GeekSugar

Paramount Steps Into the Gaming Industry With Popular Chick-Flick Games

GeekSugar — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:30:52 -0700

Paramount is not only trying to dip into the video-game world, but it's also going after a female audience by introducing three games inspired by girlie movies - Clueless, Mean Girls, and Pretty in Pink. These first few games will be developed in conjunction with Legacy Interactive.

No word on what console the games will be designed for or what the user experience will be like just yet, although BuzzSugar has her predictions!

More games are said to be in the making and even more to come next year!

Tech Dating 101: He CC'd Me on an Email to His Mom

GeekSugar — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 07:33:45 -0800

A friend of mine needs some advice: last week, her brand-new boyfriend (we're taking days here, not even weeks) wrote an email list of gifts he wanted for Christmas, sent it to his mom, and CC'd my friend. To be fair, my friend did ask him to send her his Christmas wish list, but she never expected him to send the same list to his mother at the same time.

She's a little freaked out because she thinks this is a sign of him moving too quickly. On the flip side, he is very close to his mother, and maybe he just thought he'd kill two birds with one stone by sending one email instead of two. Then again, now his mom has my friend's email address. . .even though the two are weeks away from actually meeting face-to-face. So of course my friend asks me, "What do I do? Do I reply to both of them? Do I write him back at all?"

I must admit, giving her advice on this problem kind of stumped me. I'm torn between a couple of responses; to see what they are (and help me out!), read more

Potential advice A: Reply all with a short and sweet "Thanks for the heads up!" and let it go. This requires giving the guy the benefit of the doubt, which I'm not quite sure is the right move here, but I think it could be the way to go. See if his mom responds. Chances are, she knows her son well enough to know his intentions. Maybe he's even done it before. The only caveat: if she responds to you, you're stuck. You can't ignore an email from mom, which means being prepared for any kind of wacky proposal, from her asking what gift you're planning on buying him to suggesting going halfsies on something together.

Potential advice B: Don't respond to the email. Address it with him in person as soon as possible. Tell him it made you uncomfortable, and tell him why it made you uncomfortable. You'll have to tread delicately since I'm guessing he doesn't realize what a big deal this is to you. Explain that even though it might have been a to-the-point email, it makes you uncomfortable to be included on the same thread as his mother.

Potential advice C: Run. Fast. In the other direction.

Just kidding on the last one - but help a girl out! What's the best solution to the problem?

Do you have a Love 2.0 question you want answered? Join the Tech Dating 101 because we understand that love and dating are stressful and the Internet and social networking sites can just make things worse. You never know, your question could be featured on GeekSugar! Here's a detailed guide to posting questions or posts to groups if you are new to the PopSugar Community.

Ask a Geek Girl: What Does In-and-Out Holster Mean on My BB?

GeekSugar — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:28:01 -0700

Dear GeekSugar,
I just got a new BlackBerry and was very excited to select my new ringtone and SMS notification sounds. When I am in my profiles, there's an option for setting for In Holster and Out of Holster, but I don't know what that means. Please help!
- New BlackBerry Owner

Dear New BlackBerry Owner,
You'd never guess it, but there are still people who choose to keep their BlackBerry in a holster (otherwise known as a cell-phone clip or case). All BlackBerry's feature a magnetic sensor right under the keyboard, and most BlackBerry holsters feature a magnet as well, so when your BlackBerry is in one of these cases, you can utilize the "in-holster" settings. So say you want your phone to vibrate for both emails and phone calls when it is in its holster, you can set your phone to do so.

Do you have a tech question you'd like to ask us? Join the Ask a Geek Girl group where you can ask everything and anything related to technology. And you never know, it could be featured on GeekSugar! Here's a detailed guide to posting questions or posts to groups if you are new to the PopSugar Community.

Grid-It Gray From Flight 001

GeekSugar — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 13:25:31 -0700

Like any jet-setting geek girl, I refuse to travel without all of my gadgets. But with a phone, iPod, camera, cords, and chargers, keeping gadgets organized and cords tangle-free is a challenge.

I'm in love with the Grid-It organization system ($25) from Flight001. Overlapping rubberized elastic bands offer easy storage for even the strangest-shaped objects, and the entire grid is perfectly sized to fit right into my laptop bag. There's even a zippered pocket in the back for storing other small items. Knowing my beloved gadgets are safe and secure means one less travel stress.

How To: Skip Ads With a Standard Remote Control

GeekSugar — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:31:50 -0700

Don't you just love TiVo? You can skip over commercials at lightning fast speeds, and pause and rewind live TV. It's a luxury I don't think I can live without. Even those of you with a regular, cable-company assigned DVR can perform all these great tricks, but I found a faster way to get through those annoying commercials - you can skip over commercials in 30 second increments with a simple hack and your standard remote.

Why would this be necessary? Oh, I don't know, because you can't wait a single second more to finish watching the latest episode of Gossip Girl, and the never-ending pain med and TUMS ads are out of control? Cause sometimes it seems that even though you're forwarding at four times the normal speed, it still seems to take forever to scrub through? Cause we're all impatient? You know what I mean. Check out the simple six-step hack I found on Wisebread to make your commercials disappear a little quicker when you read more.

Press the Cable button at the top of the remote.
Hold the Setup button until the Cable button flashes twice.
Enter 994 on the keypad. The Cable button will flash twice again.
Push the Setup button once.
Enter 00173.
Finally, push the button that you want to use as the 30-second skip; I chose the A button since I don't use it for anything else. The Cable button will flash twice.

To restore the original functionality to that key, follow the first steps described above, but after entering 994, push the remapped key twice. The Cable button will blink twice if your input has been accepted.

Back-to-School Splurge: Marc Jacobs Canvas Satchel

GeekSugar — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 14:26:15 -0700

Just because I'm not going back to school, doesn't mean I can't dream about what accessories and gadgets I would purchase if I were to become studious again!

And now that I'm a 20-something working girl, naturally I feast my eyes on a $940 (that's the sale price!) Marc Jacobs leather and canvas bag. At 14 inches wide, this luxurious Italian-made satchel could easily tote around a 13-inch MacBook Pro. And even if you're not going back to school, this bag could also be the perfect bag for carrying to and from work.

Geek Tip: Spend Less on Shows With Amazon On Demand

GeekSugar — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 05:48:12 -0700

Although my marriage with iTunes is still going strong, that doesn't mean a girl can't look at what else is out there, right? So when I want some cheap eye candy (in the form of movies or TV), I'll check out Amazon's On-Demand service.

A lot like iTunes, Amazon's On Demand brings you TV and movies when you want them, and you can even buy TV season passes and download the shows as they are released for $1.89 an episode. Plus, if you want to catch up on a specific show (cough, cough, Gossip Girl) I've found that on average, you can get the entire season for less than you can on iTunes.

Website Alice Shops For All Your Home Essentials For You

GeekSugar — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 14:30:00 -0700

I won't bore you with tales of how busy I am these days, because come on - aren't we all?

Everyone around me seems to always be swamped, and rarely has time to shop for stuff that's essentials (not shoes, bags, and clothes. Somehow I always make time for that). I mean toilet paper, toothpaste, dish-washing soap - stuff you have to buy but hate schlepping to the store for.

Today's website, Alice, wants to be the girl who makes your life easier. At heart, it's online shopping for those boring home essentials, but it's like a personal assistant for this stuff. Whatever you want, Alice hunts down coupon codes for and reminds you when it's about time to stock up on everything again. There's even free shipping, in addition to the already sweet deal of having your life saved.

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!

Tech Dating 101: How Can I Tell If He's Into Me Online?

GeekSugar — Mon, 11 May 2009 11:02:55 -0700

Trying to navigate the the online dating scene and feel like you're swimming upstream? Get your digital dating questions answered in geeksugar's Tech Dating 101 series, where I share my take on topics like gadgets in the boudoir and texting during a date. Today I'm tackling how to tell if someone is using the Internet to flirt with you, or just playing the friend game.

Unfortunately, it's often easier to figure out that he's just not that into you than it is to establish his intentions are of the Don Juan variety. If he doesn't IM you back after an hour and you know he's online, he doesn't see you as a priority. If you've had the "relationship talk" and he hasn't changed his relationship status, he's hesitant to announce he's off the market. But, just like happy hour flirtation, it's important to look at the whole picture if you think he wants to get fresh: Is he single? Is he dropping flirtatious hints and innuendos? Is he singling you out specifically or playing the field? And most importantly, is his aim true?

If you suspect a certain someone is trying to bust a virtual move, play PI and track his online interactions, both with you and others. If he's hitting up your Facebook wall weekly, sends you personal emails and links, shares items with you via his reader because he "thought you'd like this!" and Tweets back, chances are high he's interested in you on some level. He wants to know what you think about things. If he's spamming every girl he knows, he's just fishing around and looking for someone to take the bait. For a list of questions you should ask yourself when trying to categorize his intentions as romantic or purely platonic, read more.

Does he comment on all your status updates, blogs, or Flickr photos? If he doesn't comment (or "like") everything, does he comment more than other friends or potential lovas? Weigh his interactions with you against your BFF and a casual acquaintance for perspective.
Does he comment on obscure things? If he's dropping links, hints, and comments on random social network sites you've signed up for, or random pics you uploaded a year and a half ago then he's intentionally seeking you out.
Does he tweet back more than once or twice a week? Most people don't tweet back unless they truly appreciate a Tweet, or want to engage with you.
Is he following and friending you everywhere? If he's suddenly taken an interest in all your online activity and started following you everywhere, he's trying to get to know you and wants to monitor your activity. Use your commonsense based on his attitude in person to measure what this means.
Does he use a flirty tone and sexy humor? Come hither phrases and sexy talk are innuendo, whether online or not. If it sounds like flirtation when you read it out loud, it's flirtation. Men don't use words like "baby," "cute," "hot," and "sexy" unless they mean it. Well, they do, but they always mean it on some level.
Does he send you special private messages, notes, or links? Maybe he's not interacting with you on Facebook because he doesn't want your friends in common, his ex, or (yikes!) his current girlfriend to know he's singling you out, but if he's instant messaging or sending you links and private messages daily, and even weekly, stop and consider his intentions. You may just be online buddies, but his tone and the content he sends you will speak volumes.
Does he retweet, reblog, or reuse your "material"? This can be the ultimate compliment, but also a telltale sign of his intentions. If uses your material, but gives you credit (say by calling out your name) he's OK with letting people know he watches you. If he uses it without crediting you he's clearly figured out how awesome you are, but is timid about calling out his discovery. Beware the man who hides his online interaction with you. He may be running a messy game.

Source

It's On: The New York Times Crossword Puzzle Hits the iPhone

GeekSugar — Thu, 14 May 2009 06:00:48 -0700

Long known as separating the men from the boys (and the women from the girls) in the brainiac trivia lover department, the New York Times crossword puzzle has challenged millions of people weekly (watch out for that Sunday edition, yow).

Now you can puzzle yourself anywhere you can take your iPhone (yep, I guess that means the bathroom too) with the standard for all crosswords with the NewYork Times Crossword Puzzle iPhone App.

The downside is that the app costs $10, but it is the exact same crossword that's published in the papers, and you get to compete online, as well as access to the front page of each paper.

Plus, somebody's gotta help the Grey Lady stay afloat in these print-unfriendly times.