Love 2.0

Hmmm. . . am I the annoying one, or the annoyed one? Wired has a list of the most annoying habits of geeky spouses, and the very familiar list has me shaking my head in recognition. A lot of recognition.

We're both guilty of #2, using "frak" in place of real curse words, #4, dissecting movies (him being an ace at Final Cut Pro), #6, requiring extra room in the house for geeky things in gadgets (which forces me to recall the afternoon we each had a meltdown over the TiVo and the cable box not fitting inside our new credenza), and #9, needing to watch certain shows ASAP to avoid spoilers (and avoiding Twitter when those shows are on).

The one that's hands-down the most annoying, which we both do — and I know for a fact annoys our friends — but the ultimate geek habit: #8, looking up information while an argument is in progress. I mean, I paid good money for my iPhone, why shouldn't I use it to prove that River Phoenix was in fact, in Stand By Me? Some things cannot be helped.

Anything you can think of that didn't make the list?

Photo courtesy of CBS

Yes, after the new MacBook Pros, new MacBook Airs, and new MacBooks were announced at the Apple Event in Cupertino yesterday, who else, but none other than Laurene Powell Jobs, decided to sit down on a bench right next to me. As she chatted away on her sleek white iPhone, I instantly knew it was her — especially after our "Geek Love: Tech Giants and Their Ladies" story which featured her and her hubby looking oh-so-adorable. Within a few minutes, Steve decided to join his blond beauty for some one-on-one time, which I'm guessing turned into a lunch date or a ride home together. All together now, ahhhh!

To see more pics of Laurene chatting on her iPhone before Steve joined her, just read more

Do you know many guys who are socially awkward in person, but once they're in front of a computer they transform into confident ladies' men? Well for Roger Hobbs, a total nerd away from the computer, the Internet became his alter ego. This past weekend, the New York Times showcased the story of Roger, from the trials and tribulations of his Love 2.0 experiences, to the power of online conversation in allowing him to "escape his loser identity and become the super-cool cyber Casanova he thought he deserved to be."

With technology giving him the confidence boost he needed, Roger felt that he had mastered his love life, and knew the secret recipe for getting girls to like him — online that is. As soon as he got a girl's IM name, the words and seduction poured out on the screen.

He says: "Nothing was too challenging. I first seduced my best friend’s girlfriend and, when they broke up, I seduced his new girlfriend. I had a girlfriend in New York and one in Philadelphia. I had a girl I met on a train and a girl I met in a nightclub. I had a Republican and a Democrat, an artist and an engineer, a Christian and an atheist."

Have you heard of this happening very often? Are these the same guys who think it's OK to break up via email?

Source

As part of our Geeks We Love series, I caught up with a few couples that, through the beauty of the internet and technology have influenced both our lives and each other.

There are plenty of couples that both blog, but Anil Dash and Alaina Browne are in an elite club of longtime bloggers that have been around the blogosphere for years, but are still humble about their success, influence and accomplishments. Anil, is Vice President at Six Apart, a blogging software used by millions of people across the world, but he describes his occupation by saying "I help people start blogging." Alaina is the general manager at Serious Eats, a website filled with video, blogs, photos and feature stories all geared toward the foods people love. What geeky things do these two love about life online and each other? read more

As part of our Geeks We Love series, I caught up with a few couples that, through the beauty of the internet and technology, have influenced both our lives and each other.

It seems a bit of geekiness comes with the territory of owning your own online business, no matter what your background. If this is true, Lauren Smith and Derek Fagerstrom, who happen to be the owners of hip online store Curiosity Shoppe, wear it well. The couple abandoned their “kinda crazy lives in New York City” and came home to the San Francisco Bay Area to start up the Shoppe for the simple reason that they are obsessed with beautiful things. What makes them so geek chic?

As part of our Geeks We Love series, I caught up with a few couples that, through the beauty of the internet and technology have influenced both our lives and each other.

If there was an award for cutest hipster bloggers with actual street cred, Peter Rojas and Jill Fehrenbacher would take the cake. He is the cofounder and editor-in-chief of Engadget, a heavily trafficked tech blog about gadgets and consumer electronics, and the cofounder of Joystiq, which covers the world of video games. She is the founder of Inhabitat, a sensible and chic blog that looks at the future of design, tracking innovations in technology and practices and materials that are pushing architecture and home design toward a smarter future. Though they describe themselves as "art school geeks" rather than your "average geeks," the newly-engaged couple stands out in the Love 2.0 generation for using technology to spread their passion for life and their work. What do they love about their jobs and each other? read more

If we're to believe pop culture, a Beauty and a Geek can fall in love in six episodes, teach each other to dress, code, and balance their checkbooks, and combine to make the perfect pair. It may not be that easy in the real world, but there are plenty of beautifully geeky couples that continue to inspire us with their innovative ideas and contributions to the technology and resources we use everyday. As part of our Geeks We Love series, I caught up with a few couples that, through the beauty of the internet and technology have influenced both our lives and each other in a wonderful way.



Heather Champ is the Community Manager at flickr and co-founder of JPG Magazine. Her husband, Derek Powazek is the founder and CCO of 8020 Publishing and Editor-in-Chief of JPG Magazine. A life-long camera junkie, Heather never leaves home without a camera, hoping to capture the small moments that catch her eye. Derek was an early blogger - even though he never liked calling it that. He also used to run fray.com, the original digital storytelling magazine, which Heather calls a “wonderful gift to the web in a time when self-publishing wasn't as ubiquitous as it is today.” What geeky things do these two love about each other and life?