GEEK SHOW

June 25, 2012 – On a PC or Mac, Spotify is great. The app is easy to download and install, and the ad-supported free version of the online music streaming service works well enough that casual listeners don't need to shell out $5-$10 per month for Spotify's premium features.

June 20, 2012 – Microsoft held a surprise press conference in Los Angeles this week to reveal its new Surface touchscreen tablet. Surface looks sleek and sexy, and hopes to compete against the iPad and even potentially replace your laptop. Of course, in true Microsoft fashion, it starts getting confusing right away. There will be two versions of Surface, which look nearly the same but will work almost entirely differently.

June 15, 2012 – I love my 15-inch MacBook Pro. Let's get that out of the way first. It's my main work machine, and I do everything on it from writing articles to playing Diablo III to teaching an online course at NYU. A better all-around laptop would be hard to find.

June 11, 2012 – If you've been saving up your pennies for the next big video game console, you've pretty much got one choice, the new Wii U from Nintendo. That's the big takeaway from this year's E3 video game trade show, where tens of thousands of game industry types gathered to show off their latest virtual wares.

June 8, 2012 – Using an iPad-like tablet controller instead of the motion-control wands of the original Wii (although you can still use those as well), the Wii U had its formal coming-out party at E3 2012, a massive trade show for video games and the geeks who love them.

May 30, 2012 – The eyes of video-game fans turn to Los Angeles each spring for the Electronic Entertainment Expo. Better known as E3, this trade show, running June 4-7, is a launchpad for new video games, game consoles, and accessories, and is anchored by news-making press conferences from Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo.