Get Ready For the Nerdlympics

jfruhlinger writes "In the upcoming Olympics, competitors will take part in the 'modern' pentathlon, designed in 1912 to simulate the skills a cavalry officer would need when trapped behind enemy lines. ITworld.com has developed a new set of competitions — untangling cables! code obfuscation! — that are a bit more relevant to the modern geek." Don't be too smug, though: Naturalist points out a story indicating that "Exercisers learn faster, remember more, think clearer and bounce back more easily from brain injuries such as a stroke."

Comments

Now thats the shit

[unity100]

thats the kind of shit that i would be interested in watching !! running a straight line ? well i can do that myself, even if i cant do 100 m under 9 seconds. but untangling a mess ? now that is a watch for any time of day !

Re:Now thats the shit

[eugene ts wong]

I don't know if you're trying to be funny or not.

How does anybody verify that 2 messes are equally messy? What if 1 mess is stiffer and harder to untangle, even though it's not as confusing? I think that we've all seen knots that were really tight, but simply knotted.

If this is all just for fun, then it's no big deal.

is it just me...

[CaptainNerdCave]

or does there seem to be a pretty aggressive push to make "nerd" and "geek" into "cool"?

in a land where ignorance and laziness are applauded (nascar, etc), is this an attempt to make learning and knowledge "popular"?

Re:is it just me...

[Neil Watson]

A NASCAR driver, or any race car driver, is a combination of an engineer, and an athlete. Hardly ignorant or lazy.

"think clearer"?

[jdgeorge]

"Exercisers learn faster, remember more, think clearer and bounce back more easily from brain injuries such as a stroke."

Hmmm.... Think "more clearly", perhaps?

I must infer that the author is a non-exerciser.

Other events

[Enderandrew]

Obfuscating how you're slacking off
Convincing suits that you really need that Alienware
Switching people to Linux without them realizing it

Re:Insultolympics

[reset_button]

You're assuming that getting on Slashdot generates traffic for them, but we all know that nobody RTFA.

Re:Insultolympics

[4D6963]

Gee, great, because you know most geeks only love computers and don't have diverse interests.

What.. what the hell are you doing? You can't just go around talking about how people are not all just the stereotype attributed to the category they fall into! What's the matter with you? That's more anti-American than eating a snail kebab while reading Oscar Wilde! Of course geeks only care about technology and science fiction, hate sports, get abused by "jocks" and can't get with a girl! Don't you ever watch The Big Bang Theory and such shows? That's how geeks are on TV, and TV *is* to an important extent our perception of reality.

What sort of drivel is to be expected from you next? Are you going to tell us that "jocks" aren't all just a bunch of buffy and cruel idiots with complexes who only enjoy football, locking "geeks" into lockers and dating cheerleaders, bound to become unemployed drunken failures by their 30's?

Re:Insultolympics

[Red Flayer]

Ah, the Slashdot paradox:

The hordes of Slashdot can bring a webserver to its knees even though no Slashdotter actually views the webpage.

Re:Insultolympics

[Anonymous Coward]

This is a dumb article written solely for the purpose of generating traffic...

The nerve! How dare these commercial online publications print articles for the purpose of drawing traffic to their site in order to generate ad revenue? It's just simply beyond the pale! Somebody should write their Congressman and get a law passed banning this egregious, naked attempt to provide a service in exchange for monetary compensation!

Exercise? Bah.

[192939495969798999]

I've had 8 strokes, and I haven't potato any of my mental sharpness.