Geekier than geeky

by Eszter Hargittai on March 16, 2006

You may have to be a pretty particular breed* to appreciate the following, but I can’t be the only one in the CT crowd. I found this Web 2.0 or Star Wars Character quiz quite entertaining. I scored 33 and while it is probably a sign of something positive that I didn’t score higher, I was still a bit disappointed. My point range gets the following recommendation: “As your doctor, I recommend moving out of your parents’ basement.” The whole thing is quite amusing, try it. Don’t look at the score chart until you’ve taken the quiz, you don’t want to spoil that part of the fun.

[*] The original post said “bread”, which should explain some of the comments.

{ 31 comments }

1

stuart 03.16.06 at 10:12 am

Hmm well I got 32, and I have no idea what Web 2.0 is, and I only recognized about 3 names from episodes 1-3 (Only watched the first one and half of the second anyway, which might contribute to that).

2

Doug T 03.16.06 at 10:48 am

38. I have no idea what web 2.0 is, but I’m kind of a star wars geek. Actually, judging by the score, I’m quite the star wars geek.

3

nolo 03.16.06 at 10:50 am

27, and I’m not that big a fan of Star Wars. It’s just that certain names from Star Wars (jarjar, greedo, padme being only three) have wiggled their way into the pop culture miasma we all swim through.

4

Barry 03.16.06 at 10:58 am

31, and I don’t know anything about web 2.0, other than that people are trying to build a ‘web 2.0’ (symantic web?). I just chose web 2.0 for all choices, unless I recognized them from Star Wars.

5

fL 03.16.06 at 11:01 am

Gary Farber is obviously pumpernickel.

6

Eszter 03.16.06 at 11:02 am

Obviously, you don’t necessarily need to know that much about both Web 2.0 and Star Wars to score well, it’s enough to be an expert at just one of them.

That said, being a Star Wars expert is likely going to help more than being a Web 2.0 expert since Star Wars has a limited number of characters whereas Web 2.0 is ever expanding.

7

Kieran Healy 03.16.06 at 11:14 am

Looks like fl is sourdough then.

8

paul 03.16.06 at 11:44 am

Judging from his sense of humor, I’d guess that kieran is wry. I’m challah – er than thou.

9

Eszter 03.16.06 at 12:09 pm

And I’m a baguette as long as there are chocolate turtles next to it. So is the question which baked good knows more about Web 2.0 and/or Star Wars? I thought the quiz was intriguing enough without an extra layer.

10

will u. 03.16.06 at 12:13 pm

Not knowing anything about Web 2.0, I did the same thing as Barry and scored a 37

11

Barry 03.16.06 at 12:16 pm

What *is* web 2.0?

12

spencer 03.16.06 at 12:21 pm

Obviously, you don’t necessarily need to know that much about both Web 2.0 and Star Wars to score well, it’s enough to be an expert at just one of them.

I scored a 30, have never heard of Web 2.0, and am not by any stretch of the imagination an expert on Star Wars.

13

Matt 03.16.06 at 12:37 pm

14

Patrick Banks 03.16.06 at 12:48 pm

Dammit, I got 26. Too… much… kool-ade…
I guessed on more than half of the questions. I must be a good guesser, then. Plus, some of those Star Wars names are just too familiar.

15

mike d 03.16.06 at 1:04 pm

Barry, you’re using it. Web 2.0 describes a movement recognizing the evolution of the web into an interactive medium and its associated technologies. You no longer merely consume content, you can add to the content (Flickr, blog comments) or sort it (del.icio.us). Of course, there are those who have said that Web 2.0 is already overblown and passe, and they’re looking onware to Web 3.0

16

Barry 03.16.06 at 1:50 pm

Thanks.

17

Justin 03.16.06 at 2:24 pm

31, doing the same thing as barry.

18

The Navigator 03.16.06 at 2:35 pm

That quiz is officially lame because it doesn’t tell you which ones you got wrong at the end. You’re just left wondering, “hmm, it did say ‘padme’, right? And that was the Natalie Portman character? I’m not just going crazy here? Or am I?”

Perhaps it is a characteristic of Web 2.0 to make people question and doubt the reliability of information found on the web. In which case this quiz is arguably demonstrating the principles of Web 2.0 while simultaneously quizzing you on them….

19

ab 03.16.06 at 2:56 pm

Eszter, how much research time a day do you spend on finding these things…? ;-)

I’m just envious, I probably should change my discipline.

20

John Quiggin 03.16.06 at 2:56 pm

Isn’t Tarkin the surname of a CT commenter?

I thought I grokked Web 2.0 and the names on the list meant nothing to me. Am I missing the party where the cool kids are hanging out (again!)?

21

mpowell 03.16.06 at 5:16 pm

Their chart is pretty silly. Just random guessing should get half right which would put you in the Too…much…kool-aid… bin.

22

Eszter 03.16.06 at 5:56 pm

As far as I’m concerned, all this unappreciation of the survey suggests to me that you all are simply not geeky enough, you know, in that cool sort of way.:)

AB – I do consider keeping up-to-date on new Web services part of my job.:) If that involves a quiz or video on occasion, so be it, I make those sacrifices.;)

John Q. – You can start by checking out my del.icio.us links. I have those post automatically to my more personal blog every day so you could get a daily dose by checking there.

23

tom bach 03.16.06 at 6:03 pm

A 21 without knowing what Web 2.0 is and having seen only the first Star Wars, first in “real” time that is.

24

joe o 03.16.06 at 6:29 pm

20. lowest score yet. And I even recognized about 7 of the star wars names and one of the web 2.0 companies.

25

DigitalDjigit 03.17.06 at 12:53 pm

The scoring chart is wrong. Knowing nothing about the subject matter and just randomly guessing one would still get around 50% right – 21 points (exactly what I got) and yet it claims I drank the Kool-Aid.

26

JJ 03.17.06 at 2:33 pm

Grand Moff Tarkin – played by Peter Cushing in the original movie. I clicked on 9 names that I recognized from Star Wars, and left everything else blank. I got a 9.

I had a vague idea of what Web 2.0 is, so I probably know more than the average Luddite, but I do resist some technologies that seem ridiculous, spurious, or overpriced.

Anyway, here’s some info on Web 2.0.

JJ

27

christopher carfi 03.17.06 at 5:10 pm

navigator…ask, and ye shall receive. per your comment #18 above, we’ve added a “see answers” link at the bottom of the quiz. just for you. (well, sorta.)

28

Alex R 03.17.06 at 5:24 pm

OK, I took the quiz, and I read the articles about Web 2.0 — and I *still* don’t get it. What do the non-Star Wars names have to do with Web 2.0, or folksonomies, or AJAX, or anything?

29

christopher carfi 03.17.06 at 7:11 pm

@alex r: they’re all “web 2.0” companies.

http://www.diggwatchblog.com/web-20-logos-and-links/

30

will u. 03.17.06 at 8:19 pm

“Grand Moff Texan” is the name of the CT commenter.

This is one of the few occasions in which I can put the time I spent reading about the “Heir to the Empire” series on Wikipedia to use. Not particularly good use, I admit, but still use.

31

Gary Farber 03.19.06 at 4:52 am

“Gary Farber is obviously pumpernickel.”

I got a 37. Know very little about Web 2.0, but a bit too much about Star Wars, though mostly just through having poked around the Star Wars website in the past; I’ve actually read none of the comics or novels (other than the original Alan Dean Foster). So just clicked on SW names and put Web 2.0 for anything else.

I quite like pumpernickel, though, with some nice thick Irish butter, please.

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