OK - so I am not the most consistent blogger in the world. Infact it is right down at the bottom of my list of priorities at the moment. I have a new job, my MSc studies take up a lot of time, and I am also embarking on a new business venture that is stressing me out a little, so there is ver little time left in my day.

However, as part of my current module we have to direct a learning event, and take part in the Learning event of others. The first one I have done in my group was to create a blog. Easy - I thought. Done this before. And indeed it was easy - blogs aren’t rocket science. But it did make me realise that I actually miss writing in my blog. In my first module we had to keep a private blog that I wrote in almost daily. Then I started this one to replace that, and I have been lax with this too. But there is something relaxing in writing stuff down - like keeping a diary that you can hide under your bed so your Mum can’t see what you have been up to.

So my (LATE) New Years resolution is to try to keep up the entries in this blog a little more regularly. Lets see if it lasts as long as the resolution about chocolate…

I am a girl - obviously, because Sarah would be a silly name for a boy. As a girl, even in this modern world of enlightenment and womens lib, there are still many expectations as to how I should live my life. One of those areas is the way I use technology.

Designers seem to asume that girls don’t ‘get’ gadgets, and that in order to get us to buy one they have only to paint it pink and we will be tripping over our little kitten heels to get down to Dixons to lay our manicured mitts on it. I have to admit (rather shamefaced) that my PSP is pink, but only because it was the most cost effective bundle and I find that I try to hide it when out in public.

We do not need to tempted with ‘girlie’ colours - we love a good gadget for the same reasons the boys do. And the same with games. I don’t want to play a game with kittens and fluffy puppies - I AM NOT SIX! I want a game with strategy and challenge.

I am a keen girlie-gamer and I am not alone - recent figures show that in the US in 1998, 48.6% of PC entertainment software buyers were women, while 51.4% of console software purchasers were women. Now that is a big but mainly silent market. And we dont all play “female-friendly” games.

I am a big fan of World of Warcraft which is a MMOG (Massively Multiplayer Online Game) which you would expect to be male dominated because of the quest based “shoot ‘em and gather” theme of the game.

And though male players still outnumber female, we are increasing in numbers, slaying dragons and freeing fair maidens as we go

There are even websites specifically geared towards women gamers, like WomenGamers.com

http://www.womengamers.com/ and GRRRLgamer.com so watch out boys, here come the girls!!