100 Essential Geek Skills (My Results)

I loved the 100 Essential Geek Skills post over at GeekDad so much that I decided to count up and test myself on how geeky I am by their standard.

These are things that every geek should know or be able to do.

Below are my results. I got 85 out of the 100 skills. Not to shabby if I do say so myself.

Now be sure to reply with your own scores!

GeekDad's 100 Essential Geek Skills

[X] 1. Properly secure a wireless router.
[X] 2. Crack the WEP key on a wireless router.
[X] 3. Leech Wifi from your neighbor.
[X] 4. Screw with Wifi leeches.
[X] 5. Setup and use a VPN.
[X] 6. Work from home or a coffee shop as effectively as you do at the office.
[X] 7. Wire your own home with Ethernet cable.
[X] 8. Turn a web camera into security camera.
[X] 9. Use your 3G phone as a Wi-Fi access point.
[X] 10. Understand what “There’s no Place Like 127.0.0.1” means.
[X] 11. Identify key-loggers.
[X] 12. Properly connect a TV, Tivo, XBox, Wii, and Apple TV so they all work together with the one remote.
[X] 13. Program a universal remote.
[X] 14. Swap out the battery on your iPod/iPhone.
[X] 15. Benchmark Your Computer
[X] 16. Identify all computer components on sight.
[X] 17. Know which parts to order from NewEgg.com, and how to assemble them into a working PC.
[X] 18. Troubleshoot any computer/gadget problem, over the phone.
[X] 19. Use any piece of technology intuitively, without instruction or prior knowledge.
[X] 20. How to irrecoverably protect data.
[X] 21. Recover data from a dead hard drive.
[X] 22. Share a printer between a Mac and a PC on a network.
[X] 23. Install a Linux distribution. (Hint: Ubuntu 9.04 is easier than installing Windows)
[X] 24. Remove a virus from a computer.
[X] 25. Dual (or more) boot a computer.
[X] 26. Boot a computer off a thumb drive.
[X] 27. Boot a computer off a network drive.
[X] 28. Replace or repair a laptop keyboard.
[X] 29. Run more than two monitors on a single computer.
[X] 30. Successfully disassemble and reassemble a laptop.
[X] 31. Know at least 10 software easter eggs off the top of your head.
[X] 32. Bypass a computer password on all major operating systems. Windows, Mac, Linux
[X] 33. Carrying a computer cleaning arsenal on your USB drive.
[X] 34. Bypass content filters on public computers.
[X] 35. Protect your privacy when using a public computer.
[X] 36. Surf the web anonymously from home.
[ ] 37. Buy a domain, configure bind, apache, MySQL, php, and Wordpress without Googling a how-to.
[ ] 38. Basic *nix command shell knowledge with the ability to edit and save a file with vi.
[ ] 39. Create a web site using vi.
[X] 40. Transcode a DVD to play on a portable device.
[ ] 41. Hide a file in an image using steganography.
[X] 42. Knowing the answer to life, the universe and everything.
[X] 43. Share a single keyboard and mouse between multiple computers without a KVM switch.
[X] 44. Google obscure facts in under 3 searches. Bonus point if you can use I Feel Lucky.
[X] 45. Build amazing structures with LEGO and invent a compelling back story for the creation.
[X] 46. Understand that it is LEGO, not Lego, Legos, or Lego’s.
[X] 47. Build a two story house out of LEGO, in monochrome, with a balcony.
[X] 48. Construct a costume for you or your kid out of scraps, duct tape, paper mâché, and imagination.
[X] 49. Be able to pick a lock.
[ ] 50. Determine the combination of a Master combination padlock in under 10 minutes.
[X] 51. Assemble IKEA furniture without looking at the instructions. Bonus point if you don’t have to backtrack.
[X] 52. Use a digital SLR in full manual mode.
[X] 53. Do cool things to Altoids tins.
[X] 54. Be able to construct paper craft versions of space ships.
[X] 55. Origami! Bonus point for duct tape origami. (Ductigami)
[X] 56. Fix anything with duct tape, chewing gum and wire.
[X] 57. Knowing how to avoid being eaten by a grue.
[X] 58. Know what a grue is.
[X] 59. Understand where XYZZY came from, and have used it.
[X] 60. Play any SNES game on your computer through an emulator.
[X] 61. Burn the rope.
[X] 62. Know the Konami code, and where to use it.
[X] 63. Whistle, hum, or play on an iPhone, the Cantina song.
[X] 64. Learning to play the theme songs to the kids favorite TV shows.
[X] 65. Solve a Rubik’s Cube.
[X] 66. Calculate THAC0.
[X] 67. Know the difference between skills and traits.
[X] 68. Explain special relativity in terms an eight-year-old can grasp.
[ ] 69. Recite pi to 10 places or more.
[X] 70. Be able to calculate tip and split the check, all in your head.
[X] 71. Explain that the colours in a rainbow are roygbiv.
[X] 72. Understand the electromagnetic spectrum - xray, uv, visible, infrared, microwave, radio.
[X] 73. Know the difference between radiation and radioactive contamination.
[X] 74. Understand basic electronics components like resistors, capacitors, inductors and transistors.
[ ] 75. Solder a circuit while bottle feeding an infant. (lead free solder please.)
[X] 76. The meaning of technical acronyms.
[ ] 77. The coffee dash, blindfolded (or blurry eyed). Coffee [cream] [sugar]. In under a minute.
[ ] 78. Build a fighting robot.
[ ] 79. Program a fighting robot.
[ ] 80. Build a failsafe into a fighting robot so it doesn’t kill you.
[X] 81. Be able to trace the Fellowship’s journey on a map of Middle Earth.
[ ] 82. Know all the names of the Dwarves in The Hobbit.
[X] 83. Understand the difference between a comic book and a graphic novel.
[X] 84. Know where your towel is and why it is important.
[X] 85. Re-enact the parrot sketch.
[X] 86. Know the words to The Lumberjack Song.
[X] 87. Reciting key scenes from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
[X] 88. Be able to recite at least one Geek Movie word for word.
[ ] 89. Know what the 8th Chevron does on a Stargate and how much power is required to get a lock.
[X] 90. Be able to explain why it’s important that Han shot first.
[X] 91. Know why it is just wrong for Luke and Leia to kiss.
[X] 92. Stop talking Star Wars long enough to get laid.
[X] 93. The ability to name actors, characters and plotlines from the majority of sci-fi movies produced since 1968.
[X] 94. Cite Mythbusters when debunking a myth or urban legend.
[ ] 95. Sleep with a Cricket bat next to your bed.
[X] 96. Have a documented plan on what to do during a zombie or robot uprising.
[X] 97. Identify evil alternate universe versions of friends, family, co-workers or self.
[ ] 98. Be able to convince TSA that the electronic parts you are carrying are really not a threat to passengers.
[X] 99. Talk about things that aren’t tech related.
[X] 100. Get something on the front page of Digg.