GeekSugar

Toshiba Head Dome: Totally Geeky or Completely Crazy?

GeekSugar — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 13:15:05 -0800

You'll probably have blinders for turkey, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie today but this woman wearing the Toshiba Head Dome seems to be using the bulky device to keep her mind on work. No, it's not the latest iteration of the Privacy Scarf, it's actually a headset that enables the wearer to experience a 360-degree view on a 40 centimeter dome-shaped screen. I'm crossing my fingers this thing never takes off because I think it's completely crazy.

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Totally Geeky Or Completely Crazy? 'Wireless' Arriva Headphones

GeekSugar — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 13:30:16 -0700

Every once in a while an item comes along that doesn't quite fit in the totally geeky or geek chic category. In fact, I can't think of anything chic about these "wireless" headphones from Arriva. The device isn't on the market yet, but it was designed to dock your shuffle in the center of the back of your head. It's not wireless in the usual Bluetooth, IR, or RF way, but the makers are calling it "wireless" because it connects to your shuffle via the built-in dock instead of a wire. I think it looks like one of those squiggly headbands that were popular in the mid-90s. Pricing for the device, which is being marketed to athletes, will be announced early next week and the headphones should begin shipping in 5 to 6 weeks. Will you get in line for a pair or do you think they are as awkward looking as I do?

Source: Crave

Totally Geeky or Completely Crazy? Geeky Shoes

GeekSugar — Thu, 31 May 2007 09:00:38 -0700

I couldn't resist posting these when I saw a feature on TechEBlog which displayed some outrageously geeky shoes. The first pair of sneakers come with a wireless music system which includes an MP3 player. You can store up to 100 songs and transfer them via the USB which is, get this, on the side of the shoe! The other pair, covered with a computer keyboard, were unveiled at the 14th China International Clothing and Accessories Fair in Beijing and won the top prize in the sports category at the 6th Hong Kong Footwear Design Contest. Geekiness and whiteness aside, what are your thoughts on high tech footwear?

Totally Geeky Or Completely Crazy? TV-Helmet

GeekSugar — Wed, 30 May 2007 07:00:09 -0700

Like the Privacy Scarf, which was deemed completely crazy by a landslide, the TV-Helmet (Portable living room), which was created in 1967 is a real doozy.

The piece is part of a "Prototypes" series of sculptures made by Walter Pichler in the 1960s.

While it's an art piece, I can't get over the combination of offbeat humor, satire and unconventional geekery. No one would ever use it, but the idea of it even being put on a head (as in this picture) makes me fall over with uncontrollable laughter.

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Totally Geeky or Completely Crazy? The Privacy Scarf

GeekSugar — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 12:07:02 -0700

Ever wonder if someone is peering over your shoulder - trying to read your online chats or see what's playing on your iPod? The privacy scarf might be the utmost extreme of what you could do to ward off peeping Toms, but you gotta admit, it is quite the contraption! Just my two cents, but if you don't want people glancing at you, I wouldn't suggest wearing this scarf which screams "hey everybody, look at me, I'm doing something I really shouldn't be!" Now tell me your two cents, what do you think?

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!

Jessica Alba Talks About Being A Video Game Character

GeekSugar — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 08:00:07 -0700

Her past as Dark Angel and current role as Sue Storm from the Fantastic Four movie and video game makes Jessica Alba a TV, movie and video game star. Of course the recent return to her role as Sue Storm for Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, meant more body scans and geeky gaming meetings for the movie's video game. Word is Jessica worked closely with Activision, the creators of the game, to make it more realistic and hopes to become even more involved with the gaming industry.

She recently gave Yahoo's Celebrity Bytes the low down about her love of games, what she thinks of the industry, how she thinks the Wii can help kids combat obesity and what it feels like to see your body and face translated via a gaming console. Here's more:

What role do you see video games playing today in Hollywood?
I think games play an important role in movies. It's all entertainment. It's all fantasy, and it's a way for people to connect to the movie by living vicariously through the characters in the video game. It's a great role-playing experience. I've had a go or two at 007 and there's a part of me that likes to pretend that I'm James Bond.
What do you think of what they can do with video games today?
The graphics are insane. They're so real. I grew up playing Bomberman and Pac-Man and Super Mario Brothers and Zelda, where you had just this little guy who could barely walk and the music was like doot... doot... doot. And the way they walked was so stiff and robotic. And now the game characters look like people moving around. It's a similar technology to what we use in Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer. We now know how to make films that are completely animated and computer-generated, and convincingly real.
Have you seen yourself in the video games you've worked on in the past?
I have seen myself in video games, like in Dark Angel or the first Fantastic Four game. It's weird. It doesn't seem like me, but it is. It's totally weird. It's like having an action figure. It's super cool, but it's like, there's no way this is real. You know they do body scans and everything to make the game characters look as much like you as they can. It's completely cool and bizarre.

What does Alba think about the Wii? read more

You mentioned recently getting the Nintendo Wii - what do you like about it?
I think the physicality of the Wii gets people off the couch. Sometimes you can just sit there playing a video game for hours and never move and you're brain is just zapped from playing the game. With the Wii, you're up on your feet and moving around. The physical aspect of it is great, especially for kids. They actually call it the Wii Diet, since active players can burn calories!

Hey, whatever works. Obesity is ridiculous with kids today in our country. Anything that helps is great. You know, West Virginia is using Dance Dance Revolution in all schools as part of P.E. I know a lot of public school programs don't even have P.E. these days. That's crazy. It wasn't even an option when I was a kid. What the heck! I remember climbing up the rope, doing the mile run and all of that stuff.

View 5 Photos ›

For the rest of the interview, visit Yahoo's Celebrity Bytes. The Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer video game is available for Playstation 2, Playstation 3, PSP, Nintendo Wii, DS and XBox. 360.

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox