Recently I got sent some shiny new headphones to try out. They’re called Zagg Buds (Audio Z), a rather bizarre and random name for headphones but catchy none the less. These little headphones are meant as an alternative to the iPhone ones and come in a few different colours including red and black. I got sent the black ones, but the red looks pretty funky. However looks aren’t everything, so let’s see how they performed.

These headphones have active noise cancellation and an integrated mic built into the sound leveller. they also include a headset loop which actually sounds like a good idea. However when you use them like this you then find the mic and sound option are in totally the wrong place at the back of your neck, which is a bit of a problem really. This oversight therefore makes these headphones less useful than they first seem on the spec which is unfortunate. (although it wasn’t the first thing I noticed about them.) I quite liked the cable and how light they were.

I also compared the sound quality of the headphones to my Shure passive noise cancelling headphones and to be honest on the train there’s not a whole lot of difference.  Granted I’m comparing some fairly expensive Shure headphones to these but neither are all that cheap with the Zagg Buds being around the £50 price mark and my Shure ones are these days about the same price as I’ve had them for some time.  The Zagg Buds do provide plenty of base so if you’re looking for something that is not so tinny sounding as the standard iPhone headphones these are a reasonable option. You have all the usual trimmings and the sound leveler isn’t anywhere near as heavy as my Shure ones so in that sense they are more comfortable and don’t get pulled out of your ears so easily.

If you click on the picture of the Zagg Buds you’ll find a few more pictures.  I was planning on doing a few more bits of detail on the sound quality of these but unfortunately whilst in London a short while back I managed to mislay the headphones & my beloved iPod!  If anyone finds a Red Nano with “Failure is not an option – Inspire & Encourage!” on it then you know who’s it is!

Something that got me thinking this week was a random encounter with the Ken Blakeslee who arranged the Cool and Connected gadget fashion show at the World 3GSM Congress in Cannes back in 2004.  Ironically I was there at that event and managed to blag my way from a standard pass to a Gold members pass by going to this event.  But that’s another blog post waiting to get out one day.  But it did make me wonder can a gadget be a fashion accessory today.  It certainly looked back in 2004 that it could become the next big thing in Fashion but today we just don’t see many gadgets or fashion gadget mixes in women’s magazines unless they are pink or bling in adverts.  They don’t seem to be an integral part of catwalks or high end fashion design.  Yet we still see things on I Want One of Those or Firebox such as beenie hats with integrated headphones, led umbrellas and so on.  But does this mean it’s a small market and niche or could it become broader and more widespread as a form of every day fashion.

Would you class your phone as a fashion accessory or a necessity?  After all we all love great design and usability.  Why do people buy Apple products, is it for fashion or is it a necessity.  I fail to believe it’s just for it’s functionality as there are so many other products out there these days doing similar to the ipod for example.   So maybe it is a fashion product of today, just as back in 2003 Nokia with all it’s different covers became a fashion product and not just a phone.

If there is indeed this intrinsic link between fashion and technology what companies are getting it right – making the link between fashion and technology seamless? I think Apple is up there at the moment and Nokia definitely used to have this status, but there still seem to be few and far between that really do get it right.  So what would make products cooler and more fashionable to you. Another interesting example of fashion & technology is Knomo bags, they too mix high end leather bags with the tech industry targetting bloggers and business women carrying laptops.  However to me this is slightly different, but should it be counted in the fashion & technology area, I don’t see these bags being featured in the women’s fashion magazines, but should they?  After all they are fashionable with those high price tags that fashion mags love.

Maybe the question today should actually be what is fashion?  Is it mainstream or is it that desire to wear what someone else is seen to be wearing, be that on the catwalk or even just on the highstreet.  Does my twitter bird umbrella count?  Or is that just so uncool that I should never be allowed out with it on a rainy day!?

The other side of this of course is around the question of is there such a thing as a male and female gadget… well there’s a question for you.  Is fashion genderized (of course it is), and for that matter can gadgets as fashion items therefore be generized or gender specific… from interface to packaging?  Personally I’d say that gadgets can be aimed at a specific gender, age group or usage scenario, I wouldn’t say that all gadgets are male or female for example that would just be foolish but there are examples of where gadgets are designed for specific uses or genders.
What role does fashion play in the design of technology?
And finally do you agree with recent Microsoft research that states that nearly half the nation regard technology as important as fashion?

OK I think that’s enough questions… a thought provoker for a Monday Morning!

This week, we are giving one lucky fan a Nokia C3.  All you need to do “Like” our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/LadyGeekTV and you could be this week’s lucky winner.  You can also get in touch via twitter www.twitter.com/ladygeektv or check out www.ladygeektv.com

Jennifer Stuller, author of Ink Stained Amazons, is one of the coolest people (if not the coolest person) I’ve met in 2010.

I was first turned onto her book (a critical historical analysis of women super heroes in popular culture) by a writer for my website, Geek Girl on the Street, after she saw Jennifer speak on a panel at Wondercon earlier this year.

Forging a friendship together via Facebook and Twitter (on which Jennifer states “You have to give me lessons, okay?”) San Diego Comic Con was the first time we’ve ever met face to face. Truly it was an exciting moment for me and we’ve spent a bunch of time getting to know each other IRL over this crazy weekend. This morning I sat down with Jen at a coffee shop near the convention hall and we discussed what the highlights of the weekend were:

Hey Girly Geekdom readers! I’m here at San Diego Comic Con International chatting with Ink Stained Amazons author, Jennifer Stuller. So I’ve been hanging out with Jennifer all weekend and she’s my new geeky soul-sister. I suspect that our London (UK) geek-sisters weren’t able to make it out here the year that [geek girls] took over Comic Con. So, Jen I think maybe we should talk about the highlights of our experience here, so our friends across the pond can share vicariously with us. Do you want to start?
One of the things that I’ve always really, really loved and that I’m seeing in full force here this year is women coming together in celebration of the things they love and in celebration of each other. And, we’re seeing a real sense of sisterhood here [in San Diego], which is kind of like a corny word, yanno? But, the concept behind it is really cool.

I think that’s a really important thing to note, because I’ve talked to a lot of women in tech in my professional life who have talked about how women [in tech] can be kind of back stabby. Instead of getting together to work together, they can be back stabby. I think that it’s an important point to make, we’re talking about sisterhood here, everyone has been so warm and open and lovely…
I think that it is that we’re not fighting, necessarily, in a male dominated career space. These women, and I admire them and want to learn from them, a lot of young women who are doing this [pop culture stuff] who are using social networking techniques to build their brand, build their connections, build their career and then take over these spaces. They’re not having to fight from within them, where you end up being kind of back stabby by nature, nothing against the other girls, but it’s fighting for survival.

I think that’s a really good point, too. One of the things I’ve loved the most is meeting — the people I talk to on Facebook, or read their blogs or Tweet at — because, I usually only use Twitter to get my own brand out into the world… But, when I take the time to have a direct message conversation with someone, I feel like I get to know people. It’s so refreshing to me to put names and Twitter handles and blogs to faces and feel like I’ve cemented that friendship.
My Dad actually convinced me to get on Facebook and I was like “Dad, that’s so weird!” Yet, I’ve connected with all of these people, I’ve made friends… I met you by Googling myself and someone had mentioned me on your site from Wondercon, and we became friends.

Yes, yay!
When you think about it, it seems really strange getting to know people through Twitter and Facebook and blogs. And, you don’t really see each other face to face, you almost have this secret identities “Ink Stained Amazon,” “Nerdy Bird,” “Action Chick”. If you go back to the early comic cons, you have the same thing letter columns in science fiction magazines or comic books or…

Or, BBCs… yeah!
So I think it’s a neat evolution.

BBC… duh, BBSes. That was my nerd faux pas of the day, I hope I won’t have any more.
I think it’s a neat evolution of that, it’s on a much bigger scale and with new forms of communication.

All weekend, besides me, who is the person you were the most excited to meet?
I was pretty excited to meet Clara Kramer yesterday, she was so kind and so nice. I was pretty excited, I was sitting here at the coffee shop and I saw these two women walking and there was this totally gorgeous woman. And, I was like “who is this totally gorgeous woman, she looks totally familiar.” I was like “Oh my god, it’s Marti Noxon!” (ed note: Marti Noxon is one of the producers of Buffy the Vampire Slayer) I was on the phone with my Dad and I was like “Gotta go!” I jumped out of my seat and like a big shameless nerd, I introduced myself to her… that was really cool. That’s the kind of thing that happens at Comic Con, all the sudden you’re sitting next to a comic book writer or an actress, there is a really comfortable sense of community.

I think that the person I was most excited to meet, besides you, was Debbie Myers, the president of the Science Channel. I was like “oh my god, you’re so cool!” I’m going to interview her for the Geek of the Week spot on my website. Everyone has been so cool… I was also excited to meet Kylee Lane, she does the geek soaps, the Fight Club, the Han Solo in Carbonite…
Oh is she the one in Spokane, Washington?

No, she’s in Iowa.
There is a girl in Spokane who does video game controllers in soap.

Oh yeah, I saw her on Etsy. Then at the Geek Girls and Friends Tweet-up last night I won a Han Solo in Carbonite soap for answering a Doctor Who trivia question. I was so psyched!
You have to post a picture of it!

I will, I have too much stuff to post, people are telling me “post your pictures, Kate!” And, I’m like “I’m too bizzay!” What are the highlights of comic con for you? I know you did two panels yesterday…
I did one panel yesterday and then I went and sat in on a panel called Girls Gone Genre.

I’m lovin’ all the geek girl content. And, that’s a lot.

That’s a lot compared to last year. There was none, women were so margenalized and then we were included in the LGBT programming. Not that I mind at all being included in the LGBT programming, that’s a huge component of our community and it’s great. But, women were included in those panels because that was the only place [the con organizers] thought we could fit. Though there were more spotlights last year. Last year we had Hope Larson and Gail Simone and a bunch of other women who were spotlighted last year.
Have you checked who won the Eisners yet?

No, I haven’t.
Trina Robbins was nominated for The Brinkley Girls, I wonder if she won.

What’s the best piece of schwag you got?
That’s a hard question. I think my Scott Pilgrim shirt was pretty cute. The best thing was that I got a poster signed by Brendan Ross and Mae Whitman, because Mae Whitman is just so awesome and I hope she gets more roles.

I got a poster signed by all the Mythbusters, I got an Adam Baldwin as Jayne in Firefly lithograph, I got a Han Solo in Carbonite soap and I really love the Black Phoenix Alchmey Labs gift bags from the Geek Girls and Friends Tweet-up last night!
I like it, too! Except that I thought it was pretty funny that they gave us a bunch of liquids and I hope that everyone remembers…

To check them?
Or, to put them in their quart bag. Because you know you’re going to be so sad when you’re going home and your Neil Gaiman perfume gets thrown out.

Oh that perfume is so funny! Everyone was like “What? Neil Gaiman doesn’t need a perfume!!” And, I was like “No that’s exactly why he has one, though!” I interviewed him in Chicago and he was so sweet. Then when I got home his merch manager sent me a thank you package for the interview. How cool is that? Like I should be saying thank you to Neil Gaiman, not the other way around! Okay: the biggest geek out moment you’ve had with a celebrity?
I don’t know, introducing myself to Greg Rucka and thanking him for writing such amazing women, that was a pretty big geek out moment.

I don’t know what my biggest geek out moment is. Have I had a geek out moment yet? Inside I was geeking out over Eugene Mirmen and Kristin Schaal, mostly because I think that Kristin is a great example of a geeky woman in mainstream media. Ray says I’m very reserved. He totally geeked out over Kari Byron yesterday, which I thought was totally cute. And, Eugene Mirmen. Ray is our photographer, London geek girls, in case you don’t know that. He’s been following us around all weekend taking awesome pictures.
He’s doing a great job.

What is the best professional moment you’ve had here this weekend?
Actually being able to say something smart and entertaining and that got laughs in the 13 minutes I had to speak on the panel I was on. I spoke in front of the largest crowd I’ve ever spoken in front of.

Were you nervous?
I was totally nervous, I was up all the night before and I thought I was going to throw up. But, then I got up on the stage and I get that first laugh, then I’m cool – I can do the performance and get through it. People kept coming up to me and saying “Can I buy your book at the convention?” So I tried to sign promotional postcards for them, because they’re not for sale here.

They should be! Jennifer is the author of Ink Stained Amazons. Us geek girls we’re all into feminist studies, we all had the women’s studies minor in college and anyone who is into comic books should read her book.
Or TV or film.

Yes, there’s a lot of Buffy in there, too.
So that’s my best professional moment.

I think that my best professional moment was introducing myself to Debbie Myers and asking her if I could interview her for my site. And, also, meeting the geek blogger for the Chicago Tribune – as Chicago is where I’m about to move – he said he’d sit down with me and I could pick his brain about pitching geek stories in Chicago.
That’s awesome!

Yeah I thought that was really awesome.
I have a friend in Chicago, she’s in her early 20s and she’s a burgeoning film critic and I totally want to introduce you two to each other.

Oh totally! Oh, yes and I’m going to interview Kristy Guevara-Flanagan next week, because she’s in San Francisco and I really want to talk to her about her Wonder Woman documentary!
She’s in Oakland, like you! We went out to dinner last night. At the restaurant they had seating so we thought that it would be good. All we wanted was to get a drink and then they were like “We lost our liquor license.”

Oh no!
That’s why when we got to the Geek Girl Tweet-up we were so over it.

The Tweet-up was really great, except it was hard to get a drink. Are you going to go to the Celebrate the Web stuff this afternoon?
No, I’m being interviewed for the Comic Con documentary -A Fan’s Hope- the documentary that Morgan Spurlock is doing. Then after that: all weekend I’ve avoided standing in lines for things, I would have loved to go to the True Blood panel, I would have loved to go to the J.J. Abrams/Joss Whedon panel… there’s so many things going on I think it’s a waste of time to stand in line for hours and miss things, especially for things that will be posted online, anyway. But, I need to get into the Nikkita panel this afternoon. I need to write about it. Then I want to go to the SmartPop party.

Oh, maybe we’ll try to meet you there! The thing that you guys reading need to know is that Comic Con isn’t just about panels and the schwag, it’s about the opportunity for free booze and to rub elbows with people far more famous than yourself. So we’re going to Celebrate the Web because I got the inside scoop perhaps there might be someone from Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog there. Then our friend Ethan (Kaye) introduced us to the editors from Topless Robot and they invited us to the Topless Robot party.
Was he the really excited blond?

Yes, that was Ethan — he writes for Wizard, Topless Robot and now for BleedingCool!
Which is awesome!

Let’s talk a little bit about your book, because we should… I hate to say I haven’t read it yet. I’ve skimmed through it, though and I think it’s a really smart, critical look at the roles of women in pop culture. I just kind of wondered how did you get put on the path to become a comic scholar? You’re actually the first person in this field I’ve ever met. I’ve heard of geek scholars, there’s a whole slew of women in tech who are geek scholars, but I’ve never met a comic book scholar.
That’s so funny! I could be called a comic scholar, I could be called a pop culture historian or a feminist pop culture historian. The comic scholar thing, I started this whole process I was very much into TV, which as we were discussing in the panel yesterday is kind of traditionally been seen as a women’s media. Because women are keepers of the home, so commercials and television are geared towards women. As opposed to film or comic books, which are geared towards…

Dudes.
Dudes. So I began thinking what I really wanted to study was the role of women in popular culture. And, I began looking at women in comics and film, as well as women on television. I tried video games, too, but even though my husband works in the industry I just couldn’t get into them. I read the book by Trina Robbins, The Great Women Superheroes, which was great and amazing. Then I went to a conference in Australia called the “Holy Men in Tights Conference”. I met Pete Coogan who was one of the founders of the Comic Arts Conference and Randy Duncan, also co-founded that conference. But, Pete was there and he had just recently been at a conference with my mentor – so I was able to go up to him and introduce myself – that night, utelizing the shameless networking skills, I managed to get myself invited out to dinner with all the keynote speakers and the organizers of the conference. So I kept in touch with Pete and proposed a paper for the Comic Arts Conference. And, I’ve been speaking here or at Wondercon every year since then as a comic scholar. While I couldn’t tell you everything about the history of comics, because that’s insane, there are things I like to look at different arcs, different characters over different eras to see what we can learn about popular culture at that time. Like Lois Lane in the 60s. What does that say about gender in the 60s? What are male writers equating feminism with through comics?

I wanted the book to be really accessible.

And, it is. I started reading it before I left and the thing I noted a lot of times – like I said, most geek girls have some sort of feminist/women’s studies background – it just seems to be, that at least women of our age, in our mid-30s, we came of age in a time when that was a really popular choice. And a good one, I think that studying those things really broadens your mind to think about life outside your own little box. But, when you read a book, even if it’s on popular culture, if it’s designed for gender studies, sometimes it’s really tough. Because it’s got a lot of jargon and a lot academic talk. Thankfully I speak academic because both my parents are academics — incidentally, if you’re the child of a teacher or a professor and you’re reading this — if you haven’t gotten to college yet, take comfort in the fact that once you do you’ll kick some serious ass. But, the book is really accessible, it’s written in a really familiar tone of voice, in a really open way and I think that with the right networking and marketing that Ink Stained Amazons will become as big a success in popular culture as it is in academia.
Aw… thank you. I hope so, I really really hope so.

So the question that I ask everyone that I interview, do you have any piece of truly salient advice that you’d give to young women who want to grow up and do what you do, professionally?
I say be persistent, be polite, know your passions, work really hard and just put yourself out there. You’ll never know who you’re going to talk to.

[Photos by Rason Sampson]

In case you haven’t heard: 2010 is the year of the Geek Girl at SD Comic Con International.  This year there is an unprecedented amount of programming designed for us with the lady parts.  The vibe in these programs and surrounding the con is one of awesome collaboration.  (Because that’s what we she-geeks are about – collaborating and helping each other reach new geek heights.)

Last night we attended the first ever Geek Girl Tweet-up at Joltin’ Joe’s in San Diego’s Gaslamp District.  Organized by Geek Girl Diva, Kristin Rielly (publisher of Geek Girls Network), Nerdy Bird (of Has Boobs, Reads Comics) and the Science and Discovery Channels (respectively), this was a party where the girls PWND.  We talked to: Debbie Myers (president of the Science Channel!!), Grant Imahara (Mythbusters), Taryn O’Neill and Stephanie Thorp (Celebrate the Web), Kylee Lane (Luxury Lane Soap), Thom Zahler (Love and Capes), Elliott Serrano (Geek to Me – The Chicago Tribune) and a ton of other really cool new geeky friends…

And the schwag, OMFG, the schwag!

Here’s the deal: Though I would love to keep all the amazing schwag I’ve gotten at Comic Con, I would feel exceptionally greedy if I did.  So I’m going to give some of it away to you, our loving and devoted readers!  Here’s how to play: The trivia quiz below is a replicate of the one we had at the Geek Girls and Friends Tweet-up last night.  Email the correct answers to me at geekgirlonthestreet@gmail.com and the first five people will win a prize.  Here’s what you could win:

• A Geek Girls and Friends Tweet-up gift bag from The Geek Girl Diva and Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab (includes a custom scent made for this event).
• A Darth Maul LED Lightsaber key chain (courtesy of StarWars.com).
• A limited edition Firefly lithograph of Nathan Fillion as Mal (unsigned, but soooo cool!  Doc is keeping Kaylee and I’m keeping Jayne, sorry!)
• A Mythbusters giant tote bag with Ms. Kari Byron on the front.
• A complete set of SyFy collectible Comic Con pins.

Prizes will be assigned randomly by me – but, basically the first five people to email me the correct answers (without using Google!! Honor system!!) will win.  I’ll be mailing out prizes next week when I’m back in San Francisco… so make sure to include your addy in the email.  Without further ado:

Kate’s GeekGirl Comic Con Quiz

1. Name five of the 11 actors who have played the Doctor on Doctor Who.
2. Name three of the Secret Six.
3. What are the Lantern Corps colors?
4. What does TARDIS stand for?
5. What are the names of Tatooine’s two moons?
6. Who played the female Yoda?
7. Who were the original creators of Dungeons and Dragons?
8. What are the names of the five Sailor Scouts?
9. Who was the instigator of the original Secret Wars?
10. Who wrote the theme song for Daria?

Thanks to all the amazing geek girls who put on the party last night!  (And, if you write for this blog, have won schwag from other cons we covered or are attending Comic Con, please let the peeps who aren’t able to be here play to win.  M’kay?)

Read my guest blog post on Attention Deficit Delirium!

If you look up the term “geek girl” in the dictionary, you’re likely to see a picture of the lovely and talented Kari Byron (from the Mythbusters Build Team) next to the entry.

Byron came to the attention of geeky fans in 2003 as part of the Build Team on the new Discovery Channel show hosted by Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman  aimed at proving urban myths either “true” or “busted” using scientific experiments to do so.  Her first day as a paid employee at M5 Industries (Hyneman’s San Francisco special effects studio) happened also to be the first day of Mythbusters filming, she was asked to help dispel the “vacuum plane toilet” myth by modeling her bum for a cast used in the experiment.

Since then, Byron has gone onto securing herself a larger role in the show and is about to become the host of her very own show on the Science Network: Head Rush.  She is appearing at Comic Con this weekend in support of the show (which is targeted at middle school aged kids in the hope of engaging them in math and science) which premiers on August 23, 2010.  We were lucky enough to catch up with her this morning for a quick interview:

I was interested to learn that you got your Mythbusters gig by showing up at M5 and asking for an internship over and over.
Pretty much. I didn’t have to ask too many times, it was back when M5 was just a special effects company, it wasn’t Mythbusters. I just told Jamie I would work for free, I was just going to take as long as it took until something happened and slowly I just became more and more of the build team. I was just really lucky that my first day was the first day of Mythbusters. It was just kind of the start of the line for me…

That’s pretty cool! What kind of experience did you have prior to Mythbusters that drove you to want to intern with M5?
Ever since I saw the Making of Thriller when I was young, I always wanted to do something in that field, because I thought it was so cool that I could grow up and do that kind of thing. So I got really into sculpture, I’d go really crazy on Halloween, I’d have the really big haunted houses in front of my house… My parents probably never thought that I was going turn that into a career, they’re probably pretty happy about that. The sculpture thing, I kept that as part of my life for a really long time, even when I was a receptionist I was doing sculptures underneath my desk in between phone calls. Then I heard about Jamie’s shop, my friend had been there and said “Oh my gosh, you’ve got to see this place!” And, I walked in the door and I was just like “Wow – I want to learn how to use all of these tools!”

So, the next day I showed up with – I have to say, not the best portfolio, because I was making stuff to put in the portfolio the night before – and, he was nice enough to give me a chance.

Of course, from there you got onto the Mythbusters Build Team, which has increased in popularity.
Yes.

Do you have any plans to exhibit your sculpture in the future?
The Mythbusters and Head Rush and some of my other projects on the Science Channel have become pretty full time. I still do sculpture at home, but I’m a new mom…

Yes! We heard, congratulations!
So there is a finite amount of time that I get to do sculpture, so I kind of just do it for me right now.

That’s cool, I get that, I’m a writer and I write for just me sometimes and don’t share it with other people. Aside from Mythbusters and Head Rush and the coolness of just being at Comic Con, what is the one thing at Comic Con you are super super excited about?
Oh my god…

The person you’re excited about meeting or the panel you’re excited about attending?
I really didn’t know what to expect! This is so much bigger and crazier and fuller of interesting people than I ever expected, I kind of want to go get a mask and just walk around the floor for a while just to get to see it. I haven’t really been able to walk down there, because I’m always signing autographs and talking to people… So at some point today I think I’m just going to go find a hood and a mask and really just walk around.

What kinds of things do you geek out to in your normal every day life?
When I was pregnant I really got into a few TV shows. I really love Dexter!

Dexter’s great!
I freakin’ love that! I watched every episode back-to-back when I was going into labor. I was in labor for 42 hours, so I just watched every single episode and now I’m totally into it.

The big news is that you’re premiering a show on the Science Channel, Head Rush – which is targeted at middle school kids, girls in particular – which I think is really great. Can you tell us about the project and what we can expect from it? Is it like Mr. Wizard meets Bill Nye the Science Guy, hosted by the lovely and talented Kari Byron?
A little bit like that, but a little more YouTube, MTV pop-culture-ish, for kids now. The project is completely commercial free, it’s part of the STEM initiative (Science Technology Engineering Math), part of the intiative that Obama is pushing. So Discovery partnered up with the White House to create this one hour time slot between four and five pm, when kids come home from school they’ll have this programming to keep the mind still going. And, maybe get intrigued by really interesting little facts about science, because it’s not just all the textbook things that you and I probably read when we were in school. There are just so many interesting little curiosities in life, science is everywhere, and we’re trying to peak an interest anywhere we can – because if we can just peak it kids can keep going with it.

And, that premiers on the 23rd of August on the Science Channel. Can you give us any spoilers or teasers about what you’re going to be taking on first?
We’re taking Mythbuster episodes, we’re taking out all the commercials – the commercial spots are where we’ll have Head Rush, we’ll have small experiments and lots of clips from all the different Discovery stations. We’re going to incorporate them into quizzes so that at the beginning of the episode we’ll ask a question about one of our experiments and [the viewer] has to figure out, “Well if we shrink this balloon in liquid nitrogen, what’s going to happen when it un-shrinks?” I’m hoping it’s going to be really, really fun.

We’re excited to watch it! I’ll watch it, I’m not ashamed to admit it, I watch kids programming!
I think we’re just targetting who I was at 12 years old. If you think about role models you’re not going to think about geeky scientist guy in the white coat, you don’t want to be that, you know? All the girls want to be an heiress or a rock star. We’re hoping to create more role models that are in the sciences, get people onto the show who can be role models.

So, this is the question I ask everyone: Do you have advice for young women who would like to enter into the profession you currently work in or have a lifestyle similar to yours? Is there one piece of advice you’d share that you think is really, really important?
I think the way that I go into this: internships. People are always willing to let you work for free.

That’s true!
If you can prove yourself there’s a good chance you’ll become a part of whatever you set out to be.

[Stay tuned to Geek Girl on the Street and GirlyGeekdom to learn how you can win some sweet Mythbusters and Head Rush schwag!]

It’s been a while since I last posted but that’s because I’ve been really busy completing year 4 of my degree (only 2 more to go!) and starting a new job! Anyway I finally got around to posting some of the new stuff I’ve been learning and for this instalment I’ve created a video cast on the basics of getting MEF to integrate with Castle Windsor.

Why would you do that I hear you ask? Apart from it being pretty cool It means that you don’t have one central place that you are registering everything with Windsor. Each project takes care of it’s own registration making the application less tightly coupled and easier to extend. I think it looks pretty tidy and there is so much more you can do with it than I’ve done with this little app but it’s just there to serve as a foundation. Have a play see what you think and let me know about the interesting things you’ve done with it. I’ve uploaded the code here if you want to pull it down and have a play.

S

If the below video isn’t showing you can see it on vimeo here or youtube here.

Using MEF with Castle Windsor from Sara on Vimeo.

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Would you believe it… 15 years ago today Amazon.com sold it’s first product online.  Back in those days people really didn’t think that sites like Amazon would exist today.  They thought that they were doomed to fail…  Why would anyone trust the internet after all…  but then again we had the .com boom which with it brough a whole raft of companies with it…

Technology moved on as did people’s perceptions of safety and financial transactions online.  There were a whole raft of new companies that came about during this time but not that many that succeeded.  On the right you can see a sample of those who got lost in the world of Web 1.0

Here’s a few of the features of that era as defined on Wikipedia:

• Static pages instead of dynamic user-generated content.^[5]
• The use of framesets.
• Proprietary HTML extensions such as the <blink> and <marquee> tags introduced during the first browser war.
• Online guestbooks.
• GIF buttons, typically 88×31 pixels in size promoting web browsers and other products.^[6]
• HTML forms sent via email. A user would fill in a form, and upon clicking submit their email client would attempt to send an email containing the form’s details.^[7]

Would you believe that was 15 years ago! Here’s the timeline to prove it!

Now what about those companies that didn’t make it…. who were they?  Well Esquire have covered that one for you as well!

So happy 15th Birthday Amazon! And thanks for taking on a brief history of the internet!

The Lady Geeks are back again with the LADY GEEK TV MOBILE APP SHOW and continuing their mission to find the right mobile apps for you.

Lady Geek TV put smartphones through their paces to deliver the very best in mobile app content from across the App Map, covering iPhone, Android, Blackberry and Nokia apps.

This week, comedian Kate Stevens is our guest presenter as we put 3 food and drink apps – Epicurious, Pair It! and Open Table – through their paces to solve real problems, such as, “I am starving! I need a good recipe fast!” or “Which wine is right?” and, “Oops. Burnt dinner. Let’s eat out.” This week, we are giving one lucky fan a Nokia E72.

We would love to hear from you!

Become a fan of us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ladygeektv or email us at claire@ladygeektv.com. Follow us on twitter @ladygeektv.

If you aren’t already following GirlyGeekdom on Twitter then now is a great time to do that too.  They also have a Facebook group too with some great new discussions ready for you to get into, all about gadgets and geekery!

Lady Geek TV: Episode Two!

http://facebook.com/ladygeektv
http://twitter.com/ladygeektv

The ads for the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini could not have been more tempting. Elegant model fingers slickly trip-trip-tripping on the highly touch sensitive screen had me drooling from the get-go.  Cradled perfectly in the palm of my hand with a screen size smaller than an average credit card, the Xperia X10 mini is beautiful, responsive and sharp. Looking at the Xperia-exclusive Timescape social networking feature and a beautiful camera – this tiny and probably highly lose-able phone was practically begging to come with me to Glastonbury.

The phone helpfully came with a micro USB charger, 5 colourful snap-on backs and a 2 GB micro-SD card. Me, the X10 Mini and my untested sleeping bag were ready to go.

Superfast internet, a responsive touch screen, a powerful processor and the killer Google Android operating system power the social mind-meld that it is the Xperia-exclusive Timescape. Timescape mashes missed calls, texts, multimedia messages and Facebook and Twitter updates into a one-stop shop for social networking on a home screen. Responsive, reliable and beautiful, it was a pleasure to use and a great way to check in with Twitter, Facebook and messages quickly.

The sharp 5 megapixel camera took beautiful pictures during the day and night. Even when crushed by revellers at 10 pm and battling with strobe lighting and the surging excitement of an energetic crowd, the pictures of Muse performing on the Pyramid stage came out perfectly. So well, in fact, that other festival-goers commented on their sharpness as I took them. Each photo could be easily and instantly uploaded to YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, sent as an email or MMS, which had my friend in a fit of jealousy.

The fast processor and Android operating system does come with a drawback – the battery drained faster than a kitchen sink. This problem culminated in the X10 mini dying twice in one day leaving a very lost me frantically handing over the device to the lovely phone charging guys by the dance tents for an emergency 1 hour charge. Oops! I spent a lot of time in Orange Chill n Charge tent over the festival. On the plus side, I did get to see Ellie Goulding play an acoustic set in the tent. Unfortunately, I could not take a photo as… my phone was charging. A little investigation on return home revealed that the X10 Mini constantly scans for network so, if you are in a low network area or a particularly busy area (for example, Glastonbury!), the  X10 Mini’s battery will get sucked up just finding a network. Recommendation – switch the phone to airplane mode when confronted with this problem.

Overall, the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini is a very impressive small smartphone, especially in comparison to the unresponsive HTC Tattoo. With the slick Timescape giving the phone a social networking edge, its £200 price tag, great processor and the Android operating system gives this impressive smartphone a great edge.