No.10 Wendy Cheng
Since starting her blog back in 2003, Wendy Cheng has slowly but surely established herself as one of the most original and opinionated voices within the increasingly crowded blogosphere. Although being one of the hottest women in tech has helped her success, Wendy’s ability to put her own off-kilter spin on the most mundane topics has won her a veritable legion of loyal followers, yet there’s little doubt that she has also managed to accumulate almost as many detractors. And Wendy’s brutal honesty on estrogen-centric topics, such as sex, dating and fashion, has made her an icon with the fairer sex. Wendy’s burgeoning fame has certainly provided her with a number of high-profile outlets from which to spout her opinions -- including Maxim, where she sometimes appears as a columnist -- and she also delivers regular vidcasts on clicknetwork.tv.
No.9 Blair Butler
Blair Butler’s background as a stand-up comedian has certainly served her well thus far into her career, as she has managed to establish herself as one of the most naturally funny (and flat-out gorgeous) tech pundits of her generation. Blair got her start working some of the roughest stages in the country as a comedian, though she soon found herself amassing a small but loyal following. Her increased exposure within the world of comedy -- including a spot on Comedy Central’s Premium Blend program -- brought her to the attention of some higher-ups at G4, where she was quickly hired as head writer for X-Play. Blair’s natural charisma and quick-thinking demeanor made her an ideal fit for on-camera work, and it wasn’t long before she started popping up in a number of X-Play’s recurring sketches. Blair was later assigned her own segment on the program in which she reviewed recent comic book releases. She can also be seen on the G4 website in a recurring bit entitled "Geek Out."
No.8 Kristen Holt
The last thing one expects from a former cheerleader and American Idol contestant is anything even resembling tech-savvy, but Kristen Holt has long-since proved her credibility and prowess within the industry. After a stint as a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, Kristen got her first taste of the entertainment biz with a gig as a Texas-based radio morning show host. An aspiring singer, Kristen’s decision to try out for the second season of American Idol proved to be especially fortuitous as, even though she didn’t win, she so impressed FOX executives that they hired her as a special correspondent for season three. Kristen parlayed her newfound fame into a job as the host of G4’s Cheat! television show, where she established herself as a funny, effortlessly cool, impossibly attractive object of our lust. In addition to her ongoing duties on Cheat!, Kristen is keeping exceedingly busy by recording a debut album with her band, Stranger Days, working as a tech reporter for G4’s Attack of the Show, and acting as the host for a new DVD game called Shout About Television.
No.7 Amanda Congdon
Amanda Congdon is one of the hottest women in tech because she possesses the sort of unattainable looks one associates with a supermodel, yet she has certainly proved herself to be a far more complex figure than your regular clotheshorse. Amanda’s desire to be an actress was initially trumped by her need to make a living, and she consequently worked at an advertising agency following her graduation from Northwestern University. She slowly but surely branched out into the entertainment world by taking any and all jobs within the industry she could get her hands on, but her big break came after she landed a gig on "Rocketboom," a daily videoblog. Her bubbly personality and her ability to poke fun at herself transformed her into an instant hit, and Amanda soon found herself broadcasting before a daily audience of over 300,000 people. Amanda stuck with "Rocketboom" for almost two years before she left to start an online endeavor of her own -- "AmandaAcrossAmerica" -- in which she documents her travels across the country in a hybrid vehicle. Amanda is currently in the process of expanding her reach beyond the internet, as she’s developing a comedic TV show with HBO.
No.6 Veronica Belmont
As the daughter of two toy executives, Veronica Belmont adopted her off-kilter, tech-savvy persona at an exceedingly young age. After graduating from Emerson College (where she majored in audio production and new media studies), Veronica landed an internship at CNET as an audio producer within their business technology division. She parlayed that experience into a gig as a producer for their online videos, and also acted as a producer/sound engineer for CNET’s “Buzz Out Loud” podcast. In September 2006, Veronica was upgraded to cohost of “Buzz Out Loud” and she also began popping up in that capacity on a pair of CNET podcasts (“MP3 Insider” and “CRAVE Gadget Blog”). Less than a year later, Veronica left CNET for a high-profile gig at a new search engine entitled Mahalo, where she produced a daily tech-centric video show until April 2008.
No.5 Cali Lewis
Cali Lewis possesses the kind of success story that would make anybody envious, as she now ranks among some of the best and brightest within the podcasting world -- as well as one of the hottest women in tech. Cali, along with husband Neal, started up a website devoted to short tech-based podcasts entitled GeekBrief.TV, despite the fact that the two had absolutely no experience with video production. Yet, Cali’s plucky demeanor and drop-dead gorgeous looks ensured the show’s success, and -- having gone from a viewership of a couple thousand to millions of downloads a month -- the couple was able to quit their full-time jobs and focus their time exclusively on the site. Cali has been keeping busy in other avenues as well: In addition to taking over for Amber MacArthur on the final episodes of TechTV’s Call for Help, she has also launched a tech-advice blog entitled "Dear Cali," appeared on Ustream.tv, and started a podcast show devoted entirely to Apple’s iPhone.
No.4 Olivia Munn
Though it’s hard to imagine her as anything but a geek goddess, Olivia Munn started out her career as an actress and a sportscaster. Olivia’s appearances in low-rent, straight-to-video titles like Scarecrow Gone Wild and The Road to Canyon Lake led to a gig as an on-air reporter for FOX Sports Net, where she first became aware of her desire to pursue work as a television personality. In 2006, Olivia successfully auditioned to replace Sarah Lane as cohost of G4’s popular Attack of the Show program and became an instant hit among viewers thanks to her seemingly effortless on-camera charisma (and her eye-candy status didn’t hurt her cause either). She has since worked on various other shows and podcasts for the network, and she’s currently basking in her return to the world of acting with appearances in a pair of theatrical releases (including Rob Schneider’s directorial debut, Big Stan).
No.3 Jessica Chobot
When a coy modeling photo of Jessica Chobot licking the Sony PSP appeared online, she became an overnight internet sensation. Fondling the PSP turned out to be a genius career move for Jessica Chobot, and it didn't take long for her to abandon her modeling career in favor of the other opportunities that were opening up for her in video game and entertainment journalism. The anime-obsessed Chobot, who goes by the gamer handle The Baroness, has contributed to FHM UK, Mania.com, and has appeared numerous times on G4's Filter and Attack of the Show. She also hosted a video game preview segment for Fuel TV’s “The Daily Habit.” In 2006, IGN hired Chobot to host the network's IGN Weekly show, where she appears in both studio segments and "on-the-street" pieces. She also currently writes for the IGN website, and her blog is one of the most popular on the site. She is a weekly guest on Maxim Radio, where she answers caller questions for an hour every Monday. As if all that's not enough, she is currently penning a script with TRON writer Steven Lisberger, titled Soul Code and slated for release in 2009.
No.2 Morgan Webb
Born in Toronto, Canada, Morgan Webb’s prowess within the tech sector has become legendary over the last few years, hence her inclusion as one of the hottest women in tech. She got a job as a website administrator straight out of college and followed that up with a stint as a producer and web researcher on TechTV’s The Screen Savers program. Morgan’s girl-next-door looks and bubbly personality quickly led to recurring on-air appearances as one of the show’s computer experts, and because of her increasing popularity with viewers it wasn’t long before Morgan was being asked to guest host the series on select occasions. She landed a gig as cohost of TechTV’s X-Play series, and parlayed her burgeoning success into a stint as a video-game columnist for FHM magazine. Until January 2009, Morgan could be seen videoblogging on a daily basis for WebbAlert, where she ran down the most prominent and interesting tech-related tidbits of the moment.
No.1 Amber MacArthur
Amber MacArthur’s background within the tech sector -- she has worked for Microsoft and Razorfish, among others -- has resulted in the kind of credibility many of her contemporaries would kill for, and it’s hard to imagine a more ideal candidate for our hottest women in tech list. Although she got her start as a reporter on Canada’s CBC, Amber first came to our attention during her stint as the cohost of G4TechTV Canada’s Call for Help. Amber also played a substantial role on the network's other shows, including Gadgets and Gizmos and Torrent, and became known for a weekly vidcast called "commandN." Amber had an enduring tenure on Toronto’s CityTV news broadcast, where she functioned as the station’s new media specialist, but she now fulfills that role at CP24. At any rate, Amber can’t help but come off as that rare beauty who’s as smart as she is attractive.
