the loneliest number

I have a sticker on my car that says, "There is no place like 127.0.0.1"

I get to explain it to a lot of people, and I’m usually rewarded with a blank look, followed by a pitying look, followed by parents holding on tightly to their children as they move away slowly at first, then quickly, never turning their backs on me.

Such is the life of a geek among normals.

My pal R. Stevens, creator of the always-awesome Diesel Sweeties comic, has a new T-shirt with a different take on the 127.0.0.1 joke that hit a little close to 127.0.0.1 for me:

Loneliestnumber500

There will be 10 kinds of people in the world: those who get this shirt, and those who don’t.

(Okay, that was taking it just a little to far, I will admit.)

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53 thoughts on “the loneliest number”

  2. Wil, clear your name, prove that you are more than just a wannabe geek, how many programming languages do you “speak”? How well do you know unix based systems based on something other than mac’s OS, such as Linux or freeBSD? Anything, please, knowing a loopback alias does not make you geek… you barely reach the “kid next door” level based on your knowledge displayed here, don’t be shy 🙂

  4. You may want to read some of my archives before casting aspersions, Cypox. I suggest a search for “Linux” or “Perl” will get you started.

  14. Wil, you’re a wonderful person but a geek, sir, you are not. http://tinyurl.com/2h3lp7 only underlines my statement 😛
    Oh, right, perl is a scripting language 🙂 but with perl you just jumped up to “the weird guy down the street” on my chart, should my view mean anything to anyone but myself.
    Make a contribution to the open-source community and I’ll stand in awe of your “geekness” (even with a perl script).
    I was not trying to “cast aspersions”, I was posting a comment on how, based on what I’ve read, you’re not just a geek within my understanding of the word.
    It does however have many meanings, I’ll refrain from commenting any other than ones related to the IT/Networking domain.

  16. Cypox, you’re violating Wil’s current web site motto (Don’t be a dick!). Of course Wil is a geek, that’s why we love him. He knows computers and he is passionate about technology and poker and writing and scifi. That makes him a geek in my book. And, although it appears his technical abilities will never let him fix his main web site, and he will clearly be in exile forever, he is still one of the coolest geeks I know.
    However, you sir, are a dick!

  17. There will be 10 kinds of people in the world: those who get this shirt, and those who don’t.
    (Okay, that was taking it just a little to far, I will admit.)
    Sigh.
    I am now forced to admit that I actually had to re-read the sentence before several times, before seeing the TEN, instead of the TWO.
    And I don’t even work in the damned industry anymore. I am so, so sad.

  18. Indeed Darth Paradox, indeed.
    Perhaps I should have been even more specific.
    EdgarLives, I actually agree, thanks for a slap in the face, will someone prove me wrong or should I start admiring blog’s therapeutic value right now? 🙂
    I apologize if my comments appeared offensive to anyone, these are indeed only comments and only mine :)(and subject to swift change).
    “I get to explain it to a lot of people, and I’m usually rewarded with a blank look,”
    This is what I’m commenting about, Wil, polish that “just a geek” badge and boldly say that you do not have a blank look on your face.
    EdgarLives, again, thanks, that short list is the very reason I’m a regular visitor to Wil’s blog. Articles are interesting, we share many similar interests and simply put I love spending my time reading it.

  19. As Douglas Adams might have said, “I may be a sorry case, but I don’t write jokes in base-2”.
    This post FTW, whatever that means 🙂

  23. My hubby and I are both geeks. He is a computer geek who gets paid to be one. I am a sci-fi geek and proud of it. He got the joke, I didn’t. Geeks come in all shapes and sizes. We are both geeks, yet different kinds.

  24. As an old school geek, the kind who first programmed in Fortran using Hollerith cards (real stone knives and bear skin stuff), I think I have some qualifications on judging geekness. For the record, anyone who gets to be a guest speaker at a Linux convention (I’ve heard an MP3 of his performance) pretty much qualifies as a geek. You don’t have to be able to program the original Altair 8800 (without a keyboard) to be considered a member of Geekdom. Let us not copy the status clinging ways of the nongeek world and try to put people in little corners so we can feel better about ourselves.

  25. heh — I actually wear both the “No place like 127..” shirt, AND the “10 kinds of people” shirt in 2 different product reviews at Linux Journal.
    http://www.linuxjournal.com/video
    I love it when people “get” stuff like that. My favorite though is the XKCD “Sudo Make Me a Sandwich” shirt. But that one is REALLY hard to explain…

  26. Vavu2001, I disagree. If you are referring to http://tinyurl.com/ywg3up Wil talked about a search engine (I didn’t manage to find out if he developed it), I’ve read that interview hoping that I’ll stumble upon some technical questions (and answers) but the only thing I’ve found out is that Wil knows how to install a mainstream linux distro… that makes you a geek?
    Wil, did you at least compile the kernel from source? 🙂
    Sorry if I’m pushing it but if “I know what 127.0.0.1 is” is something that makes you a geek (paraphrasing Wil here), then please expand that statement a bit.
    I’m not asking anyone to learn C, know tcp/ip insideout or, as you say, Fortran… what I’m hoping for is a tiny shred of evidence that Wil indeed, let’s say, knows Perl past “Hello world” level… a link from his scripting past…. anything really… a kdelook or gnomelook background image? A contribution to some noname dead distro?
    I’m not demanding anyone to *prove* anything (who am I to do that?), I’m simply asking for some help with my search endeavorers, as I’ve found no facts that would make Wil a geek of a level he sees himself to be, from my point of view.
    (I tried to watch my wording but there’s really no other way to say it using my somewhat limited english 🙂 please take that into account before calling me a )

  27. Like everyone has said over and over, computer guys don’t own the title “Geek.” Pure and simple. I read Douglas Adams and other sci-fi books like Star Trek and Star Wars books, I’m into astronomy and geology in a big way. I read comics. I’m a geek, too. And so is Wil.

  28. Point taken Celtic Mama, however Wil touched the Perl and Linux domain, not I.
    I’m just trying to find out what he was referring to, other than his comments on “the geek stuff”.
    Is that evil?

  32. Woohoo Wil gettin’ snippy!
    As for me…yeah, I looked at this entry and said “what?” I get it now after reading all the comments and wow hostility..but..yeah.
    I don’t know if that makes me not a geek, but i love Wil just the same 🙂

  34. cypox,
    you are really pushing the “dicK” envelope.
    because you obviously haven’t figured out how to use the interwebs to find out information you probably didn’t know that Wil used to work as a programmer for a company called Newtek developing something called a Video Toaster.
    You on the other hand we know nothing about.

  35. Well, now, I *must* get that t-shirt, since this will now allow me to combine IP address geekery with Harry Nilsson geekery (I’ve been a member of the NilssonWeb internet community for over ten years).
    For those who don’t understand this — Harry Nilsson wrote the song “One”.
    Jim R — #84 of 300

  36. Dudes! I totally found this cool IP addy you HAVE to look up, its got the newest DVD rips and some awesome gamefiles for out of ‘print’ games. Duke Nukem Forever is there too!
    127.0.0.1
    Did I get that right?

  37. Ok, I am no designer but please could someone do something with “Don’t feed the troll”. This could be a cool shirt. Well, at least I think so.

  38. I made these frames to go around vanity plates that reads “1701B”.
    I have yet to have someone tell me they ‘get’ the reference… most people ask me what a Nacelle is…
    I’d like to think theres at least ONE geek around here that gets a smirk from it.

  40. I thought it was funny as hell when I read it in the comic. Let me add though, your bumper sticker and this t-shirt might get funny looks, but hey if you wear it you’re ASCII for it.

  41. greybalt, thank you very much, I admit I was unable to dig that up.
    So, if Wil indeed worked *as a programmer* for Newtek, I hope he can accept my sincere apologies, I regret asking my questions in this manner and I regret being misunderstood to this extent.
    Sorry!
    On the brighter note I can relate to him better now I know he was a low-level (hardware) programmer, again, provided that he indeed worked as one and not just appeared in a commercial for Newtek.
    Keep up the good work!

  44. I didn’t work as a programmer at NewTek. I did marketing, design, QA, and whatever the company needed me to do while I was there.
    Now, seriously, stop feeding the troll.

  45. @Xaqtly: I didn’t know you were hanging around here!
    I suppose, as far as lyrics becoming part of the language, “One is the loneliest number” is probably Harry’s biggest contribution. (Either that, or “you put the lime in the coconut”.) Every time I see the “loneliest number” idiom used somewhere, I am compelled to point out that it came from Harry.

  47. 01010111 01101001 01101100 00100000 01010111 01101000 01100101 01100001 01110100 01101111 01101110 00100000 01110011 01100001 01111001 01110011 00101100 00100000 00100010 01000100 01101111 01101110 00100111 01110100 00100000 01100010 01100101 00100000 01100001 00100000 01100100 01101001 01100011 01101011 00100001 00100010
    I’ve had entire conversations like that.

  48. Ugh. I *hate* the “there’s no place like 127.0.0.1” stuff.
    “There’s no place like localhost”??! WTF?
    Home is ~! Sheesh.
    Sorry, this is a pet-peeve.
    127.0.0.1 is the loneliest number on the other hand, is cool. 🙂

  50. OK, so if I see someone wearing a t-shirt or a bumper sticker on a car with 127.0.0.1, I’ll think to myself, “There’s a nerd.”

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