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!

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!]

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.

With the first phase of the beta now over, it gave me some time to reflect on this glorious piece of gaming engineering. As you can tell I like it, I like it a lot. I managed to get a Starcraft 2 beta key at the Sci-Fi London event, where I also got to try it firsthand. Starcraft as a franchise is a worldwide phenomenon, particularly so in the Far East. One time while I was in Hong Kong a few years ago, I noticed internet cafes all over with hundreds of PCs hooked up for Starcraft LAN play. In South Korea, the population is still madly passionate spawning professional players everywhere. Considering the first Starcraft was released in 1998, this is a testament of the lasting longevity this game brings.

Enter Starcraft 2; I cannot tell you how many years in the making it was, but for the world it felt like an eternity. At long last it has arrived, expectation runs high to top the original and Blizzard have their work cut out. And rightly so, sequels are a tricky business and players will not take kindly to anything other than a near perfect gaming experience. This IS Starcraft after all.

So what’s it like to play? Well I’ll give you a quick rundown of the three sides you can take control of. If you are familiar with the first game, you will know that they are Terran (humanoid race), Protoss (futuristic alien race), Zerg (insectoid swarm race).

Terran
I’ll be honest with you, when I first got my beta key the first thing I wanted to do was fire up a Zerg or Protoss side and thrash it out with the AI. I didn’t play with them much but they are easy to get to grips with. Terran is comparable to say, the U.S.A in Command and Conquer: Generals. They are middle ground, a side you would start with when you have never played Starcraft before. Not to say they are not a force to be reckoned with; each side has tactical advantages and disadvantages that keeps everything balanced. My favourite unit is the Siege Tank, it can be a used as armoured support with light weapons, or flip to Siege mode where it can be used as a static gun emplacement. It’s very effective when within the boundaries of enemy territory, or as a quick way to plug a hole in your base defences since it can be mobile. A similar capability applies to Vikings; you can either morph to Assault mode to attack ground units, or Fighter mode for air targets. This type of dynamic game play makes Terrans very adaptive without having to think too much.

Protoss
The Protoss are technologically advanced and they look it; every unit looks like something out of Star Wars. They have the best eye candy and have extremely powerful units in their arsenal. Of course, all this armoury comes at a cost. The units are expensive, the computer voice calling for more minerals and Vespene gas will be a common phrase if you don’t keep your resource count in check. This will give you an idea of unit cost:

Protoss, Zealot: 100 Minerals, 0 Vespene Gas
Terran, Marine: 50 Minerals, 0 Vespene Gas
Zerg, Zergling: N/A (yes it’s basically free, and initially very weak)

Not cheap for Protoss, the above are the first basic infantry units you will create.

Protoss buildings are restricted to being within a certain radius of Pylons. This makes them different to Zerg, who are more flexible in where they build. The Zealot is the most powerful first ground unit when comparing the three teams. One of my favourite units is the Colossus; you do NOT want to be around when a group of these descend.

Zerg
Last but not least, Zerg. I am a Zerg player, so I have played with them more than the other two. My style of game play leans towards them; the Zerg ethos is to create and assimilate as many units as possible and to “zerg” the opponent with your hoard. Outnumbering is the key. Sounds easy, but I feel it is the most difficult team to play for. This is because they are weak, in some cases very weak when comparing a unit to another from Protoss or Terran at the same level on the tech tree. On the same token, they are very cheap. When you create a Zergling from Larva, you get not one but three. Everything stems from Larva, which are the building blocks to evolve into other units. Zerg also need a lot of micro managing, they hunger for Vespene gas later on and you will lose units at a rapid pace during combat. Be sure to keep churning out Zerglings and morphing replacements. A nice feature for Zerg is Creep; Overlords dump Creep on terrain so that you can build structures on top of it. A structure MUST be built on Creep and units benefit from speed increases when running on Creep. The killer use for it is that opponents cannot build on Creep; Overlords are mobile and can dump Creep on an enemy base to prevent them from building. Not only that, but it will allow you to build in their base after you have weakened them. Coupled with Nydus tunnels for unit transport anywhere on the map, and you have some good strategies to play with.

This game is lovely, the mechanics, the graphics; there are so many possibilities with tactics that I haven’t even explored yet. However, since it is in beta phase everything I have said could change but probably not by much. The guys at Blizzard are constantly tweaking balance issues and the final product come July will be slightly different. I personally can’t wait; I will have to satisfy myself with the next round of beta testing coming shortly. The game will come with a campaign for Terran, and only Terran. I can assume that the campaigns for the other two sides will come in the form of expansion packs.

Sadness
I tried everything humanly possible to bring you a Starcraft 2 video montage of all the games I have played, but failed miserably. Ever since the beta closed, you can no longer access your replays which is annoying In fact you can’t even log onto Battle.net in the game to get to the replay function, but hopefully I can rip a recording in beta phase two. Instead, I’ll show you this great video introducing the Zerg. And yes it’s not an exaggeration, you can and will create that many units in the game.

I’ll end with what someone said on a Starcraft 2 forum post: Goodbye SC2 jailbait, see you in 4 weeks when you’ll be legal.

When trying to save on energy costs, leaving a PC on overnight for a full year can cost $360 in energy, depending on where you live. That’s a new netbook, or the price of an energy efficient monitor.

So it is of interest to most people to turn off their PCs (not just the monitor) while they aren’t using them. However, there’s a reason why most people leave their PCs or Macs running when they aren’t using them. We don’t want to wait two minutes for a computer to start. We want it to load now. Right now.

What’s the solution? Getting computers logged on and ready at ultra fast speeds, so you don’t feel like you need to leave your computer on in order to get a jump start. How can an average geek girl do this? Simple solutions are always best.

Clean Up, Clean Out

Computers need regular clean ups. That’s why most people recommend defragmenting and running disk clean up software at least once a week. These are good habits to get in to, however, there’s additional things you can also do.

You could also clean out registries. You can also turn off unused background software that you don’t use. Did you know iTunes often starts up in the background when you start up your computer, even if you haven’t clicked on the program yet?

Yes, you could hit Control, Alt, Delete and then take off the individual programs one by one… but it’s after they’ve been loaded, and a lot of work if you are wanting to turn off your computer every night.

You could do all of these things individually, or you could get a program that does it all for you, all at once. Programs like System Mechanic will take care of the defragmenting, cleaning disks, registry clean up, and more. I’ve used it on my PC for a few of weeks, and from the first time I used it, it boosted starting my PC from a few minutes, to a few seconds. Brilliant.

Dumping The Unwanted

Unwanted software is often cluttering up my PC. You know what I mean. That software someone promised would be great. That game you played twice and then went back to World of Warcraft. Spacemonger helps identify large quantities of space being used up by your programs and then you can choose what to extract, where to move things too, etc. Sometimes you discover files you never even knew you had, like those programs you downloaded and forgot about.

So store them away on an external hard drive. Don’t have one? Buy a small, easy to use one like Verbatim or similar.

How does this save energy? Your computer doesn’t have to work so hard loading up your computer when you unload all of that data somewhere else. Start up is the big eater of energy. Your computer loads faster as well when it has plenty of free space on it.

Do you have some tips on getting your PC to run faster? Want to share? Leave a comment!

Before I begin, I would like to say congratulations to Sarah Blow on her engagement! Happy happy joy joy~

Now let’s get down to business. I haven’t contributed to this blog in a long long time, life has kept me quite busy! However, I did find the time to complete Final Fantasy XIII a couple of weeks ago. I can tell you now it was not easy; there are many bosses leading up to the final Orphan encounter and even then it’s not what I had expected. My advice to you is make sure you are level 4 across all your characters in the Crystarium. If you don’t want to be spoiled with the ending then stop reading now!

Orphan’s Cradle
This is the final stage where the ultimate showdown begins. Don’t worry though, there are portals that take you back to Edenhall and Gran Pulse if you want to level up some more. It may look confusing here but it’s pretty linear. The main thing to note is that the mini bosses you encounter, such as Jabberwocky, will appear as normal creatures to kill as you progress further. You can actually grind Jabberwocky who sits on top of the lift before you fight Orphan, as he will give you 30,000 CP (Crystogen Points).

The Narthex Throne
Once you enter this area and the cinematic kicks in, there is no going back. This is it. Orphan is actually three bosses…

The team I used for all three were Lightning, Sazh, Vanille.

Boss 1 – Barthandelus. Yes you have to fight him again. There are no sections to destroy first, the only target is himself. The best way is to use Vanille in Sabateur mode to debuff him, which will help with the staggering later with your Ravagers. Then pummel away!

Boss 2 – Orphan (first form). This is by far the hardest boss out of the three, but in my opinion not as difficult as Proud Clad Part 2. The first 10 seconds is crucial, he will attack your entire team with Merciless Judgement to bring your health down to about 25% or less. Make sure you start with a healing paradigm such as Combat Clinic and heal like crazy. Orphan is susceptible to poison so be patient with Vanille to make it stick (Sazh will help with this when he casts Haste). Her debuffs will speed up the stagger process; you need to stagger Orphan at least 3 or 4 times to defeat him before he casts Doom on your party leader. And you definitely do not want Doom.

Here is my main paradigm deck:
Chaining paradigm – Thaumaturgy (RAV/RAV/MED)
Attack paradigm – Diversity (COM/RAV/MED)
Healing paradigm – Convalescence (MED/SYN/MED)
Buff/debuff paradigm – Evened Odds (MED/SYN/SAB

You may be able to use Tri-Disaster which is RAV/RAV/RAV to increase the chain gauge quicker, but I don’t recommend staying in this stance for very long. It is unlikely you will defeat him on the first try; pay attention to what he attacks with and when… pre-empting when to switch to a healing paradigm before the attacks begin will help a great deal. Another tip is if you have Army Of One for Lightning then use it when she is Ravager, great for staggering.

Boss 3 – Orphan (final form). The difficulty level drops dramatically, this is the last remnant of Orphan and will not pose much of a challenge. I recommend Tri-Disaster paradigm all the way to stagger and then pummel as per normal with something like Relentless Assault (COM/RAV/RAV). The Orphan final form can actually be defeated with the Death spell from Vanille if her magic is high enough; very cool but anti-climatic to be able to do this to a boss.

I made a video of my Boss 2 fight, which shows the last 4 minutes. It’s not great quality, I really need to invest in a video capture card. FFXIII is a strange beast, I personally enjoyed it but others may feel it can get boring rather quickly. But I am a FF fan so I might be slightly biased, either way I can at least say I have completed it. The one thing I would like to defeat is the big Cactuar, except his 10,000 Needles attack does 9999 damage. Best grind for those Crystogen points before even attempting that one!