Catherine Schwartz
Encyclopedia
Catherine Michelle Schwartz (often called Cat for short) (born May 27, 1977) is an American
television
personality perhaps best known for her former role as co-host on the TechTV
television program
Call for Help with Leo Laporte
.
Communication Arts and Sociology
from San Francisco State University
.
, Schwartz became co-host of Call for Help in 2002 with then co-host Chris Pirillo
. After Pirillo left TechTV in April 2003, former host Leo Laporte returned to co-host with Schwartz. Call for Help was cancelled in May 2004 after TechTV's merger with G4, resulting in G4techTV
.
In the period after the cancellation of Call for Help, Schwartz appeared as a G4techTV technology expert on the Today Show segment "Gender Wars". She also made guest appearances on short segments of The Screen Savers. She later signed-on as a columnist with Stuff Magazine
, with a column entitled, "Ask the Tech Chick".
She also appears in the music video
Strange New Element by the band Low Water. Near the end of the video, she makes an appearance with fellow TechTV personalities Morgan Webb
, Sarah Lane
, Chi-Lan Lieu
and Sumi Das
.
On an episode of The Screen Savers
, Schwartz claimed to have invented the Swiffer
during her days as a college intern
. Schwartz has said that she receives no royalties and signed away her rights to the product as part of Procter & Gamble's
policy.
In the early part of 2005, Schwartz and her friend Wynter Mitchell (Screen Savers teleprompter
operator) started a podcast
, which stopped on May 10, 2005. It was updated with two posts - one on July 31, 2007 and the other on August 5, 2007 but has not been updated since.
In 2008, Schwartz became a gadget and toy director for eBay Insider, a blog which claims to give consumers information from experts in their field, based on searches for products found on eBay.
community when it was discovered that at least two cropped photographs of herself she had posted on her personal blog
contained hidden Exif
thumbnail
images clearly showing her bared breasts, because the program she used to edit them, Photoshop, did not create replacement thumbnails.
On November 25, 2005, Schwartz married South Park
editor Keef Bartkus in Las Vegas
, Nevada
. Her married name is Catherine Michelle Bartkus but she retains the last name Schwartz in professional contexts. They divorced in 2007.
In June, 2006, Schwartz gave birth to a son, named Jack.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
personality perhaps best known for her former role as co-host on the TechTV
TechTV
TechTV was a 24-hour cable and satellite channel based in San Francisco featuring news and shows about computers, technology, and the Internet. In 2004, it merged with the G4 gaming channel which ultimately dissolved TechTV programming...
television program
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
Call for Help with Leo Laporte
Leo Laporte
Léo Gordon Laporte is an Emmy Award winning, American technology broadcaster, author, and entrepreneur. A former resident of Providence, Rhode Island, he now lives in Petaluma, California with his wife Jennifer and two children, Abby and Henry....
.
Early years
Schwartz earned degrees in BroadcastBroadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
Communication Arts and Sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
from San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University is a public university located in San Francisco, California. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers over 100 areas of study from nine academic colleges...
.
Career
After a stint on TechTV's The Screen SaversThe Screen Savers
The Screen Savers was a live American TV show on TechTV. The show launched concurrently with the channel ZDTV on May 11, 1998. The Screen Savers originally centered around computers, new technologies, and their adaptations in the world...
, Schwartz became co-host of Call for Help in 2002 with then co-host Chris Pirillo
Chris Pirillo
Christopher Joseph Pirillo is the founder and maintainer of Lockergnome, which is a network of blogs, web forums, mailing lists, and online communities. He spent two years hosting the TechTV television program Call for Help, where he also hosted the first annual Call-for-Help-a-Thon...
. After Pirillo left TechTV in April 2003, former host Leo Laporte returned to co-host with Schwartz. Call for Help was cancelled in May 2004 after TechTV's merger with G4, resulting in G4techTV
G4techTV
G4techTV was a cable and satellite channel resulting from a merger between Comcast-owned G4 and TechTV. The headquarters is based in Los Angeles...
.
In the period after the cancellation of Call for Help, Schwartz appeared as a G4techTV technology expert on the Today Show segment "Gender Wars". She also made guest appearances on short segments of The Screen Savers. She later signed-on as a columnist with Stuff Magazine
Stuff (magazine)
Stuff is a men's magazine featuring reviews of consumer electronics, and other articles of interest to a predominantly male audience.- UK edition :...
, with a column entitled, "Ask the Tech Chick".
She also appears in the music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
Strange New Element by the band Low Water. Near the end of the video, she makes an appearance with fellow TechTV personalities Morgan Webb
Morgan Webb
Morgan Ailis Webb is a co-host and senior segment producer of the G4 show X-Play, and host of the show G4 Underground...
, Sarah Lane
Sarah Lane
Sarah Christina Lane is an American television and Internet personality. She is most notably known for her appearances on TechTV's The Screen Savers, G4's Attack of the Show!, and Revision3's popSiren...
, Chi-Lan Lieu
Chi-Lan Lieu
Chi-Lan Lieu previously worked on the TechTV show Fresh Gear as a correspondent until it was canceled following the merger of TechTV and G4. She later became an on-air contributor for The Screen Savers in November of 2004 until departing the network in January of 2005.Chi-Lan appears in the music...
and Sumi Das
Sumi Das
Sumi Das is the former co-host of TechTV's Fresh Gear. On July 3, 2003, she left TechTV to join the cable news channel MSNBC as a reporter. While there, she reported from Modesto, California on the Scott Peterson trial....
.
On an episode of The Screen Savers
The Screen Savers
The Screen Savers was a live American TV show on TechTV. The show launched concurrently with the channel ZDTV on May 11, 1998. The Screen Savers originally centered around computers, new technologies, and their adaptations in the world...
, Schwartz claimed to have invented the Swiffer
Swiffer
Swiffer is a line of cleaning products by Procter and Gamble. Introduced in 1999, the brand uses the "razor-and-blades business model"; in this case, the consumer purchases the handle assembly at a low price, but must continue to purchase replacement refills and pads over the life of the product...
during her days as a college intern
Intern
Internship is a system of onthejob training for white-collar jobs, similar to an apprenticeship. Interns are usually college or university students, but they can also be high school students or post graduate adults seeking skills for a new career. They may also be as young as middle school or in...
. Schwartz has said that she receives no royalties and signed away her rights to the product as part of Procter & Gamble's
Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble is a Fortune 500 American multinational corporation headquartered in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio and manufactures a wide range of consumer goods....
policy.
In the early part of 2005, Schwartz and her friend Wynter Mitchell (Screen Savers teleprompter
Teleprompter
An autocue is a display device that prompts the person speaking with an electronic visual text of a speech or script. Using a teleprompter is similar to the practice of using cue cards...
operator) started a podcast
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
, which stopped on May 10, 2005. It was updated with two posts - one on July 31, 2007 and the other on August 5, 2007 but has not been updated since.
In 2008, Schwartz became a gadget and toy director for eBay Insider, a blog which claims to give consumers information from experts in their field, based on searches for products found on eBay.
Personal life
In June 2003 Schwartz became the subject of a stir in the InternetInternet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
community when it was discovered that at least two cropped photographs of herself she had posted on her personal blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
contained hidden Exif
Exchangeable image file format
Exchangeable image file format is a standard that specifies the formats for images, sound, and ancillary tags used by digital cameras , scanners and other systems handling image and sound files recorded by digital cameras...
thumbnail
Thumbnail
Thumbnails are reduced-size versions of pictures, used to help in recognizing and organizing them, serving the same role for images as a normal text index does for words...
images clearly showing her bared breasts, because the program she used to edit them, Photoshop, did not create replacement thumbnails.
On November 25, 2005, Schwartz married South Park
South Park
South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
editor Keef Bartkus in Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
, Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
. Her married name is Catherine Michelle Bartkus but she retains the last name Schwartz in professional contexts. They divorced in 2007.
In June, 2006, Schwartz gave birth to a son, named Jack.