GeekSugar

Do You Hold On to Old VHS Tapes?

GeekSugar — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 15:45:31 PDT

It may be nearly Fall, but I've been doing a ton of Spring cleaning of my own and recently came across my stash of VHS tapes from high school and college. Funny enough, I haven't had a VCR in years - but two years ago most of you said you still had one. I'm not sure why I'm holding on to the tapes; nostalgia, maybe? I keep telling myself I'll convert them to digital format at some point.

Until then, they're still stashed in their box out of view of visitors in my living room. To be honest, I might be embarrassed if anyone walked in the room and saw a huge collection of VHS tapes. What about you? Do you hold on to old tapes, or have you gotten rid of them?

VHS Heroes Skins: Love 'Em or Leave 'Em?

GeekSugar — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 09:00:00 PDT

VHS tapes may be a thing of the past, but it's the format where you'll find all my favorite movies still tucked away in storage. Flicks like Willow, Legend, and The B.R.A.T. Patrol (who's seen this one!?) helped me get off to a good geeky and sci-fi start. If it weren't for laser disk, DVD, and Blu-Ray technology, I'd probably still have a VCR and keep them close by.

Although I can't watch the VHS tapes that were so near and dear, I can pay them respect by slapping these VHS Hero Skins ($15-$20) onto my new-fangled gadgets. Fit for your laptop (Mac and PC), iPad, iPods, and iPhones, these skins are the perfect way to show off your vintage geek flare. I'm obviously bias, but what do you think?

View 5 Photos ›

Have You Ever Been Guilted Out of Using a Technology?

GeekSugar — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 13:13:19 PDT

When people ask about when my boyfriend and I moved in together, I wax nostalgic on one thing. No, not my independent living or some mushy story about commitment. My VHS tapes.

See, as much as I love to adopt new formats and tech, I was holding onto a small collection of VHS tapes, not because I thought the format was still good (please, I frown on people who don't appreciate Blu-ray yet), but because of the titles. I knew I'd have to replace these faves, so they were staying with me.

However, my boyfriend's relentless teasing about the "ancient" format led me to dump the movies, especially when he was right - I rarely pulled them out and turned on the VCR.

I find that this method of teasing and guilting has caused a lot of people to upgrade from one technology to the next, rather than a genuine desire to adopt the latest thing. I admit that I've guilted people out of using MySpace and Friendster, and urged people to drop the dumbphone and go smart.

Tell me, have you ever been guilted into feeling your tech was too old and needed to upgrade?

Make Funny Photos and Graphics With Says-It

GeekSugar — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 07:00:54 PDT

Oh my gosh, I absolutely love Says-It! When I first came across this rad site, I had no idea that you could choose from a variety of objects, signs, seals and badges to create hilarious graphics for! Says-It is just as addictive as MagMyPic because the options are endless with what you can design. Here I selected a lovely VHS tape to have some fun with and there's even an old school cassette tape to customize - fun fun! Just enter some text in the lines provided, choose colors and font, and click the "Go" button. A picture of a tape will be generated for you, which you can then email to friends or put them on your own blog or social networking site!

Crocheted VHS Tape Bag. . . Enough Said

GeekSugar — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 06:15:48 PDT

I bet your grandma hasn't had you over for a crochet-making session where she uses tape from old VHS tapes?! Now if she has, that's pretty rad, and I guess you can pretty much crochet any material that can be woven into a crocheted masterpiece, right?! As you can probably guess, this bag made entirely from recycled plastics has left me dumbfounded. In order to make this handmade bag, Etsy seller BarkerBell used a trash bag as the plastic liner and fused it to the VHS tape. For $50, it could have been yours. Sadly, it's already flown off the Etsy shelf.

Do You Still Watch Movies on VHS?

BuzzSugar — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 05:24:51 PST

Ryan Gosling Starts a New Project and Reveals His Dream to Direct

Allie Merriam — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 06:55:19 PDT

Ryan Gosling was on the LA set of his new movie, Gangster Squad, looking handsome in a red shirt, vest, and hat. He laughed with a friend near his trailer before reporting to work in front of the cameras. The project, which sees Ryan team up again with Emma Stone, is the latest for the busy actor. He recently wrapped Derek Cianfrance's The Place Beyond the Pines around Albany, NY, with rumored love interest Eva Mendes. Despite all the acting, Ryan's also doing his share of promoting with both The Ides of March and Drive requiring his interviewing skills. He was in his homeland of Canada over the weekend to show off both Drive and the George Clooney-directed Ides. In a recent interview, Ryan spoke about shooting with George, his start as a child actor, and being recognized by fans. Ryan said:

On trying to not get recognized: "You just have to hang out in places that are more interesting than you are. . . . [Meeting him] has a weird effect on people. The experience of recognizing you puts them into some kind of trance where they think they know you, but they don’t. They start sharing with you, and it gives you this intimacy that’s very rare."
On making The Ides of March: "[I worked with] a lot of actors that are really at the top of their game. . . . I want to direct some day. Watching George is really interesting. He’s sort of possessed by the film while he’s making it."
On his start as a child actor: "It’s very hard coming from kids’ television to break the stigma. . . . All you have is a VHS tape of you humping stuff on The Mickey Mouse Club and wearing fake tanner and fighting imaginary sphinxes."

Gone the Way of the Pager: 5 Technologies That Have Been Replaced

Kristy Korcz — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 07:13:59 PDT

You wouldn't consider a 30-year-old person "outdated," but when you're in the tech world, that's almost ancient. The PC is approaching its 30th birthday, and IBM engineer Mark Dean recently blogged about how quickly things move in technology, saying that "while PCs will continue to be much-used devices, they're no longer at the leading edge of computing. They're going the way of the vacuum tube, typewriter, vinyl records, CRT and incandescent light bulbs." Ouch. Of course, smaller and more portable items like a tablet, netbook, and smartphone could be helping usher the PC out of the spotlight, but there are a few other technologies that have felt the burn, too.

Landline telephone - It's rare these days that you'll find anyone without a cell phone, and it's becoming an appendage that people can't live without. So much so, that lots of tech-savvy people are going wireless full time and canceling their home phone service. The landline had its heyday, but the smartphone is the future.
Email - Sure, we still use email on a daily basis, but recent studies show that email is on the decline among teens. It's only a matter of time before email becomes "too slow," and the adults of the future find other ways to communicate. Facebook Messenger, by chance?
VHS - Video stores are a rarity in 2011, especially since you can rent videos without leaving your house. So it goes, I suppose, since the DVD brought about the demise of the VHS, and now DVDs are nearing the end of their prime. Hello, Blu-ray!
Typewriter - There's something about the clickity-clack of an old-school typewriter. It's kind of romantic, wouldn't you say? But let's get serious - there's really no comparing a typewriter with the functionality of a laptop, especially when you factor in weight, ribbons, and portability.
Cable - Cable companies should be sweating bullets right now. Not only are they being ousted by online streaming options like Hulu and Netflix, but customers are dropping subscriptions left and right because it's too darn expensive in this time of financial instability. If cable/Internet providers want to stay relevant, they need to adopt an online-only a la carte program that streams live shows online. Yes, live. If I had my druthers, I'd subscribe to an online-only version of HBO, Showtime, AMC, and SyFy. I'm sure there are plenty of others who would follow suit with their own combination of channels and would be happy to fork over the cash for the freedom of choice.