Hello from the future

Guess what?

I got a T-Mobile Sidekick! That's one of those fancypants mobile phones that has a bunch of weird extra features. Specifically, it's got unlimited Internet connectivity, so I can read all the e-mail I want. And it's got a pretty good web browser, too.

It's also got a keyboard. That's good for me, because those PDAs that require the user to scribble on data pads seem to think I've got better command of my handwriting than I actually do. Those things always result in me muttering about the difference between a "y" and a "k". With this keyboard, I can form actual words. Yay!

So right now, I'm doing an update on it. If it works, it'll be real cool.

Especially because in about a week I'm going to be away from my computer. I'm going to be in Austin for JournalCon. I'm not guaranteeing anything, but I think I should be able to update directly from the road. Oh boy!

And even if I can't, this gizmo should be neat enough to give me some geek cred. That sort of thing's important, you know. I'm going to be at a hotel full of people with websites; nobody's going to be impressed just because I brought a laptop. This is exactly how the nuclear race got going; everyone needs technical superiority.

I love the keyboard on this thing. It's not a full-size keyboard, so there's an Alt key which I have to use to get to the punctuation. Except that the at sign has its own button. Because these days, you use @ a lot more than you used to. That means that / is on the 2. And I'm old enough to remember when " was on Shift-2. How many things are keyboard designers going to put on the 2 before they stop screwing with it?

Anyway. New Gadget. Out of town: full email access. Whee.