GeekSugar

GeekSugar Talks to Jamie and Adam From MythBusters

GeekSugar — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 03:50:14 -0700

When I moved to San Francisco, I instantly became hooked on a popular show called MythBusters. Now in its seventh season, the show is filmed right here in the city (bigger stunts are filmed in the Bay Area) and is hosted by the original MythBusters themselves - Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage. By using scientific technique and incorporating carefully-planned stunts, props, special effects (which usually involves something being blown up) and other elements into the show, the entire team - which also includes Tory Belleci , Grant Imahara and Kari Byron - investigates myths or "urban legends" to see whether they are "busted," "plausible," or "confirmed." They test out all sorts of cool myths including putting your hard drive in the freezer to bring it back to life (which was actually confirmed!). Saying the show is your ninth grade science class on steroids is an understatement.

I got the chance to geek-out with Jamie and Adam this week at the Mythbusters studio where we talked tech and where I toured the grounds and saw where it all goes down! MythBusters new season premieres next Wednesday at 9 p.m. on the Discovery Channel.

View 5 Photos ›

Geek Tip: Freezing Your Hard Drive Is Mythbuster Approved!

GeekSugar — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 11:00:52 -0700

After a bit of a panic with a seemingly dead hard drive recently, my brother-in-law suggested something I long thought was an urban legend - freezing my hard drive. Yes, he was suggesting I literally put my hard drive into the freezer, next to the frozen bananas and emergency vodka, in hopes that it would come back to life. I was just about to try this trick when my hard drive came back - no cryogenics necessary.

However, I didn't give up on the frozen hard drive theory like that; I went to my favorite urban legend dispellers that I knew I could trust: The Mythbusters! And, of course, they had an answer: Yes, it does work!

How does it work? Just read more to see the answer.

Sticking your hard drive in the freezer for a while shrinks the overheated, overexpanded metal parts back into place (you'll know that's the problem if you hear a clicking noise) long enough for you to retrieve your data.

If you want to try this yourself, put the part inside a sealed Ziploc bag and let it sit in there for at least an hour (there are Internet accounts of going for 24 hours to a month, though). What's important to know is that this is your last resort, and that it will only work temporarily. So that means once you've done it, reinstall it, get all the files off and backed up, and then buy yourself a new hard drive.

Source

The Week in Geek

GeekSugar — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 06:51:25 -0700

October sure came in with a bang! I not only got to go and take Wii Fit Plus for a test drive, but I also went to the MythBusters set and interviewed Adam and Jamie! What other interesting things happened this week? Check out my slideshow to find out!

View Slideshow ›

Daily Tech: Remember the Milk Adds Push Notifications

GeekSugar — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:02:58 -0700

Never miss an appointment or task thanks to Remember the Milk's iPhone app with push notifications. - Lifehacker
MythBuster's Adam Savage gets reimbursed for the $11,000 bill AT&T sent him for web surfing in Canada. - TechCrunch
Instead of standing in line, you can now just check Apple's site to see where there's iPhone 3GS availability. - Engadget
Wired compares the Palm Pre, the G1, the BlackBerry Storm, and the iPhone 3GS. - Wired
Here's how you can post videos to Twitter with the iPhone 3GS.- Mashable
Log in for your chance to win the hot new iPhone 3GS. - geeksugar

Andrea Owens of Think Geek: Geeky Girl We Love

GeekSugar — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 07:00:01 -0700

ThinkGeek has long been a go-to destination for geek shoppers online, so when I was introduced to one of their Merchandising Assistants and she immediately divulged she is a geeksugar fan, I realized we were a match made in heaven.

Andrea Owens, who describes herself as "laid back, high strung, random, a little bit crazy, fun, and a little bit of an organizing control freak," had always been a fan of Thinkgeek and had joked it would be so awesome to work there. After moving to Virginia, she checked the website to look at a gift for her husband noticed they were hiring. Needless to say, that was a match made in heaven.

These days Andrea's job consists of monitoring ThinkGeek's stock of current products, ordering stock, researching (can you imagine how much fun that is?), and the best part, product testing. What's the seemingly perfect geek job really like and what makes Andrea so geek chic? Check out my interview with her!read more

Geeksugar: What is day to day life like at ThinkGeek headquarters?
Andrea: We're a really small operation. When I started there were just 13 people and now there are 19 of us to do just about everything. Most of the year is pretty laid back. Come September we begin preparations for the holiday season and things start to get a little nuts. Hours get longer, people get crazier, and there is too much to do for us to keep track of. The good thing is that when things are crazy we're still mostly pretty relaxed. You'll usually find someone in the halls playing with an R/C toy or a cube weapon. Recently one of my office pals has decided it's funny to shoot a suction cup dart from a blow gun at my office window at 8:30 AM. That could wake the dead! Most people think our office is full of toys and caffeine, and it usually is. (And sometimes there's cake, pudding, and pie!)

Geeksugar: Tell me a little about the team...what percentage are actual geeks?
Andrea: Honestly, most of us would call ourselves a geek of some sort or another. We have coder geeks, gadget/tech geeks, Rennfest geeks, Star Wars/Star Trek/Dr. Who/Potter fans. We have a great mix. There's only one or two that might say they weren't geeks at all. We're a happy little geek family.

Geeksugar: How many hours are you online everyday?
Andrea: Usual schedule is check a few of the important websites before work, email, weather. I am mostly online all eight hours I am at work. Then at home I catch up on personal blogs and friends for a bit. A lot less time online now since I have kicked the Warcraft addiction!

Geeksugar: Your first computer was a ...
Andrea: An Apple IIc, but it was my brothers so I didn’t have it all to myself. My first machine that was all mine was a piece of junk HP, just for the usual school work, IRC, and games. After that I started moving to custom built desktops. Now I get by with a custom box with dual 19” LCDs and a Dell laptop for when I am sitting on the couch.

Geeksugar: What are three things you guys sell that you really want/had to buy?
Andrea: Just three? That is completely unfair. My house is completely filled with ThinkGeek stuff. I can’t help it. Okay back on topic… Three huh? Hmmm. Okay the Nabaztag, Pleo (he is coming soon!!!), and the Sun Jar are my current wants. Just for fun three of my haves, Laser Stars Projector, a small collection of Giant Plush Microbes (Great gifts! Give someone Syphilis!), and an assortment of Japanese toys.

Geeksugar: What is your favorite thing about your job? What is your favorite thing about ThinkGeek?
Andrea: The work environment!! It’s a laid back environment, folks are pretty mellow. Any other place I have worked it always felt like work, what fun is that. Doing product testing on the latest gadgets and toys is tons of fun. We also bring our dogs to the office (sometimes a cat or two) which provide a much needed distraction at times. There are some of us who don't wear shoes in the office! It makes doing the work part much easier to deal with.

Geeksugar: What are five of your favorite websites?
Andrea: Okay, five sites I'm at at least 3 or more times in a day. All of the Sugar sites. It's true, I spend way too much time here! ThinkGeek, of course. My LiveJournal, Engadget, Akihabara News, and right now Etsy is my new obsession.

Geeksugar: Do you use an RSS reader? If so, many feeds do you subscribe to?
Andrea: I read a few. I'm always looking for new ones. Currently I have National Geographic News, Wired News, Mental Floss' feed for the stuff that's a little more adult. For my daily cute fix I have Cute Overload, I Can Has Cheezburger, Stuff On My Cat, and Stuff On My Mutt.

Geeksugar: Who do you think are the top three sexiest male geeks in the world?
Andrea: Masi Oka, completely adorable. Alton Brown, he's just awesome. John Fraizer from ThinkGeek. He said he would fire me if I didn't say that, but I don't know that he has that authority. Best not to test it.

Geeksugar: Who do you think are the top three sexiest female geeks in the world?
Andrea: Kari Byron from the Mythbusters, cute, artsy, and geeky for the experiments she does. For the anime geek in me, Lain. The last one is always hard to pick. I'm gonna cheat though and say girl gamers are hot. I've known too many awesome gaming females to just pick one. It's completely not a cop out either.

Geeksugar: How do you feel about being called a “geek”?
Andrea: I'm totally cool with it. It feels different being called a geek now than it when I was in school. Back in school it felt like it was meant as an insult but I was well used to being different from everyone else. Now it feels like there's more respect with it. It feels more like something I earned with the years of IRC, BBS, online journals, webcams, history obsession, and gaming. Now it's cool to be a bit of a geek.

Geeksugar: What is the geekiest thing about yourself?
Andrea: I don't know, maybe the anti social behavior. Maybe that I'm planning on getting a tattoo of a cupcake and one of Slimey from Sesame Street. Others in the room are saying that it's my crazy ability to recall song lyrics and other useless things. I think the geekiest thing though is my life long history/anthropology obsession. As far back as I can remember I have loved the past, other cultures, and dead things. Maybe that's a little goth though. I actually remember telling people that I wanted to be an Egyptologist and it baffled them.

Geeksugar: Anything else you want to share?
Andrea: I love the word whomp. I chew my fingers when I'm nervous. I met my husband on LiveJournal. I had the hardest time with the sexy geek questions, really, I did. Chinchillas have 60 hairs per hair follicle. Everyone should buy Rocking With Hawking! I love that shirt!