IT Drive - Articles - Geek Out

Are you a GeeK?

no@spam.com (John Reeser) — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 07:19:56 PKT

Have you been called a Geek on occasion and you don’t think that you are a one? Here is a listing of tell tale signs that can be used as a guide to determine if you are, or are not, a Geek.

You collect funny SPAM E-mails.
You talk with your computer, and it's not because you're bored, it's because you're afraid they might be.
Your household ratio of computers to humans is at least 4:1.
You are completely free of tan lines everywhere.
When you hear 'organized sports' you think 'LAN party'
You have forgotten how to use most of your social abilities and you never used them anyway.
When you must speak with others, you speak a cryptic language of TLA's decipherable only by another geek.
No 'warranty seal' is completely safe in your presence.
You have a large box of spare cables that you will never use and you could never be convinced to part with it.
You want your 22" Trinitron CRT to be buried with you.
You understand why '42' and 'AYBABTU' are funny, and still laugh at both.
You prefer to not use the telephone.
You're always available on Friday nights. Free to play your favorite MMORPG
You consider 'Geek' a complement.
Your non geek friends think you just work computers.
When Camping in the woods, electricity and wireless access is a preferred convenience.
You have over 10 E-mail accounts, and check them all regularly.
You understand computers better than people sometimes.

Matt Cutt's Take On Paid Links

no@spam.com (Robert Charles) — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 01:02:40 PKT

Most of you are probably very familiar with Matt's take on paid links and the 'Google Perspective' thereof. For those in the dark, the mantra has always been to report paid links via the Google spam report forms, always provide a machine readable way to disclose you have paid links (e.g. redirect link or nofollow), and it is preferred to have a human readable way to disclose any paid links (e.r. label text links as paid or sponsored). Knowing that, his message in this video may be surpising.

Coinstar Hack

no@spam.com (Eric Bott) — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 06:28:50 PKT

This Coinstar hack can save you a considerable amount of uh, well, coin, the next time you drag that piggy bank up to your local grocery store to exchange its contents for a lighter form of currency...

I was browsing some of my recent del.icio.us tags trying to come up with an idea for today's Geek Out article when I came across a Coinstar hack I saw posted over at CashLoopHoles back in June. If executed correctly this nifty little trick can save you the rather greedy 9% service fee charged by Coinstar to count your change. It's possible that Coinstar has closed this loophole already so use this technique with caution. I recommend testing this hack with a small amount of change first. If you've got a pile of change lying around now's the time to to cash it in. Happy counting!

Old gadgets need love too!

no@spam.com (Eric Bott) — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 18:08:38 PKT

Do you get depressed when you see old cell phones, PDAs, and universal remotes lying around with nobody to enjoy them? Now you can help! This great service matches gadget lovers with those forgotten must-have electronic gizmos of yesteryear.

I like to call it a LASER BEAM

no@spam.com (John Reeser) — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 01:09:17 PKT

This is a great video on how to make your own Laser with only a few special parts and a minimag flashlight. Now all we need is to make a few of these and attach them to the heads of a tank full of sharks and we can feel like Dr. Evil. This video really brings out the Star Wars geek in me. Enjoy.

Mobile Phone Transformer

no@spam.com (John Reeser) — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 21:07:45 PKT

Who ever made this video knows what they're doing. There are a ton of fan-made CG Transformer clips running around the net as of late, but thise one is worth the mention. This clip of a UFO transforming into the U700 phone is a well talented use of time.

Wicked 3D Chalk Art, and The 'Making Of' Video

no@spam.com (Jeremy Monroe) — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 08:01:58 PKT

Some brilliant new pavement art from the man Julian Beever. I think his work is quite incredible and my favorite pieces of his are definitely the optical 3D illusions. A lot of work for something that just ends up washed away in the rain, but thankfully we have digital cameras. Julian Beever can be commissioned for private work, business events and advertisements doing pavement drawings, 3D illusions, wall murals, collages and paintings.

For those of you who are curious, here is the 'making of' video.

Apple's Next Big Thing

no@spam.com (Jeremy Monroe) — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 11:33:50 PKT

Found a Worth1000 Photoshop Contest while browsing the other day. Basic premise was to do up some Apple spoof products. I have to say, some of the entries are quite well done, and somehow, even strangely believable. My favorite has to be iPottie though..

Help Desk Warning - Think First

no@spam.com (Jeremy Monroe) — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 15:44:09 PKT

Finally! some true signage for the help desk area that I would be proud to display. Somehow I don't suppose my boss would like the idea, but it does convey my true feelings quite well.

For those curious, I have listed some recent scenarios where this warning should have been carried out:

Me: "What seems to be the problem?"
Customer: "When I change my font sizes, the letters change size."

and

Me: "Can you go and check if the server is working?"
Customer: "No."
Me: "What do you mean, 'no'?"
Customer: "No, I can't do that."
Me: "Why not?"
Customer: "Well, it's not there."
Me: "It's WHAT?"
Customer: "They took it away to be upgraded."

ATM using un-activated Windows

no@spam.com (Robert Charles) — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 11:16:39 PKT

OK, so your out and you need some cash from the ATM, but as it just so happens, the IT guy at the bank could not even remember to activate windows? I suppose the real question is what kind of Quality Control measures does the bank even have?

Ok, so lets be realistic for a moment here, first off, is 'Hackers Best Friend" MS Windows really the optimal choice for an operating system that spits out cash? And secondly, you would think your financial institution would know about Open Licensing by now!