GeekSugar

Website of the Day: Whole Travel

GeekSugar — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 14:40:50 -0700

As if money wasn't your biggest impediment to travel these days, now you have to worry what kind of footprint you're adding to the earth when you go somewhere. Research your responsible trip on Whole Travel, a website that offers a hub for your sustainable travel needs. Search from their website for hotels and airlines that promote sustainable practices, and once you've booked your trip, learn how to purchase carbon offsets to make up for your big stinky gallivanting.

It's not all responsibility and sustainability seriousness though - browse through other users' breathtaking vacation photos for inspiration or upload your own!

10 Sites That Help You Plan Your Honeymoon

GeekSugar — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 05:55:55 -0700

Seriously, how much planning can one person take?! First you spent endless amounts of time planning your wedding, now you have to plan your honeymoon? Let some of these sites take a load off your checklist - not only are these sites great for planning travel, but help you in other ways too. Like making a vacation budget, giving you great suggestions about what to see, and tips on where not to go after dark! Check them out, and make your travel (and honeymoon) planning life a whole lot easier. Source

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Where the Hell Is Matt Harding? He's at Macworld, Baby!

GeekSugar — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 10:00:50 -0800

I got up bright and early yesterday morning to wait in line for the David Pogue panel at Macworld, and was pleasantly surprised to find that this wouldn't be like the other forums I've seen before - this was the David Pogue Show! Set up like a late night talk show set, David welcomed a few tech-savvy guests you may (or may not) recognize, one of them being Matt Harding.

Matt is the dancing man you (and 17 million others) have seen on YouTube, going from country to country, dancing the same little jig at each location. Matt was there to tell us all about how he started this whole adventure in the first place. Check out how it began when you read more.

After spending years as a video game designer, Matt had a change of heart:

I had just quit my job - cause I realized I wasn't very good at it - but I realized I was really good at traveling, so I made my first video in 2003, shot it on a little digital camera I kept in my pocket and was easy to carry around. In 2005, it was sorta "found" and got over a million views, and that's when Stride Gum approached me and asked me to do a video for them.

I'm totally blown away to see how someone could make a career out of dancing around the world, just by doing what they love! Enjoy Matt's latest video above, and I'll be the first to admit that I'm totally jealous.

Spore Review: Not Just a Game In a Box

GeekSugar — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 04:02:18 -0700

During my interview with Ocean Quigley, Art Director for Spore, I mentioned to him that I hated calling this a game, cause it's much more like a tool for creativity. And after playing Spore every spare moment I could muster for three days straight, I can attest to that statement as being true. It's more than a game (although some will say it's not really a "game" at all), it's a lesson in evolution and a brand new way to watch something you've created come to life.

Spore is split up into five stages - Cell, Creature, Tribal, Civilization, and Space – evolving you from a tiny cell trying to make it in the muck pool, to a space cowboy who travels to other planets in his space ship. Along the way, you are able to evolve by adding new parts, molding, and upgrading your creature as you make your way up the food chain. It's really quite exciting to see something that you've made go from swimming in a tide pool, to walking on land and making friends (and enemies)!

To see my thoughts on the rest of the stages and check out some pics from the game, just read more.

The Cell stage is by far the shortest, your only task being to eat so you can gain enough DNA points to evolve to land. An interesting aspect you learn right away is that all of your choices from this point forward will affect your species' evolution, right down to the choice of being an herbivore, omnivore, or carnivore. I loved playing around in this stage, and kinda wish it would have went on longer!

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If I had to pick one stage to be my favorite, it would have to be the Creature stage! This is where all the magic happens. You get to mold, shape, and upgrade your creature, and I'll warn you now – you might spend longer on designing your creature than you did playing in the Cell stage altogether! Since there are other species in this level to interact with, you can either make friends with neighboring groups, or attempt to destroy them - either choice earns you DNA points so that you can evolve to be a more powerful creature. Eventually, you can add other allies to your pack and travel with them, which is pretty helpful when you do need to take on another species to the death!

The Tribal stage, although engaging, was probably my least favorite. I'm not the biggest fan of real-time strategy games, and this was like a simple version of one. Your creature has evolved, made fire, and can now build huts, hunt and gather food, and communicate with a language. To earn DNA points, your tribe gathers food to support your growing population. Again, you can either make friends with your neighboring tribes by playing instruments, or crush them into oblivion. Customization takes a nose dive in this stage, but you can dress your tribe members, and upgrade your huts.

The Civilization stage brings a grander sense of scale, where you can build cities (this is where all those hours you've invested in playing The Sims will come in handy), and attempt to dominate the planet. You generate a stream of income by collecting spice, so you can purchase more materials to build more buildings, and acquire more soldiers to conquer more land. Additionally, you can build factories and entertainment complexes so that your unhappy workers can unwind at the theater afterwards!

The Space stage was another favorite of mine. You build space ships, vehicles, mold planets, travel to other galaxies and either help a fledgling species, or dominate them. You can even abduct other life forms and transport them to other planets! This is by far the largest stage, and the longest one to complete. What makes this stage cool though, is that it's pretty open ended so you can go where you want, and do just about anything. Designing my space ship was for sure the toughest part - it had to be awesome!

Overall, Spore inspired me, not because of its complex design, cool art, or thought provoking gameplay (I was always worried about what the consequence will be if I exterminate a neighboring species – I'm too nice, I know.), but the fact that this will change the way games are made from here on out. Spore will require other games to have more customization, since it's pretty endless here. Besides, over three million creatures have been made with the Creature Creator, and no two are alike! I loved playing Spore, but I realize it won't be for everyone. There's not a constant stream of action, and there is a whole science class aspect to it, but it really is very fun to play. If you don't have a Mac or PC, you can also get the DS version ($30) of the game! Spore is available this Sunday, September 7 for $50 online or in stores, and guess what, it's worth every penny!

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Supertooth Light Bluetooth Speakerphone Is Easy on the Ear

GeekSugar — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 06:06:14 -0700

My home base of California is now a handsfree state, which means it's illegal to drive your car and talk on the phone unless you are using a Bluetooth device or headset. I've tried my share of Bluetooth earpieces and understand their place and function, but I don't love having a device crammed in my ear. This weekend I took my sister's Supertooth Light Bluetooth Handsfree Speakerphone (on sale for $70) for a spin and it won my affection after two test phone calls.

You mount the device on your car's sun visor (I didn't have to take off my earrings! Brownie point number one!), and it features voice dial activation, redial and call reject and a retractable sliding microphone.

To see what I liked and disliked about the device, read more.

The packaging claims the Supertooth Light Bluetooth Speakerphone uses "real-time audio to process any echo or background noise resulting in the improvement of the sound quality of the user’s voice regardless of whether the car is stationery or traveling at high speed," but I'm unsure how to actually test that. The sound was clearer than the headset that came with my BlackBerry and because it's a speakerphone I didn't feel like I had to yell. If you are self conscious about talking on a speaker with other people in the car this might not be the right device for you, but if you don't mind sharing your conversation with the carpool the speaker is easy to use and does a great job of keeping your hands free.

I was initially a little confused about the pop out mic (you turn on the device by pushing out the retractable mic - there's no power button), but after using it once I figured it out. Supertooth claims the battery works for 15 hours, but my sister says it's lasted her about a week of car use. The stand-by time is actually 800 hours (who would leave a headset on for that long?). The good news is that you charge the device by plugging it into your car lighter so you can always juice up on the road.

The Blueant site has a whole rundown of device compatibility, but it works for all the biggies, like BlackBerry, iPhone and Bluetooth enabled devices from Cingular, Motorola, Nokia, LG and TMobile. Overall, I found the device easy to use, think it's a fair price (especially now that it's on sale from $100 to $70) and the sound quality is right in line with some of the better earpieces I've tried.

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DeLorean Goes Back Into Production?

GeekSugar — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 04:00:39 -0700

If you've watched the Back To The Future series as many times as I have, your obsession has probably led you to a google search where you learned the funky set of wheels made popular in the films stopped production nearly 25 years ago. Lucky for car loving geeks out there, we may not have to go travel through time to see new DeLorean cars.

The BBC has reported that the demand for the DeLorean is so high that it may go back into production. It's a funny story really, because the DeLorean DMC-12 car was first released in 1981, but less than 9,000 cars were made because it was largely considered a junker. Today the car's failure has been forgotten, and its stainless steel skin and wing doors have a serious cult following. The vice president of the Delorean Motor Company is quoted as saying:

"You can't have any conversation about the car without talking about the impact of the whole series of Back To The Future movies. There are guys who were in their teens when they first saw the movie, who are now in their late 30s or early 40s, who are at that point in life when they can get the car they wanted when they were a kid."

Sure, the DeLorean may not have the sleek exterior and function as Tom Cruise's Minority Report Car, but when modified, it does travel through time, right?

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Reader Profile: Global Geek tdamji Talks Tech

GeekSugar — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 09:00:52 -0700

What makes geeksugar readers so great? The fact that they span the globe. This week's reader profile allows you some insight into the world of tdamji, a certified Interior Decorator and Lighting Expert and visual artist currently getting a degree in Indigenous Art History and Anthropology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

When she's not commenting on geeksugar she can be found gaming on the wii (Zelda is her favorite game so far) and Nintendo DS (she's all about Pokemon Pearl), reading, writing letters to penpals, surfing the net, going for walks, and watching tons of movies. She's lived in four countries - the USA, Canada, India and her most recent home New Zealand. She racked up some serious geek cred with us by admitting the Lord of the Rings trilogy was "a big reason why I came to New Zealand on exchange this year."

To read the complete interview, read more

Geeksugar: How did you learn about the site and when did you start reading?
tdamji: I came across geeksugar quite a few times on other gadgety sites. I started reading regularly about 8 weeks ago and signed up at that point. At first I mainly looked at geeksugar and buzzsugar, but now I pretty much look at everything.

Geeksugar: Do you consider yourself to be a geek? If so, why?
tdamji: Absolutely! My brother has been calling me a geek every since I can remember - so there's no other way for me to be, really.

Geeksugar: How many hours are you online everyday?
tdamji:I am a multi-tasker, so I am not exclusively online for 8 or more hours a day, because I tend to do homework, read, write letters and sometimes eat in front of my computer.

Geeksugar: Name your top 5 favorite websites.
tdamji: Apart from the Sugar Network (I won't play favorites - although its easy to figure out which of the particular sections I most actively visit!), I most enjoy visiting CBC for great news coverage and an interesting arts/ entertainment section with well-written articles, Grist, and fborfw because I can't get enough of Lynn Johnston's comic characters. I've been reading For Better or For Worse for years now and I love seeing everyone grow up! Livejournal, which I use to keep my penpals updated on the goings on in my life (I also like to see what people on the UBC and Vancouver blogs have to say/complain about.

Geeksugar: Your first computer was a ...
tdamji: An Apple IIe, but I can't remember the date. It was maybe 20 years ago. I believe we had another computer at the same time at our house. The Apple was in the office of my mom's montessori. Luckily, I spent a lot of time there - playing California Games among other things.

Geeksugar: Top 3 gadgets you couldn't live without.
tdamji: MacBook, Nintendo ds, ipod (good for drowning out the noise on the walk or bus ride to school!)...unless my Nintendo wii counts as a gadget, and then it would be a hard choice!

Geeksugar: You knew you were a geek when...
tdamji: When I was in elementary school I often gave my homeroom teacher notes saying that I was interested in this or that and got permission to go to the library during homeroom for personal research... also, later on in Junior High I got caught skipping class to hit the stacks!

Geeksugar: How many blogs are in your RSS reader?
tdamji: I do it old-school and just go to the websites everyday - there are about 40 websites in my "dailies" folder. I love opening up at least 10 windows at once with lots of pictures on them and pushing the limits, seeing if Safari will quit on me.

Geeksugar: What are some non-geeky things you do in your spare time?
tdamji:I love to hike and travel, although being a geek helps with both - I am always well-prepared with all the information and gadgets I need! I also love checking out the vegan/vegetarian restaurants wherever I travel.

Geeksugar: Who do you think are the top 5 sexiest male geeks in the world?
tdamji: Greg my bestfriend of 10 years/roommate of 7 years, David Suzuki (Canadian environmentalist), Masi Oka (He not only plays a geek on Heroes, but is one in real life!), Jean-Luc Picard and John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness).

Geeksugar: Who do you think are the top 5 sexiest female geeks in the world?
tdamji: Anne Shirley(for being book-geeky as well as a feminist), Hermione Granger (for being very book-geeky), Frida Kahlo (for being politically active, and being an outsider in the art world among other things), Boomer/Athena/Lt. Valerii from BSG (how can you get geekier than being a toaster?) and Marie Curie.

Geeksugar: PC or Mac?
tdamji:Once you go Mac, you never go back. My best friend turned me on to the whole Mac as a personal computer concept almost 7 years ago. I had had one when I was young but it quickly became outdated and we always had a PC at home. I moved out and got my first very own Mac - a powerbook g4 in 2001.

Geeksugar: Did you already get or are you going to get an iPhone?
tdamji: Despite the fact that I have no use for a cell phone and I already have a music/video playing device in my ipod, I must admit that I really want one!

Geeksugar: Anything else you want to share?
tdamji: I recently started a group on Teamsugar: Minimal Harm - For the Love of the Planet, which I'm pretty excited about! Going along with my vegan lifestyle, I am passionate about environmental and social issues.

Geeks We Love: Peter Ha of CrunchGear

GeekSugar — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 08:00:15 -0800

In my daily online tech travels, there are always sites that I visit not once, not twice but multiple times a day. One of the sites in this daily line-up includes CrunchGear, a chic tech blog filled with gadgets, geek gear and up-to-the minute news stories. I particularly enjoy reading posts by freelance writer Peter Ha, who dishes about everything from his wild Seoul trip adventures to his first experience on a Virgin America flight. Peter incorporates honesty (Sony I don't understand your commercials), wit, and insight into all of his articles, making them fun and enjoyable to read. I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Peter and getting to know all his geeky quirks and favorites. Let's just say that after I learned he contributes to Surfing magazine and men.style.com, I was even more of a fan... talk about the ultimate geek chic package!To learn more about Peter and check out the entire interview, read more
GS: Tell my few readers that haven’t heard of you a little about yourself…
PH: Let’s see here, I was born and raised in Oregon and spent some time along the west coast before moving out to NYC. I’ve been freelancing for CrunchGear since December of ’06 and I’m now the news editor. I also contribute to Surfing magazine and men.style.com.

GS: You knew you were a geek when...
PH: I’ve been a geek since day 1. If I had to pick one particular moment then it would have to be…the day I started writing for CrunchGear.

GS: What are the top three gadgets you can't live without?
PH: Hands down, I’d go with my MacBook, Pentax K100D Super and then it’s a toss up between my iPod, Helio Ocean and Sidekick Slide. If I had to pick, though, I’d take my…Ocean.

GS: What are you hoping Santa will bring you for Christmas?
PH: You know, there really isn’t that much I find myself salivating over anymore. It’s quite sad, really. I wouldn’t mind a couple of new lenses and maybe a MacBook Pro. I’m pretty content with what I have now. I also don’t have any more room in my apartment for gadgets. Heh.

GS: What are your favorite websites?
PH: Waiter Rant, Jango, gossip blogs, OurStage, NOTCOT, flickr, and I’ve found myself obsessing over Facebook, again.

GS: How many blog feeds are in your RSS reader?
PH: Somewhere in the range of 150, but it changes daily as I drop some feeds and add new ones.

GS: Who do you think are the top 3 sexiest female geeks in the world?
PH: Cali Lewis is a good friend of CrunchGear and I’ve always had a crush on her. Natali Del Conte isn’t too shabby and I’m leaving the last spot for someone new to come along, but Amanda Congdon isn’t unattractive.

GS: Who do you think are the top 3 sexiest male geeks in the world?
PH: Me, myself and I. Ok and maybe Matt Hickey.

GS: How many hours do you spend online a day?
PH: I spend entirely way too much time online! I’m usually at my desk by 7:30 and I’ll sit there until 5 or so. I’ll get a few things done here and there in between and then I’m back on my computer until I go to bed around 1 or 2. So, I’d have to say I’m online anywhere from 12 to 16 hours a day.

GS: What is one geeky habit you’re trying to quit?
PH: I’m not so sure this is a geeky habit, but I really need to detach myself from work ‘after hours’. I’m constantly on my Sidekick/Ocean checking e-mails, AIM and CG.

GS: Which do you think will come first... The next generation iPhone, the Google phone, or something so cool we can't even talk about it?
PH: I think it’s safe to say that the next iPhone will be first, but you never know what some of the other phone manufacturers are laboring over right now. CES is just around the corner and I expect big things to be announced.

GS: How do you feel about people calling you a “geek?”
PH: I’m not ashamed to call myself a geek. I was just watching the show Chuck and one of the characters in a flashback to ’99 said the new millennium would be the age of the geek. I think everyone is geeky in their own special way. I just have a platform to show the whole world.

GS: What are some non-geeky things you do in your spare time?
PH: I try and surf as much as I can, but it’s hard living in the city and not seeing what the ocean is doing so I usually get skunked. I enjoy doing anything outdoors since I grew up in the great state of Oregon. I’ve been pretty keen on photography lately as well. So I’ll just wander the city and snap pics of anything that piques my interest.

GS: What's the best part about being a writer for CrunchGear?
PH: All the new toys I get to play with before everyone else.

Reader Profile: macgirl Shares Her Geekiness

GeekSugar — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 10:00:17 -0700

When it comes to loyal and engaged geeksugar readers, macgirl is right up there with the best of them. An Apple Systems Engineer, macgirl is, well, quite frankly a mac geek. She's also married to a geek and as she puts it "immersed in technology." The founder of our popular Mac group on TeamSugar, she recently shared her iPhone unboxing and even reported from the iPhone queue at the Apple Store in Newport Beach, Ca.

When she's not working, she's playing video games, creating art, spending time with her son and watching movies. And reading geeksugar of course! In an effort to get to know her better, I asked macgirl to share a little more about herself. read more

Geeksugar: It seems like you were one of geeksugar's first avid readers. How did you learn about the site and when did you start reading?
Macgirl: I had a friend turn me onto popsugar.com and I started obsessing about celebrities' lives. One day I saw the announcement that geeksugar.com was coming soon and I knew that I would be loading that page daily.

Geeksugar: I already know the answer to this, but for the sake of readers who may not know you, do you consider yourself to be a geek?
Macgirl: Oh yes, I'm a total geek. I don't think geek is quite the dirty word it used to be. I'm just really into technology and surround myself with others like me.

Geeksugar: How many hours are you online everyday?
Macgirl: This is embarrassing... Probably twelve or more? Keep in mind at least 9 of that is mostly work related (I've been known to sneak a peek at a sugar site during the work day).

Geeksugar: Name your top 5 favorite websites.
Macgirl: Just 5? That's hardly nice. To be totally honest I start my morning off with TMZ.com. It is so smutty and horrible but I can't break the habit. Others that I visit everyday: engadget.com, geeksugar.com, macnn.com, popsugar.com, apple.com/discussions, popgadget.net, postsecret.com (I visit this on Sundays).

Geeksugar: Your first computer was a ...
Macgirl: How far are we going back? My parents bought an Apple IIe that I would type in page after page of code to try and get something to move across the screen. My dad worked with some guys that would send him home with stacks of these "programs." You make one typo in a hundred lines of code and you quickly tire of this game. The first computer I purchased with my own money was a beige Power Macintosh 9600 with a giant 20" Sony CRT Monitor (two weeks later Apple released the first G3).

Geeksugar: Top 3 gadgets you couldn't live without.
Macgirl: My iPhone, MacBook Pro and Tivo!!

Geeksugar: You knew you were a geek when...
Macgirl: When I got up at 3 am to sit on the cold concrete in San Francisco to see Steve Jobs give a live keynote at 9 am. Do you know how cold it is in SF in January??

Geeksugar: How many blogs are in your RSS reader?
Macgirl: Confession of the day: I don't use RSS I've tried, I really have. There's just something I enjoy about the whole page with all of its pictures. I guess I'm afraid I'll miss something due to a non-exciting headline.

Geeksugar: What are some non-geeky things you do in your spare time?
Macgirl: Spending time with my 8 year old son. Playing board games is about as non-geeky as it gets. He reminds the family how important it is to put the computer down and focus on our time together. He is however, brilliant on his MacBook. He is savvier than most of my clients. We also like to travel, before my husband I hadn't really been out of the US. He's taken me to so many great places. It's really neat to watch movies and be like "we've been there!"

Geeksugar: Who do you think are the top 5 sexiest male geeks in the world?
Macgirl: My husband has to be number one. He's my partner in geek crime. Other than that I tend to admire people who really know their stuff and are passionate about it.

Geeksugar: So your name gives you away, but PC or Mac?
Macgirl: Mac, but I'll let you in on a little secret... Raised PC (well after the Apple IIe but that hardly counts). My parents to this day still only operate on PC. In college I actually had my first graphics classes on Windows 95. I didn't go Mac until I interned at an Ad agency. I had this tiny all in one Mac Classic (or something close) I taught myself Quark on it. I took to the Mac so well that I moved from intern to full time production artist in a year or so. I think they moved me up to a Quadra.

Geeksugar: You started a Mac group on TeamSugar. Can you tell us about it?
Macgirl: I've been working as an Apple technician for 7 years now. I have soaked up a ton of knowledge in that time. What I really wanted was to be able to help people with their Mac questions/problems and share the info I come across on a daily basis. Our group is almost to 100 members, I can't tell you how happy that makes me. The thing I find with Mac people is that they often suffer in silence. They are starting to come around and really posting some great things.

Geeksugar: Anything else about yourself?
Macgirl: I love video games! We have a Wii, a couple Nintendo DS', Game Cube, SNES and two Xbox 360s that we play via system link. For those of you who don't know what that means- I'm upstairs on one TV while my husband is downstairs on another we have little headsets where we can talk "You open, I'll frag and clear honey." I guess I've sealed that whole is she or isn't she a geek question.

Would You Buy A Peripheral Made For Women?

GeekSugar — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 15:00:44 -0700

Designers, manufacturers and brand managers seem to be in a constant flux about what it is that makes gadgets appealing to women. Sometimes they take the pretty in pink approach, splashing Pepto Bismol-color all over mice, laptops and MP3 players. Sometimes they ignore the fact that women have different wants and needs. Either way, it's hard to find a healthy medium of a quality product that hasn't been dumbed down to suit it's audience's perceived needs.

Despite the challenge, a new company called G Cube hopes to break the traditional gender mold and create peripherals tactfully geared toward feminine tastes. Their website claims they recognize the "computer peripheral market in particular and the electronic category as a whole, has traditionally catered to the masses which results in products that leaves consumers with little choice in the aesthetics and totally expressionless."

The company's Travel Tini Collection and Lux Leopard Collection are available at OfficeMax now and other items will begin selling at Staples this fall. It includes cutesy Heart & Soul mice, colorful keyboard and mice sets and even colorful web cameras. Bright, hued gadgets seem to always be a hit with you readers so I suspect the company is on the mark.