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."

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:Insultolympics

[SQLGuru]

Other nerd interests not represented by this article (and a good list for a true decathalon):

1) Star Wars
2) Star Trek
3) Arguing about which is better, 1 or 2
4) Comic books
5) Cosplay
6) Role Playing / LARPing
7) Robotics / Legos / anything from MAKE or 2600
8) Quoting Python/South Park/etc.
9) Anime
10) Computers

You could pick random events from each category every year.....no two decatalons would be the same.

Layne

Re:is it just me...

[Anonymous Coward]

in a land where ignorance and laziness are applauded (nascar, etc)...

Can't you F1 dweebs ever give it a rest? (Incidentally, working with network cables is something a chimp can be taught to do. It's hardly "learning and knowledge".)

And driving in a circle 300 times involves a steep learning curve? Not that I'd want to see cables being untangled...but a cubicle maze race ala MXC would be fun.

Re:Insultolympics

[Joe Tie.]

I hate the implication that geeks don't work out. I'm in far better shape than any of the sports nuts I know. We're geeks, we like crunching numbers and living by a set schedule. We excel in the very things that makes it hard for most people to stay in shape.

Re:Insultolympics

[caluml]

As most of us are in a rush to post something insightful or funny, we don't take the time to wade through 9 pages of ads to RTFA, we just read the summary (sometimes) and post.

Perhaps there should be no commenting for 5/10/15/20/30 minutes after a story is posted. That would mean people "might as well" RTFA, and I think we'd get more comments, that were longer, better thought out, and more insightful/interesting.