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Growing Up Geek: Philip Palermo

Philip Palermo — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 15:45:00 -0400

Welcome to Growing Up Geek, a feature where we take a look back at our youth, and tell stories of growing up to be the nerds that we are. This week, we have our very own Philip Palermo!

In case you couldn't tell from that pirate / bandit / pimp / vampire pictured above, I sometimes have trouble making up my mind. It took me forever to decide what I wanted to be that Halloween -- figuring out what I wanted to be when I grew up has taken even longer.

It's strange to think that a few landmark tech purchases during my life helped make who I am today. Our family's first computer, the NES, a used DSLR -- just the simple act of bringing tech home and experimenting with it seemed to shape, reshape and re-reshape my projected career path.

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Growing Up Geek: Nicole Lee

Nicole Lee — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 14:30:00 -0400

Welcome to Growing Up Geek, a feature where we take a look back at our youth, and tell stories of growing up to be the nerds that we are. This week, we have our very own Nicole Lee!

My fondest memories of growing up in Malaysia don't consist of balmy weekends by the beach or the bounty of fresh mangosteens in my grandmother's kitchen. Instead, my childhood is a blur of video games, Saturday morning cartoons, Apple Macintosh Classics, IBM PC clones, and frequent trips to the local library where my parents would leave me alone for hours. Out of sheer boredom, I read every book I could get my hands on, and a lifelong love of reading was born. Parental neglect or ingenious education tactic? You decide.

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Growing Up Geek: Mark Hearn

Mark Hearn — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 15:29:00 -0400

Welcome to Growing Up Geek, a feature where we take a look back at our youth, and tell stories of growing up to be the nerds that we are. This week, we have our very own Mark Hearn!

I can vividly recall the first gadget that I ever owned. It was 1986 and I was re-gifted my brother's old Atari 2600. While the cool kids were making Mario run, jump and shoot, I was mastering future classics, such as Mouse Trap and Megamania. A year later my parents bought me a NES for my birthday and it was on like Donkey Kong! I didn't know it then, but the practice of plucking away at 8-bit classics would be the foundation for my love of gizmos and gadgets.

Filed under: Misc, Alt

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Growing up Geek: Philip Berne

Brad Molen — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 11:00:00 -0400

Welcome to Growing Up Geek, an ongoing feature where we take a look back at our youth and tell stories of growing up to be the nerds that we are. Today we have Philip Berne, who is currently Samsung's Marketing Manager for Technical Media and a regular contributor for Slashgear.

When I was in high school, I wanted to be a writer. My fallback plan was to get a degree in Psychology and become a therapist. If you were to time travel back to my high school days (which were not even 20 years ago) and tell me what I'd be doing today, I'd probably say something like:

"Are you crazy? That's not even a real job. And what the heck is a smartphone, anyway?"

I was a phone and gadget reviewer until I recently took a job with Samsung. Now I'm still reviewing phones -- I just review them a few months before anyone else. If you love phones and mobile tech as I do, it is certainly a dream job. I know how lucky I am. I wouldn't be here unless I had grown up geek. But in fact it wasn't luck that got me here (unless I mean luck of birth).

Growing up geek, in my case, meant growing up spoiled. I'm afraid to admit it, but I certainly had a spoiled childhood, especially when it came to toys and electronics. Let's go through my bona fides.

Filed under: Misc, Alt

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Growing Up Geek: Alexis Santos

Alexis Santos — Fri, 25 May 2012 17:00:00 -0400

Welcome to Growing Up Geek, an ongoing feature where we take a look back at our youth and tell stories of growing up to be the nerds that we are. Today, we have our new editor, Alexis Santos.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted something emblazoned with an all too familiar logo while driving along a county road seven months ago. Though my mind could have been playing tricks on me, I doubled back and pulled over to confirm what I had seen. There, in the brush, was what I had suspected: a slightly faded Nintendo Entertainment System box. Upon further inspection, the packaging was unscathed and complete with its original foam inserts, plastic bags, twisty ties and K-Mart price sticker. Having rescued the nigh mint condition box, I rushed home to place it atop my entertainment center. There was no doubt I was a geek before that moment, but it became clear that following my geeky impulses could have interesting results.

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Growing up Geek: Sascha Segan

Darren Murph — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 12:00:00 -0400

Welcome to Growing Up Geek, an ongoing feature where we take a look back at our youth and tell stories of growing up to be the nerds that we are. Today, we have the lead analyst for mobile at PCMAG, Sascha Segan.

When I turned eight in 1982, we moved house, I starred on a game show and we got an Atari 800. The modem came a year later, free with the 850 serial interface. I needed it so I could print homework on my new Epson FX-80 printer.

The 830 acoustic modem had two rubber cups: you'd dial your number on a rotary-dial phone, listen for the "whee-ooo!" of the modem and slam it down into the cups, hushing everyone around you because too much noise could break the connection. One favorite game was to try to talk to the modem, figuring out which pattern of your own "whee-ooo"s would create something that looked like words. 300 baud was just about as fast as I could read.

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Growing up Geek: Dave Altavilla

Darren Murph — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 16:21:00 -0400

Welcome to Growing Up Geek, an ongoing feature where we take a look back at our youth and tell stories of growing up to be the nerds that we are. Today, we have the Editor in Chief of HotHardware, Dave Altavilla.

Growing up on Cape Cod, Massachusetts has its pluses and minuses. Certainly, in the summer time, being so close to the seaside made for fantastic boyhood memories at the beach, but in the off season you need to find ways to keep yourself busy. My fascination with technology and computers began with an Atari 2600. Then it was called a "Video Computer System," but now we all know better. That joystick marked it much more akin to a console, but don't hold that against me. Regardless, many hours were logged in on the Atari in scenic South Yarmouth, at least when it wasn't a beach day or if Dad wasn't heading down to the harbor.

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Growing Up Geek: Terrence O'Brien

Terrence O'Brien — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 14:05:00 -0400

Welcome to Growing Up Geek, an ongoing feature where we take a look back at our youth and tell stories of growing up to be the nerds that we are. Today, we have our very own Associate Editor, Terrence O'Brien.

In case you hadn't guessed, that's my father up there with a tiny me cradled in his arms. He's OG -- original geek -- and a defier of easy categorization that clearly explains how I ended up as the son of a gun I am today. In fact, without an understanding of where he came from and who he is, much of what would fill a completely self-centered Growing Up Geek simply wouldn't make sense. So, that's where we'll start the story, with a quick look at the man who, for better or worse, made me the nerd I am today.

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Growing Up Geek: Sean Buckley

Sean Buckley — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 14:00:00 -0400

The hardest question I was ever asked as a kid was "What do you want to be when you grow up?" When the boys all cried "Fireman!" and the girls unanimously pledged their life to marine biology, I came up short. Growing up? I hadn't planned on that.

Peter Pan complex (and book collection) aside, I had it as good as any boy during the 80s / 90s split. I grew-up in the pre-internet stone age, when the world was still a mystery that couldn't be Wiki'd away. Playground rumors went without debunk, and wild stories ran amok across the schoolyard -- pixies in England, aliens in New Mexico, and magical robot cars in Japan. The world was a fantastic, impossible place. It still is, but I'd be lying if I said the finality of reality isn't a small disappointment compared to the lies I loved as a child. With the information superhighway still under construction, I had to find other ways to spend my summers. Sure, countless hours were ~~wasted~~ well spent saving 8-bit princesses (and the world of course), but the best weeks of summer were had at Boy Scout camp, the County Fair, and trudging across the country on family road trips.

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Growing Up Geek: Richard Lai

Richard Lai — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 22:05:00 -0400

Welcome to Growing Up Geek, an ongoing feature where we take a look back at our youth and tell stories of growing up to be the nerds that we are. Today, we have our very own Senior Associate Editor, Richard Lai, who also happens to be the Editor-in-chief of Engadget Chinese.

I've come to the point in life where I stop paying attention to my age, though it's still fun to make people guess it for their reaction -- you'll find out after the break, but here's a hint: I've spent the same number of years in both Hong Kong and the UK, plus a couple of years in Australia. Such a combination has turned me into a Chinese guy who speaks both British English and two Chinese dialects while holding an Australian passport; but I tend to skip all this and say that I'm a spy with many gadgets.

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