Advertise here with Carbon Ads
This site is made possible by member support. ❤️
Big thanks to Arcustech for hosting the site and offering amazing tech support.
When you buy through links on kottke.org, I may earn an affiliate commission. Thanks for supporting the site!
kottke.org. home of fine hypertext products since 1998.
Reader comments
Tom DolanNov 22, 2003 at 10:13AM
That's pretty scary, I scored 189 and I'm sure there will be people that will kick my ass.
heatherNov 22, 2003 at 10:33AM
168. could have done better -- shouldn't have talked through math class. they really need to have another scoring bracket. 170+ "you need to get out more."
dowingbaNov 22, 2003 at 10:42AM
I was disappointed. Just because I don't use a cellphone to access my email doesn't mean I don't know how to. And how do I avoid the RIAA? I don't, I'm Canadian.
Tom HarpelNov 22, 2003 at 10:45AM
196! I scored a 196! Full-blown nerd-dom is mine. Incidentally, anyone who posts a comment here should automatically add 10 (20?) points to their final score.
chrisNov 22, 2003 at 11:53AM
sad to say 199 but i am a bofh so its to be expected ...
liaNov 22, 2003 at 11:56AM
159! A nerd, but only a middle range nerd. All you guys scoring in the 180+ range frighten me.
MariaNov 22, 2003 at 12:11PM
131! Does that mean I'm cool (as opposed to, well, a nerd)? I'd like to think it does. All thanks to my WAP-less cellphone and my non-existent PDA. And the RIAA can't catch me either, I'm Norwegian.
Tom DolanNov 22, 2003 at 12:51PM
Can some ultra-geek figure out the perfect score? (what's BOFH, chris?) I'm a designer and reluctant nerd who needs to know how my computers work in order to stay in business, but I did scare myself when I knew that Bluetooth was a Viking. I know I must have gotten 5-10 questions wrong tho ...
chrisNov 22, 2003 at 1:29PM
BOFH = B*st*rd Operator from H*ll - people who make company networks work. (or not work depending on how much we like you ;) See www.theregister.co.uk/content/30/index.html.
Some of the questions are PC biased which will result in mac users getting a lower score
JoergNov 22, 2003 at 2:07PM
79. I think that's a good sign. Answering this on a Saturday afternoon, +70 = 149.
margaretNov 22, 2003 at 2:23PM
i scored a 121, and i'm 14, so i couldn't answer the ones relating to work and coworkers. and i don't have a cell phone or a PDA, so i think i scored pretty darn well.
LacyNov 22, 2003 at 2:38PM
160. I'm proud to be called a nerd ... and agree with Heather. (about it needing another scoring bracket).
R.Nov 22, 2003 at 3:47PM
167.
PierceNov 22, 2003 at 5:04PM
41. Hah. And I'm in the final year of a computer science degree. It makes me obscurely proud, somehow.
Definately biased towards those working or with money though (laptops, PDA, etc).
Shane CavanaughNov 22, 2003 at 5:51PM
91. I'm happy with that. Not bad for a computer hobbyist.
EdwardNov 22, 2003 at 8:17PM
Answering honestly I got 219. Then I saw all the Microsoft flash ads all over the page and realized what it was and re-took it and scored 234. [Hint: click YES to any feature of Windows XP and Office XP and newer and you too will score high.] Some of the heuristics seemed, though normal for a tech-savvy person, strange for the average user. Like not gaining points for alphanumeric passwords or not having anyone's name/dob as password, but losing points if it weren't the case. Same for opeing file attachments from strangers. No points if you don't, but losing points if you do. I wonder why they gave points for writing a virus. Same for blogging and googling.
Jerry KindallNov 22, 2003 at 8:59PM
Major problems with this. The biggest problem is that you can't select more than one answer to a question like "Do you read your personal e-mail at home or at work?" Well duh -- both! The fact that the UI element used for this is a checkbox leads you to believe that you can select multiple answers.
But I abandoned the test when I saw they knock 5 points off for opening files sent to you by people you don't know. This is basically harmless on a Mac, which is why I do it, and in any case they didn't say what kinds of attachments. (I wouldn't open an executable.) I should get 5 points added for using a platform nobody writes worms for, rather than having 5 points knocked off because they assume I'm using Windows.
On the other hand, I got 5 points because my OS has a firewall built-in. I don't use the firewall, since there's really no need to, but I do have one, which is what they actually asked. So I guess it's a wash.
GinkgoNov 22, 2003 at 9:52PM
I got a 210 the first time I took it, and answered honestly (Using Wintel at work helped a good bit). Second time I got a 240. It is a pretty poorly designed survey.... Doesn't even record the actual scores, the only record keeping is a second form that's highest number is 110. Why not just submit the score after the survey is taken?
Dave S.Nov 23, 2003 at 2:58AM
Jerry: Holy over-analysis, Batman.
TrevorNov 23, 2003 at 7:41AM
39. beat you all
CarolineNov 23, 2003 at 8:59AM
106. You... men and your PDA's. Pah.
LNov 23, 2003 at 1:13PM
One thing I don't get is why I didn't get extra points for *not* having my homepage set to msn/yahoo/aol. My homepage is a home-brewn, dynamically generated php page with rss feeds from my friends blogs, webradio, search fields and the likes. I tought I should get nerd points for that. Anyway, I got 205. I'm a nerd. Yeah
Jerry KindallNov 23, 2003 at 1:21PM
Believe me, I have not begun to overanalyze! ;)
BenNov 23, 2003 at 4:40PM
186......personalising a portal should be replaced with hand coding php or perl for your web site
Ben K.Nov 23, 2003 at 4:42PM
Well, it looks like the highest score possible is a 240. They actually got one of their answers wrong: they give you points for saying that Mac files can be read and written in Windows and vv, but they seem to have forgotten the fact that Mac files have a resource fork and a data fork; if you pass a Mac file around a win or unix network, it's quite likely that the file you get back won't be the one you sent out.
MattNov 24, 2003 at 12:43AM
240 is the highest? Now I feel better about my 195. I'm nowhere near as hopeless as I thought.
CHNov 24, 2003 at 11:08AM
sad to say that i used .net on my mac to sort out my home page ... just to see if could be done ... Happy to report it was possible ...
Beth RingsmuthNov 24, 2003 at 12:28PM
Aside from Pierce, I think I tanked out with a 78. This is definitely skewed results, though, based on the fact that it's an internet test. Obviously more people who are tech-savvy are going to use than internet than those who don't. Also, I'm in agreement on the PC/Mac thing. I can use a PC but have used Macs since age five, so who cares if I know how to get rid of Clippy? My OS doesn't treat me like a 3-year-old.
RichNov 24, 2003 at 6:08PM
186
Don ShaveNov 28, 2003 at 8:00PM
141 on 1st try which ain't not too bad for a 48+ English guy who lives in the scorching northern US-of-A!! Searched MSNBC site in vain (digital iq test) for this d*mned quiz after spotting commercial (Newsweek rag) -- went after it on Copernic...Kottke's blog pages popped up as #8 (of dozens) which led me here...FYI, try Google which quickly pops up several pages (as usual) with a preferred link to an "Einstein" IQ test which may be a chuckle!!
chanDec 03, 2003 at 10:09PM
i got 82 .. -82 that is
o[Dec 31, 2003 at 4:16PM
what?
daveloJan 06, 2004 at 12:29AM
I was disappointed. Just because I don't use a cellphone to access my email doesn't mean I don't know how to. And how do I avoid the RIAA? I don't, I'm Canadian.
Hornick Andrea Jan 25, 2004 at 10:14PM
Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.
MelissaFeb 18, 2004 at 6:36PM
Please allow me to leave my links on your page
Married Women Cheating Wives
Swingers Clubs
Swingers Couples Swinging
Swinger Couples ads
Penis Growth Pills
Sorry for disturbing
Regards
Sarh GrayFeb 24, 2004 at 7:55PM
I liked your site and was wondering if it would be possible for us to exchange links. You can find our site at www.1-spy-software.net
If you are interested please send me your site details and I will happily add it for you. Thanks
Kind regards
Sarah
This thread is closed to new comments. Thanks to everyone who responded.