Engadget http://www.engadget.com Engadget http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif Engadget http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Growing Up Geek: Alexis Santos]]>http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/25/growing-up-geek-alexis-santos/http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/25/growing-up-geek-alexis-santos/http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/25/growing-up-geek-alexis-santos/#comments 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.

Growing Up Geek: 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.

Continue reading Growing Up Geek: Alexis Santos

Growing Up Geek: Alexis Santos originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 May 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Alexis SantosAlexisSantosGrowing Up GeekGrowingUpGeekgugFri, 25 May 2012 17:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Growing Up Geek: Jon Fingas]]>http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/01/growing-up-geek-jon-fingas/http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/01/growing-up-geek-jon-fingas/http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/01/growing-up-geek-jon-fingas/#comments 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, Jon Fingas.

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You might say I started early. Some of my first memories of technology -- or of anything, really -- were of mashing the keyboards on Compaq PC clones at my dad's workplace when I was three. Little did I know that I'd started on a path towards technology that would lead me towards mashing the keyboards for a career that would land me here at Engadget.

Continue reading Growing Up Geek: Jon Fingas

Growing Up Geek: Jon Fingas originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 May 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>androidApplecanonGalaxy NexusGalaxyNexusgrowing up geekGrowingUpGeekiphoneiPhone 4sIphone4sipodJon FingasJonFingasNEX-5NphotographyPlayStationplaystation 2Playstation2powerbookpowerbook g4PowerbookG4powershotPS2samsungSierraSierra-OnlineSONYTue, 01 May 2012 16:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Growing Up Geek: Sarah Silbert]]>http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/25/growing-up-geek-sarah-silbert/http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/25/growing-up-geek-sarah-silbert/http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/25/growing-up-geek-sarah-silbert/#comments 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 reviews editor, Sarah Silbert.

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I'm not your textbook-case geek. On that authoritative dork-geek-nerd venn diagram, I sit undeniably closer to the nerd quadrant. I mean, a childhood defined by penning mini-zines, banging on the piano and filming countless movies in my garage hardly earned me a reputation as a precocious little techie. Sure, I liked computers and math -- and I, er, may have graphed the distribution of my Halloween candy once or twice, just for fun -- but my entryway into gadgets and geekdom was an overactive imagination.

Continue reading Growing Up Geek: Sarah Silbert

Growing Up Geek: Sarah Silbert originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Apr 2012 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>growing up geekGrowingUpGeeksarah silbertSarahSilbertWed, 25 Apr 2012 15:40:00 EST<![CDATA[Growing Up Geek: Nicole Scott]]>http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/24/growing-up-geek-nicole-scott/http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/24/growing-up-geek-nicole-scott/http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/24/growing-up-geek-nicole-scott/#comments 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 a special guest: tech journalist and co-founder of Netbooknews, Nicole Scott.

Snow Day set it all off. Seventh grade, and already I knew. In Canada everything shuts down when the snow is deep, especially school. But I was determined to go. They had a better computer than we had at home. I was going to get my allotted half hour, no matter what. I made my poor parents drive me to school anyway, and after all that, we were promptly sent away. And so my disastrous love affair with technology began.

Continue reading Growing Up Geek: Nicole Scott

Growing Up Geek: Nicole Scott originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Feb 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>geekgrowing up geekGrowingUpGeeknicolenicole scottNicoleScottscottFri, 24 Feb 2012 16:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Growing Up Geek: Steven Troughton-Smith]]>http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/23/growing-up-geek-steven-troughton-smith/http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/23/growing-up-geek-steven-troughton-smith/http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/23/growing-up-geek-steven-troughton-smith/#commentsWelcome 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 a special guest: programmer, app designer, artist and geek, Steven Troughton-Smith.
I was born to be an artist. I was always the kind of kid that doodled when bored in class; I used to spend hours creating the most intricate symmetrical robots or plotting maps for world domination. Somewhere along the way I realized that the thing I really wanted to design was software, and I'd really have to learn to start programming to be able to make what I saw in my head exist.

As a child of four I was exposed for the first time to a computer -- a Macintosh IIsi. When I wasn't playing SimCity 2000 or Spelunx, I was dabbling in Photoshop 3.0. I was fascinated by the Mac and would spend hours learning all the intricacies of how it worked. I discovered an Amstrad 286 in our attic at some stage -- my mom's old work computer -- and set to work trying to figure out the arcane incantations to show something more interesting than a DOS prompt onscreen. (Eventually I found some Windows 2.03 floppy disks about the house and forcibly upgraded it -- it wasn't much better off for my efforts). Then, in 1998, I met RealBASIC.

Continue reading Growing Up Geek: Steven Troughton-Smith

Growing Up Geek: Steven Troughton-Smith originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 23 Dec 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>geekgrowing up geekGrowingUpGeekSteven Troughton-SmithStevenTroughton-smithFri, 23 Dec 2011 14:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Growing Up Geek: Chris Pirillo]]>http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/23/growing-up-geek-chris-pirillo/http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/23/growing-up-geek-chris-pirillo/http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/23/growing-up-geek-chris-pirillo/#comments 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 a special guest: internet entrepreneur, tech support blogger, media personality and geek, Chris Pirillo

Before I begin, let me just say: I'm not a slave to your mental delusions of who you think I am.

I have to get that out of the way largely because I've been "doing things" publicly for so long that some people have already formed opinions about me and what they believe I stand for. That's their problem, not mine.

I don't know if there was ever a specific moment I found myself attracted to electronic objects? I certainly recall playing with my cousin's Merlin and watching with wonder as my brother fiddled with his Alphie. I was certainly mesmerized by calculators, but that didn't lead me to develop advanced math skills.

Continue reading Growing Up Geek: Chris Pirillo

Growing Up Geek: Chris Pirillo originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Nov 2011 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>chris pirilloChrisPirillogeekgrowing up geekGrowingUpGeekWed, 23 Nov 2011 16:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Growing up Geek: Sascha Segan]]>http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/04/growing-up-geek-sascha-segan/http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/04/growing-up-geek-sascha-segan/http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/04/growing-up-geek-sascha-segan/#commentsWelcome 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.

Continue reading Growing up Geek: Sascha Segan

Growing up Geek: Sascha Segan originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Nov 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>geekgrowing up geekGrowingUpGeekGUGSascha SeganSaschaSeganFri, 04 Nov 2011 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Growing up Geek: Dave Altavilla]]>http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/28/growing-up-geek-dave-altavilla/http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/28/growing-up-geek-dave-altavilla/http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/28/growing-up-geek-dave-altavilla/#commentsWelcome 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.

Continue reading Growing up Geek: Dave Altavilla

Growing up Geek: Dave Altavilla originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Oct 2011 16:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Dave AltavillaDaveAltavillageekgrowing up geekGrowingUpGeekgughot hardwareHotHardwareFri, 28 Oct 2011 16:21:00 EST<![CDATA[Engadget Distro Issue 10: It's alive! And ready for download]]>http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/28/engadget-distro-issue-10-its-alive-and-ready-for-download/http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/28/engadget-distro-issue-10-its-alive-and-ready-for-download/http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/28/engadget-distro-issue-10-its-alive-and-ready-for-download/#comments They're creepy, they're kooky, they're your favorite Frankengadgets and they've invaded the latest issue of Engadget Distro. But fear not, this edition of our fine weekly isn't all about chopping and screwing the devices you love, we've got plenty of other real-life gadgets on hand as well. See that tiny silver sliver on the cover? That's ASUS' Zenbook UX31, perhaps the most viable candidate for the Ultrabook throne. It may not be as thin and light, but we're also bringing you a review of Dell's lightweight XPS 14z, an ergonomically sound laptop with a sizable asking price. On the mobile front, Myriam Joire says hello and goodbye to Nokia's N9 MeeGo phone and Zach Honig gets his hands on its brother from another operating system, the Lumia 800. Nokia's claiming its latest is the "first real Windows Phone," but Sharif Sakr's review of the HTC Titan might just prove otherwise. We'll also bring you a look into Tech News Today host Iyaz Akhtar's geeky upbringing, our latest installation of In Real Life and an exclusive comic from Ed Piskor. So what are you waiting for? Hop on that iPad or hit the PDF download link below, and soak up all that Distro goodness.

Distro Issue 10 PDF
Distro on the iTunes App Store
Like Distro on Facebook
Follow Distro on Twitter

Engadget Distro Issue 10: It's alive! And ready for download originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Oct 2011 09:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>asus ux31AsusUx31dell xps 14zDellXps14zdistrodownloaded piskorEdPiskorengadgetengadget distroengadget magazineEngadgetDistroEngadgetMagazinefrankengadgetgrowing up geekGrowingUpGeekhdpostcrosshtc titanHtcTitanissue 10issue tenIssue10IssueTeniyaz akhtarIyazAkhtarmagazinemeegomobilepostcrossnokia lumia 800nokia n9NokiaLumia800NokiaN9pdfweeklyFri, 28 Oct 2011 09:15:00 EST<![CDATA[Growing Up Geek: Iyaz Akhtar]]>http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/19/growing-up-geek-iyaz-akhtar/http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/19/growing-up-geek-iyaz-akhtar/http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/19/growing-up-geek-iyaz-akhtar/#comments 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 a special guest: Iyaz Akhtar, current associate producer and host of Tech News Today on TWiT.tv.
GUG
My childhood home had a lot of electronics around because my Dad was a bit of a gadget guy. Every now and then, we'd go to a small electronics shop where my dad would negotiate prices and extras since he apparently knew the owners. If we bought a portable game system, we'd always get extra batteries for free.

Continue reading Growing Up Geek: Iyaz Akhtar

Growing Up Geek: Iyaz Akhtar originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Oct 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>growing up geekGrowingUpGeekiyaz akhtarIyazAkhtartech news todayTechNewsTodaytwitWed, 19 Oct 2011 16:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Growing Up Geek: Terrence O'Brien]]>http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/07/growing-up-geek-terrence-obrien/http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/07/growing-up-geek-terrence-obrien/http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/07/growing-up-geek-terrence-obrien/#commentsWelcome 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.

Growing Up Geek: 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.

Continue reading Growing Up Geek: Terrence O'Brien

Growing Up Geek: Terrence O'Brien originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Oct 2011 14:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Growing up geekGrowingUpGeekgugTerrence OBrienTerrenceObrienFri, 07 Oct 2011 14:05:00 EST<![CDATA[Growing Up Geek: Jesse Hicks]]>http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/03/growing-up-geek-jesse-hicks/http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/03/growing-up-geek-jesse-hicks/http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/03/growing-up-geek-jesse-hicks/#commentsWelcome 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 Contributing Editor, Jesse Hicks.


I've never been one for nostalgia, but if I had to choose a Proustian element from my geeky childhood -- a singular sense-memory that evokes a whole constellation of related feelings -- I'd pick the eerie keening of a 28.8 modem. That high, quavering sound, for me, conjurs up the earliest days of my geekdom, when computers were slow, landlines were king and the internet was young.

I was twelve when my family got our first computer: a 486DX that first appeared without a hard drive. My mom had found a great deal at a computer show...or so it had seemed. That missing 120MB hard drive, as you may have guessed, severely limited functionality. But once that problem was remedied, I was off and running with DOS and XTree, happily deleting essential system files. The learning process had begun.

Continue reading Growing Up Geek: Jesse Hicks

Growing Up Geek: Jesse Hicks originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Oct 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>featurefeaturedfeaturesgood old daysGoodOldDaysgrowing up geekGrowingUpGeekjesse hicksJesseHicksnostalgiarose-colored-glassessepiaMon, 03 Oct 2011 16:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Growing Up Geek: Ben Drawbaugh]]>http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/30/growing-up-geek-ben-drawbaugh/http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/30/growing-up-geek-ben-drawbaugh/http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/30/growing-up-geek-ben-drawbaugh/#commentsWelcome 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 Contributing HD Editor, Ben Drawbaugh.

Unlike many adults I knew growing up, I don't think being a kid is easy. Maybe it is for some, but growing up geek in the small hick town of Clewiston, Florida means you learn you're a geek the hard way. This story of struggle turned out great, though, and now I wear that geek badge proudly as it's no doubt the secret to my success in almost every facet of my life.

Continue reading Growing Up Geek: Ben Drawbaugh

Growing Up Geek: Ben Drawbaugh originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Sep 2011 15:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Ben DrawbaughBenDrawbaughfeaturefeaturedfeaturesgrowing up geekGrowingUpGeekFri, 30 Sep 2011 15:29:00 EST<![CDATA[Growing Up Geek: Tom Merritt]]>http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/27/growing-up-geek-tom-merritt/http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/27/growing-up-geek-tom-merritt/http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/27/growing-up-geek-tom-merritt/#comments 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 a special guest: journalist and broadcaster Tom Merritt, current host of Tech News Today on TWiT.tv.
I always hesitate to apply the term geek to myself. To me it's an honorific. Someone with super mad skills or knowledge deserves the term, and the superior of all those who deserve it is the alpha geek. But times being what they are geek has become a term of currency. Before I let this devolve into a debate about the difference between geek and nerd, let's move on to the evidence. You, dear reader can decide for yourself where on the geek scale I belong.

Continue reading Growing Up Geek: Tom Merritt

Growing Up Geek: Tom Merritt originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Sep 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>growing up geekGrowingUpGeektech news todayTechNewsTodaytom merrittTomMerritttwittwit.tvTue, 27 Sep 2011 16:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Growing Up Geek: Zachary Lutz]]>http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/23/growing-up-geek-zachary-lutz/http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/23/growing-up-geek-zachary-lutz/http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/23/growing-up-geek-zachary-lutz/#commentsWelcome 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 Contributing Mobile Editor, Zachary Lutz.

Perhaps it requires a special breed to proudly wear the label of "geek." No, I'm not talking about circus performers that bite heads off chickens (check the original meaning of the word), but about people like you and me, the folks who pursue their interests to a fantastic degree. It doesn't matter whether your passion is knitting, fishing or kayaking; if you're a curious individual who's always thirsting to learn more, there's a good chance we'll get along. For me, my pigeonhole just so happens to be computers -- and, more recently, mobile technology. Sure, you could blame it on way too many hours in front of the screen, but as a certain self-empowered pop star might say, I'd like to think I was born this way.

Continue reading Growing Up Geek: Zachary Lutz

Growing Up Geek: Zachary Lutz originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 23 Sep 2011 16:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>featurefeaturedfeaturesgrowing up geekGrowingUpGeekzachary lutzZacharyLutzFri, 23 Sep 2011 16:37:00 EST<![CDATA[Growing Up Geek: Billy Steele]]>http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/12/growing-up-geek-billy-steele/http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/12/growing-up-geek-billy-steele/http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/12/growing-up-geek-billy-steele/#commentsWelcome 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 Contributing Editor, Billy Steele.

See that dapper young fellow right there? You'd never think someone dressed that goofily as a kid would grow up to be a tech blogger, now would you? It's true -- and I never thought so either -- but, as I would come to find out, my unorthodox childhood would help shape my nerd sensibilities in more ways than one. It all starts with the fact that I was raised by my grandparents, which was awesome, but usually meant that I was at least a year behind on all the popular gadgetry. This also meant that I was forced to hold on to things a bit longer, so while my friends were sportin' the N64, I was still rockin' Contra on the NES (no shame).

Let me take a step back for a moment. My first exposure to technology of any substance was a high-mileage Atari at my mom's place. She had an entire library of games, but the only two that I cared about were Frogger and Grand Prix. A couple of years later, when I obtained that coveted O.G. Nintendo, I survived on a constant diet of Excitebike, Bases Loaded and Tecmo Super Bowl. After playing until I couldn't see straight -- on several occasions as an elementary lad -- I was able to string together a handful of undefeated seasons with America's team the Dallas Cowboys. I've now taken on the plight of a Panthers' fan, but I digress.

Continue reading Growing Up Geek: Billy Steele

Growing Up Geek: Billy Steele originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Sep 2011 16:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>billybilly steeleBillySteeleeditorengadgetgeekgrowing up geekGrowingUpGeeksteeleMon, 12 Sep 2011 16:05:00 EST<![CDATA[Growing Up Geek: Kevin Wong]]>http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/09/growing-up-geek-kevin-wong/http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/09/growing-up-geek-kevin-wong/http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/09/growing-up-geek-kevin-wong/#comments 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 Contributing Editor, Kevin Wong.
Okay, so let's get the pink pencil elephant out of the room first. Yes, that is a Superman t-shirt and yes, I thought I could fly -- with some help from my pops, of course. Back then I wasn't aware that physics had laws, and to be honest, all I thought holding me flat was my love for robots. What I did know was that Transformers were are awesome, and that ice cream was a perfect supplement for vegetables.

Continue reading Growing Up Geek: Kevin Wong

Growing Up Geek: Kevin Wong originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Sep 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>featurefeaturedfeaturesgrowing up geekGrowingUpGeekKevin WongKevinWongFri, 09 Sep 2011 16:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Growing Up Geek: Joseph Volpe]]>http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/06/growing-up-geek-joseph-volpe/http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/06/growing-up-geek-joseph-volpe/http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/06/growing-up-geek-joseph-volpe/#comments 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, Joseph Volpe.



Let's get this out of the way. I did not grow up a geek, I was a sorcerer trapped in the body of a husky little boy. Or, so I managed to convince myself for years on end, wearing my Mother's Argentine poncho, and wielding a carved wooden staff (my wand, ahem!) and a yellow glass marble -- all tokens of my extended magical abilities. Before you wonder aloud if I spent much of my time sitting alone at recess convincing bugs to transform into Popples, I will tell you now that you are wrong. I did, in fact, have plenty of company in my (failed) attempts at insect transmogrification. Esoteric interests, it would seem, are the flame to the kindred weirdo's moth.



Russia factored wildly in my youth. Aside from the Cold War themes omnipresent in every '80s film I watched obsessively, and my unrestrained glee for a country frozen in an unending winter, I had my third eye fixed squarely on its governmental research into psi phenomena. Yes, I was a seven-year old who carted around a paperback copy of Psychic Discoveries Behind the Iron Curtain and engaged any unwitting adult in my quest to harness telekinesis. To the credit of my immediate family and one slightly freaked out Grandma, my repeated mental attempts to move the crystal napkin holder were graciously humored over pancakes and eggs.



My early life wasn't all a vain attempt at unlocking my sixth sense. No, I had other loves -- namely books, comics and video games, but not in the way you'd think. While most children were happily rotting themselves into contented alpha states in front of the boob tube, I was poring over fantasy novels, concocting potions and searching graphic novels for the "knowledge" that would get me out of this earthly realm. Jean Grey was somewhat of an early hero to me; the X-(Wo)Man who would later become Phoenix had the power pack combo of psychic powers I'd always wanted. Ours was a love / hate relationship that ended in bitter resentment. (She never shared her secrets!) I'd moved on from my fictitious frenemy when I unearthed a book at primary school called The Girl with the Silver Eyes about a young child with (surprise, surprise) psi abilities born from prenatal drug use. Cue me repeatedly questioning my poor Mom as to the list of medications she took while I was in utero. Any other mother would have found this alarming, but mine was only further charmed.



Technology was something I took for granted back then, since its silicon circuitry lacked the magic I so desperately sought after. My father was a computer programmer and we always had a plethora of personal computers stationed around the house. One of my earliest memories is even of him bringing home the first Macintosh. I wasn't aware then that at-home computing was a rarity for the time, nor that it was a nascent market. I'd accepted computers the way most young kids accept a new baby, or puppy. Year after year, model after model, we aged together, developing an intimate bond that just seemed natural. When AOL first swung open the dial-up gates to the World Wide Web, I was there trading insights with folks in the New Age chat rooms.

It was about this time, my early teen years, that I also decided to take a serious swing at coding. I'd sit in our basement for hours on end, feet up on the desk, head buried in some dense how-to for Hypercard or C++, vainly attempting to make sense of the programming languages I couldn't seem to master. Four months in, and I'd numbly settled into the realization that programming was not my calling. French, however, would turn out to be my bag(uette).



From the age of two and continuing up until around 17, my heavily opinionated Sicilian extended family had me fingered for a career as a Pediatrician. I know, pediatrics and the supernatural aren't what I'd call bosom buddies either, so you'll understand the internal disconnect I had for my planned future. Thankfully, a little something known as the PlayStation and Next Generation magazine would come along and permanently derail medical school from my pre-arranged life track.



Midway through a presentation I'd created to get them to purchase a still unreleased PlayStation for Christmas, I saw a look in my parents' eyes that said, "This kid has no intention to actually play video games." And they were right. I didn't and never have really had an interest in defeating Bowser, rescuing Zelda or bringing down Dr. Robotnik. Mine was a pure love for the industry and its inner machinations. I pored over processors and discussions about phong shading the way most follow news of the Brangelina horde. It was clear to me then what had to be done. I'd learn Japanese, move to San Francisco and work as a video game journalist. Some of these things happened, but none in the way I'd intended.



And so it went that I dove head first into foreign language study, 4.0 GPA territory and enough extra-curriculars on my booked up schedule to exhaust even the brownest of brown-nosers. Here, my friends, is the moment where fringe geek intersected with overachieving nerd and completed my ascension to the freak throne. I bought video games to collect them, read industry magazines to analyze them and lived in Japan in the hopes of reporting on them. As you can probably tell, I didn't succeed in that goal. Oh, I became a journalist, no doubt, but the fascination with 3D gaming took a turn for the general gadget category somewhere in my Akihabara wanderings.



Now, I proudly bear my geekdom badge as it's been legitimized by a certain reputable online publication. Gone by the wayside are my dalliances with the supernatural, and my preternatural obsession with the video game industry. In their stead, I now pursue with an equally obsessive zeal research into quantum mechanics and ancient astronaut theory, swapping out The Boy Who Could Fly from my Netflix queue for What the Bleep Do We (K)now!? And don't worry, I still carry my inner husky boy with me -- except now he knows that real magic lies in the specs.

Joseph Volpe is always on the Twitters doling out nuggets of pop cultural ephemera to anyone who dares follow him (@jrvolpe). He cannot promise to side with humanity in the face of an Anunnaki return.

Growing Up Geek: Joseph Volpe originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Sep 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Growing Up GeekGrowingUpGeekJoseph VolpeJosephVolpeTue, 06 Sep 2011 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Growing Up Geek: Sean Buckley]]>http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/02/growing-up-geek-sean-buckley/http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/02/growing-up-geek-sean-buckley/http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/02/growing-up-geek-sean-buckley/#comments
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, Sean Buckley.

Growing Up Geek: Sean Buckley
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.

Continue reading Growing Up Geek: Sean Buckley

Growing Up Geek: Sean Buckley originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Sep 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Growing up geekGrowingUpGeekgugSean BuckleySean William BuckleySeanBuckleyseaniccusSeanWilliamBuckleyFri, 02 Sep 2011 14:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Growing Up Geek: Richard Lawler]]>http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/31/growing-up-geek-richard-lawler/http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/31/growing-up-geek-richard-lawler/http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/31/growing-up-geek-richard-lawler/#comments 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 HD Editor, Richard Lawler.
This picture was taken in 1985 and despite the time that's passed, the excitement I felt then holding that Atari joystick returns each and every time I plug in, boot up, or log on to find something new. Like so many other geeks of the era, the world of videogames found in reams of bootlegged games contained on Verbatim 5.25-inch floppies were early training in the value of knowing my way around computers. The initial desire to play The Last Starfighter / Solaris without needing anyone to set it up for me would years later lead to long sessions of editing .bat and .ini files to hear sound effects in Wolfenstein 3D and after that, easy work setting up and fixing computers. Still, as great as using technology is, it's nothing without spirited discussions amongst like-minded individuals and after the schoolyard debates over 8-, 16- and 32-bit console wars ended (fortunately, Sega is out of the hardware game now or I would have to recuse myself from any news or reviews) I headed online to make myself heard.

Continue reading Growing Up Geek: Richard Lawler

Growing Up Geek: Richard Lawler originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 17:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>growing up geekGrowingUpGeekrichard lawlerRichardLawlerrjccWed, 31 Aug 2011 17:53:00 EST<![CDATA[Growing Up Geek: Richard Lai]]>http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/29/growing-up-geek-richard-lai/http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/29/growing-up-geek-richard-lai/http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/29/growing-up-geek-richard-lai/#comments 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.

Continue reading Growing Up Geek: Richard Lai

Growing Up Geek: Richard Lai originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Aug 2011 22:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>AustraliaAustralian passportCounter-StrikefeaturedfeaturesFlash animationFujifilm FinePixgrowing up geekGrowingUpGeekgugHong KongHongKongImperial CollegeImperial College Londonimperial+collegeimperialcollegeImperialCollegeLondonInternet accessIPadJean ValjeanLes MisérablesLondonNikon Coolpix seriesNikon D50Nintendo Entertainment SystemPokémon Trading Card Gamerichard laiRichardLaiRoyal Air ForceSci/TechSham Shui PostonehengeSuper Mario Bros.West End of LondonWickedZac EfronMon, 29 Aug 2011 22:05:00 EST<![CDATA[Growing Up Geek: Joe Pollicino]]>http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/25/edit-growing-up-geek-joe-pollicino/http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/25/edit-growing-up-geek-joe-pollicino/http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/25/edit-growing-up-geek-joe-pollicino/#commentsWelcome 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, Joe Pollicino.

Growing up geek? I'm having trouble believing I did. In preparation for this piece I scoured all of my family's photo albums (these stop at around 2004 -- must've been that digital camera craze), and the pictorial evidence to support my geeky ways just doesn't seem to exist. Notably, I had to start wearing huge glasses in kindergarten, but to me that's merely a trapping of the stereotypical nerd aesthetic -- though I do fancy my current Rivers Cuomo-esque horn-rims.

Continue reading Growing Up Geek: Joe Pollicino

Growing Up Geek: Joe Pollicino originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Aug 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>akatrentFeaturefeaturedgrowing up geekGrowingUpGeekjoejoe anthony pollicinojoe pollicinoJoeAnthonyPollicinoJoePollicinojosephjoseph anthony pollicinojoseph pollicinoJosephAnthonyPollicinoJosephPollicinopollicinoThu, 25 Aug 2011 14:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Growing Up Geek: Christopher Trout]]>http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/15/growing-up-geek-christopher-trout/http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/15/growing-up-geek-christopher-trout/http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/15/growing-up-geek-christopher-trout/#comments Who wants cake? This guy does. Or so says 29 years of photographic evidence. Baked goods loom large in my pictorial history, as does the use and abuse of Dep Gel and even, dare I say it, an affinity for socks and sandals. As much as technology's played a part in my existence, however, my photo album is all but devoid of references to my geekier undertakings. Believe me, there were nights spent playing D&D -- although my relationship with RPGs was short lived -- and days lost in the wormholes of the web, but, truth be told, I've never really considered myself a geek.

Continue reading Growing Up Geek: Christopher Trout

Growing Up Geek: Christopher Trout originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Aug 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>ChrisChris TroutChristopherChristopher TroutChristopherTroutChrisTroutfeaturefeaturedfeaturesGrowing Up GeekGrowingUpGeekTroutMon, 15 Aug 2011 14:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Growing Up Geek: Zach Honig]]>http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/12/growing-up-geek-zach-honig/http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/12/growing-up-geek-zach-honig/http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/12/growing-up-geek-zach-honig/#comments Growing up in the 80's, many kids used their Little Tikes easels to sketch their homes, or their families, or a football or two. Mine was littered with pictures of ceiling fans. But not just the ceiling fan mounted above my playroom -- no, these fans were upside-down (like a model I saw in New Orleans), daisy-chained (seen at a local arcade), and connected to a gas-powered motor (as I once noticed at an Amish farm). My obsession with ceiling fans, and really any motor-powered gadget, ran deep. At one point, shortly after I took my first steps, I began refusing to eat in restaurants that didn't have fans. And when a particular establishment was sophisticated enough to have installed that ever-so-necessary exposed air circulator, you better believe that it needed to be running, and at full speed.

My seemingly bizarre obsession with powered devices didn't stop there. I also had an unlikely fascination with vacuum cleaners. Not with their ability to pick up dirt -- I don't believe I had any interest in what they were actually used for, much to the chagrin of my mother -- but with the loud motor that sprung to life when I flipped the power switch, and the uncannily bright headlight that lit the way. Sure, vacuums today feature quiet motors and highly maneuverable ball designs, and even though life was simpler two decades ago, that mesmerizing loud hum, and bright, guiding light would be all it took to get a two-year-old me hooked. But electricity became more than a casual curiosity. My most prized possession was a wood-mounted set of outlets paired with matching switches -- one was fixed, and one dimmed. My grandfather helped me build it after one of our weekend trips to the hardware store.

Continue reading Growing Up Geek: Zach Honig

Growing Up Geek: Zach Honig originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Aug 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>engadgetfeaturefeaturedfeaturesgeekgrowing up geekGrowingUpGeekhonigzachzach honigZachHonigFri, 12 Aug 2011 14:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Growing Up Geek: Michael Gorman]]>http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/08/growing-up-geek-michael-gorman/http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/08/growing-up-geek-michael-gorman/http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/08/growing-up-geek-michael-gorman/#commentsWelcome 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, Michael Gorman.

"Weak! Eye! Double-eye cry! Cheap, to the weak, to the la-la land!" That bit of condescending gibberish was the haunting chorus of victory (or defeat) of many of my childhood football and basketball games in Decatur, Alabama. Often, it was followed by a kind of taunting circle where the winners would dance around chanting in unison "CRY!" (clap, clap... clap) "CRY!" (clap, clap... clap) "CRY!", while the losers fumed and demanded a rematch. I spent time on both sides of that win / loss equation, and the picture you see above is one of the occasions that I came out on top. It's the aftermath of the annual football tournament played among the four fifth grade classes at Gordon-Bibb Elementary for the right to call themselves Turkey Bowl Champions. That's me, the kid in the middle grabbing a knee, and I remember catching a long touchdown in that game in spite of my attire -- stonewashed jeans and turtlenecks were the Under Armor of the 90s, I swear. The bomb was hurled my way by my teammate, Philip Rivers (also kneeling, front left), who you may recognize as the Pro Bowl quarterback of the San Diego Chargers. Needless to say, our win that day was due in large part to his talents, and while he has gone on to professional gridiron glory, my skills were better suited for activities off the field.

Continue reading Growing Up Geek: Michael Gorman

Growing Up Geek: Michael Gorman originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Aug 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>engadgetgeekgormangrowing up geekGrowingUpGeekmichaelmichael gormanMichaelGormanMon, 08 Aug 2011 14:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Growing Up Geek: Dana Wollman]]>http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/05/growing-up-geek-dana-wollman/http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/05/growing-up-geek-dana-wollman/http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/05/growing-up-geek-dana-wollman/#comments Until now, I had conveniently forgotten that I collected Magic Cards. Not just collected, mind you, but hoarded -- a feverish obsession harking back to an earlier yen for stickers, pogs, and Happy Meals. While some kids played Truth or Dare in the back of the bus to I.S. 228, I kept my collection at the ready, wrapped with care in a rubber band. I'm not sure who I intended to show them to, save for a handful of guys who used to stake out a row in the front, but if I happened to have something good, I wanted to brag a little. At thirteen, I challenged a certain boy to a game, thinking that was all the hint I needed to drop. He beat me handily, and I never admitted my crush.

Let's just say I've evolved since then. I remember as little about mana as Peter Pan did about owning Rufio in a dissing contest. I seem to have kicked my shyness habit -- so much so that my coworkers have taken to calling me "Brass Knuckles." And while I haven't had to suffer dating for awhile, I like to think I've stepped up my game.

Continue reading Growing Up Geek: Dana Wollman

Growing Up Geek: Dana Wollman originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Aug 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Dana WollmanDanaWollmanfeaturefeaturedfeaturesgrowing up geekGrowingUpGeekFri, 05 Aug 2011 14:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Growing Up Geek: Brian Heater]]>http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/29/growing-up-geek-brian-heater/http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/29/growing-up-geek-brian-heater/http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/29/growing-up-geek-brian-heater/#comments That's me above, on the left. I'm Robin, reaping all of the benefits of fighting supervillians on the mean streets of Gotham, without the whole thing about watching my parents brutally murdered by a mob boss. All things considered, life was pretty good, growing up in the East Bay in the '80s, save for the fact that my cousin was somehow promoted to the role of Batman - most likely because he was visiting from afar (and maybe brought his own costume up from Southern California). And then there's the whole holding hands thing -- I can pretty much guarantee that ended the moment the photographer parent put the camera down. I mean, Arkham Asylum isn't going to patrol itself.

Despite early photographic evidence to the contrary -- and a few select themed birthday parties -- I was never really a DC Comics kid growing up. I'd chalk a fair amount of that up to the fact that, so far as these photo albums indicate, I didn't arrive on a rocketship from an exploding homeland, and was never independently wealthy, as the poor tailoring job on the Robin suit can attest.

Continue reading Growing Up Geek: Brian Heater

Growing Up Geek: Brian Heater originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Jul 2011 14:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>brian heaterBrianHeaterfeaturefeaturedfeaturesgrowing up geekGrowingUpGeekFri, 29 Jul 2011 14:07:00 EST<![CDATA[Growing Up Geek: Tim Stevens]]>http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/27/growing-up-geek-tim-stevens/http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/27/growing-up-geek-tim-stevens/http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/27/growing-up-geek-tim-stevens/#commentsGrowing Up Geek: Tim Stevens I didn't even really like Superman when that picture was taken. I think I was three or four and well on my way to being a fat kid. I mean, sure, the movies were boss, and Christopher Reeve was the man -- all suave and all-powerful -- but I didn't know Kal-El from a candy cane. I liked his costume, though, and of course I knew that he was super strong and could fly.

I was obviously super strong too. Just look at me hefting that huge mass of leaves all by myself! I thought I could fly too. According to Stevens family legend I tried to jump out of a second story window in those very Underoos. Thankfully I decided to get a good long running start and my sister, two years older, grabbed me before I flung myself into that particular adventure.

Continue reading Growing Up Geek: Tim Stevens

Growing Up Geek: Tim Stevens originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Jan 2011 12:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>featurefeaturedfeaturesgrowing up geekGrowingUpGeektim stevensTimStevensThu, 27 Jan 2011 12:29:00 EST<![CDATA[Growing Up Geek: Vlad Savov]]>http://www.engadget.com/2010/12/30/growing-up-geek-vlad-savov/http://www.engadget.com/2010/12/30/growing-up-geek-vlad-savov/http://www.engadget.com/2010/12/30/growing-up-geek-vlad-savov/#commentsWelcome to Growing Up Geek, a new 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 Associate Editor, Vlad Savov.

Yes, I grew up in the monochromatic nation of Bulgaria. As geek starts go, I doubt anyone could come up with a more unlikely one than being born in a village in the southwest corner of a country known more for its sporting and culinary exports than any sort of technical expertise. That's not to say that Bulgaria was a tech backwater, but it's the sort of place where you spent more time reading about gadgets than actually using them. Fortunately for me, my mother worked in a local computer club, where the bright youth of the day would gather to use Pravetz machines -- finely crafted Bulgarian Apple II KIRFs -- and it was a spot that I would inevitably retreat to after a thoroughly regimented school day. That's another thing about growing up in the former Communist bloc: education was intensive and rigorous, though you shouldn't let that rebelliously turned up collar in the image above fool you, I was madly in love with my studies (as any true nerd should be). Somewhere between that boy pushing buttons and tearing down floppy diskettes for fun and the current London-based cynic pumping out copy for Engadget during the American night shift, my life happened.

Continue reading Growing Up Geek: Vlad Savov

Growing Up Geek: Vlad Savov originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Dec 2010 13:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>growing up geekGrowingUpGeekvlad savovVladSavovThu, 30 Dec 2010 13:25:00 EST<![CDATA[Growing Up Geek: Chris Ziegler]]>http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/02/growing-up-geek-chris-ziegler/http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/02/growing-up-geek-chris-ziegler/http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/02/growing-up-geek-chris-ziegler/#commentsWelcome to Growing Up Geek, a new 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 Senior Mobile Editor, Chris Ziegler.

I can't remember a time when technology wasn't in my blood. Yep, that's me up there, sporting the OshKosh B'Gosh overalls, hunting and pecking my way through BASIC on a Texas Instruments TI-99/4A while basking in the warm glow of a 13-inch RCA color TV with a rabbit-ear antenna and faux wood veneer... in a booster chair. I don't even know if I was eating solid food at this point.

Okay, I was probably eating solid food, but what I'm getting at is that I was smitten by all things digital when I was still just a wee tyke... and I never really looked back. You know how as you're growing up, your family and your teachers tell you that what you can do is limited only by your imagination? Well, I think what attracted me to computers so very early on was that they represent a concrete incarnation of that philosophy -- if you've got an idea and you possess the skill to code it, it can exist. That's a pretty magical and powerful realization to a kid fixated on someday ruling the world.

Continue reading Growing Up Geek: Chris Ziegler

Growing Up Geek: Chris Ziegler originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Nov 2010 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>chris zieglerChrisZieglergrowing up geekGrowingUpGeekTue, 02 Nov 2010 13:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Growing up Geek: Ross Rubin]]>http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/03/growing-up-geek-ross-rubin/http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/03/growing-up-geek-ross-rubin/http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/03/growing-up-geek-ross-rubin/#commentsWelcome 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 long-time Switched On columnist Ross Rubin.
In the wide-collared world of the 1970s, it wasn't yet clear whether the future of interactive technology would rest in the hands of the PC or video game companies (I attribute this confusion to excessive exposure to ABBA combined with the well-documented brain-melting effects of Three's Company plots). But most of my early exposure to electronics certainly came from the latter camp. We had the original Pong game and the triangular, holster-housing Telstar Arcade. I stared with mouth agape as my adult cousin received an Atari 2600 for his birthday (no fair!). For my birthday a few years later, my parents got me an Intellivision.

The flame wars between Intellivision and Atari were the Mac vs. PC arguments of their day, and George Plimpton was the closest thing the Intellivision fans had to Steve Jobs. I would take pictures of the screen for some Astrosmash contest Mattel Electronics ran as well, to obtain different rainbow-adorned badges from Activision for games like Kaboom!, Freeway! and River Raid! In any case, video game consoles weren't the only extra box that graced our TVs. One day, a beige box showed up with a simple switch that transitioned between the broadcast channels we received and a new service delivered via microwave transmission. It was called Home Box Office.

Continue reading Growing up Geek: Ross Rubin

Growing up Geek: Ross Rubin originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>altchildrenfeaturefeaturedfeaturesgeeksgrowing up geekgrowingupgeekkidsnerdsross rubinRossRubinFri, 03 Sep 2010 14:25:00 EST<![CDATA[Growing Up Geek: Darren Murph]]>http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/18/growing-up-geek-darren-murph/http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/18/growing-up-geek-darren-murph/http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/18/growing-up-geek-darren-murph/#comments Welcome to Growing Up Geek, a new 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 Managing Editor, Darren Murph, who has the distinction of having written more posts on Engadget than any other Editor (and anyone in the world).
I'd probably consider myself a mishmash of two things: a hopeless geek, and a travel junkie. Funny enough, one single experience really forced me into wearing both of those hats. But that one instance where a bag phone saved my family's trip to Germany before the euro was The Euro wasn't where it all started. In fact, it's a little crazy that I actually grew up geek. Neither of my parents were privileged enough to have access to any sort of gadgetry growing up, so I most certainly didn't get the urge to tinker with Nintendo consoles from them. But they both ended up owning a mechanic shop, and my father was the king of the local drag strip thanks to his uncanny ability to tweak and mod his stable of hand-me-down Mustangs.

Those modder genes that obviously run in my family ended up leading to far nerdier things. One of the first Christmas gifts I can remember asking for (and thankfully, receiving) was a Nintendo Entertainment System. After that, I was hooked. I was an only child, so rather than goofing off with siblings during those long, hot, wonderful North Carolina summers, I got my kicks by throwing down on R.B.I. Baseball with whatever neighborhood kids wanted to swing by and get abused.

Continue reading Growing Up Geek: Darren Murph

Growing Up Geek: Darren Murph originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Aug 2010 16:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>darren murphDarrenMurphfeaturesGrowing Up GeekGrowingUpGeekWed, 18 Aug 2010 16:25:00 EST<![CDATA[Growing Up Geek: Thomas Ricker]]>http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/29/growing-up-geek-thomas-ricker/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/29/growing-up-geek-thomas-ricker/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/29/growing-up-geek-thomas-ricker/#comments
Welcome to Growing Up Geek, a new 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 Senior Editor, Thomas Ricker.

I'm old. In fact, I'm so old that I predate geek chic. In my awkward years, a period that spanned into my early 20s, the term "geek" was a slander; a word reserved for boys with thick glasses, red hair, pale skin, freckles, and a talent for math and science. In other words, me. The kid whose mother made him wear a white t-shirt in the public swimming pool. The kid who wore a patch to help correct a lazy eye. Or, as my best friend described my condition at St. Peter's grade school, "you're everything that I hate." Fortunately (at least that's how I felt at the time) I was also athletic so I ran with the jocks -- the cool kids, the boys whose hair stayed feathered even after the helmet was removed -- both on the field and off, within the highly competitive social circles laced with adrenaline and cheerleaders on the cusp of becoming Cosmo girls. A John Hughes anomaly, to be sure. Desperate for acceptance, I all but abandoned intellectual discourse for the homoerotic embrace of my squat-thrust spotters in the weight room. This left little room for nerding out anywhere but home. I certainly wasn't going to build a variable voltage power supply with our fullback. That's where my father stepped in.

Without a doubt, my secret nerdism was seeded by regular visits to Radio Shack with my pops, an engineer who actually built radios for a living. No, not the consumer variety, but top-secret stuff developed for the US military during the height of the Cold War. A man with intimate knowledge of Area 51 and so steeped in classified technology that he saw very early on how CDMA and GPS technologies, once commercialized, would revolutionize consumer electronics. It was during these visits to The Shack that I was first exposed to bins of colorfully-banded resistors and tightly-wound spools of solder. The foundation was set, the outcome was inevitable.

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Growing Up Geek: Thomas Ricker originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Jul 2010 13:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>growing up geekGrowingUpGeekthomas rickerThomasRickerThu, 29 Jul 2010 13:47:00 EST<![CDATA[Growing up Geek: Clayton Morris]]>http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/21/growing-up-geek-clayton-morris/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/21/growing-up-geek-clayton-morris/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/21/growing-up-geek-clayton-morris/#commentsWelcome to Growing Up Geek, a new 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're happy to have Clayton Morris, host of Fox & Friends, Gadgets & Games, and longtime friend of Engadget.
I can't remember a time in my life without gadgets. Born on New Year's Eve in Bicentennial Philadelphia, just three days before Apple Computer added an "Inc." to its name, my crib was filled with toys that buzzed, beeped, and burned through batteries. Don't tell Child Services, but I'm sure the soldering iron in the 'build your own radio set' wasn't safe for babies. Boring wooden toys were cast aside in favor of Speak & Spell, Simon Says, and Verbot: the voice controlled robot (although I could never get that damned thing to bring me a drink).

There have been two phases in my life: pre-Atari and post-Atari. Even though I was only two, everything changed the day my mom and dad brought home an Atari 2600 in 1978. I could barely walk or go to the bathroom by myself, but I could play Pong with the Atari's paddle controllers and blow up tanks in 'Combat.' On Easter Sunday my sister Nicole and I would get 'Demons to Diamonds' and 'Pitfall' instead of chocolate bunnies.

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Growing up Geek: Clayton Morris originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Jul 2010 13:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>altclayton morrisClaytonMorrisfox and friendsFoxAndFriendsgrowing up geekGrowingUpGeekWed, 21 Jul 2010 13:15:00 EST<![CDATA[Growing Up Geek: Paul Miller]]>http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/16/growing-up-geek-paul-miller/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/16/growing-up-geek-paul-miller/http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/16/growing-up-geek-paul-miller/#commentsWelcome to Growing Up Geek, a new 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 Senior Associate Editor, Paul Miller.

I remember my family's first computer vividly: it was an Apple Macintosh IIci. My dad was at work when we took the delivery, so my brothers and I ripped open the box and set it up the best we could. I'm not sure exactly what we actually did to mess up the machine, but I remember believing at that age that we had "deleted the hard drive," and it took a visit from my dad's IT guy before we were back up and running. The very first thing we did once we had a working machine was plug in the color scanner and suck an image of a bright red magazine Ferrari bit by bit over the SCSI connection. Sure, there's very little "cred" to the experience -- my first computing experience was in full color, with a windowed GUI and the imaging tools of a professional -- but it was also an incredible way to start a digital life in its own right.

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Growing Up Geek: Paul Miller originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Jul 2010 17:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>featurefeaturesgeeksgrowing up geekGrowingUpGeekmajor nerdsMajorNerdsnerdspaul millerPaulMillerFri, 16 Jul 2010 17:05:00 EST<![CDATA[Growing Up Geek: Veronica Belmont]]>http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/21/growing-up-geek-veronica-belmont/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/21/growing-up-geek-veronica-belmont/http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/21/growing-up-geek-veronica-belmont/#commentsWelcome to Growing Up Geek, a new feature where we take a look back at our youth, and tell stories of growing up to be the nerds that we are. We're happy to kick off the series with Veronica Belmont.

I was born in the year of the ColecoVision. This isn't that unusual or interesting until you factor in that my mother was a VP at Coleco at that time. OK, well, it's still probably not that interesting unless you're me and trying to figure out the defining moments that turned you into a "geeky" adult.

An abundance of video games, toys, puzzles, board games... it's a pretty awesome environment to grow up in, especially for a kid whose father also happened to work in the toy industry (he was an engineer for Hasbro in those days). For me, it was just totally normal to walk into the living room and see a pile of toys on the floor, in varying states of production and disarray. I'd take them apart, put them back together, and spend hours trying to find different ways to destroy them. Things haven't changed too much.

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Growing Up Geek: Veronica Belmont originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Jun 2010 13:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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