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What's in Your Gadget Bag, Cory?

Posted by michael on from the looks-like-someone-just-had-a-fax dept.

Cory Doctorow has taken a two-second break from his road warrior ways to pen this description of the crud he lugs around. Read it and weep, wanna-bes.

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  1. i'm a karma whore - for when it's ./ed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    What's in Your Gadget Bag, Cory?
    filed under gadgets

    Cory Doctorow is the Nerd Prince of Blogging: co-editor of the popular BoingBoing.net, acclaimed science fiction author, and advocate for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. A man this busy needs as much helps as he can get, and Cory isn't shy about what gadgets he finds useful (or awful):

    Fido Vtech prepaid mobile: this is the worst mobile phone I've ever owned. I have a bottom-of-the-line Nokia I use in Europe and a similar one that T-Mobile sold me in San Fran, and when I turned up in Toronto last week, I figured I'd just put a prepaid SIM into that one and go with it. However, the scumbags at T-Mobile *locked* the fucking thing, which meant that I had to go buy *another* phone (that's THREE phones in total, now!) and I ended up buying the Vtech used for 60 Canadian pesos at a counter in a Chinatown mall. It receives and sends SMS, but it doesn't have T9, so it's basically impossible to use for texting. The UI is utterly martian, like something designed by throwing dice, and the phone itself feels like it's made out of dried spittle and chewed-up paper. Worst. Ringtones. Evar. Oh, and it's FUCKING LOCKED to Fido. Rilly. Christ.

    Exilim EX-S3: This is the BEST camera I've ever owned. The 2MP version of this thing was the first camera I ever owned whose UI made perfect sense to me, the first one small enough to carry around in my pocket all the time. The 3MP version is every bit as slick (and now I'm lusting after the 4MP version with the fast mechanical zoom lens), but higher rez. My only complaint is that you can't charge it off of USB -- I try to charge all my devices off of USB from my laptop using ZipLinq retractable cables: saves on shlepping around a bunch of bricks and is a total lifesaver in Europe, where I need only adapt my laptop to the local plugs. The only downside of this thing: it is so GODDAMNED COOL that it's impossible to just whip it out and fire off a couple casual shots: someone will always come up and ask to fondle it and get their DNA all over it.

    iPod 40GB: I've taken to using this to store video as well as audio: I have about 30GB of music and audiobooks, and the remaining 10GB makes for enough storage for several DVDs' worth of ripped movies that I can watch on the road when I tether the iPod to my PowerBook. (Indispensable iPod accessory: iSkinz rubber casing; friggin' iPods scratch if you look at 'em crosseyed).

    15" PowerBook G4 1GHz/80GB: Bought an Aluminum Book last September (I usually kill about one PowerBook/year) and am still loving it. The weight is a little bit much -- I've been a 12" iBook and PowerBook user for 3 years or so, and the extra pounds really add up -- but the screen real-estate and that high, high RAM ceiling, c'est magnifique.

    Linksys WAP-11 and WS824: I'm trading this rig for the office I borrowed for the month of April. I think that the FCC made Linksys take the 824s off the market cos they put out dirty, lobe-y WiFi at distance, but this building's got a stucco facade whose chickenwire guts act as a natural Faraday cage, so it's not like my signal's interfering with anyone else. Probably.

    Roadwired RAPS laptop case: I love this vecro-y computer diaper. It's wicking, padded, and sizes to fit any laptop (though the 15" PB is a tight squeeze). Much nicer than any sleeve for my money.

    RoadWired Ethernet cable: hands-down the best retractable Cat5 cable I've ever owned, and the RJ45-RJ11 adapters that hide in the case turn it into a phone wire for those craptacular 56K moments.

    BohemianBag.com Czech Plumber's Bag: The perfect-sized, durable leather shoulder bag. Looks like $106, and keeps on getting prettier the more I abuse it. Steel-reinforced handle is super-swell. I replaced the shoulder-strap with a RoadWired cushion strap for extra comfort between departure gates.

    TokyoFlash OVO DecisionMaker watch: this is the dumbest and coolest watch I've ever owned (my grandfather was a watchmaker, so I've owned quite a few). It has a built-in f