I like the concept of nerd merit badges- I even want the inbox zero one- but the execution is a little weak. Seeing this started me pondering on what I’d do if I were going to make my own.
The temptation, of course, is just to have a logo per organization- gnu, gnome, moz, fedora, etc. But the core of the merit badge idea is that you’re indicating skills learned, not organizations. (Yes, I’m an old boy scout on top of all my other nerdiness.) So I tried to think along those lines, and here are some of the skills I’d like to decorate my bag/laptop with:
- GTD: a david allen head, natch.
- emacs: emacs logo?
- bugmaster: old gnome bugsquad logo? (mosquito with crosshairs)
- infolaw: scales, or something (yeah, I know… pretty weak.)
- perl: a very short obfuscated perl program
- peer production: (because open source just isn’t right for some reason) (but hell if I know what that logo would be; nerdmeritbadge uses github’s octocat but that seems… weak)
- lego: you know it!
- family tech support: nerdmeritbadges has this one, and it isn’t a bad concept, but their logo for it is terrible.
I bet you could do a passable job of them with this cafepress option and some decent gimpery, but if people have decent suggestions I’m all ears. :)
Windows exterminator (Windows in crosshairs)
hah, sounds like geekcode.
Start spoofing Steam acheivements: They’re basically the same thing!
I made some GStreamer stickers for GUADEC using moo.com stickerbooks (http://uk.moo.com/en/products/stickers.php). They come in booklets of 90 stickers for cheap, each about 20mm x 20mm, and every sticker in the book can have a different picture if you choose.
Thaytan: eeeenteresting. I’d been thinking of this for a bag, so stickers weren’t my first thought, but still… that might work. Hrm.
If you get some MOO stickers, you can try using the discount code they gave me – “VHHZ67″. Before 31st August, it’s supposed to give free shipping