GeekSugar

Guess The Celebrity Geek

GeekSugar — Thu, 15 May 2008 13:25:40 -0700

Which celebrity below told InStyle that they own a Wii, a PlayStation, and an Xbox, and is a Guitar Hero addict?

Click on the "take the quiz" link below to leave your answer!

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.

Geeky Girl We Love: Jean Aw of Notcot

GeekSugar — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 09:01:13 -0700

Last month we featured some of the cutest geeky couples and bachelors in the blogoshere, which left many of you wondering - what about the women? Fear not my fine friends, we were just saving the best for last. March is Women's History Month so I figured there was no better way to celebrate than to highlight some of the smartest, most creative and successful women on the internet.

Jean Aw is the co-founder of Notcot and Notcot.org, a network of informative and collaborative websites that doubles as a design consultancy. It's tagged as a "visual filtration of ideas+aesthetics+amusement," which translates to a beautiful mix of all the things Jean and the community love. At 24, the designer, trendspotter and entrepreneur has already made a mark in the blog world and seems to be leading the pack with an innovative, creative site that celebrates design, imagery and curation. I dare you not to fall in love with it - or her for that matter. For the full interview read more

Geeksugar: Tell us a bit about yourself.
Jean: I'm a 24-year-old design addict + UX Designer + shopaholic + tech connoisseur + design writer + world traveler + internet junkie. Born and raised in Los Angeles, it remains my homebase... even when I wander off to Milan for over a year, I always touch down here between moves. NOTCOT.com launched in 2005, when I returned from my adventures in Italy (working on my Masters degree), landed in San Diego jet lagged, and driving my friend crazy... his solution? Make me learn CSS - through playing with movable type - and when I had no content, I simply posted things I found myself IM-ing to friends anyhow. It became great as my own design resource, but then others started reading it, and it's taken on a life of its own and is still growing and evolving.

Geeksugar: It seems like everyone is talking about your site these days - can you tell us a little back story about how you got it started?
Jean: The first major evolution in 2006 was the launch of NOTCOT.org, a community-based bulletin board of sorts for the visually oriented (but aren't we all really?). It reads like the picturebook to others blog rolls, delicious, digg, etc. Second priority to making imagery the main focus, was to make it ridiculously intuitive and easy to post, such that the non-bloggers among us finding great content wouldn't have an excuse not to. All you need is a great image, a link, and a quick caption. Built from scratch, we are constantly adding new features, trying new things, and its been a thrill to see the design inspiration people are finding... Our latest endeavor has been Tastespotting.com which is NOTCOT.org - for food, because designers need to eat too! (But prepare to drool, those food bloggers are serious - and have you seen how amazing some kitchen gadgets are?)

Geeksugar: Notcot is unique because you are able to showcase other sites, but maintain a clean style. How do you describe your style and goals for the site in terms of design?
Jean: Clean and Simple. I like to let the images speak for themselves. We've taken this approach on every aspect of the sites, from visual design to the user experience in submitting new pictures on NOTCOT.org and Tastespotting. On NOTCOT.com the design approach is more like a roman scroll with one main section, which we've complemented with hand-drawn doodle-styled tags hanging from strings (as various birds fly by or land on them) to help break the 90 degree angles so common on the web. These tags have served as a unique way to showcase art and ads in a more unique fashion.

Geeksugar: How many hours are you online everyday?
Jean: I can't even imagine... if we count by the amount I sleep, and go out each day... wait does accessing the internet on my Blackberry Pearl count? If so, I'd have to guess I'm up there with those men... I don't consider myself a full time blogger, but the time not spent on the sites probably goes to real world researching for the sites and managing the business sides of things (with quite a bit of UX consulting work mixed in).

Geeksugar: Your first computer was a ...
Jean: Apple IIgs - my little sister and I used to play Carmen San Diego and mini golf on it and also used to print many a "masterpiece" from Paintshop on the painfully loud and slow dot matrix printer.

Geeksugar: What are you most proud of ?
Jean: The international community of aesthetically driven creative that has formed around the sites... I used to HATE creative blocks, and I haven't really had one since I launched NOTCOT.org. At any given moment someone finds something new and inspiring, or even just clicking to a random page, there is always SOMETHING to catch your eye, distract you, send you back to wanting to make something. I've come to see NOTCOT.org as our collective space to fight creative blocks everywhere!

Geeksugar: What is your favorite thing about your job? What is your favorite post from the site?
Jean: My favorite thing about NOTCOT is that everything I love doing I can now call work. Travelling, shopping, finding great designers and artists to obsess over... As for favorite posts, my current favorite post is the Miss Van opening I just went to last night, she's been a long time favorite of mine since her street art days, so it was absolutely incredible to see them in person and selling out lightning fast. To be fair, all the posts are my favorites, since I take an inspiration based angle, unless I LOVE it, it doesn't end up on NOTCOT.com... and as for community based NOTCOT.org and Tastespotting.com there is something incredible about watching all of the incredible finds people come up with, makes it hard not to love all the posts.

Geeksugar: How many blogs are in your RSS reader?
Jean: I'm a Firefox tabs kinda girl - "open all in tabs" is my best friend. The designer in me loves context, so I often feel the need to read posts in their natural form on their sites! So, 0!

Geeksugar: Who do you think are the top 5 sexiest male geeks in the world?
Jean:These are such hard questions! So after some brain racking here are some random guys i came up with...

James Bond (fictional is ok right?) ~ no one has ever had hotter cars or gadgets
Tyler Brule - as founder of Wallpaper and now Monocle, I can't imagine he doesn't have quite the geek stash of designer gadgets
Ze Frank - anyone who vlogs that frequently MUST have quite the slew of gadgetry
Jeph Jacques - the brilliant man behind Questionable Content. from the comic, I assume has at least has a roomba and ipod... if not some crazy anthroPC's bent on world domination
Jonathan Harris - genius behind We Feel Fine, Yahoo Time Capsule and justcurio.us. He has a brilliant ability to blend art and the dynamic nature of the web beautifully

Geeksugar: Who do you think are the top 5 sexiest female geeks in the world?
Jean: That's oddly difficult - tapped some geek boys minds to help me out on this one, and we ended up having more fun with the sexy movie girlie geeks...

Angelina Jolie in Hackers, Mr and Mrs. Smith, Tomb Raider, and Gone in 60 Seconds
Nikita from La Femme Nikita
Charlize Theron in the Italian Job - That digi safe cracking is pretty hardcore.

Geeksugar: Is there one particular blogger you really look up to?
Jean: Regina from We Make Money Not Art. Her blog back in 2004 got me through my i-Design grad program in Milan. Her daily doses of tech meets art inspiration were that extra boost I needed to keep on top on the most innovative and playful projects internationally, and perhaps she's even part of how I ended up starting NOTCOT as a source of design inspiration...

Do You Know Which Gadgets Celebrities Carry? Take the Quiz!

GeekSugar — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 09:30:44 -0700

For my celebrity gadget endorser and cell phone clip-wearing celeb quizzes, the big guess is figuring out the celebrity's face, but today, we're doing something different - this time, you have to guess the gadget the celebrity is pictured with! Pick your geek celeb brain to remember who has a BlackBerry and who has an iPhone, who's been spotted with an iPod, and who's got which kind of laptop! Ready, set, go!

Question 1 of 6

Josh Jackson and Diane Kruger played with a gadget at a formal event earlier this year. What was it?

Geek Of The Week: Steve Urkel

GeekSugar — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 15:22:16 -0800

Remember that high pitched voice, snorting laugh, pants pulled up way too high with suspenders and those trademark thick geeky red glasses? If you didn't guess it already, I am indeed talking about Steve Urkel. Played by Jaleel White in the 1990s sitcom Family Matters, Urkel was the stereotypical 'geek.' If his looks weren't nerdy enough, his accident prone/socially awkward behaviors were 100% pure geek.
Check out the video below of Urkel being Urkel. Kinda makes you want to get up and 'Do The Urkel!'

Got some geek photos or videos of your own? Add your own photos to the geeksugar Geek of the Week group or nominate your favorite celebrity.

Geek of the Week: Ryan Johns aka the iBoy Boy

GeekSugar — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 16:00:12 -0800

Unlike most of our Geeks of the Week, Ryan Johns isn't a celebrity - yet - but he recently caught my attention after he turned his Gameboy into an iPod - or rather, cleverly fit his iPod into his Gameboy and figured out a way to make it all function. Ryan is sophomore in college, studying architecture and math in New York City. "I like to make things," Ryan told us. "I like new projects and new problems."

For Ryan Johns' Guide to Turning Your Gameboy into an iPod, and some pretty chic pictues of Johns himself (we love his hair!), just read more

Even someone with a pretty basic understanding of electricity (such as myself) can figure this stuff out. I must warn you though: this is a very time consuming project. Likely a little bit less time consuming with this information...but still. Just about every single part has to be modified in some way to make space for an iPod. Every single part. Seriously. There is a huge amount of filing, and gluing, and cutting...mostly with tiny parts. I guess there are a few shortcuts to be made, but for the most part, if you want it to look good...you need to have a lot of free time.

Click here for John's guide to turning your Gameboy into an iPod

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"I do lots of random little things: I made and sold clothes for a while in my hometown...I made a "Calculus hat" once which showed the rotation of a parabola about the z-axis with motors and LED's. I made a periscope which connected to my arm which was motorized to enable me to see in different directions while only looking forward. Basically, I get the ideas for my projects by thinking of things that are kind of cool (but for the most part completely useless)...then I spend a really long time working on them, and when I'm finished I say 'wow, that is done, and it works...great...' then I start on something else." Here's to many more projects, Ryan!