Nerd Merit Badge Sampler

INBOX ZERO

To earn: Keep your e-mail inbox empty five out of seven days a week.

HOMONYMS

To earn: Correctly spell words that sound the same. In this case - reign, rein, and rain.

FULL STACK WEB DEVELOPER

To earn: Write a Web site from scratch by setting up the Web server, writing the scripts, styling the pages, and configuring the analytics - abilities reminiscent of Charles Ingalls of Little House on the Prairie, who could turn a stand of trees into a cozy cabin.

OPEN SOURCE

To earn: Contribute code to any open-source project. "Octocat" is the mascot of GitHub, one place where many people collaborate on these projects.

FAMILY TECH SUPPORT

To earn: Provide hardware, software, and telephone support for extended family member - voluntarily or involuntarily.

BEEN BOINGED

To earn: Have a project mentioned on boingboing.net, a popular Web site that showcases links to "wonderful things."

ROBOT LEGS

To earn: Contribute to a software project called Robotlegs. This is one of many custom badges that Young and Schmidt occasionally make for geek-friendly organizations, including Wordpress, a JavaScript conference, and even the Girl Scouts.

SHIP SHIP SHIP SHIP SHIP SHIP

To earn: Take a new idea or product all the way from idea through execution to launch, no matter what the obstacles.