Meet the OmniNerd Staff

The label I've been given probably more than any other is that of "nerd." Why? Because I'm skeptical of claims without valid references, I often ask questions starting with "What is the definition of...," I am constantly jumping on opportunities to "look up" answers to questions instead of settling for ignorance, I got good grades in school and I have numerous spreadsheets on my pen drive that are completely voluntary. Yes, I am a Nerd - and I have found my home. Here, a near-obsessive indulgence in tracking and analyzing what seems to most as useless data isn't given its usual uncomfortable sideways glance. Here, logic and reason reign. Here, the nerd is welcome.

Most of all, I enjoy OmniNerd because it provides a venue to exercise my nerd-muscles. Opinions I have must be re-examined, my humor re-evaluated, and my smooth brain cells wrinkled. My administrator duties include being the Chief of Content, assisting Mark in coding and contributing content and development ideas. I also run the O-Nerd Store.

"Vampires are make-believe, like elves, gremlins, and eskimos."
-Homer

"We should not follow popular advice and, being human, have only human ambitions, or, being mortal, have only mortal thoughts. As far as possible, we should become immortal and do everything toward living by the best that is in us."
-Aristotle

OmniNerd began for me as a way to pass the quieter moments of time while deployed. I, too, had begun to feel as if my intellectual skills were waning as the academic years slipped further into the past. As the site's participants and interactivity grew, I found clicking "Refresh" on OmniNerd and following its discourse more satisfying than simply reading the latest news headline. I may be on the other side of the Earth, but digitally I am reconnected to my friends while stimulating my cerebral cortex without resorting to electroshock probes.

My contributions are simple - photographic galleries and experiences from my travels, providing religious counterpoints and contributing technical material in the computing field. I also assist the Wizard of OmniNerd behind the scenes - it takes a lot of effort to keep the site's rubberbands wound and hamsters running fast.

"The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher regard those who think alike than those who think differently."
-Nietzsche

markmcb is my hero.

At some point in life I discovered that those things which I had worked so hard to learn were silently and quickly slipping out of my brain. Mark, my erstwhile roommate, felt much the same way and we only were able to stymie the tide of errant knowledge by engaging in lengthy and sometimes inane discussions about whatever topic seemed most pressing. And voila, we had dreamed up OmniNerd.

The beauty of OmniNerd is that no idea goes untested. Every thought you throw into the void comes back cleaned up and honed to a fine point. The quick-witted and sharp-tongued O-Nerd patrons won't let you get away with anything that isn't rock solid. At the end of a discussion you may emerge frustrated or defeated, but you will know infinitely more clearly what you think and why you think it. That, for me, is the real boon of the site.

Besides being the owner and principal financier of the site, my main focus is on adding content especially in the fields of history, philosophy, and world affairs. I also have my hands in site development and general administration. I know almost nothing about coding, however, so direct those questions to the next dude down. Thanks!

"Treble up, Bass down."
-Dr. Sweetness

My good friend Ryan Bortnyk turned me on to OmniNerd back in the winter of '05, and the rest is history. I have learned a lot since I posted my first comment, either as knowledge gleaned from my fellow (and so much smarter than me that I sometimes weep) O-Nerds or information discovered on my own while researching a potential comment or news post.

My biggest contribution to the site is probably my near inexhaustible supply of snarkiness, which occasionally comes out in a creative writing piece or actual researched article, hopefully accompanied by a chuckle.

"If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things through narrow chinks of his cavern."
-William Blake

"It's just that in High School, knowledge was pretty much frowned upon, you really had to work to learn anything. But here... the energy, the collective intelligence, it's like this force. This penetrating force.. and I can just feel my mind opening up, you know, and letting this place just thrust into and spurt knowledge into...That sentence ended up in a different place than it started out in."
-Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer

I discovered OmniNerd in a random twist of fate, when I clicked on a strange scripted "O" Google toolbar button by accident, and wound up being spun hopelessly into its diabolical vortex. OmniNerd is a proving ground for the interesting ideas and current events of the day, and I find that it gives me a reason to reach out for more knowledge on subjects I'm not sure about, and can also challenge any knowledge I thought I had. I contribute to OmniNerd by scoring comments, moderating news and Coffee Shop posts, and generally replying to anything that catches my interest.

"Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death."
-Albert Einstein

"Nobody makes cheese like the Americans."
-Hank Hill

I discovered Omninerd when it was first announced on Slashdot. It took me a year to get involved, but from the first time I posted a News story, I was hooked. While, I appear to be the resident physics nerd, the cross section of nerdiness on the site continues to amaze me, and I've learned a lot about topics I have never thought about.

My main contribution to Omninerd, is that I'm the physics nerd in residence. My expertise is not limited to physics, but that is where I find I am most capable of contributing. I'm not above making smart-alec comments, though.

"It is very seldom,' said the young man at last, 'that dragons ask to do men favors.' 'But it is very common,' said the dragon, 'for cats to play with mice before they kill them."
-Ursula K. Leguin, A Wizard of Earthsea

markmcb taught me everything I know.

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