Blog Posts by GeekSugar,

Although I'm not surprised at the results of a recent Stanford study regarding our dirty cell phones, I am a bit shocked at just how gross they can get. A group of Stanford University students recently discovered that our cell phones are18 times dirtier than a toilet handle. That's pretty disgusting. Of course, if you take into account how many different communal surfaces our hands touch - door handles, elevator buttons, bus hand rails, etc. - then how many times we check our phones before washing our hands, you can see how the germs can really start to add up. Maybe you should consider cleaning your phone more often (same goes for your grungy keyboard and earbuds).
Using a 40/60 alcohol to water mixture on solid phone parts and keyboards should be OK for your devices (use a damp cloth and/or cotton swab for small and hard to reach places), however you do not want to use any sort of alcohol, ammonia, or harsh cleaning agent on touchscreens. In these cases, it's recommended that you

Now that you have narrowed down your Halloween costume options, it's time to pick out a pumpkin and start carving, baby! Need a little inspiration for your design? Then point your browsers to these sites that are packed with plenty of pumpkin carving templates for you to choose from. All of the templates are free, but heads-up - they may require site registration to download. So get to work! Those pumpkins won't stay fresh forever.

• Got a thing for video games? This site will likely have your favorite characters available in template form so you can turn your pumpkin into a video game superstar. Free sign-up is required to download.
• ThinkGeek held a geeky pumpkin template contest, which is chock-full of options for this year's carving festivities.
• I'm particularly partial to this site's free Ghostbusters template.
• The official Star Wars site is stocked with amazing templates - from easy to difficult - for you to download for free this Halloween.
• Take your pick!

October is one of my favorite months of the year. Temperatures cool, changing leaves of Fall set in, and it's capped with one of the geekiest holidays of the year - Halloween! Here, a few hot items I'm lusting after this month.

• DVF Kindle Cases ($85): Protect your investments while keeping up appearances with the latest edition Diane Von Furstenberg Kindle cases. Coming with stylish fabric outer layers, and smooth twill interiors, your Kindle goes from a gadget to a fashion statement in a flash. Grab your DVF Kindle 3 case on Amazon.
• Droid 2 R2D2 Edition ($200): Geek out! Not only is the Droid 2 a worthwhile purchase, but when paired with the Star Wars R2-D2 theme, it's a must have. Coming with limited edition wallpapers, home screens, sound effects, and apps, it's a geek's dream phone! Order your Droid 2 R2-D2 edition smartphone via Verizon Wireless.
• Eley Kishimoto Gadget Cases ($35-$80): Launching in honor of this year's London Fashion Week, Incase partnered

If you are a Project Runway fan like myself, you've seen the designers sketch on those HP TouchSmart tm2 tablets while they brainstorm designs.

But for contestant Mondo Guerra, teching out on the show turned into a life-changing experience in last week's HP Challenge episode. Like last season, the designers had to create a fabric based on a family memory using HP TouchSmart PCs. When they entered the room, the large PCs were loaded with photos of the designers' families on the TouchSmart's completely customizable interface, allowing the user to drag photos around the screen, add notes, and more.

I had a chance to speak with Mondo, the winner of the challenge, whose plus design was a workroom favorite but had some of the other designers curious as to his inspiration. It came as a huge shock when he revealed during judging that he has been HIV-positive for 10 years.

Last season they also had this challenge designing fabrics. Did you at all think that it was something

They're lovers, fighters, partiers, and coiners of ridiculous terms, but one thing the cast of Jersey Shore definitely isn't is high tech. At least not on the show. As with other MTV reality series like The Real World, the Jersey Shore house is equipped with only one house landline, and the cast members don't use any cell phones or computers during their stay. This has led to a number of made-for-TV moments. Check out my top five favorites from the Miami season after the break.

1. Definitely the most plot-centric use of technology on the show was when Snooki and JWOWW made the journey to an Internet cafe to write an anonymous letter to Sammi telling her that her sorta-boyfriend was kissing girls at the club. After all, they couldn't use their own handwriting, because then it would be totally obvious that they wrote it, right?
2. The guys collect scraps of paper with phone numbers whenever they go out. And then call every single number when their dates fall through.
3. JWOWW's

We all get a little lift from new gadgets, websites, and apps, but the addiction can escalate pretty quickly. A tweet here and an Apple store splurge there can spiral to an all-night Retail Therapy bender or Singstar marathon. Next thing you know, you're hiding the signs of staying up all night with makeup and venti soy lattes. Are you in a danger zone and in need of a techervention? Here are some telltale signs.

1. Your boyfriend surprises you with a couples spa weekend package and the first thing you say is, "Babe, does the hotel have WiFi?"
2. You own a Nook, Sony ereader, and Kindle.
3. Sleepingtime.org says you sleep less than five hours a night.
4. You know what Sleepingtime.org is.
5. You've wished for a tub shelf so you can soak in the bath and use your laptop at the same time.
6. You have more past-generation iPods and iPhones than days in the week. And then some.
7. You know where your third grade BFF vacationed last month and what she plans to make for

This week's announcement of new iPods piqued my interest not only as a lover of shiny, new toys, but also as a runner. The two smallest versions, the new iPod Shuffle and iPod Nano, are even more perfect for running (and other exercises). Here's why:

• The new Nano is tiny. - At just over 1 1/2 inches wide and just under 1 1/2 inches high, the new Nano is considerably smaller than the previous version - it's almost half the size! And it also weighs half as much as the previous version.
• The Shuffle's buttons are back. - The most recent version of the Shuffle was, in my opinion, a runner's nightmare. The design was sleek, but there were no buttons on the device itself, making it incredibly difficult to use with any other headphones other than the ones that came with the device. Now, the same familiar circular set of buttons have made a comeback.
• No more armbands! - Both the Nano and Shuffle come with clips to easily attach it to your shirt or shorts.

A few months ago an old email account of mine was hacked and started sending spam to everyone in my contact list. I've already posted a guide on how I handled it, but when the same thing recently happened to a co-worker, she was wondering how to appropriately apologize to friends and former colleagues that she hadn't talked to in years. Though you may be embarrassed, sending an email to let these people know that you are sorry is good form. See my top five tips on writing your apology email when you read more.

1. Send it! As much as you may want the whole thing to blow over, you need to send that email to your contact list to let your friends know that you've fixed the problem. They'll be happy to know that they shouldn't be expecting any more annoying messages from you anytime soon.
2. Personally reply to anyone who notified you about the spam to thank him or her. It's nice that they took time to alert you to the problem.
3. Use BCC. Yeah, everyone's email was already part of the