GeekSugar Exclusive

The first time I saw the trailer for the movie Catfish, I didn't think it was real — it's unlike any trailer I've seen. But after heading to an advance screening of the film, which opened in select cities over the weekend, I learned firsthand that it is real.

Without giving away too much (as the film's tagline says "Don't let anyone tell you what it's about"), the film is shot on nontraditional movie cameras — mostly point-and-shoot — and incorporates apps like Google Maps, Google Earth, and lots and lots of Facebook. I had a chance to chat with the filmmakers and stars of the movie, brothers Ariel ("Rel") and Nev Schulmann and friend Henry Joost, and chat about some of the technical aspects of the movie. Check out a few interesting facts from my exclusive interview (don't worry, no spoilers!) after the jump.

E3 veteran Morgan Webb knows a thing or two about gadgets and video games. She has had her finger on the pulse of the industry far before her hosting gigs at G4TV's X-Play, and G4 Underground — she was also the host of TechTV in 2001 and calls eBay's Cat Schwartz a personal friend. It's no surprise then that I turned to Morgan — who's got hosting duties during G4's week-long E3 coverage — to fill us in on her most anticipated reveals at next week's conference and get some dish on some E3 slipups of years gone by. Find out more about the girl, the games, and the title she's most excited about this year in our exclusive interview.

GeekSugar: How many years have you been attending E3?
Morgan Webb: Ooh, let's see, six or seven?

GS: Any funny or outrageous moments you can remember from past years?
MW: I feel like a lot of really funny and notorious moments usually come out of the press conferences. I'm thinking about some disastrous moments, like the first year that Sony announced the Playstation 3. They put a guy up on stage for what felt like seven hours talking about cell processors. Then there are those moments like when Nintendo announced the first Zelda for the Wii, and everyone freaked out about that because Zelda is such a beloved franchise.

Find out what game Morgan is most excited about, and how she feels about the famous "booth babes" after the break.

Getting married is an exciting adventure — you've got the ring, set the date, and now it's time to send out your save the dates! Brides on a budget need not worry about spending hundreds on professionally made save the dates and invitations — you can totally do it yourself with the help of a computer, a great printer, and some creativity. I asked invite guru and wedding blogger Abby Larson of the fabulous Style Me Pretty to weigh in and share her knowledge on DIY'ing your paper wedding goods, and what you'll need to get started.

• If a bride wants to design her own save the dates and invites, where should she begin? Are there any DIY websites you can recommend to help? Designing your own invitations is a big task but one that can be tons of fun. Plus, it's a great way to show your personality and get really creative. If you are all about the printing element, but not-so-sure about the design part of it, check out the pre-made templates on Etsy. For $15-50 designers will sell you their ready-made, digital template and you can print them on your own home printer. It's genius. If you want to really get your hands dirty and design your invitations from soup to nuts, definitely spend some time checking out other invitation brands and figure out what style you most gravitate to. After you decide that, start sourcing out typefaces, artwork and paper. You can buy really great typefaces online on sites like MyFonts, find gorgeous vector art and illustrations online on istockphoto, and you can even buy your paper online on sites like Paper Source. Just make sure to really do your homework and create a design that reflects you as a couple and the wedding that you will be building. After all, your invitation sets the tone for the entire affair!

See what else Abby has to say about paper, printers, and whether online invites are kosher in the digital age after the jump.

If you're concerned that Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is going to be yet another weak game-to-movie crossover, don't be. I had a chance to speak with director Mike Newell, as well as franchise creator Jordan Mechner, and star Jake Gyllenhaal over the weekend at this year's WonderCon, and there was one overarching concern for them all — story.

Although Jake is new to the action-adventure genre (this being first run in a film based on a video game), he and the Prince of Persia team wanted to make sure they heeded the lessons learned by previous game-movie crossovers by making their film believable, yet totally entertaining at the same time. Anyone remember Super Mario Bros.? Iconic as it may have been (it brought the über popular plumbing brothers to the big screen), no one can say that flick was based in reality whatsoever. However, Jake did compare Mario's mustache to the one he sported in Brokeback Mountain, so maybe there are some hidden similarities between them after all!

I sat down with Jake on Saturday to talk about his gaming habits, his thoughts on the 3D craze taking over the film industry today, and his transformation into a hunky action-adventure star. Find out what he had to say about this, as well as what made him want to dive into the world of Persia after the break.

It's obvious I'm a fan of Project Runway, so it should come as no surprise that I jumped at the chance to mingle with the contestants of the show and chat about their new-found love for technology during a NYC meet-and-greet sponsored by HP. Along for the ride? The one and only Vivienne Tam, whose work with HP has produced two stunning examples of how fashionable technology can really be.

I got some face-to-face time with the designer and spoke with her about how technology inspires her work, and if she'll be continuing her relationship with HP (spoiler: she is!). Check out my interview below!

• On how technology affects her designs: I can’t live without technology every day. I use computers every day to generate my prints. I take pictures, I scan something that I love and blur it on the computer to make my prints.

To see what she has to say about being a technology geek, and about her future projects, just read more

You may know iJustine (a.k.a Justine Ezarik) from her wacky music videos, her blog, or as the Twitter correspondent to last year's MTV VMAs. But if there's one thing you should know about Justine, it's her obsession for everything Apple. Check out what happens when we ask the tough questions of this Internet personality — like if she prefers Twitter over talking, and if she would marry her gadgets in real life (I bet you can guess the answer!) in this edition of Geeks We Love.

Single or Taken?
I'm dating my iPhone.

Have you ever been served a geeky pickup line? What were some of your faves?
"Hey, wanna LAN?" Couldn't help but laugh, and be totally creeped out at the same time!

Do you think it’s harder to date when you’re a geek, or is our tech-obsessed culture making it easier to relate to potential partners?
I think it's much easier now. No one even has to leave their computer to find cool and interesting people to hang out with. Everyone is online in some form.

What is your favorite way to communicate — talk, text or tweet?
I love texting and DM'ing on Twitter. I will pretty much avoid talking on the phone at all costs.

Find out what iJustine thinks about going a day without tech, and some of her favorite trends when you read more

It's almost Valentine's Day and our Geeks We Love series is going strong! Next up: Thomas Houston and Leila Brillson, Editor-in-Chief and Managing Editor (respectively) of Switched, a blog covering technology and its relation to all of our other favorite things — fashion, art, and gadgets. Here's what they have to say about their favorite gadgets, their plans for Valentine's Day, and the blog they're thinking of starting together one day (we think it's a great idea, too!).

We know you from Switched — are there any other projects you’re working on now?
LB: I also write for InterviewMagazine, so I am gearing up for some Fashion Week coverage. When I'm not at Switched, I'm an editor for Rundown, which is this awesome NY-oriented men's site that kind of covers happenings in the city. Lastly, but certainly not leastly, I have my own often-neglected blog, Battledroid, which is kind of a fusion of geekery and fashion, my two favorite things.
TH: Switched has kept me extremely busy lately, but I've got some new blog ideas for 2010.
LB: Thomas has been threatening to get us to start a site that's a cross between FU Penguin and the Sartorialist for New York City pets. I think its a grand idea.

Do you think technology is becoming too much of a distraction in our daily lives? Alternatively, how do you use tech to your advantage?

LB: I think anything that makes life easier can be a distraction in our daily lives. However, tech, you know, makes life easier in a lot of ways. Technology is a double-edged sword: total interconnectedness leads to collaboration and an easy way to share info, but it also leads to confusion and being overwhelmed by constant status updates/news feeds/product launches. Which may explain Thomas's fear of Facebook.
TH: It's not a fear so much as a self-imposed protection mechanism protecting me against the flood of things old friends and acquaintances post. Technology can be an enormous distraction and staying focused is increasingly difficult in the face of the growing torrent of news, e-mails, IMs, and everything else. That said, it's really exciting to be covering the cutting edge of tech, art, and design, and it enables us to have a team working together around the world.

To find out their favorite tech trends, V-day plans, and how they spent their recent snow day, read more

MG Siegler covers tech news and trends for TechCrunch, and reviews movies in haiku format in his downtime. Here's what he has to say about today's tech scene, the geekiest Valentine's Day gift he's given, and whether or not he'll be picking up an iPad in today's edition of Geeks We Love.

We know you from TechCrunch, but are there any other projects you’re working on now?

From time to time I write on my more personal views on things on my own blog, parislemon.com. I also have reviewinhaiku.com, where, yes, I review movies in haiku format. That has been a work-in-progress for about five years now.

Do you think technology is becoming too much of a distraction in our daily lives? Alternatively, how do you use tech to your advantage?

Yes, it's basically impossible to take a step back now thanks to devices like the iPhone. I'm checking the thing literally every 15 minutes no matter where I am. And the only reason I'm not checking it every five minutes is because it makes me seem too rude — I'm fine with being moderately rude. I also now find it hard to sit down and watch a movie in my living room without having my laptop open. It's annoying to me because I love movies, but I'm addicted, and cannot stop. I feel absolutely naked without checking to see what's going on. 

That said, this addiction also makes me good at what I do. Because I'm on top of things pretty much 24/7 (minus the few hours that I sleep), I rarely miss stories and trends. 

What gadget (or gadgets) can’t you live without? Why? 

There is one device above all others that I can't live without: the iPhone. To me, the Internet is all about information, and the iPhone literally puts all of it in my pocket. It has become something that is absolutely vital for my job, which is essentially information gathering. Thanks to the iPhone I don't have to carry around a laptop with me at all times. And besides the Internet, you have games, music, movies, and all sorts of other stuff on one device that's extremely portable. I even use the thing to take audio notes on, so I can remember thoughts I have about stories later. 

I've tried a number of Android devices pretty extensively, and some of them are great (the Nexus One, for example), but the iPhone is still hands-down the best mobile device. Apple just nails so many subtle things that their competitors can't seem to figure out.

To find out his favorite tech trends, funniest Valentine's Day memory, and how many iPhones he owns (hint: it's more than one), read more

Kerry Miller is the one-woman operation behind the blog Passive-Aggressive Notes; a collection of "painfully polite and hilariously hostile writings from shared spaces the world over." A site that started as a way to chronicle annoying roommate habits has since grown into a vibrant online community. In fact, I love the site so much, I've featured it twice; first back in 2007 shortly after its launch, and again last year. Here, the site's creator talks about how the site got started, her thoughts on Mario Kart Wii, and the best passive-aggressive Valentine she's seen.

What made you want to start the blog? Did someone really make you angry?
Honestly, it was totally on a whim. I was a really bad date, and this guy just kept yammering on and on about his crazy roommate who had started hoarding toilet paper and leaving annoying notes everywhere. At the time, I was living in a second-floor walkup with three roommates, one of who had a particularly passive-aggressive streak as well. I said something sarcastic like, "Yeah, I should start taking pictures of them and start a blog about it. Now that'd really be passive-aggressive." I was just kidding, but this guy was like, "Yeah, you should." I literally came home from the bar — still a little drunk — and fired up the scanner. At the time, I had  no idea though I'd still be doing this three years later, and I certainly didn't think I'd get a book deal out it. Once the site got going, though, I realized pretty quickly that I'd hit a nerve, and I decided to run with it.

Comments are a huge part of your site. Do you have trouble getting everyone to play nicely?
Oh yes, definitely — especially at first. People can get pretty nasty behind the cloak of anonymity — whether it's in a written note or a comment on a blog, so I've worked pretty hard to keep things light-hearted and humorous. I try to set the tone in how I introduce and contextualize the notes I choose to post, and in the daily comments I choose to highlight. I also have a few basic community guidelines posted, but at this point, I rarely have to step into the enforcer role, because of the strong community that's developed around the site. They do a pretty great job of self-policing and keeping the trolls in line.

What gadget can’t you live without? Why? 
I'd like to think that there's not a gadget I couldn't live without, but right now I'm very much enamored with my new digital SLR camera — a Canon Eos 7D. When it comes to photography, I'm not as into the gadgety side of things as some people are. I'm more interested in composition and story...not geeking out in Photoshop to perfect the color balance and saturation and whatnot. But it's really satisfying to have equipment that can capture a shot just as I'd imagined it. I've definitely developed some major "lens lust."

To find out more of Kerry's hobbies and her favorite passive-aggressive Valentine, read more