INTRO THREAD THE THIRD

[Jesse]

All sciences, you say? Name for me three myrmecophagous mammals, or are you not a student of xenarthrology?

You got me.
I guess I'm not as well rounded as I thought.

malarkie, you could have just stolen the answers I gave.

[Lavandula]

Hi, I'm Lavandula and I live in a small village in the north of England. I am 27 and I don't have a proper job because I have small children. I mostly just play with my kids during the day and I do some volunteer work at the local hospital.

I'm sorry this isn't my first post but I was so desperate to share which words I mispronounce that I forgot my manners.

[The Joe]

Hey guys, I'm Joe. I love the comic and some people I know post here, so I figured that I might as well join.

I can program in C, python, and Java at a very basic level, and you might recognize me from some other forums.

Sup.

[Wombot]

Hello. I'm Andrew, I'm 21, and I live in Bellevue, WA (USA).

I have entirely no idea what I want to be when I grow up. At the moment I'm going to BCC for gen-ed stuff, as I've been out of HS for 3 years. I'm transferring to a 4 year that has a good Cosmology/Astrophysics program (I think). Space is pretty effing sweet.

Interests would be astronomy (I just got an 8" Dob, and it's amazing!), building/tweaking/overclocking the pants off of computers, occasionally using said computers for something other than browsing the 'tubes, and getting free drinks through card trickses.

Alright, off to maek post.

[ThorFluff]

Just realised i never Presented myself with my real name, whch would be the Polite thing to do, so:
Hi my name is Thor Forsell I'm a 21 year old Swede.
There ya go!

[Wakawaka]

Hi, I'm Michael, I'm 15, and i live in Texas. I'm your average skinny white guy, into books, computers, music, all that good stuff.

[DragonHawk]

Well, the forum rules seem quite adamant about introducing myself, so I will.

As you can see, my handle is "DragonHawk". Feel free to call me that. My True Name is "Benjamin Scott". Feel free to call me that. Most people (myself included) just use "Ben". Feel free to call me that. But please don't call me "That". ;)

Love the comic. (Of course.) Geeky and intelligent, and also at times deep and touching. Good stuff.

I've been lurking anonymously for a little while. I decided to register for the forum when I saw the meeting scheduled for later in Sep 2007. Since the mysterious location is only about 90 minutes away from my home (by car), I really have to go. :)

My standard biographical drivel:

In Real Life, I live in New Hampshire, in the New England region of the United States. I'm a geek, a professional sysadmin by trade. I'm big into Linux and Free Software, and am heavily involved in my local LUG. I also know a fair bit about professional Microsoft Windows administration, although personally, I don't like Microsoft. I have a good understanding of technology and science in general. Outside of the geek/career stuff, I'm also interested in science fiction, and read heavily. I also like music, especially rock, double-especially classic rock. My favorite band is Rush.

Finally: My handle has nothing to do with Warcraft. I was using the handle "DragonHawk" before there *was* a Warcraft. :) (I only mention this because it seems like people always ask.)

Clear skies, all!

EDIT: Add: 30 years old in 2007. Male.

[Titus]

Hi! My name is Timothy Titus [Failure Veronica Tightass] Hilton. The[]'d names are my honorary middle-type names. I am approximately 19.348 years old, as of this moment. Most people call me (in order of commonplaceness) Tim, Titus, Timothy, Timmy, Tightass, Mr. Hilton, Veronica, Failure, or [anything that begins with T]. I suffer from a severe case of fopsessiveness, and feel more at home in a well-tailored suit or tuxedo than anything. In fact, I do not (and will not) ever wear jeans or wear a t-shirt without something on top, except for when lounging about the house in undies (which to me consist of underwear, shorts and a t-shirt).

I found xkcd by snooping about the http://www.pi-con.org/ website. I pride myself in my semi-deep knowledge in many subjects. I RP sometimes, but I'm usually too busy killing time unproductively to do that. I play computer games sometimes but I really dislike them muchly. I read novels, usually going through about eight hundred pages each week, but I don't like books that aren't very detailed. Basically, I don't read books for the story. I read them for the world created. The easiest way for you to understand this is by reading some Robert Jordan. I guess this exposes my very detail-oriented personality.

I design contraptions using CAD that are impossible for me to build because of my current student-type occupation. More than that, I do graphic design work, mostly because I like seeing my work get used. Other than my non-magical distractions, I play quidditch a lot, and was the starting keeper on my high school's team. I now assistant coach for their team (The Pine View Phoenix), while playing on the college's team, The Dixie Institute Nundu.

[Kurkar]

Hi. I'm Erika, 17, also from Bellevue, WA. My now-ex introduced me to XKCD about 8 months ago via "Grownups" and "Angular Momentum".

My days currently revolve around making it out of high school and into college. I'm not at all a science/tech geek, so plenty of what I've seen here goes over my head. I write, read, and take long (though admittedly not tent-worthy) walks when I have the time. Last year, I took Art History, and since then I've been trying to learn/experience more on my own. I'm half-Japanese and fluent-ish; I used to visit my grandparents in Japan regularly, but in recent years the tradition has died down. I do sometimes walk in a funny pattern, and I do sometimes feel a little bad when automatic doors open for me as I pass by.
I harbor a secret desire to be a pastry chef.

[Wombot]

I harbor a secret desire to be a pastry chef.

Sorry, force of habit. What HS do you go to? I graduated in '04, and might know you. Weird.

[RockMuncher]

Hello, my name is Liz, and I'm a female 24 year old college student / Emergency Medical Technician. I live in a small city just outside of San Francisco, and I'm originally from a much smaller city in Ontario. In between bouts of epic geekery, I enjoy survivalist style camping, fishing, mountain climbing, kayaking and hiking.

My entire family discusses everything from engineering to world history, to the political and cultural ramifications of the internet, so it's only now that I'm in the real world that I know how much of a nerd I really am. I find quantum theory and space exploration fascinating, I try and read everything I can find on advancing medical technology, and I harbor a secret passion for linguistics.

I can also recite most of the episodes of Discoveries' "How it's Made" by heart.


Also, I can't help but notice how every introduce yourself threat in every forum I've ever been in ends up sounding like a really cheesy singles ad.

[Ren]

Small city in Ontario? Which one?

[RyanED]

Hai. I'm Ryan, I staged this picture: http://imgs.xkcd.com.blag/logride_450.jpg and it is my pride and joy.

Other than that, there really isn't much to my life.

I'm a senior in high school looking at going to Savannah College of Art and Design.
Eh: I usually spend my days shifting between ultimate frisbee, the internet surfs, counterstrike, webdesign, and occasionally administrating the forum (http://www.azforums.net). I'm so dedicated I check almost every three days! Huzzah!

Imma not really sure what else to say.. South eastern united states. I'm not really happy with the environment I'm in but I thoroughly enjoy life. Especially AP Calculus. Though thats probably cause I don't have to try in that class. Blasted inherited affinity towards math.

I liek the comics.







Don't keel me.

[Kurkar]

I harbor a secret desire to be a pastry chef.

Sorry, force of habit. What HS do you go to? I graduated in '04, and might know you. Weird.

Newport HS. I think you graduated the class before I started as a freshman.

[Malkavon]

Heylo. My name is Mike, and I live in Euclid, OH. I'm currently out of college, planning on returning next fall (about a year from now) when I've saved enough money to do so. I'm 19, soon to turn 20, and was homeschooled. My education is over-developed in some areas, under-developed in others (I -love- math, but have absolutely no head for actually remembering any of the stuff I learn, for example).

I love reading (anything except Romances and Westerns), computers, the sciences (both hard and soft, with varying preferences for different ones) and just general "cool" stuff. I pride myself on being a Star Wars buff, though my reading has slacked off a lot with the quality of some of the more recent novels, and a moderate history buff. Oh, and I love parenthesis, run-on sentences that don't explicitly violate the rules of English and writing as I speak just to spite anal-retentive English teachers (even though I can be anal-retentive about spelling and grammar myself). I also participated in MUN in college, and plan to continue doing so when I go back.

I am a gamer, esp. RPGs and strategy games of various sorts. PnP, dice-chucking, LARP, online, offline etc, I've dabbled in them all at some point and still play most of the formats.

One of the reasons I signed up here is because this place reminds me very much of a forum I used to participate in on a regular basis a year ago (or thereabouts) that placed a similar emphasis on topics such as science, math, computers and other such nerdy-ness. I kinda dropped out of posting mostly due to other factors in my life at the time, though I occasionally lurk. That, and the comic is awesome, even if I don't quite get all of it without Google-fu.

My username is pronounced Mal (as in mallet) - kah (as in katana) - von (rhymes with lawn). And no, for those that may ask, it is not derived in any way from WoD or Malkavians. I made it up awhile back for a character in EQ2, and it kinda just ... stuck.

As a disclaimer: I have a tendency to ramble. I have a tendency to repeat myself (moreso in speech than writing, but best to put it out there anyway). I sometimes blind myself to the point at hand and make wildly false statements without realizing it. If any of these happen, please /slap me and point it out, as I would very much like to curb these tendencies, both online and in real-life. I also sometimes come across as a know-it-all or just general ass-hat. Again, liberal /slapping is requested should I slip into these habits!

Hope I can be a participating member of these thar boards, as well as learn some cool stuff!

/wave

[Ketzerei]

Another homeschooler! Welcome, welcome.

[ndansmith]

My name is Nathan. I am 23 and have been happily married since May of 2006. I live in Portland, OR. I am a graduate student pursuing a M.A. in biblical studies and I work in IT part-time.

In general I enjoy language studies (I was a Greek major in undergrad) and other aspects of Christian studies. I am also a PowerPC arch tester for Gentoo Linux and help them with their FreeBSD port on x86 as well. I am also a radio amateur (KE7NCS). I am a gamer (mostly Nintendo DS) and enjoy following sports as well.

Here is where I stand on various flamewars: Vim, Free Software, Pirates, Star Trek (Picard), Horde (recovering), Linux, Gnome

[hobbesmaster]

Hi, I'm a Junior in Electrical Engineering at the University of Kentucky. I love the comic, and am sometimes rather surprised that I get so many of the jokes. My hobbies include online gaming, taking apart electronics to see what ICs are in them and dying under coursework. My past hobbies included Star Fleet Battles, but it seems that few people are interested in paper spaceships when there are plenty of options for internet spaceships.

[Titus]

Also, I can't help but notice how every introduce yourself threat in every forum I've ever been in ends up sounding like a really cheesy singles ad.

Of course, I love introduce myself threats. They are the only way to make a female-type scared to the boots of you without going through the whole introductory conversation. They save time.

[RockMuncher]

Small city in Ontario? Which one?

Bolton (part of Caledon) It's northwest of Toronto by about 45 or 50 km. I grew up on the outskirts, so less suburb and more farm style housing.

Of course, I love introduce myself threats. They are the only way to make a female-type scared to the boots of you without going through the whole introductory conversation. They save time.

Not the only way. You could just look like the man from this thread:

http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?t=11968

[malarkie]

I am nothing if not honest jesster
And I posted before I saw your post anyway

[xzarakizraiia]

Hi =) My name is Sara, and despite the handle I am not a spam-bot! I live in Florida, where I'm currently getting a degree in literature. I usually have to do a bit of research in order to get the jokes in xkcd, but I'm hoping you all won't hold that against me =P Something that I love about the comic is that I can get enough out of the context to laugh, have my curiosity piqued and laugh even more once I've figured it out. I love to learn, read, roleplay (both tabletop and massively-multiplayer online). I'm probably going to lurk more than anything else, but I wanted to get this out of the way.

[Titus]

Not the only way. You could just look like the man from this thread:

http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?t=11968

Oh, wow. Point taken...

[Jesse]

I am nothing if not honest jesster
And I posted before I saw your post anyway

Also, I think I made them up. I have no idea what xenarthrology is.

[wanderinggypsy]

I first posted in reply to a dying Harry Potter thread, and later saw threats from people to those who had not posted in the introduction thread.

So here I am, to introduce myself.

*edit* REDACTED */edit* I usually go by Juliet, so feel free to use that instead. (I was an 8th grade Shakespeare junky when I picked my name) It's been years since I've regularly read a forum of any sort, but xkcd people look groovy enough for me to try it again.

I'm a webcomic junky but was introduced to xkcd through reddit's propensity for every new comic to be on the "hot page."

The "Creepiness Factor" comic is what brought me to this forum and I have since applied it to several old relationships, both mine and others. (We've dated some pretty creepy males)

I'm a history major/barista, although some days I wonder if I would have been better off with computer science or my original Chemistry major. Oh well, I love me my history, even as I worry about future employment.

In my free time I'm a casual gamer (of all sorts) knitting movie buff who likes to act in small theatre and write. (Except I've had writer's block for a year or so now. )

Is that enough intro?

edit: (And I have an annoying propensity to use emoticons in order to ensure proper emotional context)

[jyripyy]

Hello. I'm Jyri, an almost 16 years old male geek from Finland.
I've been reading xkcd for some time and I like it very much. I'm interested in computers and new technology in general. In my free time I like to play computer games, browse the Internet, read, listen to radio and watch tv. I'd also like to learn some programming (C++ and Perl), but unfortunately I don't have enough time for it (school takes most of my time).

[Malkavon]

Another homeschooler! Welcome, welcome.

Thank ye for the welcome(s)! I rarely find other homeschoolers outside of the bunch of crazies I used to hang out with.

[toiletduck]

Hi, I'm 22 from Ireland. I have a degree in Electronic Engineering and am currently starting a postgrad in Software Design.

[Ptera]

Hi I'm a girl (yay!), 24, in grad school at UW-Seattle (USA). Microbiology! My avatar is a picture of the organism I work on, which is super cool.

[Umlaut]

I... uh... missed this one a year ago when I signed up.

I'm going to just list some stuff. WEEEEE!!!

I'm David. I'm an American libertarian. I do phone technical support professionally. I'm going to school to get an associates degree in Computer Information Systems with a focus on programming. I intend to use that degree to become a peace officer in the fine state of Colorado. I'm turning 22 next week. I play PnP RPGs (mainly d20, but only because nobody will play GURPS). I'm a hardcore gamer (PC, 360, Wii, PS2... everything but the PS3 more or less). I spend a not insignificant amount of time and money shooting in the mountains (target shooting). I own a variety of guns that I keep loaded and available at home. I happen to share an apartment with another forum member whose name I will not divulge.

I think that's good for now.

[Umlaut]

Oh, I'm a dude.

[Infornographer]

Hi all,

I typically posted on various other forums during my stay here on the Internet, but got kind of bored not able to find discussions about things that really interested me. I learned XKCD had forums and figured I'd stop by.

I enjoy webcomics, science, and the intersection of those two (which has brought me here). I also love cooking and sleeping, neither of which I get to do nearly enough these days.

I currently live in the New England area studying astroparticle physics, specifically neutrinos and dark matter (moreso dark matter than neutrinos these days). Sneaky little things, for sure! I have well-defined views on epistemology, metaphysics, and aesthetics, and would like to explore more of ethical and political philosophies. Maybe when I get more comfortable posting, I'll start up a controversy or two.

I've played my share of pen and paper games back in the day, though I don't find I have enough time for that anymore. I don't own a TV, though I do make the frequent excursion to get together with my friends and watch Family Guy. I don't have much time for video games either, but I play a mean game of Smash Bros. Admittedly, on long weekends I might end up logging into Steam for some Day of Defeat, and I can't wait for Team Fortress 2's release. I've had a reservation ticket for that game dated back in '98.

So yeah, I guess you could consider me your vanilla science nerd. I hope to contribute something positive to these forums.

EDIT: Also, can someone direct me to the rules regarding sigs and sig size limits?

[cymon]

Hello all, my name is Ben, and I am currently trying not to make an AA related joke right now (guess I just did!)

I'm from DC, although I currently live in Rhode Island, and am certainly one of the younger members here at a paltry 1.6 decades spent on Earth.

[Snuk]

Hi everybody!

First, let me apologize for not following protocol...I actually posted once a while back before making an appearance here. It won't happen again.

That said, I'm Jeremy. I'm a New Yorker, working for a large (some might say Big) Blue computer company you may have heard of. I'm an engineer designing thin films that you'll all use in your next generation processors...if you don't use them on your PS3 already.

Hobbies...I'm a volleyball player. In fact, I'm typing this now largely because I'm laid up after hurting my ankle in a beach tournament earlier today. I'm also a semi-professional musician, primarily classical and jazz trumpet, but my piano, bass, and harmonica are also servicable. I'm an avid hockey fan, following primarily NCAA and NHL teams. Finally, I'm a bit of a movie nut. I'm looking forward to moving into a new place soon...one that has a room I can turn into a better home theatre than I have now. I plan on hosting lots of movie nights at the All New Jeremy Megaplex 1.

Anything else....you know how to find me.

J!

[The Mighty Thesaurus]

Don't eat me!

[the_wasd_man]

Oh, this is where it is... oops. Guess I'm a bad person for this being my 4th post, right? Somehow I always mess up the first impressions.

I'm 17, living in Québec, and am currently going through the retarded educational system know as CEGEP,. We're the only place that's got it, I wonder why.

I should probably be off, I've got my first chemistry exam tomorrow...

edit: 4th post? Oh, my bad

[IcyBallerina]

Hello!

I'm 17/F/USA, and enjoy linguistics, reading, figure skating, standardized tests, and Rubik's cubes, among other things.

[Insignificant Deifaction]

Many greetings to both of you from the freaky rocker goth chick

I hope you'll enjoy our bizarre little community.

*cocks head to the side*

*Appraises them*

Hmm... the altar is a bit big... maybe we could do both at the same time?

[Ketzerei]

No, no, best not to push it. One should do fine for now; we can do the linguist later if it's absolutely necessary.

[Insignificant Deifaction]

That depends a lot on whether or not the linguist is a virgin.

If she's not, well, we just won't get as much mileage out of it.

Hmmm...

It's a thorny situation, ja? You've got to get just the right amount, too much and they're like drunks, too little and they're pissed.

Which could be a double entendre for drunk, but that is neither here nor there.