SMT5800

after much deliberation i decided on a new phone. i'm going to get the SMT5800 (Verizon Wireless's version of the HTC Vox). it's a Windows Mobile Standard smart phone with a full slide-out qwerty keyboard as well as the standard numerical keyboard on the front.

i was also considering the more powerful and more expensive Samsung SCH-i760 (cnet review), which has a touchscreen. but it's too big and bulky for a cell phone. this dude just switched from the SCH-i760 to the SMT5800. his pictures show the size comparison.

i was also considering the LG Voyager, but i figure the SMT5800 is more like a computer and can do more stuff.

also there's the Blackberry Pearl but that doesn't have a full qwerty keyboard. the version that does (the Blackberry Curve) isn't offered by Verizon Wireless. plus, the blackberry keys are so small compared to a slide-out qwerty keyboard.

so anyway, the SMT5800 seems fairly compact, has a large enough screen, has a full qwerty slide-out keyboard, can open microsoft office files, and isn't going to break the bank.

UPDATE: here's a youtube video review of the phone.

Clarinets Rule

Buffet makes these clarinets now that are 95% grenadilla dust (the dark African wood) and 5% carbon fiber and epoxy resin. They're called "Green Line." Neat, eh? Whatever happened to my old clarinet? Chris, are you playing that now in marching band?

I'm listening to Mozart's Clarinet Concerto in A Major on the Mozart wikipedia site. Man, the internet's amazing. Wikipedia and Youtube are so useful. Even Google which we take for granted now. Kids in rural nowhere or wherever have access to everything we do. The world is flat like that idiot billionaire crap columnist Tom Friedman says.