[geeks] What desk toy or "tchotchke" says "geek" to you?

[James Fogg]

> I was trying to think of "things that indicate a geek" -
> stuff like the scene in Office Space where Michael Bolton
> smashes the printer, taped nerdy RPG style glasses, that kind
> of stuff... but couldn't figure out
> this:


I found that two posters work well -

The Network General Guide to Communications Protocols poster
http://www.networkgeneral.com/ProtocolPoster.aspx always works. And I
have a OSF poster that shows Linux development as a series of concentric
circles starting with the kernel at the center and going out to server
apps like Apache and ending in user apps like OpenOffice. Ideally no
matter who walks in they should feel that they don't understand a poster
that is full of useful information.

Coffee mugs are important, I have the very rare Cisco Flintstones mug
(nothing to do with Fred and Barney other than it's big and clunky in a
prehistoric sort of way).

Vendor swag like slinkies, stressballs and such. The choice of vendor is
key. Anyone can get Microsoft swag, but my CA Linux penquin is harder to
find.

And all your pens should have a logo from a cool company, the more
obscure the better (like my Teros pen, which is now part of Citrix).

Conference passkeys on neck ropes, like Linuxworld.

And you must have a non-PC system, MAC at minimum, SUN is better, SGI
rules, Alpha wins. Your PC should be a docked laptop (IBM preferably)
and your screen should be LCD (not as geeky as they were when I got mine
in 2000). If anything says Dell, hide it under the desk.

And some artifact of past technology, better if it's non-computer. My
choice is a cutaway display model (salesman's sample?) of a Solex
side-draft carburetor.

Some things I think fail -
CD's pinned to walls, unless YOU authored the software.
Big leather exec chairs (Aerons work).
A traditional desk, unless it's an ancient Linoleum model or
ex-military.
Flourescent lighting, Halogen lighting (I find a traditional
incandescent shade lamp sets a tone).
Anything Athletic.
More than one monitor, unless we're talking multiheaded.