geek

At long last, a line of demarcation more clearly dividing the respective territories of geeks and nerds is being drawn with the help of (what else?) science.

Scientist and software engineer Burr Settles took on a little weekend project this year to try to more precisely define the realms of geekdom and nerdaliciousness using data scraped from Twitter.

Settles took a look at how often various words occurred within tweets alongside "geek" and "nerd" and then, using a mathematical equation that I sadly am not quite nerdy enough to explain adequately here (Settles finds "math" to be a much stronger part of the nerd vocabulary, as is the word "vocabulary"), plotted the following graph to serve as our first-ever atlas of a subcultural universe occupied by two sometimes dueling empires.… Read more

We've seen some pretty creative marriage proposals, but we never would have thought of proposing via a language-learning app. Flavio Esposito, on the other hand, seems to like thinking outside the down-on-one-knee box.

The Italian man's American girlfriend was using Duolingo to learn Italian, so he got in touch with the Duolingo team to come up with a surprise.

"She's learning my own language, and she enjoys it so much that I'm wondering if I could ask you to set up an exercise for her that would lead to the big question: 'Will you marry Flavio Esposito?'" he wrote.

The team, unable to resist either the challenge or the romance, set about writing some translation exercises for Kate to be dropped into her learning program. … Read more

The hilarious, new buddy movie "The Heat" stars Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy as Special Agent Sarah Ashburn and Det. Shannon Mullins, respectively -- two fiercely independent crime fighters who must first forge their own connection and learn to respect and trust each other's abilities if they are ever to connect the dots on a major case.

Download.com caught up with the film's director, Paul Feig -- best known for directing the Oscar-nominated "Bridesmaids," co-producing the TV series "Freaks and Geeks," and playing science teacher Mr. Eugene Pool on "Sabrina, … Read more

I'm polishing up my "Battlestar Galactica" dog tags. I'm digging out my "Star Trek" insignia and IDIC necklace. I'm getting ready for Geek Pride Day on Saturday.

I'm not the only one getting into this. "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" fans are pulling their favorite towels out of the dryer. Stormtroopers are spit-shining their armor. "Star Wars" cookie cutters are getting pressed into overtime duty. For me, every day is an exercise in geek pride, but I don't mind having a special day to get extra freaky with the geeky.… Read more

When it comes to make-believe, kids are pretty canny -- a simple refrigerator box can fly them to the moon. But inspired by physicists and educators Neil deGrasse Tyson and Carl Sagan, one dad has gone above and beyond in getting his son into space.

Before Noah was born, Daniel Sherrouse was already planning the spaceship simulator he would build to instill in Noah a love of the stars. "When my wife told me she was pregnant, I slammed my fist down on the table and said 'Gosh darn it, my kid is going to have a better life than me!'" … Read more

At the Intel Developers Forum in Beijing, China, today, ZTE debuted the ZTE Geek, a 5-inch handset featuring a 2GHz Intel 32nm Atom Z2580 processor.

The device also features an 8-megapixel camera with LED flash, and a front-facing, 1-megapixel camera. Inside, you'll find a 2,300mAh battery.

As for capacity, the Geek has 8GB of storage and 1GB of RAM. It runs on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean and its HD touch screen has a 1,280x720-pixel resolution.

Despite its rather insipid name, I like what I'm seeing with the Geek -- on paper, at least. Just as … Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- In Jeff's words, April Fool's is a day for unfunny people to tell jokes. With that, I'm pretty sure this prank was posted two weeks early.

- The OPMOD/ThinkGeek Battle Mug: an elegant drink receptacle for a more civilized age.

- Boston police go undercover online to stop DIY punk shows.

- Latest Japanese schoolgirl trend: Fake Dragon Ball attacks.

- Walmart may get customers to deliver packages to online buyers.

- Sales of twin-size beds drop as Tweens demand bigger beds...for their tablets.… Read more

April Fools' is a big day for conceptual technology products. Big tech companies get to let their hair down and come up with gadgets that would earn them ridicule and criticism if they were introduced on any day other than April 1.

We have some real doozies for 2013 when it comes to prank tech gear. ThinkGeek, as usual, has an entire lineup of weird and wonderful items. There's a Play-Doh 3D printer that forms figures out of the famous squishy clay-like material. If you enjoyed listening to Bane's garbled and growly speech during "The Dark Knight Rises," you'll want your very own pair of Bane Mask Walkie Talkies. Other fictional products from the geek retailer include an "Aliens" Chestburster-in-a-Can, a Creeper Body Pillow, and an Eye of Sauron desk lamp.… Read more

Coffee in the morning is no small matter. Decisions get made while sipping the caffeinated brew, decisions that shape the day. Like an architect, we construct plans, piece by piece, layer by layer, until a form emerges. Of course, that usually doesn't involve the actual coffee cup. But then again, who is to say it cannot?

The ThinkGeek Build-On Brick Mug ($19.99) is a coffee mug designed to appeal to designers of all ages. The interactive mug invites users to fiddle with it, stacking popular parts onto their own creations. Exactly what those popular parts might be is, of course, of utmost importance; the last thing anybody wants to do is wrestle with their morning beverage.

Rest assured, the mug is compatible with Lego, PixelBlocks, Mega Bloks, Kre-O, or K'Nex Bricks. The mug itself doesn't come with any bricks; it's strictly BYOB.… Read more