Veronica Belmont
tech.gadgets.video.geekculture.gaming.kittens.
ScreenBurn poll for SXSW
711 months ago
I need some help whittling down my options for ScreenBurn! Who would you like to see me cover at SXSW for Cruzearati?
Catch me at SXSW!
011 months ago
Another year, another SXSW Interactive! This is probably my busiest SXSW ever, but here’s a rundown of the events and companies I’ll be covering for Cruzearati:
ScreenBurn
SXSW ScreenBurn is the video game element of the South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive festival that merges the new media, music, film and video game industries all in one place. ScreenBurn connects independent developers, publishers, consumers, digital media professionals, and internet trend-setters and taste-makers from all around the world who attend SXSW.
SXSW Accelerator
A live audience, as well as a panel of expert judges will discover advancements in music related technologies. The best part? Product demonstrations by the most ambitious talents in the world with the most creative new ideas to change it. A glimpse of the industry’s future awaits, with a guided tour by emcees Brad King and David Hyman. We are grateful to them, as well as to our sponsors: Microsoft BizSpark, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, IBM, .CO, and Turner Broadcasting System.
Plutopia
To be held in Austin on Monday, March 14th, 2011, the event will be thoughtfully positioned as a well-crafted link between SXSW Interactive, Film and Music. Furthering our mission and intent to create unique “sense events,” this year’s extravaganza will include interactive installations, performances by world-renowned musicians / artists, talks, art exhibits, compelling projections, DJs, demonstrations, performance art, robots, projections, gaming fun, locally produced, artisanal food and beverages, and much more.
And finally, of course, I’ll be at the gdgt Live in Austin party on Monday night as well. Come say hi, get some great swag, and get hands-on time with tons of technology vendors.
I’ll be tweeting and posting video clips of everything, so stay tuned to my Twitter page and Cruze-arati.com!
Two new books to check out
011 months ago
Two people whose opinions and thoughts I value very highly have just released new books, and they’re doozies! Gary Vaynerchuk and Jane McGonigal write about very different subject matters; Gary talks about how you can take advantage of the current economy and new ways of reaching your audience to plant the seeds for your own success, while Jane explains that video games can actually help to make us better, more well rounded people, and possibly even change the world. In a good way, not the “we’re all going to turn into giant couch slugs with violent dispositions” kind of way.
Actually, I should let them speak for themselves:
Both of their books are currently available on Amazon, and they’re well worth the read.
The Thank You Economy by Gary Vaynerchuk
Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World by Jane McGonigal
The Mary Sue launches
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The Mary Sue, a new blog dedicated to subject matters of interest to the discerning geekess, launched this week. I learned about it on Twitter from Laughing Squid, who was linking to their most recent post, “10 Women Who Secretly Control The Internet,” and I was immediately impressed by the content on the site.
There are plenty of “geek girl” sites out there, but The Mary Sue has a slightly different MO than a lot of them:
We know the point at which you would be satisfied is to just be able to geek out with all geeks, of any gender, without feeling like your femininity is front and center for scrutiny. To not feel like you have to work harder than guys to prove that you’re genuinely into geek culture. We want simple things, like to be able to visit a comic book store without feeling out of place. To be able to buy a video game without getting the sense that the cashier thinks we’re buying it for someone else.
But mainly we just want to be able to pursue our hobbies with the other people who share them. We want to play with the boys.
So there are two reasons why there should be more out there devoted specifically to the female geek.
Because even if we want to play with the boys, there is a value to having our own space.
And also, because of this.
I did take a little offense to one comment on their mission statement, which proclaims:
I have never met a geek girl who was even halfway interested in almost anything Cosmopolitan had to say. We were too busy reading Cicada and Popular Science when we were the age that Teen Magazine wanted our attention. [...] The only celebrity gossip I care about is who’s on what project next, the only fashion I’m interested is where to get Batman shirts that allow for boobs.
Never? Not once? I don’t know, I like fashion and makeup and other “girly” things… sure, The Mary Sue won’t be my place for info like that, but it also doesn’t mean that I should feel like less of a geek for being into those things. Am I reading into it too much? Perhaps. But girls who are interested in those things, but want to be more involved in geek culture too, could be a little threatened/intimidated by statements like that.
Overall, I’m super-excited to see what The Mary Sue has up her sleeves. I even subscribed to the newsletter, which is highly unusual for me (I want less email, not more). And if I want my daily mix of geek, fashion, makeup and gossip, I’ve still got my fleet of Sugar sites to keep up with!