by MATTHEW WOODLEY

Being a geek ain't what it used to be. Though the pocket-protector-sporting anti-socialite can still be found muttering in basements here and there, the gadgets they've spawned have been co-opted by all from the Internet fridge user to the art-making everywoman. To see the latter at work, just take a look inside Studio XX.

What began in 1995 as a centre to give women access to digital technology has evolved into an experimental lab of sorts, a home to digitally-produced art and a place to play with creation tools as well as to actually build them. "The situation with technology is a lot different than what it used to be," says XX regular and board member Bernie Bankrupt. "Now there's a lot more accessible training through technical colleges and things like that, so the role in which we're seeing ourselves is in not necessarily higher-tech range, but more experimental stuff."

Ms. Bankrupt, to the unacquainted, is one of the gals behind the bleeps and blops of Montreal electro outfit Lesbians on Ecstasy as well as one half of the electroacoustic duo Boyfriend. No stranger to the creation side of digital music and art, she sees a gap in the breadth of people who are actually building the creation tools. "Women are participating on the user side of all that technology just as much as men," she says, "but if we look at the impact technology has on people's lives and who the creators are, we see for the vast majority that they're men. We want to be able to intercept in that area and create a space where women's voices are prevalent. We wanna get our hands dirty."

One way to dirty one's hands at Studio XX is through their new Linux project lab. The oft-misunderstood computer operating system, hiding in the shadows of Microsoft and art-centric Apple, is the only open-source of the three big ones, meaning that the code used to design is public - you can go under the hood, as it were. Along with its socialist plusses, Studio XX sees open-source as an excellent way for artists to work with the programs that shape their art. "If you go to different centres in Europe," Bankrupt says, "whether or not they have a feminist mandate, you'll see a lot of open-source software and experimental programming, and that's not something that's in Montreal very much right now. Studio XX is fulfilling a very important gap."

This weekend Studio XX is throwing a tech-heavy fundraising bash to push their mandate and spread the word about their projects. New York artist Monica Praba Pilar is coming to perform the premiere of her Computers Are a Girl's Best Friend, a feminist-charged take on De Beers diamond company's 1953-produced musical Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and the theme song "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend," as well as hosting an interactive computer seminar. She's also taking part in the Cabaret Techno at the Darling foundry, which includes Alexis O'Hara, Julie Méalin, kondition pluriel, Lesbians on Ecstasy, Nathalie Derome and more - all in all a new breed of geek, with, of course, plenty of gadgets.

Cabaret Techno, hosted by Alexis O'Hara, May 22, 8pm–4am at Quartier Éphémère (745 Ottawa), $12–$15. For more info on workshops and Studio XX, call 845-7935 or visit www.studioxx.org