Any benefits in your life from spending 24h a day on a computer doing nerdy stuff?

[Patrickssj6]

So...to rephrase that...since some us of us are not the average computer user and know a thing or two about computers: Have you ever benefited from it in real life? I don't mean fixing you grandma's computer by running an AV once, but something more special?

Recently I got the chance to put my Reverse Engineering knowledge to the test. In Informatics (programming, computer class?) we used a free program some foreign students made somewhere back then (GUI creator for Java Apps based on German tool libraries >.<) and they included some obvious bugs. So my Informatics teacher talked about how impossible it is to fix those bugs without having the source code. I just Reversed the file and fixed the bugs and he was impressed so he asked me to write a tutorial. After I finished that 15 page long tutorial with pretty pictures and such he said that no teacher in that school could do that. He printed out the tutorial and read it between his other classes and finally told some students to tell me that he wants to talk to me again.

I haven't talked to him yet but this was a special occasion for me since it's hard to express your talents in life without making some foes sometimes. :)

[Jelly]

For my Information Technology GCSE I made a website that got chosen as exemplar material. The exemplar material has names removed, though ;_;

Congrats on that reverse engineering thing, I lack the motivation to learn to program anything above Hello World :3

[Kornman00]

I've kept my "nerd" life very separate from my IRL-life thus so far in life. Easier that way to stay Anonymous.

But I'm a network admin\helpdesk now with a clearance, so my prior experience with computers has helped. However, I wouldn't want to actually work as a network admin plus do helpdesk duties as a civilian, its bad enough that I have to deal with both military and civilians already, plus get paid the same amount of money as if I was driving a fork lift back and forth because a power tripping 1SG can't make up his damn mind on what he wants and where he wants it. If you ask me, it'd go fine straight on top of him, but hey, thats just me.

[Dwood]

^ Yeah KM i know the feeling.

Thanks to my at home networking and use of routers to open ports and other things, I know more about networking than my Networking teacher.

Granted, the Net teacher is retarded but still :P (He's never heard of an .iso file before, doesn't know what Apache is outside of it being Linux something. He also freaked out when I opened telnet and went to towel.blinkenlights.nl)

[PlasbianX]

Yes. I ended up making a flash card program that was used in every elementary school in my city, and is now being introduced into the whole state. I was even featured on the news =)

Pays to be a nerd!

[Dwood]

Yes. I ended up making a flash card program that was used in every elementary school in my city, and is now being introduced into the whole state. I was even featured on the news =)

Pays to be a nerd!


Should have made sure the news mentioned what game's modding you learned this in. :D

Halo Script is a great next step to coding after studying a bit of QBASIC as well like I did :D

[Sel]

I made a 3d model of a Greek temple for a history summative last year and got a shitload of marks.

So yeah that worked out well.

[Kalub]

I won Gold in State SkillsUSA Computer repair....


I'm a network administrator of Safelink Internet/Phone Technician....



Teach me to reverse engineer Patrick!

[Needles]

I can type reports and essays at 60-85 wpm (Words per Minute).

[TeeKup]

I can type reports and essays at 60-85 wpm (Words per Minute).

My god you're slow. D:

I can do well over 120.

[Needles]

My god you're slow. D:

I can do well over 120.
I can do 120-150...but if I do, about 40%-60% of the stuff I type is misspelled or punctuated wrong, so I slow myself down.

I usually might push two buttons at once on accident.

[TeeKup]

I can do 120...but if I do, about 50% of the stuff I type is misspelled or punctuated wrong, so I slow myself down.

Mine are accurate. :downs:

[Needles]

Mine are accurate. :downs:
I usually push two buttons at once on accident if I try 120-150. And I don't have fat fingers.

[STLRamsFan]

Used to be into all that but then phased out of it. More into sports and am running full time (currently dealing with a foot injury at the moment..). Have a desire to coach or even be a personal trainer sometime. Majoring in Exercise Science when I transfer next fall.

Of course, I still maintain my excellent typing skills. Useful for typing reports ya know. :awesome:

[Needles]

Used to be into all that but then phased out of it. More into sports and am running full time (currently dealing with a foot injury at the moment..). Have a desire to coach or even be a personal trainer sometime. Majoring in Exercise Science when I transfer next fall.

Of course, I still maintain my excellent typing skills. Useful for typing reports ya know. :awesome:

I usually play basketball. At school, I also try ping-pong. I enjoy it even though I suck worse than a 2-year-old.

[Sel]

My god you're slow. D:

I can do well over 120.

I dunno how many words per minute I type, all I know is that it's faster than a lot of people I know :|

[Dwood]

I dunno how many words per minute I type, all I know is that it's faster than a lot of people I know :|


Mine is gaining speed. This is also b/c my parents only about two years ago stopped thinking of the computer as a living breathing thing which could be destroyed as easy as typing in aol.com. (That was about 3 years ago) Now though I have made some rather huge headway in that regard. I don't know how fast I am but it's definitely faster than 60 wpm.

Coding helps that speed a lot as well. </ offtopic> I can type reports pretty fast, which makes me happy.

[FRain]

My god you're slow. D:

I can do well over 120.
Jesus, 80-100 here.

[Dwood]

Jesus, 80-100 here.

This is getting off topic and needs it's own thread.

[Needles]

I dunno how many words per minute I type, all I know is that it's faster than a lot of people I know :|
Most other people I know in 7th/8th grade type 20-40 WPM. A few type 50.

I don't like the typing teachers.

http://www.modacity.net/forums/images/smilies/mad.gif

[Pyong Kawaguchi]

I am helped by this, in my school, there is shop week, where we do shop class related things (shop is of course by choice, like computer programming, cosmetology etc) and I plan to be doing computer programming after the exploratory is over, and anyways, I will be working with that, and I showed the teacher there two engines, the source engine, and the TGE Engine

[Pooky]

Last I checked I was approaching 200 WPM at full throttle :awesome:

And what really gets people about it when they see me typing is that I don't adhere to any conventional means of typing whatsoever. I have my own bizarre system of typing (I guess it comes from being self taught) that looks sort of like my hands are playing Twister, but it's comfortable to me.

Other than that, not really no.

[Corndogman]

Well being able to type fast has definitely helped me in this stupid computer typing class thing (I have to take it first in order to take a Digital design course next year) seeing how I've been completing all the lessons in 1/3 the time I'm given.

Also, I might be able to land an internship as an IT guy where my mom works, which would pay about 15 dollars an hour. Which I would say is pretty good pay at 16 years old.

[Rob Oplawar]

Well, I got into Halo modding, which got me into 3D modeling, and the next thing I knew I worked as a professional 3D modeler doing engineering visualization (basically concept art for engineers) getting paid roughly the average US wage, and I'm just an intern- just wait until I graduate and get elevated to full time employee. Cha-ching!

[Boba]

Chicks really like to jump nerd bones. lol just kidding im a failure at life

[Sel]

Most other people I know in 7th/8th grade type 20-40 WPM. A few type 50.

I don't like the typing teachers.

:mad:

In grade 7/8 there was this Asian chick in my class and she was able to type about 200 Words per minute.

[Rob Oplawar]

When I'm about 35 and make $200,000/yr in my prestigious software developer job, chicks'll be all over me.

[Sel]

I thought mass was already all over you, and he's a chick right :downs:

[klange]

The more time you spend now, the more time you can spend later when you get paid.


(Not really. Go to school, damn it, then you can have an entire life dedicated to getting paid for nothing.)


also, @Pat (OP): If the source was not available, you probably also broke numerous copyright laws. Congratulations!

[flibitijibibo]

All this work in recording/mixing got me recording jobs with several schools, as well as a bunch of individuals for college audition CD's. Other than that, it's pretty much been the fix the family's computer.

[legionaire45]

Thanks to computers, Halo and this forum I have a 2.9 GPA. :awesome:.
Technically it's a 3.2 weighted, but that's UC only I think.
If you walk into any of the classrooms in my school with people in my grade, there will likely be 2 or 3 people who own a computer built by me.

Oh, and HTML/CSS & C/C++ knowledge doesn't hurt.

[NuggetWarmer]

3D modeling got me into the college graphic arts classes at Eastfield college, and I'm a freshman in High School. :3

[Arteen]

I got a nice cozy paid internship two summers in a row (and counting, hopefully). It beats flipping burgers.

[Patrickssj6]

also, @Pat (OP): If the source was not available, you probably also broke numerous copyright laws. Congratulations!
Nope, not here in Germany :)

Here in Germany you are allowed to Reverse as long as the Author didn't put any protection up of any kind to stop it.
<3 German Laws

Funny how everything started with Halo really :rolleyes:

[Bad Waffle]

It's gotten me absolutely nothing. I'm one of the best digital artists in my school of 3500, and what i get to do is work on fucking covers for stupid events and stupid school newspaper covers. Oh, and even though i'm in advanced classes, people think i'm an idiot because i focused more on my art than all the busywork and shit, earning me a B average. Or, i'm the 'art guy' that everybody goes to for help. Yay, i get to help the people who werent paying attention when the teacher was TEACHING and they IGNORED.

I'm a bit miffed really, because a lot of people with a lot less talent do crappy work and get paid for it because too many people cannot tell what is half-assed and what isn't. Like those retarded cable-commericals you see for furniture sales and shit like that, with the crappily animated person picking up and dialing a phone like that.

Ok, i'm really pissed off at my situation. i should be getting benefits from all the effort i put in, but i always seem to get beaten out by the lesser man. Maybe its just me living in the middle of a rats-ass desert with no talent or redeeming points to people of the city. I like that, blaming it on everybody else sometimes :)

[Kalub]

I live in a town of 500, and go to a school in a town of 9000, you have no idea what rats-ass is. Also, Idiot sticks who call me for help with their e-mail need to die. I'm there to fucking manage a list of ips and monitor wireless radio towers.... not see why your forgot your password.

[Stormwing]

*snip*
wassup wol, welcome to the club. I wasn't quite as pissed off about it, but my situation was kinda similar. People knew I was pretty good (compared to the average) with digital stuff and that I took some of nice photos, but other than a few select instances I felt like I was just being glossed over and nobody really gave a shit.

eventually I just gave up and did my own thing. Partially thanks to Halo, I fell in love with designing stuff and I guess it all kinda fell into place. fuck being the 'slightly nerdy but still awesome guy' in high school. fuck high school. There are better and brighter things to be working towards.

I'm off studying design now, and I don't have many regrets about my high school days. :)
(although I guess I could have tried to make a few more last minute connections...)

[Bodzilla]

probably stories is the biggest + side.

some of the stories i hear first hand from the net are just so bizzare that i love to pass them onto people :p

[rossmum]

I can hammer out words pretty fast and with a decent degree of accuracy. Dad can too, so that's probably where a lot of it came from. Other than that, I seem to have stirred some interest in the right places with my Tiger II, so with a little luck and some more work I'll be able to get a job with a developer.

Other than that, I often get bored and spend hours just reading things or watching videos, so I've learned a lot, actually.

[n00b1n8R]

So are you planning on becoming wanabe fodder or getting a real job or what :S

Also, assides from improved typing and spelling (shudder) skills, not much. Unless annoying habbits count.

[Bodzilla]

i happened to learn saying "am cry" makes the ladies go AWWWWwww <3

no shit.
i was like, THANKS INTERNET :thumbsup:

[rossmum]

So are you planning on becoming wanabe fodder or getting a real job or what :S
If you'd define asking people if they'd like fries with their order as a real job, then damn, guess not


Also, assides from improved typing and spelling (shudder) skills, not much. Unless annoying habbits count.
wat

[n00b1n8R]

Kindly go fuck yourself. :saddowns:

[SnaFuBAR]

i dunno does getting to be a game developer count? :saddowns:

[Pooky]

i dunno does getting to be a game developer count? :saddowns:

no but getting to brag about it to the internets does :haw:

[Random]

No, only a sense of humor that no one else gets :(.

[Corgy]

i got $10 for helping someone out once

[PenGuin1362]

Also, assides from improved typing and spelling (shudder) skills, not much. Unless annoying habbits count.

Now's when you stop and ask yourself, what am I doing with my life?

Does game dev count or did we cover that already. >_>

[Patrickssj6]

Now's when you stop and ask yourself, what am I doing with my life?

Does game dev count or did we cover that already. >_>
Haven't really but it certainly does. :)

[Sargent_Hawk]

Heck, it's not much, but a 13 year old able to make programs, everyone I know thinks that's amazing, but it isin't to me fro some reason... My dad is a wizard with ocmputers(putting them together and such) but I'm the one people go to when they need a program, some fo my friends asked ifI could make a hacking program for Ps2 games, and I allmost did.(I found out they wanted to cheat online.)

It doesin't surprize me, but surprizes allmsot everyone else I know, I doubt it surprizes you people, seeing as you all have done MUCH greater things then me.

So from my view, using computers hasin't realy affected me(other then meeting people online), but to everyone else I talk to it's major.

Oh, and as for the spee typign stuff, I can type fast(I typed my games list in under 5 minutes) but not that acurate... I'll just leavy the typos to show you how inaccurate I am when speed typing.

[Needles]

Heck, it's not much, but a 13 year old able to make programs, everyone I know thinks that's amazing, but it isin't to me fro some reason... My dad is a wizard with ocmputers(putting them together and such) but I'm the one people go to when they need a program, some fo my friends asked ifI could make a hacking program for Ps2 games, and I allmost did.(I found out they wanted to cheat online.)

It doesin't surprize me, but surprizes allmsot everyone else I know, I doubt it surprizes you people, seeing as you all have done MUCH greater things then me.

So from my view, using computers hasin't realy affected me(other then meeting people online), but to everyone else I talk to it's major.

Oh, and as for the spee typign stuff, I can type fast(I typed my games list in under 5 minutes) but not that acurate... I'll just leavy the typos to show you how inaccurate I am when speed typing.
I get called a "Computer Nerd" just for knowing what a graphics card or cooling fan is...

They'll think any knowledge of it is amazing/nerdy.

[Pooky]

I get called a "Computer Nerd" just for knowing what a graphics card or cooling fan is...

They'll think any knowledge of it is amazing/nerdy.

^

My relatives think I'm a hacker or something because I know how to do View -> Source on web pages and I can write HTML :|

[Sargent_Hawk]

Lol, and when I posted I'm talking about people who work on computers, no "hey you know what a [insert computer part here] is? NERD" people.
Lol, I got called a hacker fro knowing what a cheat code was, infact, if I made a list of retards who called me stuff fro knowing simple things about computers the list would be about 3 stories tall.

[Needles]

^

My relatives think I'm a hacker or something because I know how to do View -> Source on web pages and I can write HTML :|
My parents are amazed that I know how to bookmark pages and use the internet to download and upload, get AVG so I can tell if sites are safe, and can remove Trojans that my dad causes.

It's really not hard though....

[Donut]

benefits: i dont have to talk at the dinner table when my family gets together because nobody understands what the fuck im talking about, nor do they care.
and getting familiar with 3ds max has actually helped me in my geometry course im taking in school this year. not much, but any help is good, amirite?

umm.... not benefits (?): most of the people in my family dont think as highly of me because i dont play sports or music. although, i never knew how fast i could run until football in gym class today. jesus christ....

[Dwood]

benefits: i dont have to talk at the dinner table when my family gets together because nobody understands what the *** im talking about, nor do they care.
and getting familiar with 3ds max has actually helped me in my geometry course im taking in school this year. not much, but any help is good, amirite?

umm.... not benefits (?): most of the people in my family dont think as highly of me because i dont play sports or music. although, i never knew how fast i could run until football in gym class today. jesus christ....

I get those days too sometimes. Especially when "taking the dog out" to me means opening the back door and hoping it comes back.

My typing has become muscle memory imo. Never really put any conscious effort when I type. (I Couldn't give you the layout of this keyboard even though I can type 100% without looking.

For now. After a while I expect it will pay off. (If my school ever gets rid of the Macs and lets me be nerdy with windowz)

[flibitijibibo]

I know what you mean Donut. It's actually a bit weird for me, my family was disappointed in me when I was doing computer-related things, then when I went into music tech, they got even more disappointed. It seems the only thing that would make them happy is either a sport or a business major. Fuck that, I'm not becoming the shit-eating CEO that has unwarranted self-importance. I'm going to be a shit-eating audio engineer that has unwarranted funds to make crappy soundtracks.

[Bad Waffle]

My dad preferred his children to be engineers or something science related, but he's come to accept and even support our love of the arts. My sisters a cartographer, my other sister's an english professor, and i'm a 3d artist (or at least, failing to be one, because i can't seem to get anything done as of late...)

[PlasbianX]

Im thinking about suing my school over that program I made.

Its up for download which I never agreed (never signed anything) upon allowing, I never did agree to have it used outside our school district, and I'm nit getting paid for something I put a considerable amount of time into and now they have it up for download without credit to me as the one who made it. I want some money outta it, damnit.

:[

[adumass]

I'm a failure at life I have no accomplishments. :smithicide:

[Apoc4lypse]

Well, I got into Halo modding, which got me into 3D modeling, and the next thing I knew I worked as a professional 3D modeler doing engineering visualization (basically concept art for engineers) getting paid roughly the average US wage, and I'm just an intern- just wait until I graduate and get elevated to full time employee. Cha-ching!

the question is what are you interning for... you lucky sob... (j/k <3)

Yea... so far for me... uh... nothing really, then again I don't really like the attention that much...

Although I did do a charcoal drawing that was featured in a gallery then chosen to appear at another art gallery. The irony of that tho is I was working on a project specifically for said art gallery which ended up being turned down because of how big it was. On top of that, its also the first charcoal drawing I ever made, and I personally hate the freakin thing XD.

Its too damn traditional looking...

I hate art critics...

more irony LAWL.

E: Also, I was incredibly tempted to go for an art degree, but tbh I realize that in the end as sad as it sounds, you'll most likely end up no where with that sort of degree. I'm currently doing an Associated degree at my community college for Construction Technology, then I'm either moving onto Architecture or Engineering. (my math skills are lacking so I really need to take 2 years to improve my self in that respect anyway...).

My goal in life is to do something thats productive somehow, I also want to love what I do, I mean I do care somewhat how much I'll get paid, but if I hate what I'm doing then theres no point...

[Con]

I use photoshop and occasionally maya for school projects when I feel like showing everyone up. :-3

[Stormwing]

well, that depends on what sort of art degree you're talking about. If it's fine arts or something that's very...individualist, then yeah, that's a tough road that leads to an unsure future. On the other hand degrees in illustration, design, animation, and so on seem to be pretty dependable.

[Donut]

I use photoshop and occasionally maya for school projects when I feel like showing everyone up. :-3
yeah i have too. my spanish class had to make pictures of their rooms and describe them. the kid that presented the picture of his room before me had cut like 8000 different pictures out of magazines, then i walk up with this big print out of a 3d render of a model of my room. i got looks, to say the least.

[p0lar_bear]

Well, I landed myself a job as an intern for the technology department for the local school district, and actually blew away my boss when, after asking all about how they did stuff around there for the past few days, started up Excel and actually knew how to use it. I guess most of the other greenhorns they hire don't know what the fuck. vOv

[FireDragon04]

I do visual effects editing for TV shows and do music video editing. I self taught myself 3ds max, Vegas, After Effects, Photoshop all that shiz thanks to my 24hr nerdyness, but what i use most is After Effects which i use to show people that they need to step it up to keep up in, 'Media Production' in college because i'm like that. Distinction Student.
Also recently been invited to use motion capture in a full directorial studio.

[Tweek]

started from doing STUFF on computers, playing random games, to making very very simple new "maps" for Rainbow 6 Rogue spear, to hex-editing Halo with iron_forge's offsetlists, in a hex-editor, to hmt, to sparkedit, to downloading 3ds max, goofing around with it, and teachning myself with it, to being a full-time 3d artist at Streamline Studios.

so to the question: "Any benefits in your life from spending 24h a day on a computer doing nerdy stuff? " yes, i can say there HAVE been benefits.