Earn geek cred by doing these 15 things

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Here are 20 basic items that every geek should be able to do (items 15 – 20 are for the advanced geeks). How many items can you check off this list? (Hint: If you read my TechRepublic post 10 things every geek should know, you'll have an advantage.) The Geekend blog features this gallery in list format.

1. Every geek should be able to give the Vulcan "Live long and prosper" hand signal from Star Trek.
You can let your team know how you feel by giving them the "live long and prosper" gesture at every event with this foam finger.

Photo courtesy: ThinkGeek

Published: August 13, 2010 -- 07:51 GMT (00:51 PDT)
Caption by: Nicole Bremer Nash
2. Every geek should know the answer to THE question.

Photo courtesy: Jill Furmanovsky Douglas Adams.com

Published: August 13, 2010 -- 07:51 GMT (00:51 PDT)
Caption by: Nicole Bremer Nash
3. Make a geeky fashion statement.
Whether you want to sport a geeky t-shirt (such as Rock-paper-scissors-lizard-Spock, Girls Kill Zombies Too, or the Star Trek Expendable red shirt) or jewelry (such as the Crystal Cube Firejewel Necklace or the Star Trek cuff links, geek fashion is a great way to make a statement without saying a word.

Photo courtesy: ThinkGeek

Published: August 13, 2010 -- 07:51 GMT (00:51 PDT)
Caption by: Nicole Bremer Nash
4. Read at least one work by Clarke, Asimov, and Bradbury.
For more reading suggestions, take a look at my Geekend post A required reading list for geeks and Wally Bahny's TechRepublic gallery 75 must-read geek books.

Image courtesy: Amazon.com.

Published: August 13, 2010 -- 07:51 GMT (00:51 PDT)
Caption by: Nicole Bremer Nash
5. Take a geeky vacation.
We recently asked TechRepublic members for geeky vacation spot recommendations, and we received excellent suggestions, including the Computer History Museum, the Hong Kong electronic district, and Comic-Con. Two places that I would like to visit are the American Classic Arcade Museum (which is pictured above) and the Musée Curie, which I read about in The Geek Atlas.

Photo courtesy: American Classic Arcade Museum

Published: August 13, 2010 -- 07:51 GMT (00:51 PDT)
Caption by: Nicole Bremer Nash
6. Play a role-playing game at least once.
According to a February 2010 Geekend poll, TechRepublic members prefer single-player RPGs to MMORPGs or tabletop games. If you're a fan of World of Warcraft, you should consider joining Technologia, TechRepublic's unofficial official guild in the WoW.

Screenshot of World of Warcraft: The Fall of the Lich King taken by Wally Bahny.

Published: August 13, 2010 -- 07:51 GMT (00:51 PDT)
Caption by: Nicole Bremer Nash
7. Read and watch The Lord of the Rings Trilogy.
You get bonus points if you've watched the extended versions of all the Peter Jackson LOTR films.

Image courtesy: Amazon.com.

Published: August 13, 2010 -- 07:51 GMT (00:51 PDT)
Caption by: Nicole Bremer Nash
8. Read at least one comic book.
TechRepublic member Jerry Taylor makes the case why the Watchmen is the ultimate geek comic book.

Cover courtesy: DC Comics

Published: August 13, 2010 -- 07:51 GMT (00:51 PDT)
Caption by: Nicole Bremer Nash
9. Know how to survive a zombie attack.
Loads of movies and books are available to school us on the best methods of making it through a zombie apocalypse. The annual Louisville Zombie Walk is good practice (but don't hurt the Louisville zombies, we like them).

Photo courtesy: Yulia Buldovich and Zachary Brown

Published: August 13, 2010 -- 07:51 GMT (00:51 PDT)
Caption by: Nicole Bremer Nash
10. Know if Han shot first.
You could get a t-shirt that makes this declarative statement for you; plus, that would mean you could cross two items off this list. Hey, even George Lucas has been spotted in a HSF shirt.

Published: August 13, 2010 -- 07:51 GMT (00:51 PDT)
Caption by: Nicole Bremer Nash
11. Take up a geeky hobby.
Two geek hobbies that you may want to consider are robotics and astrophotography. This photo from the TechRepublic gallery Astrophotography: The ultimate geek hobby features Thomas Shahan, an artist and photographer from Oklahoma.

Photo courtesy: ThomasShahan.com.

Published: August 13, 2010 -- 07:51 GMT (00:51 PDT)
Caption by: Nicole Bremer Nash
12. Be ready to defend your choice of OS.
If you attended the TechRepublic Event last month, you heard Jack Wallen and Scott Lowe do this very thing during the panel discussion, The Great Open Source Debate. Jack wears his Tux tattoo (pictured above) with pride.

Published: August 13, 2010 -- 07:51 GMT (00:51 PDT)
Caption by: Nicole Bremer Nash
13. Explain a geeky topic to a non-geek.
Perhaps you've had to explain the merits of your favorite geeky movie/TV show/book/MMORPG etc. or describe to a relative or buddy why their computer isn't working (we know they ask you for support help). For example, TechRepublic member Palmetto says he has to translate The Big Bang Theory for a coworker.

Photo: CBS Corp.

Published: August 13, 2010 -- 07:51 GMT (00:51 PDT)
Caption by: Nicole Bremer Nash
14. Know your geek vocab words.
Jay Garmon has listed 220 words that every science-fiction fan should know. His Geekend post 50 more words every sci-fi fan (and most gamers) should know features the links back to the other 170 vocab entries. You might even want to check out the book Brave New Worlds: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction.

Image: Amazon.com

Published: August 13, 2010 -- 07:51 GMT (00:51 PDT)
Caption by: Nicole Bremer Nash
15. Carry on a conversation using only geek movie quotes.
This skill is a staple in any geek's conversational repertoire, though you may want to do this to excess when you're around non-geeks, as illustrated above. I think that any geek should be able to have a conversation using only Monty Python quotes.

Image credit: xkcd

So, how many items can you check off this list? What would you remove or add to the list? Post your feedback in the discussion.

Published: August 13, 2010 -- 07:51 GMT (00:51 PDT)
Caption by: Nicole Bremer Nash