Geekery

That Ain’t Working – Bizarre Internet Success Stories

Posted on 04. Dec, 2009 by Jake.

Some people spend their lives studying, honing their craft and grafting hard to put food on the table. Others simply think of a bizarre internet get rich quick scheme, execute it and then sit back and laugh all the way to the bank. Reading about these bizarre, unlikely money-making success stories, one is left with the impression that the people who started these sites are either geniuses or just incredibly stupid and incredibly lucky.

1. The Million Dollar Homepage
In 2005 a 21-year-old English student named Alex Tew had an idea to help with his university fees – he started a website arranged in a 1000 x 1000 pixel grid and sold each pixel for a dollar to advertisers (Tew felt that people were more likely to respond to the idea if he used dollars rather than pounds). Despite the fact that the result is one of the most boring and spam-heavy sites in history, Tew succeeded in selling all the space on his site, and grossed over a millon dollars in the process. The site is still up there, and you can go see it, if you really want to – it’s a pointless if colourful slice of history.

2. Save Toby

Few people have ever mixed black humour with internet entrepeneurship, which is why Save Toby deserves a place in history. The site features pictures of a cute bunny rabbit, with its anonymous webmasters threatening to cook and eat Toby unless they receive $50,000 in donations to care for. Banking details were provided, as were a variety of rabbit recipe, just to show that they were ‘serious’. One could make a donation or buy a variety of ‘Save Toby’. Since the sites creators remained anonymous, it’s unclear how much money they made off the website, or, in fact, if Toby actually exists/existed. Just in case he does/did, good news for animal lovers is that Toby was saved by Bored.com, who bought the site, thereby sparing Toby from the pot.

3. John Chow

His site adorned with the tag ‘I Make Money Online By Telling People How To Make Money Online’, John Chow is the ultimate internet entrepeneur, as he appears to make money for no apparent good reason. He has 50 000 plus followers on Twitter, despite the fact that his tweets include links to pictures of his lunch (BBQ chicken and chips) and advice on where to get customised M&Ms. According to Chow himself. ‘I am best known for his famous quote “My World! My Rules!” and “Oh well.”’ According to most others, Chow is best known for having a high-profile battle with Google, which has since been resolved but saw Chow’s popularity and fame skyrocket, to the point that now, by his own admission, he makes roughly $40 thousand a month from clicking the occasional button.

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The 24,000 LED “Galaxy” dress

Posted on 19. Nov, 2009 by Jake.

Wearable tech is not a new concept but it can be safely said that 24,000 LEDs on a dress is pretty much cutting-edge, especially on the fashion front.

The combined energy consumption of the LEDs is apparently the same as what is needed to power 2 light bulbs. One wonders why LED technology isn’t used a lot more…

Anyway, the dress is set to be displayed in The Fast Forward Gallery at the Museum of Science and Technology in Chicago. Ladies, do you see yourself in one of these?

The music in the attached demo video is kinda creepy yet strangely pleasing… Enjoy!

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When Geeks Go Bad

Posted on 07. Oct, 2009 by Jake.

The problem with being a geek is that, for some reason, people feel that they can take advantage of you. I think that this is because generally, geeks are intelligent, nice people and not particularly well built. Add these three factors together and you have the recipe for exploitation. “Give me free IT advice, Jake”. “Format my PC, Jake”. “Invent a robot capable of tending to my every need, Jake”. You get the idea…

There comes a time, though, when all geeks have to stand up for their rights. Take their power back. No more Mister Nice Geek. This week’s post is dedicated to these brave geeks.

Unlike when dumber human beings engage in terrorist acts, geek terrorism tends to be subtler, less bloody, but far more thoughtful than the average revolutionary act. Take this unsung geek hero, for example, who decided to take revenge on his neighbours, who were steeling his wireless internet. Don’t mess with a geek, unless you want to spend some time browsing the upside down web.

Nerds aren’t the same as geeks. The distinction would require a whole other blog post. However, the nerd and the geek are ideological allies, and so I feel it’s necessary to include this laudable attempt on the part of nerds to organise themselves politically. The Nerd Liberation Movement sees nerds standing up for their rights,

“The Nerd Liberation Movement is dedicated to people who are smart and are not afraid to admit it. In today’s society, smart people are persecuted. We learn to act stupid so that normal people are comfortable around us. Some of us are tired of hiding the fact that we are intelligent people. We want to be able to express our intellect without ridicule”. Amandla!

It’s not only nerds who get a bit militant sometime. Militant geek is a home those eager to kick-start the geek revolution. Ok, well, so actually the site sells T-Shirts. Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara would not be proud. Still, the site does back-up my claim that geeks have had enough!

Not all geeks are ready to take up arms, though. This letter speaks of promoting integration between geeks and jocks, and dares to dream of a world where jocks and geeks all get along:  Inspiring stuff.

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