Last time Diamaou of AkihabraNews enriched us with his views and thoughts and now, we have a geek chick with us.

She is none other than Helena, the Editor in Chief from the distinguished NY-based ChipChick.com that looks at technology and the gadgets from a girl’s prospective.

Although she was very busy with some of her very important projects but I was lucky enough to get some time out of her busy schedule to ask her a few questions. Let’s not waste any more time to know more about the geek chick Helena. Here you go...

Naveen: First, let us know why the name Chip Chick? You just came across this name or is there any solid reason for that?

Helena: A friend of mine came up with the name. She chose the word Chip because of computer processor chips. She then threw in Chick - because well, that is what I am :) When she came to me with the name, it just felt very suitable.

Naveen: Certainly, there should be poise between style, looks and the technological aspect of a gizmo. Are today’s manufacturers hitting the right cord with this reverence?

Helena: I think that they are getting there. But often they miss the mark and emphasize style over substance or vice versa.

Naveen: The way you present things on your blog, you seem to give wings to your femininity, isn’t it?

Helena: If by “wings” you mean that we aren’t ALWAYS that feminine. Yes, that is true.

Naveen: Let me know one thing, how do you define a girly gadget? Do you take just the color aspect and the make into notice or something else?

Helena: For me, any attribute that is stereotypically identified as girly generally applies to gadgets as well. So if a gadget is pink or purple, emblazoned with a floral pattern or an adorable pet - it would definitely fit my definition of a girly gadget. However, there is a whole category of gadgets that might not look feminine but they have become so widely used by women that they become “girly gadgets” as well. The DS Lite is a good example.

Naveen: What are the five most important gadgets you own, or cannot live without?

Helena: 1) I go through phones at unhealthy rate, unhealthy for my wallet that is. But my current phone, the Treo 750 has been my faithful buddy for a few months now and I don’t know how I ever lived without it.

2) I have a 5G ipod with Video as well, but I’ve mostly been using my Shuffle lately. With my regular ipod, it’s like, oh no - I don’t want to carry around yet another heavy gadget in my bag unless I’m travelling and want to watch videos. But for daily walks and errands, the Shuffle’s light weight and ease of use is perfect.

3) My portable Lacie Porsche hard drive with 60GB, a 7,200 RPM hard drive and firewire and USB ports. I use it for carrying around video footage and multimedia project files.

4) My MacBook. I wish it was lighter and that it had an Express Card slot, but other then that it’s an essential part of my everyday life.

5) My Nintendo DS Lite, because I can never seem to get enough of those plumbers.

Naveen: You certainly keep tab on the certain blogs. Tell us about your ‘must-read’ blogs?

Helena: Well there are the usual big guys - Gizmodo, Crave, Engadget, etc

I also read JKOnTheRun, Dvorak Uncensored, Pocket PC Thoughts, Download Squad, just to name a few. I use MyYahoo to keep tabs on all of them.

And I like reading other “girly” gadget blogs like PopGadget, Shiny Shiny...

Naveen: If you are asked to choose “Three Sexiest Geeks Alive”, who will be the lucky ones to be in the list?

Helena: At the moment I can’t think of any geeks that I know of that are sexy and that are living. It feels wrong putting “sexy” and someone like Bill gates in the same sentence. Can I choose a fictional character like Clark Kent instead?

Naveen: Which technology is you’re most excited about right now?

Helena: I’ve been using Spinvox’s Spin-my-Vmail service which transforms voicemail in to text which gets sent to you as text messages and/or email. I’ve always hated listening to voicemail - it feels like such a waste of time. I’m sure that whomever leaves me voicemail is probably insulted right now, but for me Spin-my-Vmail has been such a time saver.

Naveen: The whole Internet is moving towards Web 2.0. How you’re trying to absorb its quintessence into Chip Chick and what would you suggest to other blogs?

Helena: Whenever we spot a Web 2.0 service that is offering a cool service we write about it on Chip Chick. There are so many cool web 2.0 services out there - it’s really hard to keep tabs on it all. My advice to other blogs and to everyone in general is to take advantage of what all these services have to offer, and since most of them are free there is no excuse not too. I also read CNet’s Webware, a great blog that keeps on top of Web 2.0 services.

Naveen: Finally, your views on Instablogs network?

Helena: I think you guys are doing a great job. You certainly have a large variety of different kind of blogs. I’m personally a fan of Born Rich. I also appreciate how your home page displays the latest excerpts from your different blogs in a very clear and concise manner. I don’t know of another blog network that has such an efficient set up.

I finally wish Helena and her team ‘Best of Luck’ for all their future endeavors!65899