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Back when I was in Primary 4 (around 8yrs old), I learned the capital of every country in the world. I got an atlas for my birthday that year and just couldn't put it down! I was surprised to hear that my friend's brother also did this when he was at around the same age, so I'm beginning to wonder if its quite common?
This thread is for any similar geeky things that you've done.
I know the latin names of most birds we have here
Turning into a pc gaming forumite :laugh4:
Hey, I learned all the flags from all the countries by heart when I was 8 as well!Quote:
Back when I was in Primary 4 (around 8yrs old), I learned the capital of every country in the world. I got an atlas for my birthday that year and just couldn't put it down! I was surprised to hear that my friend's brother also did this when he was at around the same age, so I'm beginning to wonder if its quite common?
Learnt my politics teacher's license plate... for no reason... I'm scared about myself.
Probably, can also include a lot of acronyms and quotes from shakespeare... I think I can recite part of the opening from romeo and juliet.
"Two households both alike in dignity in fair verona where we lay our scene, from ancient grudge break forth to new mutiny where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. From forth the fatal loins of these two foes, a pair of star cross'd lovers do taint their life, and whose misadventure, pitious o'erthrows, do with their death bury their parents strife"
From memory baby!
other things might be drawing maps of the TW games and planning my conquests... or the one time i drew a map of america and plotted it's downfall. Sorry to the american orgahs... i had a real problem with bush.:sweatdrop:
Hey Rhyfelwr, what's the capital of Mongolia?
Hmmm.Quote:
Originally Posted by The New Che Guevara
Futility
Move him into the sun gently it;s touch awoke him once, whispering of fields unsown always it woke him even in France, until this day and this snow. If anything might rouse him now the kind old sun will know. Think of how it wakes the seeds, woke once the clays of a cold star, are nerves so dear [ohdamnit] limbs [oh ffs] so hard to stir? Was it for this the clay grew tall? Oh what made fatious beams decide to break earth's sleep at all?
Almost.
Ulan Batuur (sp?)! Sadly I've forgotten quite a few of them now. :shame:Quote:
Originally Posted by The New Che Guevara
hehe I like learning about the flags as well, although I can't say I ever got them all off by heart.
Mongolia is easy because it has such a weird name.
Just like Burkina Faso.
Some are really easy for people to get wrong, like Austrialia, Canada, Turkey.
What is the capital of Uruguay?
Montevideo?
The problem with Australia/Canada/Turkey is that the biggest cities are not the capitals. That's easy though its Canberra/Ottawa/Ankara, not Sydney/Vancouver or Montreal?/Instanbul as people might think.
Can't recall Burkina Faso though. Konakre and Ougadogou (always remember that cause it sounds funny) spring to mind.
Sweet. High-five for not naming Toronto!
Burkina Faso is Ougadogou. That's what makes it so easy, because its so esoteric you can't help but remember it. If its capital was named Springfield or something like that, it would be harder.
And if the Simpsons didn't exist, I guess.
Nerdiest thing I've done..... probably attempting to deliver a lecture on Entomology in Grade 2.
Same here, except that I also learned the placement of all the countries in the world as well. When I was 7. I still remember it all, due to my constant practice. In general, everything I do is nerdy. People who know me often say they have never met or seen anyone more nerdy than me. My outer appearance is not nerdy, but I do wear glasses, and I also wear nothing but long sleeve, button-up shirts. all year round. I am quite fond of dressing formally/semi-formally.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rhyfelwyr
And anyway, you are confusing nerdy things with geeky things. There is a canyon worth of difference between a nerd and a geek. Nerd is more of academe interests. Geek is more of obsession with TV shows, manga/anime, films, books series, etc. Whether an obsession with computers is defined as "computer nerdism" or "computer geekism" is still hotly debated. Geeks are also social, or at least extroverts in nature, while nerds generally are introverts.
Here is a simple graph to aid you in enlightenment: https://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j...g?t=1238356778
Someone was bound to put this up eventually.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xEzGIuY7kw
Dadgum you!!!! :furious3::furious3::furious3: I was going to edit my previous post, but you just beat me to it. :clown:Quote:
Originally Posted by desert
But seriously, I was about to put that masterpiece up. It just had to go here. No nerd should live a life without watching and listening to that music video. Oh wait, nerd don't have a life... I am confused... Whatever, you get my point. Every nerd, geek, dweeb (but not dork) should watch that.
Out of boredom, I shall imagine a world map and see how well I do with the capitals. Tell me if I miss any countries...
Canada - Ottawa
USA - Washington
Mexico - Mexico City
Cuba - Havana
Bahamas - Nassau?
Jamaica - Kingston
Haiti -
Dominican Republic -
... various islands nobody cares about
Honduras -
Belize - Belmopan
Nicaragua -
El Salvador - San Salvador
Costa Rica -
Panama - Panama
Columbia - Bogota
Venezuela - Caracas
Guyana - Georgetown
Suriname -
French Guyana -
Brazil - Brasilia
Uruguay - Montevideo
Argentina - Buenos Aires
Chile - Santiago
Paraguay - Asuncion
Bolivia -
Peru - Lima
Ecuador - Quito
Greenland - Godthaab?
Iceland - Reykjavik
UK - London
France - Paris
Netherlands - Amsterdam
Belgium - Brussels
Luxembourg - Luxembourg
Switzerland - Bern
Leichtenstein - Vaduz
Italy - Rome
Spain - Madrid
Portugal - Lisbon
Andorra - Andorra la Velle
Germany - Berlin
Denmark - Copenhagen
Norway - Oslo
Sweden - Stockholm
Finland - Helsinki
Russia - Moscow
Estonia - Tallin
Latvia - Riga
Lithuania - Vilnius
Poland - Warsaw
Belarus - Minsk
Ukraine - Kiev
Moldova - Kishishev?
Czech Rep - Prague
Slovakia - Bratislava
Hungary - Budapest
Slovenia - Ljubliana
Croatia - Zagreb
Bosnia - Sarajevo
Serbia - Belgrade
Albania -
Greece - Athens
Romania - Bucharest
Bulgaria - Sofia
Morocco - Marrakesh
Algeria - Algiers
Tunisia - Tunis
Libya - Tripoli
Egypt - Cairo
Sudan - Khartoum
Chad - N'Djamena?
Niger -
Burkina - Ougadogou
Senegal - Dakar
Gambia - Konakry?
Sierra Leone - Freetown?
Liberia -
Ivory Coast - Abijan
Benin -
Togo -
Nigeria - Abuja
Cameroon - Youande?
Central African Rep -
Equatorial Guinea -
Congo - Brazaville
Zaire - Kinsasha
Angola - Luanda
Namibia - Windhoek
South Africa - Pretoria? [gah]
Botswana -
Zimbabwe - Harare
Swaziland -
Malawi -
Burundi -
Rwanda -
Mozambique -
Tanzania - Dar-es-Salaam
Madagascar - Antaanaravio
Kenya - Nairobi
Ethiopia - Adis Ababa
Eritrea -
Somalia - Mogadishu
Djibouti - Djibouti
Yemen - Aman
Oman - Muscat
Saudi Arabia - Riyadh
Jordan - Amman
Israel - Jerusalem
Lebanon - Beirut
Syria - Antioch jk lol too much M2TW
Armenia - Yerevan
Georgia - Tblisi
Azerbaijan - Baku
Iraq - Baghdad
Kuwait - Kuwait City
Dubai -
UAE -
Iran - Tehran
Turkmenistan - Tashkent?
Uzbekistan -
Kirgystan -
Kazakhstan - Alma Ata
Afghanistan - Kabul
Pakistan - Islamabad
India - Delhi
Sri Lanka -
Nepal - Kathmandu
Bhutan -
China - Beijing
Mongolia - Ulan Batuur
North Korea - Pyonyang
South Korea - Seoul
Japan - Tokyo
Taiwan -
Philippines - Manilla
Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh?
Cambodia -
Laos -
Thailand - Bangkok
Burma -
Bangladesh - Daka
Malaysia - Kuala Lumpur
Singapore - Singapore
Indonesia - Jakarta
Brunei -
Papua New Guinea - Port Moresby
Australia - Canberra
New Zealand - Wellington
... various Pacific Islands
Hmm I've forgotten more than I realised, time to refresh my memory (who cares about studying for exams?)...
EDIT: What is the video? It says unavailable in my country???
Trying my hand at the ones you didn't get...Quote:
Originally Posted by Rhyfelwyr
Brazil - Brasilia
Rio De Janerio... surely ?
South Africa - Pretoria? [gah]
Isn't it cape town ?
I suppose my memorizing of familys number plates as a child (6-8) was fairly geeky... impressive party trick i could pull out to impress the adults!
Im generally quite good as remembering things like numbers plates, phone numbers... most type of code things... i could make a fairly long list of all the various codes a remember for various reasons...
Ahhh, my favourite. SAF (South African Republic) has three capitals, all of which have different functions. Capetown, Praetoria, and Bloemfontein. Legislative, executive, judicial. Peculiar folk they are.Quote:
Originally Posted by LittleGrizzly
That aside, naming capitals on the Internet forum seems silly and pointless to me. You can just look it up. That is not fair. What we should do is an instant message quiz.
No, Brasilia is correct.Quote:
Originally Posted by LittleGrizzly
What's the capital of New York? :laugh4:
Yeah, they did it like Australian way. They cleared the land, and planned the whole city out, right from the very beginning. Brasilia is their capital, but that is about all. Just like Canberra, the capital of Australia. Yes, Australia's capital is not Sydney.Quote:
Originally Posted by Evil_Maniac From Mars
The capital of NY is Albany. Why the laugh? Did you expect people to say NYC?
You wouldn't believe how many people do that.Quote:
Did you expect people to say NYC?
I didn't cheat, honest!
Didn't even do that well lol
But I did learn them 11 years ago. Maybe if I relearn them over the week we could have a little contest via instant messenging?
American (And some Canadian ones) capitals of states and province are wonky.
Pennsylvania - Harrisburg, not Pittsburgh or Philadelphia
Washington - Olympia, not Seattle
Texas - Austin, Not Dallas or Houston.
The list goes on. The only one that makes the any sense are the Midwestern states, and maybe California.
Other then geography, and coin collection, I used to do a bit of pokemon.
Remembered all 251 pokemon at my best (Gold and silver) and I was able to sing the pokemon theme song and pokemon collecters song in Japanese.
I would say history, but after knowing Org, I kinda lost my confidence... :sweatdrop:
Eh, Sacramento isn't that big. In the US we have a fairly long tradition of designating relatively unimportant cities our capitals. D.C was built from the ground up as our capital, Montpelier is a small town even by Vermont standards, Albany is a bit of a pit but holds NY's governmental centers, and so on.Quote:
Originally Posted by A Very Super Market
Wow, I did this as well! I looked so often at an atlas, one classmate once claimed I must have eaten one. Also, I can recognize most countries at their shape and draw a world map just out of memory. Don't ask me for rivers and similar in my home country though!
Btw, the capital of Togo is Lomé.
I know all Canadian provinces and territories and their capitals
Nova Scotia - Halifax
New Brunswick - Fredericton
Prince Edward Island - Charlottetown
Newfoundland - St. John's
Québec - Québec City
Ontario - Toronto
Manitoba - Winnipeg
Saskatchewan - Regina
Alberta - Edmonton
British Columbia - Victoria
Yukon Territory - Whitehorse
Northwest Territories - Yellowknife
Nunavut Territory - Iqualuit (Frobisher Bay)
Surely, the city of Iowa City would be the capital of the state of Iowa, right? Nope... (Des Moines)Quote:
Originally Posted by A Very Super Market
Pshaw. You named all the capitals and provinces and territories in Canada. Bit like just picking the biggest cities. 'Cept for my own BC.
We have 13 Ps and Ts, and anyone could name them all. Can you name all 50 US states? For the record, I can.
Isn't Des Moines the largest city in Iowa? See, that makes sense.
Harharhar! BUt I'm not from Canada.
If want to equal my amazing deed Mr. Smartypants, name every German state and its capital. And don't look them up (though it would surprise me even if you looked them up).
Yes, it is. However, it was made the capital long ago when IC was the biggest; people gradually shifted to DM as more jobs were made available.Quote:
Originally Posted by A Very Super Market
Geeky, nerdy things I've done:
1) building models - mostly battleships but a few cars and a Colonial Viper & Cylon Raider from the original Battlestar Galactica series.
2) a fan of science fiction and fantasy books/movies
3) played D&D from the age of 18 in 1977-78 up until the age of 47 - I've been on a break the last two years, though the itch is returning. I used to put "D&D" on the calendar to mark days we were playing but the wife stopped that as it was too risky for "embarassment" (hers) in case visitors saw it.
4) played Magic: The Gathering card game during the 90s...sometimes at work during lunch break.
5) was really into astronomy in teens-20s with occassional returns to it in the years since. Was secretary-treasurer, vice-president and then president of the Penn State Astrononmy Club.
6) was into video/computer gaming starting with Intellivision, Commodore 64, Amiga and finally PCs.
7) will leave messages on answering machines or order food at a drive-thru window in an accent or non-sensical ramblings. The words "May I help you?" can inspire almost any kind of absurdity from me.
8) I can embarass my wife and kids in public - like skipping through a parking lot while swinging shopping bags to and fro, or "riding" a shopping cart.
9) played board wargames as a teen and into my 20s (until computer gaming took over).
Hmmm, that's all I can think of at the moment.
theres no shame in models, Gregoshi
That is irrelevant. US is unique in the amount of autonomy it gives to its states. The US States actually matter, where as the Russian oblast, French department, Swiss canton, German bundesländer, etc are merely administrative/bureaucratic divisions. Although geography, as a subject, is exceedingly important in Russia, and most Russians can accurately place over a 100 countries on a world map, few know all the oblasts, let alone their capitals.Quote:
Originally Posted by Centurio Nixalsverdrus
With English names as a courtesy to the forum's main language. ~;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Centurio Nixalsverdrus
Baden-Württemberg - Stuttgart
Bavaria - München
Thuringia - Erfurt
Schleswig-Holstein - Kiel
Saxony - Dresden
Saarland - Saarbrücken
Saxony-Anhalt - Magdeburg
Berlin - Berlin
Bremen - Bremen
Brandenburg - Potsdam
North Rhine-Westphalia - Düsseldorf
Rhineland-Palatinate - Mainz
Lower Saxony - Hannover
Hamburg - Hamburg
Hesse - Wiesbaden
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern - Schwerin
If I have any of those wrong...:wall:
It's not as good as most other people's, but when I was around 10 or 11 I was able to name all the US Presidents in order without looking them up. Unfortunately, I can't do VPs. :hide:
List below in case you want to test me:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
I used to be able to do the Amendments too, but my memory on them is rusty.
The French departements, English counties etc. are an administrative division whereas the German Bundesländer are not. They are the fundament of our state. Every law and administrative task is by default obliged to the Länder. The Länder together join up to build the Bundesrepublik. Our nation is, in its nature, fundamentally federal, to the degree that we allow each Land its own educational system. When the reunification took place in 1990, the five Länder which lay on the territory of the old DDR, but were de-facto inexistant (because the DDR had a centralist approach as e. g. France), joined the Bundesrepublik the logical second after the DDR had formally ceased to exist. In 1871, when modern day Germany was created (as a monarchy then), every citizen had two nationalities: the one of his home state, and the German one. The southern states even kept their own armies!! So don't tell me they wouldn't matter. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Aemilius Paulus
@Evil Maniac:
Great, not many Germans are capable of that task! :no:
I wasted time beating Aemilius Paulus' post here by a mere minute or two upon noticing that he was replying to this thread. I suppose that's kinda geeky. :laugh4:
It is true that the German states are more unique and autonomous, since after all, Germany was disunited for most of its history, fully of small duchies, counties, city-states, etc. However, that was the past, and although its echoes remain, it is not the same today. From what I know about German politics, the German states do not have as much autonomy as the US states do. The difference is very large.
It is true that the German nation, as you said, is basically a federation. However, Russia calls itself a federation as well, and it is actually. Despite what it claims, the oblasts have zero autonomy. Then again, we have quite a bit of republics in Russia, which are very much autonomous (mostly due to their volatility, but not always).
The geekiest period of my life was when I had this crush on a girl and I started writing poems to try and impress her. For over 2 months this went on and wrote over 20 poems (mind you I was 14 then, so most of them were quite useless). However the effect was opposite of what I wanted. The girl began to think I was a weirdo and got freaked. She started avoiding me thereafter :sweatdrop:
I learned the 150 original Pokemon off by heart, but unlike Beefy I stuck to the Blue/Red/Yellow series (Yellow was the first game I got). Silver, Gold etc just didn't feel the same. But those first 150 Pokemon have a place in my heart. [sentimental smilies goes here]
When I was 12-15 I played tabletop wargames. :shrug:
When I was in primary school, probably around age 9, I could name all 151 pokemon in order.
As a kid I used to build box forts.
No girls allowed. :book:
I knew about the aussie capital but i always thought rio was brazil's capital... another one of those trick ones!
Another slightly geeky thing... occasionally whenever shopping or splitting a bill comes up i am used as a human clalculator!
Done Suriname IIRC.Quote:
Suriname - Willemstad
EDIT: Also, you forgot Kosovo.
Why is it girls dont want us to be romantic outside of arelationship, but then as soon as you're in one, you have to be? We should find a female orgah and interrogate her...:girlslap:Quote:
Originally Posted by india
People may know the pokemon in order... but do they know all the evolutions and levels... that's sad...
quick poll... who's actually completed a pokedex aside from me?:pokemon: Mine was ruby version's... whilst I was sitting as an artist model... i couldn't help but raise my fist in celebration. Then I realised, I had a lot more to do.
All 150 a few months after red/blue first came out.Quote:
Originally Posted by The New Che Guevara
I was so ashamed I erased the game immediately to hide my transgressions.
Paramaribo. :book:Quote:
Originally Posted by Hax
Unfortunately people have gotten dull since the olden times. Before, the more well-to-do people cared about poetry. Nowadays no one does. That tactic would never work with today's women. Not unless they are literature geeks...Quote:
Originally Posted by india
As for Pokemon, yes I was in the craze too. I was in Russia, in 1st-3rd grade, and I spent it in Pokemon. At that time, every boy had what we called kepsi, or plastic, round trading cards that were slammed against the floor, and if they flipped to the picture of the Pokemon, you won the round. The two players would go on util one got the picture, and one did not. Then that round card would go to the player that got the picture. I also know all of the original Pokemon. Ahh, those were good days...
Are you kidding me? That isn't geeky in the slightest! Box forts are the best thing known to mankind, and the epitome of boyhood.Quote:
Originally Posted by Monk
Also, getting two box forts and fighting with a friend is awesome. Better with an enemy.
Get Rid Of Slimy GirlS?
As a kid, I knew:
Everyone's birthday
Everyone's phone number (home, mobile and email addresses where applicable)
Countries of the world and their capitals
States in America and their capitals
Football teams, nicknames and stadiums
All the Pokemon
James Bond films, villains, everything
Yeah, pretty geeky.
What about now :grin::clown:?Quote:
Originally Posted by Craterus
I've still got a good hold on birthdays, email addresses, countries&capitals, American states.
On the upside, I think I could now name all the presidents (might fail on correct order).
I have looked up and down that list of capitals.. but I could not find the name of good, dear Vienna, Wien, die Stadt unserer Traueme; please tell me that it is there, and that I was searching too quickly.
The Very Weird of me...
Name all the Elements, most of its isotopes, melting & freezing points, atomic structures including the irregulars, and most physical properties... but that's the drill
5000 pieces Jigsaw Puzzle.
Took me 7 months to make when I was 18. I had to make a custom table for it and a second 'partial assembly table'
It now adorns our company headquarters :yes:
Even after so many years sexy girls that come to our company, in voices filled with lust, ask what undeniably sexy beast made that jigsaw puzzle...
...well no they don't :no:
i don't think knowing all the pokemon is that geeky since when it came out every kid was obsessed with it. I on the other hand am sad to say i knew all the types of every pokemon and there specific weakness and which pokemon was best suited to counter it, as well as all the moves they could learn, including which move only the evolved forms could learn, i also knew where best to catch each pokemon, and how to train them so they were really strong in only one ability :help:
i still pull it out every now and then and have a go, but i have lost my pokedexical knowledge by now.
something really geeky i did as a kid though was building popstick models, the house was covered in them, fruit bowls, key racks, chopping boards, spice racks, you name it i built it. At one point I even made a life size man model, but the dogs chewed it up :furious3:
:inquisitive: everyone should know that. If they study in school that is.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cute Wolf
Same here.Quote:
Originally Posted by Craterus
I was obsessed with writing as a kid, so much so that I would actually sit and read the dictionary. (Hey, I won the state spelling bee and went to nationals.)
Lot of good that did me when I was introduced to beer.
Talking bout geeky stuff. My theisis is gonna be bout PC games. PEW PEW.
I built a Tesla coil in high school.