A Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

Tag: random cogitation

Geeks and Our Eclectic Hobbies

blizzcon-geek-is

Chris Metzen at Blizzcon 2010 telling us what it means to be a Geek

How many geeks do you know and what hobbies do you assume they have? If you are a geek, you’re not allowed to answer that question. I’m sure when one thinks of the geeks they know they probably assume computers, video games and/or books are their hobbies. You’re probably right, those are likely among their hobbies but most of us are probably ADD or ADHD and often have far more eclectic tastes outside our [presumed] nerdy sphere.

You might actually be surprised to learn that we do have hobbies outside the typical nerdy genres and a lot of them might actually be outdoors (despite our fears of the daystar‘s brimstone). Personally I’m really into grilling (if you couldn’t tell by my frequent posts about my grilling exploits). I have other geek friends that work on their cars or are actually pretty good carpenters. Now these hobbies do come with some of our geeky idiosyncrasies. We can become quite OCD about the details of said hobby and, of course, if there is a gadget, app or any kind of tech which can be incorporated into our hobbies, well “Holy Frak” that’s an Epic Win! I know there are several geeks out there that are really into fitness (i.e. exercise, running, etc) thanks to gadgets like Fitbit. I know I probably make as much of an effort to go for a walk as I would to make time for video games and/or reading.

Most of us don’t have these other hobbies in hopes of earning awards or other accolades, we’re just into it because, in some way, they still engage our analytical mind. It’s the problem solving or puzzle of the activity that intrigues us; or maybe it’s just different from our other everyday activities (especially if we are stuck behind a computer most of the day for our jobs). It’s probably our love for technology that helps us with our hobbies; it allows us to research and adapt our solutions in hopes of perfecting each project.

Now, if you are a geek, what are some of your out-of-the-[computer]-box hobbies?

minion_keboard_smI could get so much more accomplished if I only had minions!

TV Is Marvel-ous!

marvelFirst it was Vampires – post-Buffy vampires. Television networks and production studios became obsessed with vampires (thanks to Stephenie Meyer). Vampires are cool, except for the kind that sparkle *shudder*. Then “The Walking Dead”, “World War Z”, “Day Z”, etc; i.e. zombies! Zombies are much more interesting than vampires (except for iZombie, that show didn’t make sense, from a zombie canon perspective).

During the obsession with the undead Marvel was producing comic-movie-after-comic-movie, culminating in the first Avengers movie and Captain America: The First Avenger. Then the dam burst and the flood waters of Marvel super heroes started spilling forth not only more movies, but TV series as well. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Carter, Daredevil and I believe there are more to come. I know DC has been trying to do the same thing with Gotham, Flash, Arrow, etc, but the Marvel shows have been doing something quite unique. All the shows and movies are linked. Events that happen in a movie will somehow directly or indirectly tie back into one of the shows (and vice-versa). This is something even Star Trek couldn’t keep consistent with all the TV series and movies.

I think its actually quite clever and brilliant marketing. I watched Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. just before Avengers: Age of Ultron came out and I immediately wanted to see the movie after that episode. The other thing the writers of the show do quite well is not to spoil the movies in the episodes that follow the movie’s release. I have yet to see The Dark World, and I know there have been references to the movie in an episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. but they didn’t say anything that gave anything away.

I know I’m probably the biased fanboy, and now all the Twi-hards get an opportunity to roll their eyes, but I really love the new comic content. Granted a few movies have been a little less than stellar (ex: the first Hulk movie), but I’ve been enjoying all of the TV series. Keep up the good work!

minion_keboard_smI could get so much more accomplished if I only had minions!

Tired of Waiting

clock_waitIf you have been following along at home then you know that we are expecting. She (it’s a girl) was due April 3rd and here it is April 9th and she still doesn’t seem like she’s ready to come out. We are starting to look at the possibility to induce labor.

Of course when you are expecting a baby the cliches and colloquialisms come pouring out (better get use to not sleeping. check. better get use to not having any free time. already have too much, check. etc). The part that nobody tells you about is how frustrating it is to have to wait. I’m not someone that likes to sit around with nothing to do when I know something big is about to happen. I feel like we have done all we can to be ready for this baby, now we just need the baby.

I hate waiting, I really do. I think what makes its worse is this just perpetuates my wife’s discomfort. She can rarely find a comfortable place to sit, she pretty much has to lay down in very specific positions so her back will stop hurting. Sitting at her computer is right out. Sleeping comfortably is also a challenge. I’d have to concur with something she said the other day; what, about being pregnant, do most women seem to enjoy about it?

Anyhow, it’s just a meandering thought. It’s not going to be a common occurrence for me to post a lot about the impending munchkin; that will be predominately on the family website.

/cheers

Biggs On: Taking A Lunch

Biggs OnThe average work day is 8-to-5 where normally people (usually on salary) will take an hour for lunch. I never take an hour for lunch. In fact, I rarely even take a lunch at all. Personally, I can finish eating in about 10-15 minutes (normally because 98% of the time I bring my lunch). If I take an actual lunch then I am sitting around doing nothing for 15-45 minutes. I find that not only excruciatingly boring but extremely unproductive (unless I have good company).

In fact, on days where I am in complete problem-solving-mode, my brain doesn’t stop coding or analyzing even when I am sitting away from the computer. It doesn’t make sense to me to deprive my brain of coding opportunities when I can be so much more productive if I remain at my desk.

I do find the occasional half-hour to hour lunch to be refreshing especially on those rough days where nothing seems to work and the world is clearly “just out to get you”. Honestly though, if I’m really on a roll, I would rather just eat my lunch while I keep coding, stopping only to take a bite or maybe nuke my food.

Honestly I think this works out great to my benefit as a consultant. Since clients pay for me by the hour then not taking a lunch, or a shortened lunch, results in a shorter day for me. Otherwise it can result in working more than 8 hours a day. I’m sure that can get expensive.

What about you? Do you always take your full allotted lunch time, or do you just work through it and try to leave a little early?

What Happened to “Frag”?

I’m an old school gamer. I started on Super Mario Brothers and Sonic the Hedgehog. I graduated from console gaming to PC gaming when I went to college and I began with first person shooters like Half-Life and, of course, the infamous Quake. Quake was the game everyone played at LAN parties, no matter what the latest gaming fad was at the time. It was a staple.

As is common in every gaming community, Quake players developed various colloquial expressions. The most common word among the nomenclature was “frag”. There were t-shirts, bumper stickers, and various other paraphernalia that donned various phrases using the word. If you are not familiar with the word “frag” it meant that when you killed someone, or you were killed, you weren’t just mortally wounded; usually fragged meant your death was a grisly explosion or dismemberment that left parts of you scattered about. The MMO genre doesn’t have such graphic fatalities so, I think, “frag” loosely evolved into the word “pwn”.

Personally I like frag better and I wish there was a way to bring it back. The fact is MMO gamers have already established their own set of colloquial expressions so introducing a new term would be very difficult. Also, the games themselves would need to properly reflect what it meant to frag, or be fragged, when a player dies. Somehow I can see such macabre graphics being met with much opposition once the ESRB became involved. If the ESRB rating is too mature it could adversely impact the sales of the game.

Personally I think introducing these kinds of deaths to an MMO would be pretty cool. Sometimes such visual indications of victory can make you feel extremely triumphant. Maybe one day an MMO will come along that has this feature, and maybe one already exists that I just haven’t played yet. Either way, it was a fun trip down memory lane and reminiscing about Quake has made me want to go dig up my old install disks.

(P.S. The image I used for this post is the iconic image used by Penguin Computing who are known for delivering high-performance computing solutions.)

Cheers!

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