This is one of those times I’m gonna vent. So get ready…

Yesterday I was at Costco to get meat to make my world famous Souvlaki when I decided on a whim to purchase an Apple iPod Touch. This thing sells for $489, so right off the bat it had better be good.

Now, I don’t know jack about iPods or iPhones, but the signs in Costco all said something about coming with the latest greatest software functionality and they tell you all these things you can do with it… surf the web, watch movies, etc. So, I left the store happy and went home to give it a try.
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I just had to give up my Sprint powered PPC8800 for a Blackberry Curve 8310 so I could be on the communal rate plan and also have real-time Exchange access for e-mail at work. After doing so it forced me to do a lot of research on applications and ways to better my Curve.

I figured some other people are going to go looking for this info as well, so I’ve compiled what I learned here. Its not my most organized post, but there is a lot of information and I didn’t want to spend forever getting the post out. Hopefully if anyone knows of other cool, free stuff for the BB you’ll drop a comment below and let me know.
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This is so completely off the hook geeky that it is wickedly cool… So, if anyone is looking for an excuse to get me a present, here is the number one idea. A shirt with animated bars that actually detect WiFi signals.

Better yet, it’s available for only $30 at ThinkGeek.com.

Product Features

• Glowing animated shirt dynamically displays the current wi-fi signal strength.
• Shows signal strength for 802.11b or 802.11g
• Black 100% Cotton T-Shirt
• Animated Decal is Removable (with hook and loop fasteners) for Easy Washing
• Battery Pack is Concealed in a Small Pocket Sewn Inside the Shirt
• Runs for hours off three AAA Batteries (not included)

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This toy is ridiculous. It’s like taking the Furby entirely to the next level.

I was at Sam’s Club (the warehouse equivalent of Wal-Mart) when I came across this miniature robotic pony, and I whipped out my cell phone and took the attached video.

I can’t believe these things even exist, and it just shows how close we are to having little robots walking around playing with our kids.
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I recently purchased and tested out the Sanyo Xacti VPC-E1 (I love Amazon’s Free Shipping!) waterproof camcorder to determine if it was going to be a workable solution for snorkeling around a coral reef on an upcoming trip to Hawaii.

In playing with the camera at home I determined that the video quality was much better than I expected, and photos were decent quality for a 6.37 MP camera. I guess I had been expecting to give up some quality in order to gain a waterproof form factor, but apparently Sanyo didn’t think that was necessary!
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OK. I’m man enough to admit that I don’t really like beer. But I know that most of my friends do, and if you are reading this article I suppose there is a good chance you, or someone you know does too!

So, everyone knows that the best beer comes straight out of a keg. But who has the room to stick one of those in their kitchen? Especially complete with a full sized keg refrigerator! Well, fret not my little cheeky-monkeys – you don’t have to! Now there is the Mini Beer Keg Dispenser which you can pick up for about $229 and leave permanently displayed on your kitchen counter.
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Greg, this one’s for you!

Ok, so months ago I was talking to my buddy Greg about wireless routers, and I mentioned that you can get this upgraded firmware which will drastically improve your range and add features. Then, I totally forgot to send that information to him. But don’t worry, it’s not the only thing he’s waiting on. I still haven’t delivered a piece of art he ordered like a year ago! (Sorry Kim!)

Anyway, now that I’m done admitting my inadequacies, it’s time to redeem myself – at least partially. So, if you are the owner of a Linksys WRT54G series router (only like THE most popular router ever sold), then follow along to change it into something almost unrecognizably better than what you currently have!
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I’ve been holding off on sharing this information, which is really mostly rumor and speculation, up to this point – but Google is supposedly readying the launch of a new cellular phone which will come GPS and have built in access to Google Maps, Gmail, Calendar and Docs.

Google previously bid for the FCC’s 700MHz wireless spectrum, one which could be used to operate a new Google cellular phone service, and as I previously reported they acquired GrandCentral (I handed out around 75 invites to the beta service), a unified messaging platform which provides “find-me, follow-me” service, voice mail, and other goodies.
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This review of the Canon XH A1 Camcorder is going to be a little different from any other you might read for one primary reason, this is the first camcorder I’ve ever owned. That’s right folks, my first camcorder was a high-dollar Prosumer model because if I can’t do it right I don’t want to do it at all.

I had some difficulty with actually purchasing this camcorder. First, I couldn’t find a local retailer anywhere in Dallas. So, I had to turn to the Web.

I tried Abes of Maine with disastrous results, then I ordered it from Amazon and got free next day shipping (yeah!), but it turns out I got a defective one with a documented Iris ring problem (boo!), but a 5 minute discussion with an Amazon rep resulted in them shipping me a new one along with an RMA to send the defective one back (yeah!).
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I can’t think of the last time I fell in love with a piece of hardware so fast as I did the Belkin N1 Vision Wireless Gigabit Router (Model: F5D8232-4).

I saw it on the shelf at Best Buy while looking to replace my crappy old Netgear router, and after reading some of the literature I could not resist grabbing the only one they had to take it home and give it a try – despite the $200 price tag.

I picked it up for two primary reasons:

• The cool display on the outside of the router actually looked like it could be useful for seeing what is going on with the connectivity.
• The box claimed a freakishly long range, which I reasoned would be worth it if I could actually get coverage throughout my large house.

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In two words, it sucks.

Now, on to the detail. First of all, I paid $179 for this router earlier this year. I had upgraded to this router primarily for two reasons: I wanted more range, and I wanted Gigabit ports for my wired LAN.

It turns out that I did get slightly better range on my Wireless G laptop than my previous Linksys wireless router, but only slightly. For example my old Linksys router wouldn’t reach from my home office to my bedroom at all, and the Netgear WNR854T did reach… but just barely. I averaged only one bar and this made surfing from bed an excruciatingly poor experience.
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Remember that scene in Star Wars where R2D2 projected Princess Leah’s message into thin air? Well, it only took about 20 years to pull it off, but finally someone has actually invented it!
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