GeekSugar

Website of the Day: Got Reception?

GeekSugar — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 13:00:29 -0800

This may come as a shock to some of you, but sometimes cell phone shopping is not based on what someone can afford - no, sometimes people have to decide based on what service is best for them. Since I have crying jags when I'm in deadzones, I can empathize with the need for the very helpful website Got Reception?

Using a Google map and your zip code (or a zip code you might be visiting often), Got Reception tells you which cell phone company's service is strongest - or weakest - in a given area. This goes way beyond my problems with the 3G hogging of San Francisco, so for those of you who need this, I salute you!

To learn how to post your favorite websites to our Website of the Day group, read more.

I know that this long list looks scary, but trust me, once you get the hang of it, it'll be a snap the second time around.

First of all, join the Website of the Day group.
Click the pink "Share" menu on the top left side of the page.
Choose "Blog" and "Regular Post."
Give your story a "Title."
Fill in the "Body" with a link to your favorite website and the reasons why you love it.
Click "Next."
Choose the audience for your story to "Website of the Day" in the dropdown menu.
Add keyword(s) (for example mine for this photo was "Website of the Day").
Change channel to "Technology and Gadgets."
Fill in tag field with relevant tags.
Click "I’m done" to submit content.

So join the Website of the Day group and share information about all your favorite sites! Yours just might end up on the geeksugar homepage!

How to Shop For a New Cell Phone

GeekSugar — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 11:13:00 -0700

I was pretty set on buying a new iPhone 3GS as soon as I could, but that doesn't mean I'm unfamiliar with the anxieties of choosing a phone. Remember when you had maybe three phone options to choose from? My first phone was a clunky Nokia with a changeable faceplate - my toughest decision was figuring out which color to choose! Obviously, your phone choices could be limited by your wireless carrier and contract obligations.

An article in the New York Times this week gives great cell phone purchasing advice. (Hint: their advice is to do the exact opposite of what my less-than-tech-savvy mom did last week: purchase a phone online sight-unseen because it was pink.)

To read a quick summary of their recommendations, read more.

Compare phones, plans, and companies online. Go beyond provider websites - try a site like GotReception to check coverage in your area and LetsTalk to enter your phone preferences and narrow your selection. The article also recommends visiting a review site like Cnet to check out reviews of any phone you choose.
Come up with a list of two or three models you're interested in and go check them out in person. The article suggests checking both big-box stores like Best Buy and individual carrier stores for best results. Take each phone for a trial run in the store. Do you like the keyboard? Is photo quality important?
After deciding which phone is for you, purchase it online. That way, you'll be able to compare a few different sites' prices and rebates.

Does Your Phone Ever Drop Calls Due to Bad Reception?

GeekSugar — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 07:33:32 -0700

I'm one of the lucky ones who hardly ever falls victim to phone carrier issues, choppy reception, or bad network areas. But I haven't always been so lucky. . . I once moved into an apartment where I had zero zero phone reception, and seriously thought my life was over (needless to say, I didn't live there for very long).

If you've been following the hilarious Rachel Zoe Project then you probably remember this scene from the first episode. Poor Brad was having phone reception issues on Sunset Boulevard in LA. . . of all places! What are some of your network woes? Please share below! And to see which regions have good reception, you can always check out Got Reception.

Do You Know a Loud Cell Phone Talker?

GeekSugar — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 12:50:08 -0700

Do you talk on your cell phone in public places? Do you also assume no one's listening? Well, watch out, because there's a group that's eavesdropping and then re-enacting particularly loud cell phone offenders to hilarious effect (check out the video below from Loud People).

Loud People: Episode 1 - watch more funny videos

This totally plays into my insecurity with gabbing on my phone in public. If I have to talk, I try to keep it down. I have plenty of buddies and family members, though, who seem to turn up their voice volume if they're talking on their cell phone. I guess it's a holdover from the days when cell phone reception was so crappy that you had to speak up, but come on, people - You've got enough bars in enough places now!

So tell me: Are you or someone you know a loud cell phone talker?

Philips New Tapster Is As Cool As It Sounds

GeekSugar — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 04:00:47 -0800

Last week at the Philips event in Portugal, I got to check out innovative new products like the Prestigo remote and like this new device - the Philips Tapster. In the video below you'll get a sneak peek at how it functions, but basically with this Bluetooth stereo headset, you can easily switch between your music and incoming phone calls by using simple gestures. With stellar sound quality, a comfortable feel when on the ear, and crystal clear reception, this is going to be one hot little product when it's released later this year.

Geeks We Love: Doug Aamoth of CrunchGear

GeekSugar — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 09:06:23 -0800

With Valentine's Day right around the corner, we're kicking off our third annual Geeks We Love interview series to showcase some of the most talented and loved tech writers in the industry. And who better to get things under way, than the charming Doug Aamoth, who spends most of his days reviewing high-tech gadget goods for CrunchGear? I had the pleasure of meeting Doug at the HTC Touch Diamond Event in London last year, and found him to be very much the way he comes across in his work - passionate and knowledgeable about technology, and a really great guy with an addictive sense of humor. By the end of this interview, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about - enjoy!

GS: Considering you're the king of product reviews, what types of gadgets are you most excited to take for a test drive?

DA: I'll review just about anything, but I really like to take a look at stuff that has some sort of technological slant to it instead of being a full-fledged technology product. Basically, if I think it's something that would be interesting to other geeks, I'll review it. We get some pretty good response from stuff like the Penguin Home Soda Machine and a little four dollar keychain breathalyzer that also has a built-in stopwatch and flashlight. Of course, right? Every breathalyzer should have a stopwatch just in case you want to have an emergency footrace outside the bar before you figure out if you're okay to drive home.

As far as "real" technology products go, I'm really enjoying this netbook craze right now. I think it'll get much better, too, once Intel sees some more competition from AMD, NVIDIA, and VIA. Other than that, I also really like reviewing things that make people's lives easier. The simpler the better. Oh, and energy drinks. I love taste-testing energy drinks.

To learn more about Doug, including his "ah-ha" moment and his thoughts on technology and dating, read more

GS: What's the most outrageous and hilarious gadget that's arrived on your doorstep?

DA: I think that one of the best reviews I've done was for a product that never showed up. I spent a few days waiting for the new Flip Mino to arrive, at first thinking it would be here on a Tuesday morning, then being told Wednesday instead, then getting a press release envelope but no camera on Thursday, and finally having it show up Friday morning after all our competitors had gotten theirs on Wednesday. It wasn't really that big of a deal but I thought it'd be funny to chronicle the event as though it were an episode of The Office.

Aside from that, the most outrageous review would definitely be for a product called FyreTV, which is a set-top box that streams, um, "non-traditional" video. It's weird because it's basically a review just like any other. We rarely look at the media content for set-top boxes, but more at the actual hardware and how well it handles streaming. So for the FyreTV review it was like, "Here's the box, here are the connections, here's the remote, it streams stuff really quickly, and the video quality is pretty good. Oh, whoops, sorry I had to blur everything out and block the camera with my hand at certain points but you get the idea."

GS: Describe one of the most memorable moments of your career thus far. . .

DA: I had an "a-ha" moment about six months into my career when I was at this Acer conference in Spain. It was my first real work trip and I postponed my own bachelor party to go to it. I remember getting into this big conference hall with a bunch of other reporters, and sitting down at this long table with my laptop and my voice recorder waiting for the presentation to begin. I looked around and thought to myself, "This is what I'm supposed to be doing with my life. I love this stuff." I've had over 30 jobs in my lifetime (I get kind of restless) but I finally felt pretty calm for the first time.

In retrospect, I wouldn't have moved my bachelor party for a work trip but at the time I didn't know how often an opportunity like that Acer conference would come around. Turns out, it was a lot. It was still a great experience, though. Singing White Wedding at CES this year was pretty cool, too.

Also, any time I meet someone that I used to read before I started blogging is always really cool. Every person I meet always looks at me weird when I tell them I'm a big fan of theirs or that they're like a hero to me. I used to read tech blogs and magazines and think "Man, that would be the best job." Now that I'm actually doing it, I still haven't forgotten that feeling. I consider myself to be really fortunate.

GS: How geeky is your significant other? Who makes the final decision when it comes to gadgets for the home?

DA: My wife is probably about a three out of ten on the geekiness scale. She's not into tech stuff whatsoever, but she'll think some of the things I tell her about and some of the products I show her are cool. So she's definitely not against technology and she's pretty savvy with the stuff she uses on a daily basis. She does NOT like all the boxes we have around the house, but I can't blame her for that. It gets pretty out of hand sometimes.

I handle all the IT administration and technical support in the Aamoth household. Interestingly enough, I've been terrible about picking a good cell phone for my wife. I got her the LG Chocolate a few years ago and she didn't like it. Then I recommended the Samsung Glyde and between the non-responsive touchscreen and the poor reception, it's really been a terrible device as far as our relationship goes. One of these days, though, I'm going to pick out a good phone for her. It's just tough being in the doghouse for two whole years while we wait for her contract to come up for renewal!

GS: In the new movie He's Just Not That Into You, Drew Barrymore's character has the following to say about technology and dating:

"I had this guy leave me a voice mail at work, and so I called him at home, and he emailed me to my BlackBerry, and so I texted to his cell, and now you just have to go around checking all these different portals just to get rejected by seven different technologies. It's exhausting."

What are your thoughts on this topic? Do you think technology makes dating more complicated?

DA: Sure, I can see technology complicating things for people who don't embrace it. As someone who's into all this stuff, though, the thought of having seven different technologies that don't synchronize with one another is mortifying to me. I have a single Grand Central phone number that forwards to any other phones I might currently be using and my various e-mail addresses all funnel into a single Gmail account.

It's funny, though, because people will be like, "Give me your cell phone number, I can never get a hold of you at your work number," and I'll try to explain that my work, home, and cell phone numbers all forward to the same place. So they'll leave a voicemail on what they think is my home number saying that they'll try me on my cell, which leads to them leaving the same message in the same voicemail system two minutes later. Same thing with email: the same message three times to three different email accounts.

I think just starting to date someone would be really weird nowadays with Facebook and Twitter and everything. Do you friend this person right away or what? Is there a rule as to how many dates you go on before you can friend someone? And it'd be super weird if you were dating someone for a little bit and then they told you they were getting too busy with work or whatever, and then all of a sudden you see their status change on their profile and you see photos of them with someone else and all that. My buddy told me he watched his little brother's relationship with his girlfriend fall apart over Facebook, which seems totally surreal to me. That's what happens now, though, I guess. Everyone has access to everyone else's private lives with all the social networking stuff.

I'm really apprehensive to admit this but a former girlfriend and I actually broke up over AIM once. And we'd been seeing each other for a long time - like a couple years. We'd been living together in Seattle and I'd moved home to Minneapolis and I think we were both kind of ready to move on, so the mutuality of it made everything easier. I don't think most breakups would work that well over AIM but if you're both pretty much on the same page and it's going to be a relatively clean breakup because you both want the same thing, then it actually kinda works. Weird, huh?

GS: Now for the lightning round!
Mac or PC? DA: PC
iPhone or BlackBerry? DA: I love my T-Mobile G1 but I'd take a BlackBerry. I need a real, physical keyboard.
MySpace or Facebook? DA: Facebook (as the lesser of two evils).
iPod or Zune? DA: I really like my iPod Touch.
The Hills or Gossip Girl? DA: I've never seen Gossip Girl, but The Hills is absolutely, positively, 100 percent the bane of my existence. My wife has to watch it in our bedroom with the door closed or when I'm not around because the way the brats on that show talk is like fingernails on a chalkboard for me. So Gossip Girl.
Steve Jobs or Bill Gates? DA: Bill Gates. His acting in the Seinfeld Microsoft commercials was mesmerizing.
Picasa or Flickr? DA: Picasa. Great example of a desktop app working harmoniously "in the cloud."
Texting or Emailing? DA: Email. I like the cost better.
WiFi or Wired? DA: I'll borrow from a golf saying here and say WiFi for show, Wired for dough.
Pac Man or Space Invaders? DA: Pac Man, preferably Ms. Pac Man.
Star Wars or Star Trek? DA: Star Wars
Laptop or Desktop? DA: Ouch. That's like Sophie's Choice. I have both and could never part with either of them.
The Bachelor or the Bachelorette? DA: ABC should cut out the fluff and have them marry each other. I mean, they're both looking for the same thing, right? Set them up together and spare us all from having to sit through it.
Coffee or Tea? DA: Monster Low Carb energy drink. Coffee will do in a pinch, though.

Going Cruising? Cellular at Sea Has You Covered

GeekSugar — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 04:00:35 -0700

I just got back from a fab trip - a bunch of friends and I boarded a Carnival Fun Ship in honor of their birthdays. I have to admit, although I was looking forward to a relaxing vacation, I was nervous because I knew I would be out of cell range while we were spending the day at sea. What is a geek girl to do when she is totally disconnected!? Sure there are those iCafes aboard the ship, but who wants to spend money on those shared computers? So of course, I was ecstatic when I picked up my phone to see full reception – 23 miles off the coast!

Cellular at Sea is the Wireless Maritime Service that provides you with reception on a number of cruise ships, even when you are in the middle of nowhere. There are plenty of roaming partners that work with Cellular at Sea, so you should be able to make your calls while on vacay. But let's get real, you should keep it short – you're supposed to be relaxing!

How did my Cellular at Sea experience go? Find out when you read more.

There were times when I got the dreaded "No Service" message after dialing, but for the most part I had great reception everywhere on the boat. Just be advised that international roaming charges do apply, so you may want to restrict your calls to only those that are absolutely necessary. I haven't received my phone bill yet, but I'm crossing my fingers I didn't go overboard on the phone calls home! Get it? Overboard? I know . . . I'm pretty funny.

Geek Tip: Download Free Fonts For Wedding Invites!

GeekSugar — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 15:01:02 -0700

Whether you go earth friendly and geeky and decide to send your wedding (and rehearsal, and bridal showers, and bachelor/bachelorette parties. . . ) invitations online, or send paper (recycled, perhaps?) invites, one thing you need is an original font! Don't be a bore with standard fonts given to you, like Times New Roman and Helvetica (albeit classic bores, ahem) - fonts set the tone for style as much as the color scheme and design.

I love Fonts 500 for this - they have over 500 free downloadable fonts and have got something for every wedding theme: classic (Jane Austen), edgy (Nauvoo), and your-name-in-lights (Marquee). There's also tons of commercially-used fonts, so if you've been dreaming of directing your family to the reception in Simpsons font, well, done and done. Other free font websites I like are 1,001 Free Fonts and dafont (both good for Mac and PC).

Be sure to check out more of our wedding coverage on I Do Sugar.

Party Favors for Your Geek Chic Reception

GeekSugar — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 04:45:36 -0700

A geeky girl's dream wedding would include an awesome reception where everyone mingles, fills up on delish food and drink, and has a total blast while celebrating your big day. To help make this dream a reality, you'll want to check a few things off your "To Do" list beforehand. Of course you'll need music and entertainment, plus something fun to fill your guests' time. Party favors are a hit with crowds because it gives people something to do while the food line goes down and occupies the kiddies while the 'rents are busy networking your other guests for photoshop tips.

What kind of party favors would a geeky couple provide? Well, besides going green and sending your guests home with plantable trees from the Arbor Day Foundation, you can let them entertain themselves with a number of inexpensive and totally geeky gifts. For example, Rubik's cubes on the tables, or even take home Rubik's Cube Keychains will keep the nerdiest of guests focused, and will satisfy the younger geeks-in-training by keeping their hands (and minds) busy.

I have more geeky party favor ideas when you read more

Make it a team effort with crossword puzzles or Sudoku printed tablecloths or napkins. Seriously, what geek hasn't been obsessed at one point with beating the Brain Age Sudoku puzzles on their Nintendo DS? Having them show off their puzzle prowess will surely make a long lasting impression. Just by going to any custom printing shop with a tablecloth of choice and a puzzle or two, you can get a unique geeky wedding activity. Just don't forget to provide pens and/or crayons so that people can actually do the puzzle!
Handing out USB Flash drives is an uber geeky gift that you can personalize with your wedding day message. Have it engraved with your names and the date, or customize with a personal message. "Live long and prosper" would be my personal choice. Since this could get a little higher on the price scale, you can reserve the flash drives for the wedding party alone if you are running low on cash.
Since I got this as a Christmas exchange gift once, I can personally tell you about the joys of the keychain digital camera. These little guys are super fun and will hold up to a beating by your keys (if you actually keep it on your keychain). Plus, guests can take photos while at the wedding and have them to remember later. Think about designating a Flickr/Shutterfly tag (ex: Geek and Geekette's Wedding) so everyone who took photos at the event, whether it be from the keychain camera or their own, can upload and tag them properly, making a huge virtual photo album online.
Hand out pre-burned CDs of your wedding soundtrack. This is an easy and fun project to complete together before the wedding, since you can pick out tracks that you both love, select a photo for the cover, and if you have a printer that prints on CDs, like the Epson RX680, you can customize the look even further!

Be sure to check out more of our wedding coverage on I Do Sugar.
Source

Love 2.0: Heather Champ and Derek Powazek

GeekSugar — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 10:00:40 -0800

If we’re to believe pop culture, a Beauty and a Geek can fall in love in six episodes, teach each other to dress 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? read more

Geeksugar: Tell me a little about yourselves!
Derek: I graduated from UC Santa Cruz in 1995 with a degree in Photojournalism. When every paper I talked to said they just weren't hiring photographers anymore, I fell into the web. I never really realized it would become my life, but here I am. Of course, now I'm running a photo magazine, so I guess I've come full circle. I invented the magazine I wanted to work for 10 years ago.
Heather: I built a home page in August of '94 while working at Princeton and immediately fell in love with life online. I developed websites professionally for 10 years and then joined Flickr as Community Manager in 2005.

Geeksugar: What’s the geekiest thing about yourself?
Derek: The other day I was on the subway going to work, listening to a NPR podcast on my iPod and checking my email and surfing the web on my Hiptop, and I thought, when did it become the future?
Heather: I've geotagged over 3,000 of my photos on Flickr. I became absolutely obsessed with adding the geo location information a few weeks before we launched the photos on Flickr. Given that I shoot mostly film, I find myself making mental notes of where I am when I'm out and about.

Geeksugar: How about the geekiest thing about your significant other?
Derek: Heather's pretty oldschool. She loves her Polaroid SX-70 and shoots mostly film. But come between her and her Treo and there'll be trouble. She's also the only person I know who can actually watch the low budget Saturday movies on the Sci Fi channel.
Heather: He gave me a dual tuner DirecTV TiVo a couple of year's ago for Valentine's Day. Given that our viewing preferences fall into two buckets ("hand drawn", ie cartoons: him, accents and/or costume drama: me), a dual tuner device is a must.

Geeksugar: How and when did you two meet?
Derek: We met at SXSW in 2000, which I guess is pretty geeky, too. That was the same year Kottke and Meg met, and a few other couples, too. Love was in the air.

Geeksugar: What are your top three favorite gadgets:
Derek: Number one has to be the gadget I use most, which is my 15" Powerbook. I still have the pre-Intel version, which I'm sticking to until CS3 comes out. But it's just a marvelous machine. Two is Danger Hiptop, aka T-Mobile Sidekick I've had every version of this device, and each gets better. I love the flip-out display, qwerty keyboard, and mobile email, web, and chat. I wish the hardware design was better, but I guess the iPhone will be here soon enough. Three is the Apple iPod (video, 30gig). I know, so pedestrian. But it's a nearly perfect device. I love that I can use the click wheel through it's case. And the videos and games are a nice addition for boring Muni rides. I do wish the batter lasted longer, though.
Heather: My Treo 680 (red), Sony DSC-T5 (the wet suit accessory is most excellent for the beach and rafting) and our dual tuner DirecTV TiVo (a Valentine's Day present a few years ago).

What about the top three luxury gadgets you really want?
Derek: The Leica M8. It's the digital version of the M6 I mentioned earlier, and it's expensive as hell, but I'd love to give it a whirl. If they could finally make a digital Leica as sweet as the film Rangefinders, it'd be a dream come true. Does a car count as a luxury gadget? If so, bring on my Mini Cooper. Silver and black with moon roof, please. A stylish car that you can actually park in San Francisco. Bliss. Also a big ass HDTV. When I picked up a plasma display last year, the actual HD models were just too pricey.
Heather: Leica M8, Slingbox, Sony GPS tracker (oh, and a more current version of my point and shoot to go with it), that set of 128 tea mugs designed by Onkar Singh Kular - "Each of the 128 tea mugs is a Pantone shade of brown, which allows people to pick out the mug that matches the way they take their tea. Depending on which one they pick, the host with the most can judge how much milk to put in." And a My5 Power Plate (very weird jiggly, anti-fat thing).

Geeksugar: Your first computer was a…
Derek: Commodore 64. I was bootlegging video games on 5" floppies in grade school. Yeah, I was THAT cool.
Heather: Mac Iici with a whopping 8 MB of ram, baby!

Geeksugar: What are your favorite websites?
Derek: Heather's site, of course! Daring Fireball is a must-read and Ze Frank has
put a smile on my face nearly every day since he started the show. And, of course, the flickr addiction must be fed daily.
Heather: Flickr.com (natch), jpgmag.com, cuteoverload.com, mightygoods.com, dooce.com to name a few.

Geeksugar: What is your Valentine's Day plan?
Derek: I'm not saying! Surprise is the spice of life.
Heather: I don't know. We alternate and last year I made the plans: we went to EOS, a lovely restaurant in Cole Valley where we had our wedding reception. Derek's on deck this year. No pressure. Nope. None at all.

Geeksugar: Who makes the final decision when it comes to gadgets for the home?
Derek: We both do! We had dinner with a couple of friends not long ago, and she said something about not being able to buy a camera because he wouldn't let her. Heather and I just looked blankly at them. If I ever came between Heather and a camera, well, let's just say it wouldn't be pretty.
Heather: We both follow our bliss when it comes to gadgets. Derek definitely plots out the big ticket items while I gift him gaming devices for Hanukkah.

Geeksugar: Who solves tech problems at home?
Derek: Judging solely by who cusses the most when the airport network goes out, it'd have to be me.
Heather: Derek. Period. I once almost had a nervous breakdown when presented with a TiVo green screen of death while he was away at a conference.

Geeksugar: Are you going to buy an iPhone?
Derek: Are you kidding? I may buy two: one to use and one to keep pristine in its box to save for future generations to admire. "This was the moment, children, when computers went mobile," we'll say. And they'll respond in some sort of future kid lingo that we cannot begin to imagine now.
Heather: Will my super secret de-coder ring be taken away if I say no? I'm a big fan of a qwerty keyboard and a die hard Treo fan.

Geeksugar: How do you feel about people calling you a “geek”?
Derek: Amen! To me, "geek" just means "someone who's just a little too into something." I was a guitar geek before becoming a camera geek before becoming a web geek before graduating to being a coffee geek. I can't wait to see what I geek out on next. It's better than being a nerd, anyway.
Heather: That they're misguided.

Geeksugar: What has been your partner’s greatest contribution to the tech/blog?
Derek: As a prominent woman in tech, Heather's been a real inspiration to a lot of girls out there. She's also inspired a lot of people to pick up their cameras again. I know she inspires me to want to be a better photographer.
Heather: If you've seen the Blogger "B", then you've seen Derek's work, but I think that Fray (fray.com) was a wonderful gift to the web in a time when self-publishing wasn't as ubiquitous as it is today.

Geeksugar: How many hours do you spend online a day?
Derek: Pretty much all of them.
Heather: Too many.

Geeksugar: How many hours does your partner spend online a day?
Derek: Same. We try to get out of the house and away from the computers on the weekends. But, otherwise, the net is just part of the fabric of our lives. It's never far away.
Heather: Too many.

Geeksugar: What is one geeky habit you’re trying to quit?
Derek: I think I've already done it: After 10 years, I just recently killed my blog. It was one of my new years resolutions: There's enough pressure already, don't put more on yourself. It was stressing me out whenever the top post got more than a couple days old. I decided to just take it down until I have the time to enjoy it again.
Heather: I think I'm a great multi-tasker, though Derek would disagree. Less SMSing while out and about together would be greeted with enthusiasm.

Are you the “Beauty or the “Geek” in the relationship?
Derek: Oh please tell me I'm the geek.
Heather: While Derek's wardrobe is far more beautiful than mine, I would crown him alpha geek at Casa Chawazek.

Want to know more about Heather? Check out HChamp.com. For more about Derek, check out Powazek.com.