Techgoondu Sony Ericsson contest roundup

Firstly, a big thank you to all readers who participated in the recent Techgoondu Sony Ericsson G705 Giveaway contest. The challenge given to contestants this time round was to submit what they thought was one of their best “geek moments”, and the submission could come in the form of text, pictures, or even audio or video.

Like in our previous LG TV giveaway contest run last year, we had some very good entries, but unfortunately not everybody can be a winner — we had to pare the numbers down to three lucky winners amongst all the entries.

Similar to last year, the winners are chosen by a democratic vote of the goondus. Even though our individual goondu tastes might be quite different, the process is generally a fair one.

But first, before we announce the winners, let’s take a look at some of the wackier and more interesting entries that were sent in this time round.

Some readers sent in photos that left the goondus scratching their heads, like this one from Wong Kum Yew from Jurong West, in which he writes that he was forced to wear a baby hat and shake a rattle during his honeymoon.

Unfortunately Mr Wong, whilst we applaud your bravery and candidness in sharing your photo and story (and thanks for that!), we can’t vote on you because it doesn’t really fit the contest theme of having an IT/gadget related epiphany!

Some entries were really technically esoteric, like this one on stateful firewalls by Albert from Serangoon, who writes that his best geek moment was “hand coding his own Iptable firewall”. And he even had a photo taken to prove it:

Besides these, we had quite a few photo submissions: of gamers playing games (or spoofing them), on pets, on modding PCs, etc. which showcased a huge variety of interesting geek moments.

We also had some really pretty interesting text entries, like this poem from Avorie Koh from Bedok, in which she describes as a “geek moment story” told by a talking phone. I’m not sure the goondus really get the haiku style prose, but it certainly is… interesting.

Talking phone poem

Hello everybody, my name is GOONDUTECH =)
I wish to own a Sony Ericsson G705 =)

Currently I own a Sony Ericsson phone K850i 🙂
It is a gift from my brother 🙂
The Cyber-shot function of 5.0 megapixels,
Click and Snap!
My photos turn out to be crystal clear =)

I do fancy a phone which besides talking to my friends, I can also watch YouTube videos, find my way around with Google maps and surf with Wi-Fi on the go!

My birthday is around the corner 🙂
I wish for a sweet surprise?
Thank you =)

Here’s another interesting poem by Delia Tan from Bukit Batok, who says it’s about the story of a geek. Looked on as misfits in society, the geek realizes that in the end it doesn’t matter what others think, and it’s a message to geeks to “embrace who they are”.

Poem – Geek

My speedy fingers typing,
Geek, geek, geek
My glasses are near breaking,
Geek, geek, geek.

As I�m busy texting,
The people are now smirking.
Geek, geek, geek.
Geek, geek, geek.

I try hard to mend my glasses,
But now the lenses are broken.
I try to wear the latest,
But trends just make me look worse.

Geek, geek, geek!
Geek, geek, geek!

And as I fumble around,
My iPhone, iPod fall out.
My hands are full of papers,
Of cheat codes, hacking letters.

Geek, geek, geek!
Geek, geek, geek!

Finally I grab hold,
Of my favourite iPhone.
I slide my fingers across,
As I listen to songs.

Geek, geek, geek.
Geek, geek, geek.

I listen to all the techno,
And a bit of disco.
I sway away to the awesome beat,
Trying to move my clumsy feet.

Geek.
Geek.
Ge–

Wha?
I love my life!

I’d also like to mention two merit entries that made it to our short list of finalists, but were cut in the final voting round. Sorry folks, you were close, but we had only three phones to give away.

The first is a web comic, Counting Sheep, by Deepak Sarda of West Coast Road, which I have reproduced here from his Flickr page:

The second is an entry by Cheryl Tan from Joo Seng Road, where her boyfriend sent her a “proposal” in World of Warcraft. It would have been a clear winner if it had been a real proposal (but done in Wow). Still, as Cheryl said, it’s a “geeky but sweet” moment.

And… finally we have arrived at the moment where we announce our winners… later this week! Watch out for Part II of the roundup where we will showcase the winning entries.

Yes, yes, I’m an evil bastard for having you read this far and not give the results. Sorry, the article is too long already, and besides, we needed to give credit to the more interesting entries. Feel free to leave your comments below!