GeekSugar

Website of the Day: Make Me Super

GeekSugar — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 13:27:35 -0700

I know I've posted sites like this before, where you can put your head in a dancing body like we did with Elf Yourself, but trust me when I say, Make Me Super takes the cake! Upload a pic of yourself, use the easy head resizer to get it just the way you want it and bam! Make Me Super will whip up a sweet vid of you getting your super hero on. . . It's magical and will have you LOLing. You can share the video with friends, upload the super-hero pic of yourself, or buy hilarious paraphernalia with your super self all over them!

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 drop-down 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!

Create Your Own Photo Planets With the Polar Panorama Effect

GeekSugar — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:35:46 -0700

I stumbled upon this great blog post, which shows examples of panoramic photos that have been altered in Photoshop to create your own little planets (like the one shown here), and got lost inside the 50 examples they provided for this fun and unique effect. I'm all about learning new ways to have fun with my photo library, so naturally I added this to my editing experimentation to-do list. Plus, the effect totally reminds me of the planets from Super Mario Galaxy, and you all know how much I adore that game.

This tutorial shows you how to make the effect yourself, and although it looks like a labor-intensive process, the steps are actually quite easy - just straighten your photo so the image is level, make the image a square, rotate, and apply the "polar effect" in Photoshop.

Check out the details on this tutorial page and have fun with your own images!

Hook It Up With the Cassette Tape USB Hub

GeekSugar — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 01:44:19 -0700

I'm not sure if it's the fact that this Cassette Tape USB Hub is, well, a cassette tape that makes me a little bit excited, or if it's the fact that I can hook up four more peripherals to my machine when I need it. Having some extra ports can come in super handy when I'm rocking my stylish netbook and need to connect my camera and external hard drive at the same time. Or you know, to plug in my USB mini fridge to cool my Diet Coke. Whatever.

I could easily throw down the $15 or so that it takes to get my hands on this, mostly because I have an obsession with mixed tapes and old-school boomboxes.

Do You Use an Email Signature? What Does It Say?

GeekSugar — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:40:03 -0700

This morning I was making plans with friends via email, and after reading through our short exchange, I realized I was the only one not to include an email signature. At work, I use a signature that includes my name, title, and email address. I don't include one in my personal email at all (which according to this post on decoding email signatures, makes me cool). Conversely, one of my friends has a super-thorough email signature including full contact information - address, phone number, email - plus her Twitter username, instant message contact information, and link to her Flickr page.

Do you use a signature on your work emails? Personal emails? What does it say?

A Yummy Leather Bag to Hold All Your Little Laptops

GeekSugar — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 14:25:16 -0700

I have sung the praises of the HP Mini on a few occasions, and can't get enough of the netbook craze altogether. And although I love the mighty little machine, it does come with a certain disadvantage: it's so small you might lose it to the depths of your full-sized laptop bag. I know, I know, I shouldn't complain - the lighter the laptop means less shoulder strain for me. So I'm glad I found a bag that perfectly fits all my daily purse essentials, but leaves enough room for my Mini to tag along for the ride. And you wouldn't guess where I found it.

Coming straight from The Gap (it's true), this scrumptious Leather Hobo comes with a perfect 16 inches of legroom to fit your 10, 11 and 13 inch covered laptops perfectly inside. Plus, the fold-over top and adjustable strap make it easy for you to tote your things neatly over your shoulder or across your back and free up your hands.

At $160 dollars, it's quite the investment, but I'm a sucker for soft gray leather. Sure, it's not a perfect example of a super safe and padded carrying vessel, but you already know I don't limit myself to those categorized as "laptop bags" to carry my machines around in anyway.

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Make Your Own Animated Gifs With Gickr

GeekSugar — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:45:58 -0700

I will be first one to admit that I find gifs unimaginably hilarious. Sure, there are some serious and professional uses for animated gifs, but all the ones I notice are the ridiculous and funny ones.

Obviously then, I want to make my own and now I can, with the website Gickr. Gickr is super easy to use; just upload your three similar picture files and click continue. Just make sure the images you use are not gigantic or it'll stop you in your tracks.

Know any good websites you'd like to spread the word about? 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!

Geek Tip: Keep Your Gadget Boxes . . . Just in Case

GeekSugar — Wed, 20 May 2009 14:33:20 -0700

This tip is kind of hard for me to write because I'm very big on recycling any cardboard box that comes through my door and can't be used as storage (when you live in a small place and love buying new gadgets, they tend to pile up).

But when TeamSugar member lydiat had her house broken into recently, she benefited from having held on to the boxes her gadgets came in.

The officer helping lydiat was able to get the serial number for each item from the boxes, making it so if the gadgets are recovered, they'll be able to tell which are hers from the numbers. Of course, if you're short on space, you could also just cut the numbers off the boxes.

Sadly, even though lydiat has employed additional super-geeky ways to find her old gadgets, none have shown up yet.

Oh, and a lesson lydiat and I both learned from this debacle: get renter's insurance immediately.

Geeks We Love: Elaine Chow of Gizmodo

GeekSugar — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 04:01:36 -0800

You've already seen the men of this year's Geeks We Love series, and now it's time to mix it up with a girl-crush: Elaine Chow of Gizmodo.

A gadget girl living in and writing from China, Elaine is set apart by geography and gender, as most of the Giz staff is male. Check out what she has to say about that, as well as a valuable dating/technology lesson she learned in my interview with her.

GS: You're the Gizmodo member who writes from Asia. Do you look out for what's breaking in tech while we're all sleeping on the other side of the world?

EC: Basically that's my job! Catch things that are only around the Asian websites or that would otherwise fall through the cracks during the graveyard shift. Thanks to the Internet, it's not too hard to do - though it sometimes gets lonely since very few of my coworkers are on the company chat room at two in the morning.

To see the rest of my interview with Elaine, just read more.

GS: Gadget rundown! Cell phone, computer, console?

EC: I actually have a terribly old cellphone - a Nokia model from 2005 that my dad stopped using last year. I'd lost my U.S. phone, a SE W580, on the plane ride over here. I've been hemming and hawing over what to replace it with since. A part of me wants something I can slip into tight jeans. Another part of me wants to use a smartphone already. Preferably running Android.

I've got my tablet PC, a Fujitsu Lifebook T4210, and my desktop. . . a Shuttle PC I built myself. I've been kind of lazy with my Shuttle. Back in New York, I had it hooked up to a 27-inch LCD TV. I was going to do that here, but just haven't found the time or money to go TV shopping. I got the Shuttle because it was small and easy to move around, but I wanted to be able to swap components as they got old. With the tablet - I love tablets. I like to doodle, so sometimes when I'm feeling a little strung out, I'll fire up Sketchbook Pro.

Besides that, I've got a Wii, a PS2, and my DS Lite. I've been a little obsessed with Mario Kart lately. I used to DDR a lot, but I haven't found a good mat in China yet. I'm waiting for Sony to come out with a slim PS3 (you know they're going to at SOME point in time. Come ON Sony!). . . and debating whether I really need an Xbox 360.

I waffle a lot when deciding whether to buy new stuff. I'm very stingy and I hate waste, so I'll obsess over the value to use ratio of my purchases. My TV's a big ol' 26-inch CRT my parents donated to my apartment.

GS: As one of the only female writers on the Gizmodo staff, do you feel you have an edge? Do you think you handle tech stories differently?

EC: I don't know if it gives me much of an edge to be a girl writer. When I first started out, I'd get some misogynistic comments if I ever wrote about say, a kitchen or cleaning gadget. I would like to think I don't handle anything differently than my fellow writers because I have ovaries though. It helps that the Giz crew is a pretty enlightened bunch. Maybe the guys tend to make a few more boner jokes. . .No. . . No, I make a lot of boner jokes too. Never mind.

GS: Being a woman writing in tech, is it more important that you connect with a female audience and show them you're a woman so they can relate to you, or that you are seen on the same level as a male tech blogger?

EC: I think the best way for me to write is to not think about being anything other than being "Elaine, who was fascinated enough with geeky things to become a tech blogger." I think me being a woman will color my posts as often as me being an environmentalist, me being a science lover, me liking cats, etc. You know? Like, it's important. . . but it's not the most important thing. That being said, if me being a woman blogging at Gizmodo has made any girl out there think "Hey, maybe this tech stuff isn't just for guys after all," I'd be super psyched.

GS: How do you feel about the current state of dating and technology? Any funny mishaps happen to you that could be blamed on tech?

EC: I'm one of those terrible people that never write letters or calls to say hello anymore thanks to email, IM'ing and text messaging. I think the last two guys I dated, I never actually conversed with on the phone. Part of that is probably because I actually hate phone conversations. It's a weird neurosis.

Hmm . . . a mishap with technology. Well, I don't know if I can call this one funny. A former boyfriend of mine had problems controlling his jealousy. One day, I had left my MSN messenger on before leaving my house for work and he saw that I'd received an email from another ex. He went into my emails, from there got passwords to my private blog and then proceeded to read it and yell at me for things I'd written (sometimes about him) that he didn't like.

Now my laptop is password protected and there's a specific guest setting for anybody that's not me to use. Also, I try not to date psychos.

GS: What's your favorite or most memorable thing you've gotten to do as part of Gizmodo?

EC: Meeting Brando in Hong Kong was a very surreal moment and it was thrilling to know that he was a fan. I think that sometimes I forget that millions of people are reading us, and some of those people are making the things we talk about all the time. And then you meet one of them and you're kind of like "whoa, why are you even giving me the time of day? You're awesome!" I love that I got the opportunity to do that.

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.

Geeks We Love: Joshua Topolsky of Engadget

GeekSugar — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 06:01:30 -0800

You'd think that Engadget's editor in chief, NYC-based Joshua Topolsky, would be too busy doing things like manhandling the new Kindle to have time to talk to geeksugar for this year's installment of Geeks We Love. But this is a man who says if he could, he'd be called "super king" rather than simply "editor-in-chief." Do not underestimate him.

Since taking over Engadget's top spot last year, the mass of responsibility that's been heaped on Josh is matched only by his irreverent sense of humor (just listen to an Engadget podcast). And from music-industry beginnings (he was a music producer with a studio in Brooklyn) to excellent taste in eyewear, Josh is nebbishly cool - the definition of one of my favorite cliches: geek-chic.

GS: As a fan of your podcast, I know you're a funny guy - does not taking things so seriously make it easier to process all the information overload of tech news?

JT: I think our industry has a history of taking itself a little seriously. I'm not sure that having a sense of humor makes it easier to process the information overload, but it definitely helps to keep things in perspective. Ultimately, I know that if one day our technology becomes self-aware and turns against us, chases us down with a Green Goblin 18-wheeler, and forces us to sail to an island where there's no electricity - at least I'll have my sense of humor. And this iPhone I whittled from driftwood, and these apps I made from leaves.

To read more of my interview with Josh Topolsky, which includes his love for books and zombie-infused video games, read more.

GS: Favorite gadget right now that you cannot live without?

JT: It's safe to say that I would be useless without my laptop. I wish I could tell you that all I need is a notebook and a pen, but that would be a blatant, cool lie.

GS: Gadget rundown! Cell phone?

JT: I'm currently juggling three phones - the G1, iPhone 3G, and BlackBerry Bold. I'm really frustrated because each one does at least one thing that I really love, but none of them do exactly what I want. For instance, the G1 is great for Gmail (perfect, really), the iPhone has its killer app ecosystem and is really good for getting around/doing "fun" stuff, and the Bold is the ultimate serious-phone, for when I need to impress bankers and stockbrokers. Which is often.

Mac, PC, or Linux?

JT: I use all three. I write for Engadget!

Home tech setup?

JT: My TV is a really depressing Olevia 37-inch, I really need to upgrade. I've got Time Warner's DVR, which is made by Scientific Atlanta (if you must know). We've got a huge pile of consoles here, and my favorite game is anything with zombies, and preferably so terrifying that people actually die while playing it.

GS: What do you do when you're not Engadgeting (that's my clever way of asking about spare time)?

JT: We actually don't get a lot of spare time, but I'm really a big book nerd - we have a large collection here, though I don't read nearly enough (hardly at all lately). I also enjoy video games, as previously stated, and I try to watch complete television series in a single sitting. I collect old calculators, Dune toys, and I love comic books. Oh, and I'm usually trying to get new distros of Linux and/or BeOS working on my many, many computers.

GS: You're married; is your wife also a geek?

Well, my wife and I work together (she's an editor at Engadget), so there is a lot of crossover, but she's really much more of a book person than I am. In fact, her collection of books is far more impressive, and she read something like 500 new books last year. It's staggering. Essentially, she makes me feel bad that I haven't read anything in ages.

GS: Lastly, what's your absolute favorite thing you've done with Engadget (like that open letter to Palm)?

I really loved the letter to Palm, and doing the first iPhone unboxing for the site was pretty wild - but the thing I love best about the job is all the nuts and bolts stuff that a lot of people don't see. Hunting down stories, working with the brilliant team we have, actually scooping something - it's thrilling. It's kind of impossible to pick one thing, but a friend of mine told me the other day that I have the dream job my 13-year-old-self would have wanted, and that's pretty much true. It doesn't really get better than that.

Image Courtesy of Morini & Montanari