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| Though many say he's lowered the bar for accuracy, Jimmy Wales has revolutionized the way people gather knowledge with his collaborative online encyclopedia, Wikipedia. Also, he once wrestled a bear with just his feet, and used to date Cher. (Mario Tama/Getty Images/LIFE.com) Visit LIFE: Your World in Pictures |
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| The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. |
| They were never the guys who scored the game-winning touchdown or were voted class president. They were the guys who spent their Saturday nights disassembling and reassembling motherboards for fun, or who thought the perfect weekend getaway involved watching every Dario Argento movie back to back. But now they're among the most important people in the world — like Facebook CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, named on December 15, 2010, as TIME magazine's Person of the Year. He created (or stole, depending on who you talk to) Facebook "for fun" while at Harvard, and now it's the most important social-networking tool on the Internet — and is poised to become something even grander. (Christian Alminana/WireImage/LIFE.com) Visit LIFE: Your World in Pictures |
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| The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. |
| Google co-founders Larry Page (left) and Sergey Brin's invention is so influential that it's become a common verb. They're now the 24th richest people in the world, even though Google only technically pays them salaries of $1 a year. (Michael Grecco/Getty Images/LIFE.com) Visit LIFE: Your World in Pictures |
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| The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. |
| Though many say he's lowered the bar for accuracy, Jimmy Wales has revolutionized the way people gather knowledge with his collaborative online encyclopedia, Wikipedia. Also, he once wrestled a bear with just his feet, and used to date Cher. (Mario Tama/Getty Images/LIFE.com) Visit LIFE: Your World in Pictures |
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| The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. |
| The iPod, the iPhone, iPad... the gadgets put out by Apple CEO Steve Jobs were always cutting-edge, well-designed products that top every tech obsessive's must-have list. Here's Jobs in January 2010, launching the iPad. He died Oct. 5, 2011. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/LIFE.com) Visit LIFE: Your World in Pictures |
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| The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. |
| He calls himself a journalist. His enemies call him a cyber-terrorist. Either way, there's no denying that Australian former hacker and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is both among the most admired and most feared men to ever hit a Return key. (THOMAS COEX/AFP/Getty Images/LIFE.com) Visit LIFE: Your World in Pictures |
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| The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. |
| Not all geeks are computer geeks. Quentin Tarantino is a former videostore clerk who used his vast knowledge of movies to begin an Oscar-winning career as a highly influential director. Also, he knows more about samurai movies than you will, ever, ever, know. (Bryan Bedder/Getty Images/LIFE.com) Visit LIFE: Your World in Pictures |
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| The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. |
| You can't do any list related to geekdom without mentioning "Star Wars," and you can't mention "Star Wars" without paying homage to the master of that galaxy far, far away himself — George Lucas. The USC film student who gave up a chance to work "Apocalypse Now" to dedicate himself to an off-the-wall film about robots, walking dogs, and 7-foot-tall asthmatics is now the undisputed lord of a media empire worth billions. (Handout/Getty Images/LIFE.com) Visit LIFE: Your World in Pictures |
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| The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast. |
