10 Geeks You Should Know

10 GEEKS YOU SHOULD KNOW Not too long ago, geeks were undesirable people among their peers. Then, the world started embracing the geek culture. Geeks became cool and are admired for their superior intellect. Here are 10 little-known geeks who are passionate about their work. Statistician, sabermetrician (baseball statistician), and psephologist (sociologist who studies election trends) NATE SILVER Runs political website "Racism is Five Thi Eight predictable. It's Publishes running forecast of current elections and hot-button issues predicted by Gained national attention during interaction or lack 2008 presidential election thereof with people unlike you, people Correctly predicted results of primaries and presidential CHICAGO Graduated from University of Chicago with degree in of other races." economics winner in 49 states MAX LITTLE Applied mathematician Parkinson's Voice "See connections between subjects, not boundaries... Initiative Developed cheap, simple tool that uses voice analysis software to detect Parkinson's to see how things are related, not Received Ph.D. in applied mathematics at University of Oxford in 2007 Takes less than 30 seconds Aims to record how they are 10,000 different." voices across the world 98.6% Applies mathematics to biomedicine, extreme rainfall, groundwater flow, speech science, and nonlinear signal processing accuracy NEIL HARBISSON Contemporary artist, composer, and cyborg activist Wears prosthetic device, "eyeborg," (invented by Adam Montandon) that allows him to hear the color spectrum "If we extend Software transposes light frequencies of color hues into sound our senses, we will Dartington frequencies consequently extend our Studied music composition at Dartington College of Arts knowledge." Hasn't taken it off his head Favorite color: Completely color blind (achromatopsia) since 2004 aubergine Only see in shades of grey RICK FALKVINGE Political evangelist and former leader of the Pirate Party The Pirate Party In 2006, started political party "It's not theft. It's an infringement on a monopoly. If it was theft and it was focused on issues of file sharing, Dropped out of Chalmers University of Technology in 1995 copyright, and patents property, we wouldn't need a CHALME Won two seats in copyright law, ordinary property laws would suffice." Talks and writes about information policy, copyright law, and Internet sovereignty European Parliament in three years Internet entrepreneur and BEN SILBERMANN founder of Pinterest "I wanted to Pinterest launched in March 2010 and still create a service had less than 10,000 that's a bit users after nine months timeless. Helping 17.8 mil registered users as people discover Graduated from Yale in of March 2012 Yale 2003 with a political science major things that they didn't know they wanted." As a child, enjoyed collecting things, from insects to stamps = 250,000 Users ZACH SIMS Founder of Codecademy Paired up with Ryan Bubinski to build a website featuring simple lessons on programming basics "Instead of relying on humans to manually search or test for new Codecademy Helps users learn programming approaches, languages while motivating them with badges and rewards huge potential to co ACADENT programming has Dropped out of Columbia as a junior in 2011 to launch Codecademy efficiently achieve the same ends." As a teenager, started his own blog selling advertising and interviewing entrepreneurs (ODO Won the runner up for Best New Startup in 2011 25 G More than 1 million users in January 2012 Founder of ALLISON LAMI SAWYER Rebellion Photonics Rebellion Photonics Implements real-time chemical imaging technology to detect chemicals throughout the whole scope of vision of a camera or microscope "I believe that every MBA from Rice University startup is a Masters in Nanoscale Physics from University of Leeds rebellion." $2.4 million in projected revenue from military and industrial contracts Wanted to bring cutting-edge technology from the lab to the marketplace AMBER CASE Cyborg anthropologist and founder of Geologi Thesis: "The Cell Phone and Its "If you set Technosocial Sites of Engagement" these Examines way humans and technology interact and evolve together obnoxious, Graduated from Lewis and Clark College with sociology/anthropology degree absurd goals, Geologi they end up Platform for building location- aware applications with geotriggers and real-time location capabilities working out." PHIL PLAIT Astronomer and skeptic Uses intelligence, critical thinking, and humor to dismantle pseudoscience and wild claims of the paranormal "Am I really a bad astronomer? I don't think so! I would say I am an average one. But on these Bad Astronomy BAD Astronomy web pages, I'm discussing astronomy that is bad. Hence the name." Book and website Received Ph.D. in dedicated to clearing up astronomy from the University of Virginia in 1994 public misconceptions about astronomy and space science in movies, news, print, and on the Internet Was part of the Hubble Space Telescope team at NASA ERIK JOHANSSON Photographer and retouch artist Creates realistic "My goal is to photos of impossible scenes - capturing ideas, not make pictures as realistic as moments possible, but at Studied computer engineering at Chalmers CHALMERS University of Technology Draws inspiration from artists like M.C. Escher and Salvador the same time Dalí impossible." At age 15, got his first digital camera Provided by: Bachelor-of-Business-Administration.org SOURCES: http://www.leighbureau.com/speaker.asp?id-498 http://www.maxlittle.net/home/index.php http://www.parkinsonsvoice.org/science.php htp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16681630 http://www.ted.com/speakers/neil_harbisson.html http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/articde/0,28804,2107952 2107953_2110143,00.html http://www.ted.com/speakers/rick_falkvinge.html http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/jan/22/rick http://allthingsd.com/20120313/pinterest-ceo-ben-silbermanns-lesson-for-start-ups-go-your-own-way/ http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2012/03/22/pinterest-silbermann-photo-sharing/ http://www.cassandra.co/tech/first-fridays-zach-sims-co-founder-of-codeacademy/ http://articles.businessinsider.com/2012-04-06/tech/31298420_1_business-insider-sv-angel-developer http://www.inc.com/30under30/donna-fenn/allison-lami-sawyer-founder-of-rebellion-photoics.html http://www.killerstartups.com/startup-spotlight/i-believe-that-every-startup-is-a-rebellion/ http://www.fastcompany.com/1597216/amber-case-digital-philosopher http://www.inc.com/30under30/christine-lagorio/amber-case-and-aaron-parecki-founders-of-geologi.html http://www.badastronomy.com/info/whois.html http://erikjohanssonphoto.com/about/faq-biography/