And you thought Nerds were no good in the kitchen! This week we concocted a Nerd of another element, chemist Mike M. of Florida. While he adamantly asserts that he is by no means a hacker, Mike's mischievous curiosity and outlandish fantasy life (lived out to a large extent on his home computer) qualify him as our new Nerd of the Week! Here's what the mad scientist spilled on himself in a recent interview.
NW: What makes you a Nerd?
MM: I'm a chemist. In college, I took classes in astronomy, biology and geology just for fun. I consider never having attended a Star Trek convention as one of the biggest disappointments in my life. I didn't like Epcot Center because there was too much glitz and not nearly enough science. I still play Dungeons and Dragons. I've built my own computer. I've also refinished a desk by engraving the periodic table of the elements on the top.
NW: How did your nerd life develop?
MM: One of my mother's standard lines is that I never grew out of the terrible twos and continue to annoy everyone by always asking "why?"
NW: What kind of work do you do?
MM: I'm a lab rat. I work for FAR Research where we make custom chemical compounds, usually for the pharmaceutical industry.
NW: Tell us about your first computer.
MM: It was a Commodore 64. Oh! You mean something that has more computing power than a calculator! In that case, a 386SX clone running at an astounding 16MHz and having two - count them - two megabytes of RAM. It also had a plush 30 MB hard drive and both 5.25 and 3.5 inch floppy drives!
NW: What kind of computing equipment do you use at home?
MM: My home gaming system - I mean my computer - contains all kinds of important data (i.e., high scores). It's an aging 433 MHz system with an AMD K6-3D chip.
NW: What are the cooler programming libraries you've used?
MM: Sadly, lab rats are brutally repressed and forced to keep notes using the archaic devices known as a ballpoint pen (black ink only) and paper. However, we do get to spend our time sniffing volatile organic compound fumes most of the day (a tax free perk).
NW: Describe your worst programming snafu.
MM: I know just enough about computers to be dangerous. I end up deleting something I shouldn't have about twice a year causing me to ultimately reformat my hard disk and reinstall everything.
NW: What's the most expensive piece of equipment you've fried?
MM: I'm a scientific glass blower's best friend. I've broken many, many distillation heads ranging in price from $400 to $1200.
