# What is the Nerdiest thing you own? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 20, 2006, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-nerdiest-thing-you-own/353492 "2006-04-20T16:52:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-nerdiest-thing-you-own/353492/101 "2006-04-25T22:42:26Z")
Four different song collections by the University of California Marching Band (2 CD, 2 cassette) _Amazing Grace_ by the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards _Fowler’s Modern English Usage_ All 3 figurines from the LOTR Extended Editions (Argonath, Gollum, Minas Tirith). ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-nerdiest-thing-you-own/353492/102 "2006-04-25T22:43:48Z")
Dammit, why can’t we edit posts… And the Ramayana Monkey Chant on .mp3. ---
**Author:** ![Frosted\_Glass](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frosted_glass/32/3926_2.png) [@Frosted\_Glass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frosted_Glass)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-nerdiest-thing-you-own/353492/103 "2006-04-25T22:57:10Z")
Oh boy where to start… My Commodore 64 sits right next to the Intellivision that I inherited. I love that Utopia game. They are both still hooked up to my television and work very well. I also have a several boxes filled with Star Wars CCG cards. My [2-XL](http://www.2xlrobot.com/images/tigerad3f.jpg) sits next to an original [2-XL](http://www.2xlrobot.com/) (they like to quiz each other). ---
**Author:** ![Sutremaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@Sutremaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sutremaine)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-nerdiest-thing-you-own/353492/104 "2006-04-25T23:10:22Z")
Small fry really, but– –The Japanese release of Death and Rebirth/ The End of Evangelion, despite already owning and preferring to watch my English copy (what can I say, I love the commentary. I’ve been meaning to check out Promethia for ages now, as well as have another go at Paradise Lost). The footage is absolutely beautiful. –An Amiga 600, gathering dust in the loft. The last time it was used was a year or two back, just to check if it was working. It was, and I promptly grabbed the moniter for use with my PS2. ---
**Author:** ![Archergal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Archergal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archergal)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-nerdiest-thing-you-own/353492/105 "2006-04-25T23:43:39Z")
I still have a [Tardis key (old style)](http://www.thewhoshop.com/catalogue2/popup_image.php?pID=1247&osCsid=2035404c3cb9aa8ba0541088a6f767b8) ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2006, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-nerdiest-thing-you-own/353492/106 "2006-04-25T23:47:33Z")
> [@Archergal](#): > > I still have a [Tardis key (old style)](http://www.thewhoshop.com/catalogue2/popup_image.php?pID=1247&osCsid=2035404c3cb9aa8ba0541088a6f767b8) Now that is way-cool and nerdy and retro all at the same time 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-nerdiest-thing-you-own/353492/107 "2006-04-26T00:10:56Z")
A Star Wars plastic light saber and a Jar Jar Binks wristwatch. Thank goodness I never had to pay for them. ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-nerdiest-thing-you-own/353492/108 "2006-04-26T15:33:40Z")
> [@St\_Ides](#): > > You’re the one behind that YTMND? No. I wish though. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-nerdiest-thing-you-own/353492/109 "2006-04-26T16:21:23Z")
> [@robardin](#): > > They don’t lack history, just years. You’ve got to be in your early thirties, at a minimum, to have really played those text adventure games. > > That said: _Oh. My. God._ :eek: I want one!! Where can I find it? Get an unopened copy of the original release of _Zork Zero_. Or try Ebay. Apparently, the coins go for around a hundred bucks there. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-nerdiest-thing-you-own/353492/110 "2006-04-26T16:39:48Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Get an unopened copy of the original release of _Zork Zero_. > > Or try Ebay. Apparently, the coins go for around a hundred bucks there. Or find somebody who has one and trap them in absolute darkness. Then tell them you will sell them a lantern for the coin. They’ll have no choice. Either they give up the coin, or they are eaten by a groo. ---
**Author:** ![LiveOnAPlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@LiveOnAPlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveOnAPlane)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-nerdiest-thing-you-own/353492/111 "2006-04-26T22:50:14Z")
A Grace Hopper nanosecond. (That is, a piece of wire about a foot long that represents how far light can travel in a nanosecond.) ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-nerdiest-thing-you-own/353492/112 "2006-04-26T22:51:39Z")
Not only did I just buy a couple of those plastic change purses (the squeeze kind) but it took me 2 years to find a place that sold them. I hate change rattling around the car. And yes, I know what people call them. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-nerdiest-thing-you-own/353492/113 "2006-04-26T23:02:03Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > Or find somebody who has one and trap them in absolute darkness. Then tell them you will sell them a lantern for the coin. > > They’ll have no choice. Either they give up the coin, or they are eaten by a groo. “Grue.” This is a [Groo](http://www.rose-hulman.edu/~mcmurdy/groo_pic.jpg), and it is infinitly more dangerous, as any fool can plainly see. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-nerdiest-thing-you-own/353492/114 "2006-04-26T23:04:36Z")
For the sake of comparison, [here’s a picture of a grue.](http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/malevich/sup/malevich.black-square.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-nerdiest-thing-you-own/353492/115 "2006-04-26T23:12:16Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Many, many things, but the most visible is one of [these](http://img.tfd.com/thumb/c/c4/Zorkmidfront.jpg) which I wear on a chain around my neck. I’ve yet to meet anyone who’s actually recognized it, which is doubly depressing in that I work at a video game company. Goddamned geeks got no sense of history, any more. > > (Here’s the [reverse](http://img.tfd.com/thumb/9/94/Zorkmidback.jpg), for those what care about such things.) Jeez, you’re right. That _is_ depressing. (And I’m not even thirty.) :eek: I loved the Zork games to absolute bits! All y’all are way more nerdy than I am – I just have a plush Cthulhu on my test box, and a Rabbit With Big Pointy Teeth on my desk. Plus a small ‘geek.’ button on my backpack, in matching black. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2006, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-nerdiest-thing-you-own/353492/116 "2006-04-26T23:27:31Z")
> [@LiveOnAPlane](#): > > A Grace Hopper nanosecond. > > (That is, a piece of wire about a foot long that represents how far light can travel in a nanosecond.) Now I am jealous. I am ex-Navy and a Computer Programmer and she changed both insular little worlds. One of the people I admire most. Did you actually meet her? How did you come up with one of her famous nanoseconds? College Lecture? Jim [Grace](http://www.sdsc.edu/ScienceWomen/hopper.html) [Hopper](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Hopper) > [@wiki](#): > > Grace Hopper is famous for her nanoseconds visual aid. People (such as generals and admirals) used to ask her why satellite communication took so long. She started handing out pieces of wire which were under one foot long, which is the distance that light travels in one nanosecond. She gave these pieces of wire the metonym “nanoseconds.” Later she used the same pieces of wire to illustrate why computers had to be small to be fast. At many of her talks and visits, she handed out “nanoseconds” to everyone in the audience, contrasting them with a coil of wire nearly a thousand feet long, representing a microsecond. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-nerdiest-thing-you-own/353492/117 "2006-04-27T00:02:42Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > For the sake of comparison, [here’s a picture of a grue.](http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/malevich/sup/malevich.black-square.jpg) I thought [this](http://mydearangel.ru/slovo/groo.jpg) was a Groo? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-nerdiest-thing-you-own/353492/118 "2006-04-27T00:11:10Z")
> [@What Exit?](#): > > Now I am jealous. I am ex-Navy and a Computer Programmer and she changed both insular little worlds. One of the people I admire most. > Did you actually meet her? > How did you come up with one of her famous nanoseconds? > College Lecture? > > Jim She is one of my heros, too. And I enjoy thinking about McD’s handing out ‘Grace Hopper picoseconds’: Those little packets of ground pepper. Not as personalized as a genuine ‘Grace Hopper nanosecond’ but still geeky and fun. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-nerdiest-thing-you-own/353492/119 "2006-04-27T00:13:35Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I thought [this](http://mydearangel.ru/slovo/groo.jpg) was a Groo? 😕 Remember, that’s only his nickname. His full name is Grooselag. ---
**Author:** ![LiveOnAPlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@LiveOnAPlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveOnAPlane)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-nerdiest-thing-you-own/353492/120 "2006-04-27T00:57:16Z")
> [@What Exit?](#): > > Now I am jealous. I am ex-Navy and a Computer Programmer and she changed both insular little worlds. One of the people I admire most. > Did you actually meet her? > How did you come up with one of her famous nanoseconds? > College Lecture? > > Jim > > [Grace](http://www.sdsc.edu/ScienceWomen/hopper.html) [Hopper](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Hopper) In truth, NO, Dammit!! In late 1983 or early 1984, my supervisor at Martin Marietta Data Systems, did go to one of her seminars. I didn’t. So, no I never had the privilege of meeting her. My boss did get plenty of Grace Hoppe nanoseconds to pass on to us when he returned. I was quite happy with this, becaue although I never got to hear her speak, or even meet her, I got one of the wires that _she_ touched. It is, nonetheless, very precious to me. …an almost brush with greatness. Thanks for asking. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-nerdiest-thing-you-own/353492.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-nerdiest-thing-you-own/353492.md?page=7)