Are you a nerd? Prove it.

Kraint wrote:

I am using a hand-built clock radio as a paperweight right now.

I take it you didn't build it very well.

shihonage wrote:

Normal people spend their free time having fun. I spend it making a post-apocalyptic RPG.

That's not having fun?

wordsmythe wrote:
shihonage wrote:

Normal people spend their free time having fun. I spend it making a post-apocalyptic RPG.

That's not having fun?

Not if you aren't a nerd

Not proof, but an inference. The look of perplexity I receive when I answer the question "What did you think of the game last night?" with either "What game?" or "I don't follow sports."

That, and every once in a while during arguments I break out modus ponens as a shibboleth with the hope that the other person is conversant in propositional calculus so we don't have to waste time on basics. People seem to find this vastly less objectionable than the not following sports thing.

I have taught myself several esoteric programming languages for fun.
I programmed an AI to play an ancient Viking board game as part of an independent project when I was in University.
In high school me and a few friends created our own marching band that only played one song: a medley of several themes from Super Mario Brothers.
I could go on, but I think that's probably sufficient proof of my nerdiness.

I'm not claiming that I can compete with you lot on this, but I derive mathematical identities for fun when I'm bored. Quadratic solution, pythagoras, sin/cos sum of angles, pseudoinverse, stuff like that. Nothing particularly challenging, but it's 13 years since I left university and I want to keep it up to date. Just in case.

When certain gaming websites go down, I go into organ failure.

I search Youtube for sex clips from Mass Effect and Fable 2.

Years ago, I wrote the server-side and script code and managed the server hardware for the original version of Yahoo! Personals. Wish I had screenshots of the older version--it's very different now.

When people asked me what I did for a living, I said "I write software that helps people get together and have sex. What better job could there be?"

I can´t compete with most of what has been said, but I´ll give it a shot.

I am (or used to be) a Games Workshop Outrider. That means I teach others to be as nerdy as me by teaching them Warhammer, W40K or LotR. I also have read most books published about the 40K universe.

I own all seasons of Stargate SG1, Stargate Atlantis, Futurama, Firefly, DS9, TNG and Voyager.

Oh, and I have five different, fully painted armies for 40K...

doubtingthomas396 wrote:

The difference is the fact that, while both the geek and the nerd don't fit in well, the geek doesn't care and the nerd does'nt know.

Fixed...

Oh, and on-topic: 3.14159265358979323846264338327. Yes, from memory. No, I have no good reason for knowing it.

I can also recite the alphabet backwards. While drunk. You know, just in case...

wordsmythe wrote:
shihonage wrote:

Normal people spend their free time having fun. I spend it making a post-apocalyptic RPG.

That's not having fun?

Making a game is a rather soul-crushing affair.

merphle wrote:

I can also recite the alphabet backwards. While drunk. You know, just in case...

So can I!

Sarcophagus wrote:

Also, I've owned a lot of computers. Here was the first:
IMAGE(http://lh6.ggpht.com/_nnXImM4xss0/SQo4F7JcTiI/AAAAAAAAAdA/TxMmYEnsbYQ/young%20mark%20old%20computer.jpg)

You owned an invisible computer? Cool!

I always equated nerd-dom with being book smart, math whiz / engineering types. Geeks were techno-whores and gadget junkies (a wee bit of engineer in there, but of a different sort), while Dorks were the D&D, choose-your-own-adventure reading, computer game playing social outcasts.

Given that classification system, I am most definitely a Geek/Dork (Gork? Deek?) with very little Nerd.

I suppose that the dorkiest indicator I have, outside of my RPG books, is my replica Glamdring sword on the wall.

I don't have photos handy, but i own 12 Lightsaber replicas of varying quality...

That's my nerd card

I met my husband online -- in 1987. I was a Microsoft MVP (Visual C++/MFC). I play medieval music from original notation. Our house contains more computers than people. I have an amateur radio license. (I'm sure there are more signs, but those are the nerdiest things that come to mind right now.)

I spent the afternoon writing a web app to display my music library/wishlist in a pretty table.

Of course, it ballooned out of control and culminated in hours spent on CSS styling, adding API calls to Amazon, and other fine examples of overengineering a personal project of limited use.

Ranger Rick wrote:

Oh, and as for proof that I'm a nerd? My license plate:

IMAGE(http://gallery.raccoonfink.com/d/1588-7/aaa.jpg)

'nuff said.

I nominate Ranger Rick as a winner.

Also, I've owned a lot of computers. Here was the first:
IMAGE(http://s4.tinypic.com/33jliqt.jpg)

Ranger Rick, I have license plate envy.

HedgeWizard wrote:

I always equated nerd-dom with being book smart, math whiz / engineering types. Geeks were techno-whores and gadget junkies (a wee bit of engineer in there, but of a different sort), while Dorks were the D&D, choose-your-own-adventure reading, computer game playing social outcasts.

Given that classification system, I am most definitely a Geek/Dork (Gork? Deek?) with very little Nerd.

I suppose that the dorkiest indicator I have, outside of my RPG books, is my replica Glamdring sword on the wall.

No need for factionalism. Unite.