Top 5 Geeky Events of 2011

There was many a time this year when geeks made the news for better or worse. Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows was the highest grossing film of the year, a World of Warcraft gamer went postal in Norway, and Watson became the first supercomputer to absolutely own everyone on Jeopardy just to name a few.

There's too many to count really, so I whittled it down to 5 that I find most relevant. These events had an enormous impact on the geek community, and dare I say it, the world. While new technologies, movies, and games came and went, these stories stuck out as game changers that will forever shape the landscape in geek culture. Starting with...

5. Quantum Levitation Sucessfully Demoed at the Association of Science Technology Centers

What has long been a staple cliche in sci-fi genre is rapidly becoming a reality. Soon after this video hit Youtube, other researchers started developing hoverboards, miscellaneous gadgets, and the eventual flying car. It's all still far off from a reality, but still very cool to witness such a huge technological achievement ala Youtube.

4. DC Sells Over 5,000,000 Comics in 6 weeks with "New 52"

You didn't have to be a fan of comics to know they were going the way of the dinosaur after years of struggling sales and failed launch attempts to bring an old art form to a new medium. While other companies (cough...Marvel) were still trying to launch "liveaction comics" on Netflix, DC was planning a revamp of their comics. Okay revamp is an understatement, they intended to erase around 70 years of comic book canon and start with a fresh slate.

The result? Best sales they've ever had, and that's going up against "Knightfall",  "The Death of Superman", and every awesome 80's comic series. Sales are still up and with e-readers on the rise, comic book prints are becoming much coveted collectors items. Hat's off to ya DC, you saved a great American art form.

3. New Zealand Announces They Intend To Use Star Wars Coins As Legal Tender

It's not often that you can say New Zealand is bad ass for things other than geeky movie landscapes, so imagine our surprise when this nugget of news came down the pipeline. 10 coins to rule them all...until they make the second set which is supposedly in the works! For $400 dollars you can own $20 dollars of the coolest currency this side of the galaxy and the one far far away, and that's pretty sweet.

2. Leonard Nimoy Retires From The Star Trek Convention Circuit

I don't know what was more surprising about this announcement, the fact that it actually happened or that Leonard Nimoy is 80 years old. This served as a wake-up call for fans of Star Trek and sci-fi in general that our revered sci-fi gods are getting up there in years. The simple truth? We need replacements, and with next year being touted as the "year of the geek" in terms of cinema, my hopes are high as we begin sending off the old and ushering in the new.

1. The Death of Steve Jobs

Let me be clear. I'm not an Apple or Steve Jobs fan. In fact I'm pretty adamant about my PC love and their adherence to high quality and low cost. That being said there is no escaping the fact that despite my hate, I still own an iPod and an iPhone. I use iTunes regularly, and am forced to use Final Cut at my school when I'm editing video. On top of that, I probably cannot go throughout my every day digital life without encountering one of his hundreds of patents that he developed to make the world better. While I will go on the record to say Steve Jobs was never my hero, he was an influential man who changed our world for the better, and I cannot disrespect him for that.

Email Me: MickJoest@Geektyrant.com Twitter: @MickJoest