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6 Things You Must Do Before You Die: Geek Edition

I was reading an article in Mens Health, and they were asking buff people with 6 packs what were some things they wanted to do before they died. The common answer was to visit Cancun. The first thing I thought to myself was, what if you are a geek?

I came up with 6 things that every geek must do at a minimum to have lived a full life. They are in no particular order as each is equally important.

• Visit Akihabara

Akihabara is one of the largest Electronic shopping Districts on the Planet. Located in Tokyo, Japan, you can shop for anything electronic, computer, and anime.

Why must you do this?

Visiting Akihabara is the geek equivalent of a Muslim Pilgrimage to Mecca. You have to visit at least once. Anyone into tech gear, computers and anime would not be complete without planting boots in the center of one of the busiest tech places on earth. This also throws a check in the box for traveling.

• Attend A Meet

Meets are social gatherings that specific online communities hold. Mainly users of a specific forum or common interest site.

Why must you do this?

You spend hour after hour, and day after day communicating with people in a particular forum or interest group for one reason: You like them! Chances are you are going to like them in person too. Nothing beats meeting tons of other people that feel the same way you do about certain ideas. Like taking photos? Go to a Flickr group meet and take photos with many other users, and share tips and ideas.

Popular meet ideas are Flickr photo group meets, community meets in the park, or meets in a bar/lounge district for a night of you know what.

This leads us to the next must do:

• Meet An Online Friend and “Hit” it Off
  

Online friends are people you meet online! Popular online friend meeting sites are Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, Pownce, and loads of others.

Why must you do this?

You have been talking to Joe or Sally on Myspace for you can’t remember how many years. You have followed them on twitter, they have dugg all your entires on Digg.
You both have been there for each other through the ups and the downs. You have killed them 1000’s of times in GOW. When Joe or Sally has some good or bad news, they tell YOU first. You often give them advice about RL that they often follow. Why would you want to live with the only visual memory of them being an avatar of a rosebud or a dog nose? Theres a real face behind that Simpsons avatar, and you can’t go without meeting this person!

• Earn the Title of 1337 In An Online Game
  

Online games are obviously games that you play online. Popular online games are Poker, Counter-Strike, Halo 1 and 2, Gears Of War, and WoW.

Why must you do this?

You have the setup of a Pro. You have a pro joystick, with a pro graphics card averaging 100fps. You have spent hours playing WOW. You can’t go without ever truly owning. Life wouldn’t be complete. I am not talking about winning a few, I’m talking making people leave the server. Popular ways of obtaining the title of “1337″ are logging a lot of hours, or excessive cheating.

• Design, Implement, or Suggest an Idea That Someone Else Uses.

Designs can be anything from Word Press templates to logo design suggestions. An idea could be an idea for lets say presentation methods, or a startup website like Gleamd.

Why must you do this?

There is NOTHING like browsing the internet and see a design or idea that you shared (You better be pro OPEN SOURCE!) being used by others and showcased for the world to see. It doesn’t have to be a big idea, or even successful. If you spend your time designing something or putting together an idea, if one person likes it and uses it, you made it. Some people would not be anywhere without help from others on the internet. Bonus is if someone says thanks.

• Be First In Line For A Product Launch

Line Sitting is the art of showing up hours, or in the extreme, days before a product launch. It is normally done at the launch of major movies, books, gaming consoles, and hot tech products.

Why must you do this?

Being first to have a hot product is exhilarating. You are the first one in your area with a particular item. I don’t know how long this feeling will last, but you can’t go without doing it once. There are many side benefits to being first in-line also. Media attention for your 5 minutes of fame is a big perk with this must do. Bonus here is if someone pays you $800 for your spot.

There you have it. I can’t promise you eternal life or anything like that, but I can promise that you will grow old, content, and happy knowing that you lived your life to the fullest. Maybe one day you can sit your grandkids on your lap and tell them all about it.

I’m Chasing the dream every day!

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 28th, 2007 at 5:36 pm and is filed under Just Blogging. You can follow any responses to this entry through the comments feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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