth.
71. Know all the names of the Dwarves in The Hobbit.
72. Understand the difference between a comic book and a graphic novel.
73. Know where your towel is and why it is important.
74. Knowing the answer to life, the universe and everything.
75. Re-enact the parrot sketch. Can’t right now – I’m pining for the fjords.
76. Know the words to The Lumberjack Song. I’m OK
77. Reciting key scenes from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Ni
78. Be able to recite at least one Geek Movie word for word.
79. Know what the 8th Chevron does on a Stargate and how much power is required to get a lock. Only in Atlantis.
80. Be able to explain why it€™s important that Han shot first.
81. Know why it is just wrong for Luke and Leia to kiss.
82. Stop talking Star Wars long enough to get laid. Marry another Geek
83. The ability to name actors, characters and plotlines from the majority of sci-fi movies produced since 1968. Zardoz, anyone?
84. Cite Mythbusters when debunking a myth or urban legend.
85. Sleep with a Cricket bat next to your bed. Don’t, but know why.
86. Have a documented plan on what to do during a zombie or robot uprising.
87. Identify evil alternate universe versions of friends, family, co-workers or self.
88. Be able to convince TSA that the electronic parts you are carrying are really not a threat to passengers. Oddly enough, I’ve done this and have documented it.
89. Talk about things that aren€™t tech related.
90. Get something on the front page of Digg. Would BoingBoing suffice?

Of these items, I counted about 12 with which I would have problems. Even only being 88% geek, the fact that I used the phrase “with which” in that last sentence should seal the deal. I’m a geek.