Steve Wozniak To Appear On Dancing With the Stars 139
Redpill82 writes "It has been confirmed that Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak will be a contestant on the new season of Dancing with the Stars starting on March 9. Did ABC determine that ratings were low with the technology community? I know I'll be interested in seeing how far Mr. Wozniak goes in the competition."
Why I respect Woz (Score:5, Funny)
- he is famous engineer (I will never be famous)
- he is a talented engineer (I will never be talented)
- he built revolutionary products (I write Perl scripts)
- he's a member of the Segway Polo team (I have a folding bicycle)
- he gets to dance close with a hot woman on television (Mom, what's for breakfast?)
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Are you sure? I heard that his dancing partner will be called "Ginger" >.>
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Woz may be talented, famous, and dancing (Score:5, Funny)
with hot chicks. But I have a sub 50k Slashdot UID!
Christ, I am such a loser.
Re:Woz may be talented, famous, and dancing (Score:5, Informative)
If it makes you feel any better, you beat Woz [slashdot.org] to registering for slashdot.
Kirby
How much does a sub 1k Slashdot UID cost ? (Score:5, Funny)
How much does a sub 1k Slashdot UID cost on a free market ?
Maybe I can buy myself a good UID and the girls will go crazy on me.
Re:How much does a sub 1k Slashdot UID cost ? (Score:5, Funny)
Maybe I can buy myself a good UID and the girls will go crazy on me.
I believe you might have come up with the worst strategy for getting girls, ever.
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Maybe I can buy myself a good UID and the girls will go crazy on me.
I believe you might have come up with the worst strategy for getting girls, ever.
No, the worst strategy is showing a girl how to use yggdrasil linux
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So, what's mine worth? :-)
Not that I would sell it...it's worth far more as geek cred than in script from any country!
ttyl
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How much would you pay? Should I put it on eBay?
Re:Woz may be talented, famous, and dancing (Score:5, Funny)
Loser perhaps, but you aren't so much of a loser that your going on dancing with the stars, which no self respecting person does.
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But when he was sixteen, he got infatuated with a girl, and signed up for a ballroom dance class in order to get more face time with her. He's been taking lessons ever since.
Probably one of the best moves a geek could ever make, both for self-development and social development. If you can dance well, you will never hurt for female company. They'll line up to spend a Friday night with you. It's the losers that ar
Re:Learn to dance (Score:4, Informative)
Fast forward 10+ years
As a final note, if you're a guy, your job while dancing is to make *her* look good.
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I see what you're saying, and don't disagree. However, I think you missed the point of the previous poster. When he says:
As a final note, if you're a guy, your job while dancing is to make *her* look good.
...I think he is referring to the fact that there are many guys who try to get all fancy, show off, and try to look good, and completely forget about their partner. Completely. I can't count the number of times I've seen a girl kind of just standing there while her partner tries to look fancy/good.
(For the record, I'm a swing/blues dancer.)
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Re:Woz may be talented, famous, and dancing (Score:4, Funny)
damnit, that makes me even loserrer. Let's see if #56 comes around. He posts quite a bit.
Re:Woz may be talented, famous, and dancing (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Woz may be talented, famous, and dancing (Score:4, Funny)
Sometimes I wonder if you guys have a cron job running to notify you if a discussion of slashdot UIDs ever comes up. You never post much else, just the "mine's shorter" comments.
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"mine's shorter"
Sorry, but that point never wins an argument. Ever.
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But I have a sub 50k Slashdot UID!
Christ, I am such a loser.
Does that make me better or worse than you?
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That said I still do have some love for Woz though. (But I don't watch any stupid "reality" shows on television either.)
"Flamebait" not synonymous with "I disagree" (Score:2)
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Well not quite anything.
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Perhaps you watching a different version of the show than I
Heh, you watch that show.
Thanks, CmdrTaco (Score:2)
After your breakdancing stint, our geek dancing ratings have plummeted!
Segway polo (Score:2)
The guy plays Segway polo, he has to be nimble on his feet. I suggest he stays away from those Hawaiian shirts, though.
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Uhm, no. The electronics in the segway do all the work. Its hardly more than an outside video game. Possibly less physically demanding than a good game of Wii tennis.
Re:Segway polo (Score:4, Insightful)
"The guy plays Segway polo, he has to be nimble on his feet."
How on earth did you interpret that statement in any way other than light sarcasm?
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This guy has some intense personal hatred of Woz (I suspect he was molested by an Apple II), he's been been flamin' all over this thread.
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No hatred of Woz himself, just this retarded idea that he's something special.
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No hatred of Woz himself, just this retarded idea that he's something special.
Ah, I see.
Well, you're special too BitZtream. I see all the amazing things you do and I hope you realize how important it is to all of us. It's not like you just stumbled into making the personal computer like Woz. You didn't just happen to be in the right place at the right time, and in spite of that you still managed to do so many things that haven't made you famous, or rich, or get you invited onto a TV show. So keep up the good work and let us know about any other titans of the industry that aren't wo
Re:Segway polo (Score:5, Informative)
BitZtream is not off base. I was very athletic in school with letters and trophies and all. 15 years ago I could run a marathon. After a spinal injury I have not kept in good shape and I let my weight go too, so this will be hard for me. But it's not about dancing. It's about ratings and attracting viewers. You never know what pranks I might find a way to pull on the show.
I don't mind it when people treat me badly. I wish I had no fame and no money, and I do my best to limit both. But I'm not cool enough to turn down the producers to DWTS. By the way, I had never seen the show until I watch a DVD last night.
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Yes, but you still haven't explained why your Apple II molested poor BitZtream. ;p
Seriously though, my comment was in reference to the numerous comments BitZtream has left on this thread attacking you. A lot of people try to deify those people that come first, or at least are given credit for getting there first, so I understand the temptation to attack them to compensate for it, but doing so is even more asinine than deifying them. I don't need to pee all over myself in deference to you, but I see no reaso
Re:Segway polo (Score:4, Funny)
> You never know what pranks I might find a way to pull on the show.
May I suggest:
- change the judges' score cards from decimal to hexadecimal
- redirect Denise Richards' votes to Lenny Goodman
- a performance art representation of big-endian vs little-endian
- surreptitiously replace NFL Linebacker Lawrence Taylor's musical selection with "Never Gonna Give You Up"
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>surreptitiously replace NFL Linebacker Lawrence Taylor's musical selection with "Never Gonna Give You Up"
A Woz Rick Roll would be quite amusing, and well keeping with his prankster reputation.
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You should go out on the stage, strutting out "Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers!" but in style...
Show them how it's really done.
(Shame about your UID ;)
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GO WOZ! GEEK CULTURE REPRESENT!
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I have *never* watched DWTS, as you abbreviated it, but I intend to make an exception now. Is this what the producers intend, to draw people like me out of the woodwork? Dammit, it will work. If it were That Other Steve they had conscripted for the show, I still wouldn't have considered watching. You, however, are cool because you're NOT cool, and you consciously work at keeping it that way. You get extra mod points for an absence of disingenuousness and pretentiousness.
I anticipate that having Steve W
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>But it's not about dancing. It's about ratings and attracting viewers.
I'll watch it while you're still on.
> You never know what pranks I might find a way to pull on the show.
Oh, please do. Segway tango? :)
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Wow. Just wow. I stop in here to kill a little time at work, and see this.
Thanks, Woz. For showing me what true class and humility looks like. And reminding me how much room there is for me to grow and be a better person.
BitZtream is not off base. I was very athletic in school with letters and trophies and all. 15 years ago I could run a marathon. After a spinal injury I have not kept in good shape and I let my weight go too, so this will be hard for me. But it's not about dancing. It's about ratings a
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I wish I had no fame and no money
Don't do that. Quite a few of us have been inspired by you and we think you deserve both.
Have fun at DWTS, I look forward to any pranks you manage to pull off.
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The hell you do! Evidence: I have yet to receive a single million-dollar check from you. For shame.
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Being famous, rich and ASKED to be on TV are forms of recognition. Something came before to bring them about. Cause and Effect. Figure it out.
I wonder if it will involve... (Score:2)
I wonder if it will involve the Segway... ...we know it won't involve Kathy Griffin...
backstage conversation (Score:5, Funny)
Bill: You won't believe Steve is such a good dancer.
(Ballmer jumps on stage for monkey dance)
Bill: Oh, forgot to mention, I was talking about Wozniak.
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I'd be worried for the judges. Any low scores and Ballmer might fucking kill them, never mind the chairs.
~jaraxle
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:My guess... (Score:4, Insightful)
I do a lot of ballroom dance, and it's a pretty common occupation for engineers to be fantastic at.
Really, who would be fantastic at a social skill that hasn't truly been in vogue in half a century except nerds?
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I do a lot of ballroom dance, and it's a pretty common occupation for engineers to be fantastic at.
I first read "bathroom" instead of "ballroom" and your post was much funnier that way.
The Woz? (Score:2)
Then again, they really might like their chairs there.
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But on a related note, I heard Ballmer would keep throwing chairs at anyone who complains, frowns, cries, screams, throws eggs, sleeps, or just didn't clap his hands in beat with his "Developers! Developers! Developers!". Maybe if we install a crash test dummy in the audience, and give Ballmer enough chairs, he'll keep throwing chairs and forget to release Windows 7.
Just an idea.
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Monday, before coffee? (Score:4, Funny)
That's just not right. I'm going to have to walk around all day with that image haunting me.
Couldn't you have just linked goatse?
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Why is this story news, when last week, Steve Wozniak becoming chief scientist at a flash storage company [muckety.com] isn't? Frankly, Slashdot has really become terrible lately. Badly formed javascript that makes what used to be a quick loading mostly text page take minutes to render on slow systems and mobile browsers. Stories that are more tabloid than news for nerds.
Slashdot, it's very obvious you have new owners. Quit trying to "monetize eyeballs" or whatever stupid Web 2.0 jargon you're trying. Just go back t
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The second result on Google when searching for 'Wozniak Slashdot' is this link: http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/02/04/2331203&from=rss [slashdot.org]
I'm fairly surprised, the slashdot article is actually dated before the one you linked (and, interestingly, the New York Times article it links to, talk about the mysterious future!), meaning slashdot was actually semi-current!
By new owners do you mean VA (9 years and a few days ago) or has something more happened more recently that has yet to be reflected o
They gonna allow segways? (Score:2)
Offhand I think they're hoping for a William Hung moment...
Oh No (Score:2)
Don't get me wrong, I have all respect and admiration for St. Woz. But this is a guy who converted his basement to a cave, complete with stalactites and stalagmites, and when hunkered down amidst them looked every bit a Neanderthal in t-shirt and jeans. He doesn't look much different now than he did in the picture in TIME the above came from. I hope they intend for his appearance to be comic relief because that's what I think it'll end up being.
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You ever been in his basement (Score:2)
... NO, cause it is dark down there and we all know what happens in the dark!
"It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue."
Or at least that is what our parents always told us if we wandered into their bedroom in the middle of the night.
I'm holding out hope for... (Score:4, Funny)
a Stephen Hawking and Kenny Baker duo.
Sharks? (Score:5, Funny)
WOW[Z] - I must say, while I never... (Score:2)
watched Dancing, this is enough to make me watch it up until they vote him off...
There's a precedent for this (Score:4, Interesting)
In the original UK show (that Dancing With The Stars is derived from) last year, "Strictly Come Dancing", they had a rather old and none-too-thin political correspondent called John Sergeant [bbc.co.uk] on the show. No idea why, but the reaction to it was a bit of a surprise.. more people tuned in, and people really got behind the guy even though his dancing wasn't too good.
He got through week after week just because of the overwhelming number of public votes. I guess people really love a cute (old) underdog. And.. so perhaps it'll go with Woz. People like to see regular joes (as much as Woz is a regular joe) rather than glossy celebs all the time. Perhaps Woz will resonate with America the way John did with us.
(John eventually quit the show because he thought he was taking the attention away from those who could actually dance well each week.)
Re:There's a precedent for this (Score:5, Insightful)
I thought he quit because the panel kept bitching about the public voting for him?
Pretty stupid, if you want the winner to be based on skill rather than popularity then just have professional, expert judges decide. Of course that loses the opportunity to rake it in from all those premium rate calls.
Officially it was the attention grabbing reason (Score:1)
The public, who know all along that the show is an excuse for a bit of fun, got increasingly annoyed with the show (the judges) taking it all too seriously and just kept voting for him.
That and his dance partner had an amazing rack - it's why I kept voting
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Do you think there are too many phone-in votes on TV?
For yes, dial 0898 123456
For No, dial 0898 654321
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It all really depends on if people connect with his personality. I think he'll be out by the 2nd rounds.
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Heh, I still prefer Andy Hamilton's reasoning on why Sergeant became so popular - if you could either vote for the best dancer or to irritate Arlene Phillips, who would you vote for?
This isn't Precedent, This is Widening The Bar (Score:2)
I'll grant that John Sergeant ain't svelte, but the last time I saw the Woz on the tube, he was HUGE. I'm almost seriously surprised his ticker and/or pancreas hasn't thrown in the towel by now. Unless he's been on a serious weight reduction regimen, watching him dance is going to look like a live action remake of Fantasia [youtube.com].
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This picture of Woz practicing [nwsource.com] doesn't show him as being particularly large. You get +100 virtual karma points from me for that Fantasia reference though.
star? (Score:2)
if they keep lowering the bar like this, pretty soon everyone can call themselves stars. i think they should changed the title to
"dancing with some people who's names you think you know but aren't sure why."
Re:star? (Score:4, Insightful)
Lowering the bar?
You don't watch the show, do you? How much lower do you go than Cloris Leachman? Oh, wait, Lance Bass? No, wait, Jophn O'Hurley? Wait, he was actually good, he was robbed.
How about Tatum O'Neal, Tucker Carlson, Jerry Springer (woo baby), Paulina Porizkova (who hid the hanger in her dress very well thank you), Floyd Mayweather, Penn Jillette, Rocco DiSpirito (who?), some of the turkeys from past seasons.
I kinda hope he gets hooked up with Edyta. She hardly wears any clothes, can in fact make a frog look good in the Tango, and usually gets through the first fiew weeks. Since Julianna is taken, he might as well have fun.
I expect Lil' Kim to be gone quick - hip-hop is anthema to the judges, since it's the antithesis of ballroom, especially Mr. Crankypants, Len. L.T. will suprise us, but he's gone by week 5. Denise Richards, Shawn Johnson, Belinda Carlisle (who should have taken this gig just to lose weight like so many others, and Nancy O'Dell are my favorites. There are, however, always suprises. Woz could come off as the Jerry Springer of this season, obviously in over his head, but a gamer. If he enjoys it, gives his all and doesn't let the bastards get to him, he'll be entertaining and get votes.
Now to arrange an outage on the WoW system on Monday nights. Or just message everyone to SMS in and vote. It shouldn't be too hard to hack the voting, eh? This isn't Ohio, I know, but...
ps - This is how the D-listers get up to the C-list. And how non-celebs have a little fun in front of millions. Kathy Griffin *w i s h e s* she could get on this show. We will probably see all of N'Sync, BSB, NKOTB, Menudo, and and at least one Pussycat Doll here some day. Ugh. then the entire Baltimore Ravens backfield. Harrr...
Re:star? (Score:4, Informative)
A quibble regarding Cloris Leachman. From Wikipedia:
"Cloris Leachman (born April 30, 1926) is an American actress of stage, film and television. She has won eight primetime Emmy Awards--more than any other female performer--and one Daytime Emmy Award. She won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in the 1971 film The Last Picture Show."
Yes, she's well past her prime physically, but she was (and is) quite talented. And telling John Stamos she was going to strap on her Oscar and fuck him with it qualifies her for comedy legend, right there.
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"Yes, she's well past her prime physically, but she was (and is) quite talented"
That pretty much describes Lance Bass, too. Only he doesn't have an Oscar to strap on, IYKWIM...
So maybe fitting Woz into that box isn't so easy? Feh.
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I thought you were lame for knowing this much about the show... then you suggested hacking the voting system.
*facepalm*
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Know how much fun it is whack n00bs as they keep trying to outrun your PK in DC Final?
Know 1337 it is to pwn the slow and weak in COD4?
That's how much fun it is to watch Jerry Springer dance on TV. He looks like he's dancing with his daughter at her 2nd wedding.
Seriously, DWTS is almost as much fun as Survivor was the first season. And you got to jeer Mark Cuban. Not to mention watching supposedly cool, cute, and hip celebs dance like geeks who left the hanger in their coat.
Dance like nobody's watching,
Yeah... (Score:2)
I know I won't.
How far? (Score:2)
"I know I'll be interested in seeing how far Mr. Wozniak goes in the competition"
maybe he'll get to second base! w00t! vicarious victory for nerds everywhere!
he'll go far because (Score:1, Funny)
he'll bribe the judges with $2 bills
As a soon-to-be-married IT guy & DwtS (Score:4, Informative)
Anyway, I've now seen a few seasons of DwtS. MOST of the time, it's a pretty enjoyable show even with the cheese factor being set to "Gouda". However, last season (the 7th) was regarded as weak by most of the viewers, as most of the stars were "C list" at BEST.
Compare the names on the lists, and DwtS w/ Woz just looks a lot more watchable...
Season 7:
Jeffrey Ross (Stand Up Comedian)
Ted McGinley (Actor)
Kim Kardashian (Reality TV Star)
Misty May-Treanor (Olympic Beach Volleyball Champion)
Rocco DiSpirito (Celebrity Chef)
Toni Braxton (Grammy Award Winning Singer)
Cloris Leachman (Oscar Award Winning Actress)
Susan Lucci (All My Children TV Star)
Maurice Greene (Olympic Sprinter)
Cody Linley (Hannah Montana Star)
Lance Bass (Former 'N Sync Star)
Warren Sapp (Super Bowl Champion NFL Football player)
Brooke Burke (Model and TV Host)
Season 8:
Belinda Carlisle (Singer in The Go-Go's)
David Alan Grier (Actor and Comedian)
Jewel (Singer-Songwriter)
Shawn Johnson (2008 Olympic Gymnast)
Lil' Kim (Grammy Award Winning Rapper)
Gilles Marini (Actor)
Ty Murray (Rodeo Athlete)
Nancy O'Dell (Access Hollywood Co-Anchor)
Steve-O (Jackass and Wildboyz Performer)
Denise Richards (Actress)
Lawrence Taylor (Retired NFL Linebacker)
Chuck Wicks (Country Singer)
Steve Wozniak (Apple Co-Founder and Philanthropist)
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Steve-O and Steve Woz should get in a dance off during the show to see who gets the rights to the name Steve.
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Shawn Johnson (2008 Olympic Gymnast)
Oh, I don't know, I think she might be able to dance, too.
Segway (Score:1)
Wozniak geekness dancing (Score:2, Funny)
Dancing on his feet or on a Segway? (Score:2)
Either way, it's gonna be ugly.
Gotta watch it.
You know what... (Score:3, Interesting)
*cheer* (Score:2, Funny)
I sense an iPhone App (Score:2)
VOTE FOR HIM (Score:2)
You can vote on the abc website for a short period right after each show. Cast all your votes for Woz. Slashdot could provide a friendly reminder... ;)
If we can consistently get him 70% of the total vote, he'll be in good shape. :) GEEK-POWER!
"Tonight on Dancing with the Stars... Wtfpwned--Woz wins 84% of the popular vote!"
Woz! How could you? (Score:2)
A brief except of his next autobiography has just fallen through a rift in time, and landed on my desk. I wanted the lottery numbers, but when you have lemons...
Well, from the Dancing with the Stars section:
"I had what I called a Grey Box, because it accessed the grey goo between the judges and the viewers ears, and made them score me highly and vote for me. I built them out of Dr Pepper cans, Apple ][ Disk controllers and surplus MRI machines. I decided to sell a few for pocket change, and had a really sc