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Brian Briggs, a 1988 graduate of Milan High School, has turned his experience with technology into a new career, sharing his "geek" humor and tech satire on his Web site, BBspot.com, and has published "The BBook of Geek," drawing from his oddball Web site. Part reference, part satire, and all geek, the book is a humorous guide to every subject that every geek -- whether an "ubergeek" or beginner -- cares about.
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Brian Briggs, a 1988 graduate of Milan High School, originally set his career sights on electrical engineering. He even earned a degree in the subject from the University of Michigan.
But after a decade working for a small industrial computer company, Briggs turned his tech experience into a new career, sharing his "geek" humor and tech satire on his own Web site, BBspot.com. Briggs updates the site daily with features such as, "Top 11 Signs You're the Biggest Geek at Your Class Reunion."
Briggs has now come out with his first book, "The BBook of Geek," drawing from his oddball Web site. Part reference, part satire, and all geek, the book is a humorous guide to every subject that every geek -- whether an "ubergeek" or beginner -- cares about.
The book, installed with hexadecimal page numbers for its 256 pages, breaks down geekdom into eight pillars of knowledge: science, literature, hardware, software, gaming, movies, TV and the Internet. Each pillar has 16 topics that range from Einstein to emacs, from Stan Lee to "Star Trek" and everything in between.
Most of the book is new material, but includes some old favorites from the Web site. There are also 128 pictures of Briggs in various geek costumes.
"I had to buy all sorts of props and makeup, like a replica Doctor Who scarf and a couple authentic 'Star Trek' shirts among others," he said. "I had to cover my face with yellow makeup to look like Pikachu.
"I'm set for Halloween for the next 100 years."
Briggs, the son of Larry and Elaine Briggs, has come a long way since his childhood on his parents' farm in Milan when he attended Jones elementary school -- and bought his first Color Computer 2 with money earned through farm chores.
"I can remember on the farm, he had a computer when they were first popular and so much has changed with them since he started," said his mother, a retired teacher in the Milan School District.
"Milan schools do produce some pretty talented young adults."
Her son's blog has a worldwide following, she said.
"When a friend got married in Ann Arbor, he had BBspot readers at his house from Costa Rica, Denmark, and Vancouver. It's pretty amazing how the Internet makes international connections possible," she said.
"We're very proud that he's been successful branching out on his own and following the road less traveled."
Briggs, who lives in Ann Arbor with his wife, Hedieh, and children, Emily and Michael, started posting stories on free Web space in January 2000. Quickly overrunning his bandwidth quota, he convinced his wife he needed his own domain and BBspot.com was born.
Three years later, Briggs took a huge leap of faith and quit his day job to make the Web site his full-time occupation.
"I'm glad we did it," he said. "We weren't sure if it would be successful enough, but the Web site took off right away."
Since starting his Web site, which gets one to two million hits every month, Briggs has made three appearances on Tech TV's "The Screensavers" show and his stories have been featured on radio stations, major newspapers and books around the country, as well as The Discovery Channel.
Last year, he was approached by an editor at New York publisher Kensington Books to write a book.
"I had never tackled such a large writing project. I wasn't sure I could do it, but my wife said I'd be crazy to pass something like this up, so I took the deal," he said.
Briggs has come a long way since writing funny lists and parody songs in his middle and high school years in Milan.
"Couple that with my love of computers, and you could have predicted what I'd be doing today," he said. "I might not be making as much money as if I'd stuck with electrical engineering, but I know I'm happier with this choice.
"I've got the best job for a geek. I can spend most of my time surfing the Internet and writing funny stories about what I find.
"It's a dream come true."
The book hit store shelves Nov. 4, and is available from BBspot.com, bookstores and online retailers such as Amazon.com.
Sheila Pursglove is a freelance writer. She can be reached at bingley51@yahoo.com.
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