Maximum PC recently ran an article titled 50 Skills Every Real Geek Should Have, I wanted to go through and see how I ranked in their skill list. Let’s find out.
1. Name the Connectors – yes I was able to :)
2. Run your essential apps on a USB stick – no I don’t do this, I could – I just prefer to run everything in the cloud or on my N810 – which is with me most of the time.
3. Straighten Pins on a CPU – I have done this too many times
4. Know the 13 basic HTML Tags – well I kinda know most of them – I use freaking wordpress I hardly need to use HTML and when I do I look it up and hav ethe answer in seconds. Though I do know quite a few by heart that aren’t listed in the basic 13.
5. Get through to executive customer service – hey I read the consumerist.
6. Beat quake in 60 minutes – maybe at one point in time, but I’m not big on FPS games.
7. Build a Hackintosh – I know how, I just don’t the components that seem to work, and I’m a cheap bastard that won’t buy parts just to run OSX - I’ll stick with ubuntu as my alternative OS.
8. Watch TV Online legally – um that’s how I watch 100% of my TV these days.
9. Get around a content filter from a public computer – yes I know how, I’ve helped friends at other companies, it’s not worth it to do it at my own job though.
10. Recite Pi to 23 decimal places – nope – I have no inclination to ever learn either.
11. Replace the controller board on a hard drive – hey I did that once, it’s not a skill that comes up at parties though.
12. Benchmark your computer – really? Is this even on this list? Yes, I was doing this before I fully understood what the benchmarks meant on my 386 DX40.
13. Decorate your room with only printer paper – am I physically in the skill set to be able to do this? Yes I am – would I? No. I’m more likely to decorate with NES cartridges.
14. Securely erase your data so it can’t be recovered – yes I am capable – it would be easier if you encrypted it first though.
15. Get into a windows computer if you don’t have a password – yes I’ve done this quite a few times.
16. Hide data from anyone – yes encryption, hidden volumes, stegnography (which I got bored with in 2001) – I am capable of doing all that – I’m more likely ot share my data then hide it though.
17. Explain what e=mc2 means – yes I would like the e=MC2 with a side of fries please – yes I am capable, but refuse to put in the details here since I want to make it through this list.
18. Abstain from buying extended warranties – I may have bought one, once – it was on something i thoguht it fall apart though – so it’s all good.
19. Use photoshop or gimp – yes I am capable.
20. Use a DSLR in full manual mode – I can – I’m just lazy and prefer it to do the work.
21. Mooch your neighbors wi-fi – my neighbor doesn’t have wi-fi but I’m ready to mooch when they do.
22. Protext your wi-fi – Wep2 currently – For a while I had mac filtering, I hated to keep getting mac addresses from visitors though.
23. Create an animated spray in Valve games – um – I don’t think I’ve played a single one for more then 5 minutes….so this one is a no.
24. Setup RAID – yes I’ve done this a few times over the years for my home network. Now implement Iscsi raid across multiple computers – that’s a challenge.
25. Calculate a Pitchers ERA – no I don’t know how – but I know google will give me the answer quicker then I can calculate it.
26. Run two Operating Systems – um I dual boot currently……
27. Install a hard drive in laptop – done before and some day I’ll do it again.
28. Pull off an elaborate prank – I think have the skill set and knowledge – I just never have – unless stealing street signs as a teenager counts.
29. Rocket jump with a macro – um – I said I don’t really do FPS games – so no I can’t do this.
30. Wire your home with ethernet – um every place I’ve lived with my wife we have had wired ethernet – we even used RG58 at one point.
31. Know the 6 most important linux commands – yes I get command not found when I’m not thinking and run them in windows.
31. Rip your CDs to Flac – we did this for awhile then went back to MP3
32. Stream Music, Movies, Pictures to any TV in the house – I’ve done this before – now we just carry our laptops around – shrug.
33. Install and configure a VM – yes I’ve done this for literally years (maybe even a decade by now)
34. Run multiple monitors – yes I use to dual monitor and run SWG on two different ones at the same time – I’m sad I know.
35. Run hacked firmware on a router – yes liek the rest of hte world I have a hacked linksys router /yawn.
36. Pick a lock – I’m not good at it, but I’ve done it a couple times.
37. Tell the difference between Dr. Pepper and Mr. Pibb – it’s been awhile but I think I could.
38. Avoid DRM on everything – well streaming video legally that they talked about above seems to contradict this one doesn’t it. However all my local video, music, picutres, and ebooks are DRM free.
39. Download a flash video and reformat it – yes I’ve done this – youtube videos locally stored on the N810 ftw.
40. Get around in DOS – I grew up and DOS and resisted windows for a long time – so let’s just say yes.
41. Rip a DVD to h.264 – yes been there done that.
42. Overclock your PC – yes I’ve done this my pride and joy was overclocking my AMD 133 mhz 486 to 160 MHZ – and it benchmarked and ran like a pentium 133 for half the cost.
43. Use remote desktop – it’s part of my job – so yes.
44. Debate the merits of a star destroyer vs. the enterprise – yes, and the star destroyer would win.
45. Buld your own computer – built too many to actually count – I’m serious to – I worked at a small PC store and we sold hundreds – thousands of machines – so I cna build my own.
In irony they don’t seem to actually have 50 things on their list – so I think most geeks should know how to count also.