Gizmodo: geniuses

My Favorite Top 10 List Today: The Dumbest Evil Geniuses Of All Time

Rosa Golijan — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:00:00 EST

Ooooh, io9's fantastic Charlie Jane Anders has a Friday treat for us: The Top 10 Dumbest Evil Geniuses of All Time. This was definitely one of my favorite reads today and I particularly agreed with number two. [Io9]

9 Year Old Girl Becomes the Youngest Microsoft Certified Professional

Sean Fallon — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 13:10:00 EST

Today's crushing blow to our self confidence comes to us from India, where a 9 year old girl has become the youngest person to ever pass a Microsoft Certified Professional examination.

Naturally, this isn't the first time the girl has been in the spotlight for her talents. Thanks to her extraordinary memory, she has been breaking records since she was three—an age when most of us were concerned with toys and pooping our pants. [NDTV via Newlaunches]

Apple Store Geniuses Might Actually Be Dunces

matt buchanan — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 21:30:00 EDT

You've probably wondered what it takes to become a Genius at an Apple Store. I mean, they're called Geniuses, and it's Apple, and they only deal with Apple products, so they know them to the core, right? Well, in at least one Apple Store, not so much. MacBlogz's Aviv went through the whole process of applying, which he has helpfully documented for us. After answering 17 out of 20 ridiculously easy technical questions correctly, he was offered the job for $17 an hour (which you can see in the letter below). Because that made him not just a Genius, but a superstar.

One of the two managers interviewing told him that it actually didn't matter how many he was able to answer—most of the staff can't even answer half of them, stuff like:

• What is special about the Mac Pro’s current Ram setup?
• What is Automator and what does it do?
• If a user account keeps crashing on login what do you do?
• What are 3 keyboard combinations you can boot your computer with?
• Are you familiar with OS 9?
• If a customer asks you to sync music from their iPod to computer, what do you say?
• How do you answer a customer who wants to share music with his friend via iTunes?

If you can pass that weak filter—I don't even own a Mac (unless you count my recently built Hackintosh) and I can answer five of those—you'll be welcomed into a loving environment that is " 'very strict' with its employees and what they do with their free time." Lovely, but Aviv turned the offer down.

It just shows you that Geniuses are no different from any corporate tech support group, be it Geek Squad, Firedog or Crapkitty Battalion: Some of them really know their shit, but almost (or just) as many don't know the command key from that gaping, screaming hole in Steve Ballmer's face. [Macblogz via Valleywag, Image via presta]

Apple Release 3 More Mac Ads Pimping Geniuses, Dissing Vista (Go Figure)

Travis Hudson — Tue, 08 May 2007 15:20:43 EDT

For those watching Heroes last night (like me), you may have seen a new Mac versus PC ad. In addition to that one, there are a couple others bringing the grand total of Mac versus PC ads to 24. Yes, there are twenty-freaking-four of these ads already and honestly they are getting a little dull. The three this week feature more slamming of Vista for so-so reasons and pimping of the Mac geniuses. Mac is usually all about innovative ideas, but there are only so many ways that you can promote OS X as being easier, safer and more intuitive than Windows. Jump for the other ads.

[Via Techeblog]