Be Smart

There aren't many things that annoy me about writing about technology for a living. Having permission to ring the founder of Postsecret and ask him about his vision for the site? Not horrendous. Being offered new gadgets to trial before they are even on sale? I can deal with it. Writing about a fun topic I enjoy learning more about as time goes by? Two words spring to mind: cushy gig.

But one thing is hard to cope with, and that's being patronised on a regular basis.

When you say you're a woman who writes about technology, you still receive looks of astonishment or disapproval, even in 2008. When you put out a call for technology press releases of interest to women, you'll still be inundated with cellulite zappers and baby monitors (what, women don't like games consoles, laptops and cellphones?) even in 2008.

Things are getting better, and one of the reasons I love Popgadget is that it's woman-friendly - which doesn't mean it features pictures of half-naked women straddling new technology while giving seductive looks to the camera. Unlike some places I could mention (but won't).

The number of tech-savvy women does thankfully seem to be growing, online at least, so here's my shout-out to some of my favorites: