Your First True Geek Experience

[Durandal7]

What was your first geek experience?

Mine was when I was 8 and copied about 60 lines of BASIC out of a C64 manual to get a small yellow ball to bounce around the screen. Those were the days...

[eyelikeart]

I don't really know when my first true geek experience was...

I didn't get into computers until 6 years...so I haven't had too many geek/computer experiences. I have managed to hold the top spot at this site for posts for a good number of months, created what's now known as the "Geek Fest" series of gatherings for Macrumors members...hmm...what else?

btw...B2TM was in on the Geek Fest New Orleans with me ;) :D

[Mr. Anderson]

I remember using a dumb terminal in Junior High the would connect to the main frame at the High School (late 70s) and save the Basic programs on punch tape....

That's pretty damn geeky - and I was the 3rd member of the Geek-Fest event in NOLA this summer.

D

[3777]

I was reading my local newspaper and it had a big article titled "Games for Geeks" ..........then I read the games and they were all one's I play online.........:(

[G4scott]

I'd say that my first experience was in 8th grade, when I started to learn how to program BASIC on a TI calculator while I was bored during algebra...

Now, I'm pretty good at spitting out programs for TI calculators... I even had a 3d maze :p I'm looking at computer science as a major right now. I'm currently a senior in high school, and I have tons of decisions to make...

[krossfyter]

in 5th grade we had this computer class where the plan was to get us exposed to computer early. that was like in 88 or 89 i cant remember exactly. we learned about the home keys and all that jazz and how to use the operating system and played games etc. etc.. it was an old school ibm computer.

[eyelikeart]

I took my camera out with me last night...kept getting asked if I was from out of town...he he he...

Moxie can u hear me? :D

[peterjhill]

Probably programming with my Atari 2600 basic cart. Either that or taking a basic programming class using Ti 99/4as

[Ifeelbloated]

Remember that Simpsons episode where Bart got geekified and was sitting in the classroom. He suddenly realized he was a geek; then turned to Milhouse to express his distress and Milhouse sees his reflection in Bart's coke-bottle glasses and says, "Oh no, so am I!". My realization came like that.

[szark]

I started learning about computers when my Mom was working in data entry on punch card machines (late '70s). After that I learned Basic on TRS-80, then Atari.

I wasn't at Geekfest but I did get up to watch the MWNY keynote at the Apple store at 6:00 am...

[jefhatfield]

i always fought the tendency...i was a math/science type geek in elementary school, and thru first two years of middle school, then i hung out with the stoners and cowboys in 8th grade so i would not look like such a bookworm type

in high school, i got a good sat score so i could get into an ok college and that meant i could play electric guitar and slide on four years of high school which i did

in college, instead of enrolling into the electronic engineering major which was full of geeks...there was no such thing as computer science then at the school in the way one would think of that, i went for the business major because they seemed more normal and balanced

then i rebelled, dropped out of school, got married and among my jobs, i was a tre surgeon and i got to use chain saws...but that geek side of me got into the specs of the saws more than the species of the trees i was cutting or the rules determining what trees i was allowed to cut where

i went back to business school and finished and embarked on studying more biz in grad school and i thought, cool...i will never be a geek again

i joined a dot.com to be it's mba/biz guru/vp/whatever in san jose and i was faced again with technology and a former mba told me to become a network engineer because they made more than mbas

i said, to myself, wait, that's being a geek/nerd and i spent much of my early childhood being picked on for that

now it's three years later and i am a techie and not a suit, or a musician, or a stoner, or a cowboy, and technical journals interest me more than any type of magazines these days...i guess i could say the geek/nerd part of me won

...thus the struggles of a closet geek;)

[Rower_CPU]

I'd have to say that my geekiness truly came out when I built my first PC from parts.

That was quite a love-hate experience; loving the newness and learning everything I needed to know, hating how the stuff that should be working wasn't.

After building two more systems, I realized it wasn't a limitation in my skills, but in the OS I was using: Windows.

Since then, I've become a web designer, computer technician and server administrator...and, more importantly, a Mac user.

I love the geeky aspects of troubleshooting, repair and installation of hardware, as well as OS management and server maintenance.

I'm a geek, and proud of it. :)

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by Rower_CPU
I'd have to say that my geekiness truly came out when I built my first PC from parts.

That was quite a love-hate experience; loving the newness and learning everything I needed to know, hating how the stuff that should be working wasn't.

After building two more systems, I realized it wasn't a limitation in my skills, but in the OS I was using: Windows.

Since then, I've become a web designer, computer technician and server administrator...and, more importantly, a Mac user.

I love the geeky aspects of troubleshooting, repair and installation of hardware, as well as OS management and server maintenance.

I'm a geek, and proud of it. :)

hey, rower, check out the monty python talk on power4 rumor on hardware rumors...yes, we hijacked that one

darn monty!

[teabgs]

Don't think I remember the first really....I started taking animation classes instead of playing baseball and soccer like everyone else when I was 8....does that count?

[xelterran]

owning a proteus2500, XV-5080 and turbo-phatt sound moduals - i guess that would be classed as 'geeky'. Hmmm.. reaching 100 posts on this forum :D

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by xelterran
owning a proteus2500, XV-5080 and turbo-phatt sound moduals - i guess that would be classed as 'geeky'. Hmmm.. reaching 100 posts on this forum :D

congrats on your 100:D

in the old days here, i did that congrats thing a lot to everyone that hit 100 or 500, but now so many people belong at macrumors it is mindboggling

[Backtothemac]

LOL. TRS-80 Color computer. Learned Basic. Wrote a program that made it look like I broke into the schools computer. nevermind that I had no modem. Mom did not believe me and took the system away from me until on day in the mall the guy at Radio Shack explained it to her.

Also,
Macrumors Geekfest NOLA 2002.

Represent!

[eyelikeart]

ha ha ha!! :D

that sounds like something I would have done as a kid... ;)

and representing in NOLA...oh hell yeah! :D

[Durandal7]

Originally posted by jefhatfield


congrats on your 100:D

in the old days here, i did that congrats thing a lot to everyone that hit 100 or 500, but now so many people belong at macrumors it is mindboggling

Just have to save for the 1000 marks now ,eh jef?
I noticed that duke is approaching 6000 posts :eek:

[vniow]

When I discovered internet porn! :D
J/king. Probably when I figured out that I was waaayy ahead of everybody else in my junior high computer class. I've always been a tweaker.:p

[Moxiemike]

Originally posted by eyelikeart
I took my camera out with me last night...kept getting asked if I was from out of town...he he he...

Moxie can u hear me? :D

Hehe. I've gotten that one. generally for me, a combo of digital camera, strewn about my neck, light wool pants (black), arty shirt (black) and leather bluchers, no socks.

I get the "are you european" generally followed wiht "well, if you aren't are you gay?"

People in Pittsburgh... sometimes.... i dunno.

[diorio]

My first true geek experience was when I started collecting Star Trek the Next Generation action figures. I would watch it every day after school. Then came chess club, but that didn't last that long.

[eyelikeart]

Originally posted by Moxiemike


Hehe. I've gotten that one. generally for me, a combo of digital camera, strewn about my neck, light wool pants (black), arty shirt (black) and leather bluchers, no socks.

I get the "are you european" generally followed wiht "well, if you aren't are you gay?"

People in Pittsburgh... sometimes.... i dunno.

I hear u man...I say ****** 'em if they can't take a joke! :eek: :D ;)

whatever though...I was surprised that none of the hunnies took me up on the offer for pictures...my buddy kept hitting on them and I was trying to get shots of them...harder than u imagine...

next time I'm just gonna lie and say I'm from a BIG men's magazine doing an article shoot on New Orleans nightlife ;)

[eyelikeart]

hmm...now that I'm thinking more about it...

I would have to say one of my most geeky moments was starting a thread about posting to macrumors while drunk... ;)

[evildead]

My father has a Phd in Computer Science and a masters in Math. My Mother has a masters in Math and a second masters in Computer science. And... I am working on my Computer science degree now... We all work in industry.

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by evildead
My father has a Phd in Computer Science and a masters in Math. My Mother has a masters in Math and a second masters in Computer science. And... I am working on my Computer science degree now... We all work in industry.

now those are true geek genes for sure ;)

but if my parents were both left brained like that, i would probably be an artist using oils or an actor

[Moxiemike]

Originally posted by eyelikeart


I hear u man...I say ****** 'em if they can't take a joke! :eek: :D ;)

whatever though...I was surprised that none of the hunnies took me up on the offer for pictures...my buddy kept hitting on them and I was trying to get shots of them...harder than u imagine...

next time I'm just gonna lie and say I'm from a BIG men's magazine doing an article shoot on New Orleans nightlife ;)

Dude. Maybe you should make yourself some fake business cards too-- lend to your credibility.

Say, for sample, a Maxim biz card.

I think i'll be taking some erotic pics of a certain cutie---whaddya think eye? Is that geeky?

Imagine semi-naked cutie, posing, while i shoot pics and download them to my tibook......yessssss indeedie!

Although eye, we could probably be mistaken for dorks. eeeek!

[mymemory]

Well, I have beign a geek in 4 different stages in my life.

1. When I was about 9 to 14 with my Atari ST computer, I spend every summer playing with it.

2. When I was 17 to 21 years old, all I care about was MIDI and Sampling, I was flyrting with girls explaining them MIDI and digital audio.

3. Then when I was studing Multimedia (from 22 to 24). I left most of the parties just to get to my computers and spend time in the chatrooms untils 7am.

4. I'm realizing I have been in this forums for more than a year now, it was yesterday when I was shocked by the WTC attack, I gues MR is my 4th stage of my geek life.

I'm always atrackted to become a geek. :rolleyes:

[eyelikeart]

now there's an idea...some fake business cards...could have tons of fun with that one!! :D

man...nothing like instant gratification with a Dimage 7i & a TiBook, eh?? ;)

btw...I think the chance of us not coming off as dorks is futile...or geeks for that matter...

although we ALWAYS do have the coolest toys... ;) :D :p

[Moxiemike]

Originally posted by eyelikeart
now there's an idea...some fake business cards...could have tons of fun with that one!! :D

man...nothing like instant gratification with a Dimage 7i & a TiBook, eh?? ;)

btw...I think the chance of us not coming off as dorks is futile...or geeks for that matter...

although we ALWAYS do have the coolest toys... ;) :D :p

the coolest toys and the sexiest girls. :D

[eyelikeart]

Originally posted by Moxiemike


the coolest toys and the sexiest girls. :D

hmm...this is true ;)

but be careful moxie...if u don't stop soon u will be worn out...he he he ;) :D

u should have seen me the other night out...sitting in the hatch of my car with my TiBook in my lap...downloading digital photos...

actually got a few positive comments on that one...surprisingly ;)

[dreamlance]

First geek experience: grammar school, playing around on some Apple model that I can't even remember. BASIC programming I think. Can't say I was really a geek until a few years later when my dad bought a PC and I became a junkie.

Taking Dad's advice, eh eye? ;)

[eyelikeart]

Originally posted by dreamlance
Taking Dad's advice, eh eye? ;)

yup yup...I figure if u cannot beat 'em...join 'em...

and if they can't take a joke...******* 'em ;) :D

[Moxiemike]

Originally posted by eyelikeart


yup yup...I figure if u cannot beat 'em...join 'em...

and if they can't take a joke...******* 'em ;) :D

Mine is more like "if you can beat them, subvert the living hell out of them"

:D

[Gelfin]

Oh, that's just not a fair question. My first geek experience? Probably somewhere near birth. I grew up in the southeast back when TBS was just "Channel 17," an independent station in Atlanta. Back then, it was the best station on the air. Weekends, as far as I remember, where nothing but Star Trek, Twilight Zone and Outer Limits reruns, Godzilla movies and poorly imported anime. My dad being a proto-geek (back in the day he published techniques for overclocking a Z-80 based Heathkit machine), I was indoctrinated from earlier than I can remember. I had an enormous (like, 6'x6') ascii-art Mr. Spock poster, printed in strips off an ancient 300 pound TI line printer, hanging on my bedroom wall. Geekdom for me wasn't an experience. It was my birthright.

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by Moxiemike


the coolest toys and the sexiest girls. :D

in my day, having the coolest toys and sexiest girls did not have anything in common ...girls shunned geeks and went after the "stupid" jocks...not even the smart jocks, but the ones who were really dumb

if some jock had happened to be "smart" or have an iq over 80 and still looked good, he too would get shunned...you had to be a jock, hopefully good looking, but most of all, stupid...and if you beat or abused the girls somehow, then you would be mr. popular...sick, but true from what i saw...oh, and you had to beat up geeks at lunchtime

but that was the 70s and things have hopefully changed somehow

the movie "almost famous" really reminded me of that decade...the groupies were underaged p***y being treated like a piece of meat and they didn't even realize it until they were "traded" away like some commidity to some other rock band

[scem0]

When I started trading my friends for extra computer time/when I met Mr. StarCraft. When I got the highest grades in all classes involving computers...

[eyelikeart]

well I must be a geek...I'm on Macrumors at 1:30 am on a Friday night...slightly toasted... ;)