It's a pain hauling around a huge notebook computer in a gigantic bag with a ton of accessories, but I feel like I'm crippled if I don't have everything that I usually have when I'm at my desktop computer. I usually end up carrying a lot more stuff than I really need, and regretting it. But I've narrowed down my on-the-go work bag to a few essential items, and make continued refinements to it.

I have several notebooks, all with different aims, but the one that I use primarily these days is my Acer Aspire Timeline 1810, which is a great netbook - 8GB of RAM, HD screen, fast (Core2 Duo, not Atom) processor, and rated for 8 hours of battery life. It's just the right size, too, being slightly bigger than the $200-300 netbooks like the Aspire One and the HP variety, but not so big that it qualifies as something to "lug around". Of course, that's the most important part of the office kit, but there are a bunch of other essential components.

I'm a bag freak. I love bags. I love searching for the perfect bag to hold things for a particular purpose. I have to restrain myself from buying and trying new bags. It's freakish, really. So I did a lot of looking before I found and settled on the Tom Binh Ristretto. This bag is virtually flawless. There is room inside for what I want to carry, and compartments that make it convenient enough to get at all of it.

My only complaint about the Ristretto is that I got the Absolute strap - a wonderful stretching material that makes the bag actually feel lighter to carry - but the strap itself doesn't have rotating clips, so you need to untangle the strap before you wear the bag, which always seems like a nuisance to me. But it's really a minor complaint for an overall great bag.

I recently replaced my Timeline's stock charger with the Targus APA6911 Travel Charger, for two reasons. First, the stock charger's transformer has one of its wires permanently affixed, which makes it difficult to store in the bag, whereas the Targus charger has just the thin, light transformer brick. Second, the Targus charger not only has interchangeable adapter tips for charging different devices, but will charge two devices at the same time. With the right adapter tips (also packed in the bag), I can charge my notebook and my phone or iPad at the same time. (I don't sync my iPhone or iPad with my notebook, so I'm reluctant to even plug it into one of the USB ports there.)

Speaking of my iPad, I usually back that with me in the back side magazine pocket of the Ristretto. Right now (and I'm still not sure if I want to do anything about this) I'm still using the original iPad, with a Belkin Grip Vue case and a Zagg Invisible Shield, which have save my iPad on more than one occasion. (I sat the iPad accidentally under the leg of my chair, and sat on it, which damaged the shield barely, but would certainly have wrecked the screen without it.) If I upgrade to an iPad 2, I'll definitely be re-installing an Invisible Shield.

Because the standard stands don't work well with iPads that are already in cases, and I'm not a fan of the flimsy, if flexible, cases that turn into stands, I have a separate metal iPad stand from Twelve South that folds up and fits into one of my bag's pen slots. It can prop up the screen easel-like or can lift it slightly to elevate it for the keyboard. This was a total win purchase, as I use the stand all the time. (I am using right now, in fact, to write this post.)

I've gone completely bluetooth since I got my iPhone, since I want everything to interoperate and before iOS4.3 it was the only way to tether my notebook. There's probably another post idea in what I'd like Bluetooth to do that it doesn't yet, but I'll save that. Suffice to say that I have an official Apple Bluetooth keyboard that I shove in my bag, so that I can use my iPad to do things like write blog posts, where using the on-screen keyboard is impractical.

The other bluetooth device in my kit is my Microsoft Bluetooth notebook mouse, which I connect to the Timeline with a bluetooth dongle (the notebook's only real oversight at the price I bought it -- no integrated bluetooth). The dongle is just a generic Rocketfish adapter from Best Buy, but it's one of the low-profile micro-sized ones that you leave plugged in all the time. It's been doing a great job for both the mouse and tethering with my phone.

Another thing that I find important for my mobile work productivity is having more monitor space. My desktop has five monitors connected, so switching to the notebook leaves me feeling a bit crippled. To offset this, I use software called Maxi Vista to turn my iPad into a second monitor. It does this by connecting to the iPad over the wireless network, so the downside is that if you're someplace working offline where there's no wifi, there's also no second monitor. Also it won't work if there's some kind of firewall that prevents devices on the same network from talking to each other. This is the best solution I've found so far (since many other better solutions only seem to work on Mac, which doesn't help me at all), but I'm looking for something that'll do it over Bluetooth, which would be ideal.

I've got a few miscellaneous things in my bag, too. I usually carry my 3M MPro110 projector, which is a pocket-sized projector. I could use this as a second monitor, but really, this thing is a pain to set up, the resolution is low, you need a wall to project onto, the light isn't very bright, etc. etc. Probably the most troubling thing about the projector is that the wires to connect it are really heavy. That's probably the best takeaway from this whole post: I've done away with as many wires as I can, so that all of the tech I carry has a high tech per pound ratio, rather than having pound and pounds of wires in the bag. So yeah, the projector is mostly for show. As a matter of fact, I've never had a practical use for it, although I think that some of the newer models might make a good case for photo projection, or even second monitor via bluetooth or VNC over wifi like the iPad.

I also don't leave home without my Belkin travel surge protector. The nice thing about this is that it's got two USB ports that'll charge my phone and other miscellaneous devices I might be carrying. It's great for hotel stays or crowded cafes that only have one plug available.

I also carry an AirStash. The AirStash is a rechargeable wifi network router/server that will serve files from an SD card. It creates a wireless hotspot that you can connect to, and lets you share files from its server. It's useful if you have a camera that uses SD cards and you want to get them into your iPad or netbook. The Timeline has an SD card slot, so it's not really useful for that, but if the kids want to stream different movies off of an SD card to their iPods when we visit their grandparents' house where there is no wifi, this is a good solution. I just plug it into the Belkin surge suppressor's USB ports, and it runs for the whole evening. I haven't tried it yet, but this also might overcome the problem I was talking about before with needing wireless access to use MaxiVista. Have to try that soon.

My Livescribe Pulse pen is very often in my bag with either the reporter's notebook or the black ruled journal. This thing is a great way to take meeting notes, recording audio and what I write, and indexing them on the PC later for searching and review. I just picked up a pack of dot-paper sticky notes, which look to be useful in different ways. In all, this pen is very, very handy. Love this gadget.

Not often in my bag, but usually around my neck if not on my head, are my Jaybird bluetooth headphones. These things are great. I can connect to my iPhone with them and listen to any of the music there, with full headset-based controls. It can also take calls with a built-in microphone, so I don't need one of those ridiculous-looking earpieces. (Although I have one of those, and it has a video camera on it, but I'll write about that some other time.)

Of course, there are miscellaneous wires and such, but I try to reduce the need for those as much as I can. I've got a cable with an iPod adapter on the end for charging those devices, for example. I try to get the ones that reel in so they stay organized.

I usually toss in a pack of gum or mints, a case with my business cards (and to put received business cards into), and a box of my new meet-meme cards.

And finally, I usually carry a tabletop game with me in the bag. Currently, the game is Looney Labs' Treehouse, using Icehouse Pyramids. It's fun enough and unique and quick. I'll keep this one in the bag until I play it a couple of times, then I'll switch it out for something else. Often this'll be one of the Fluxx games, like Zombie Fluxx or Martian Fluxx. I'm looking forward to buying my copy of the newly released Pirate Fluxx. Maybe that'll be the next game I stock.

Every so often I get this urge to have things, things that I really shouldn't buy. I usually end up making a list of these things and throwing them away. This is probably a good thing. But occasionally, I list them here so you can all see how materialistic I am.

I've been pricing out new desktop PCs lately. I've been trying to stay minimal but get the most for the money, knowing very little about individual components. My interest in knowing the minutia of component performance has waned over the years. What I've been pricing is a Core 2 Duo 2.67mhz (it seems that when you go Core 2, you might as well get the fastest one you can find), 4GB of RAM (I have 3 now, so I can't do with less), a super-fast system drive and a giant secondary drive, the fastest pair of DL-DVD writers I can get, and a motherboard that supports dual 16x PCI Express slots to hold matching dual-head video cards. What are my needs here?

Well, the main problem with the current machine sounds kind of silly, but it's the sound. It wasn't really a problem when I was using the PC at home for a few hours a night. But now that I work on it for 10+ hours a day in a small room, I'm beginning to notice a bit of hearing loss. Seriously. That just can't be allowed to continue. So I get to the point where I don't know what parts I need to replace to make the current PC quieter without crippling it (do I need a new power supply? different case fans?), and then I look at the server PC I bought a couple of months ago and don't hear at all and think that maybe it's time to step up.

If I got a new system, it would need to perform at least as well as the one I have, and be less noisy. Performing as well as the one I have is tough, because it already has two dual-head video cards. On newer machines, it seems you can only get PCI Express slots, and you can typically only get one good one. I would like two good ones so that I don't have to futz with differing video cards like I did with this system.

Anyway, $1500 is about what it would cost for the system I'd like. It doesn't sound like much compared to prior systems I've bought, but I'm still paying off my notebook from the fall. At least that should soon be done, and I can focus on retooling the desktop. But not right now.

I've also been poking at video cameras. I really don't know why. After looking at a few of the cameras on the market these days, it turns out that the camera that I bought 6 years ago - for way too much money - is still a good contender. The trick is that miniDV, while not likely to disappear as professional media, is only likely to continue in the consumer market for a little while longer. And really, I hate the tapes. If I could consolidate all of my media into one format, preferrably SD, then I would be very happy.

The JVC Everio looks nice for that exact reason. It's a hard drive video camera, recording all of its video directly to an internal hard drive, which you can then move to your computer or a DVD. It's stored interally as MPEG-2, which is not DV, but it's not MPEG-4 like the Xacti. It's light and has some interesting power-saving options.

There are some downsides, of course. It doesn't have a viewfinder you can use with the screen closed. At least, the lower-priced models don't. And not all of them have SD slots, either. The controls on the Panasonic recorder are better, since you don't need two hands. I really liked that feature, but the Panasonic camera itself didn't appeal to me. Likewise, I won't buy another Sony camera - I refuse to buy another memory stick.

The best of the bunch is the high-definition version of the Everio, which clocks in around $1600. Once again, I don't have the slightest use for a video camera. If I spent that much money on one, I would surely have to concoct one.

I've been eying MP3 players. I like my Zen, but I would like something that would play video, too. I've considered upgrading to the Zen V Plus, which apparently has some video playback features. I think I'll need a little more hands-on with it before I would commit to it, though.

Also of interest to me is the XM Inno. I've recently let my XM subscription expire, and I'm missing it. If I had a reason to spend more time in the car, then it would make sense. The Inno would allow me to take the XM out of my car. And since it seems to have its own FM modulator, I could use it in Berta's car without a car kit, which would be great for impromptu trips when I can't download an audiobook.

The Inno has support for playback of MP3s by transferring them from the computer, but it seems you have to use this special version of Napster to do it. Plus, it doesn't support Plays For Sure, which means I can't put downloaded audiobooks from Audible on it, and even if I could, it has a scant 1MB of memory for storage, of which half is reserved for XM buffering. It's the cheapest thing in this list so far, at $299.

Let's head toward the cheaper end of my list for a moment. I've been thining about upgrading my Vegas Video to version 6. Vegas is one of the easiest to use editing packages out there. I don't care what people say about the power of all that other software, Vegas has a good interface. Why people keep saying Avid is great, I cannot say. Anyway, that would be $99 well spent. To go with all of the video I'd be digitizing from my new video camera, right?

I've also been thinking about setting up a photo studio in my basement. I'd like to get a few indirect lights and some reflectors and a screen to pose people and things in front of. A nice new tripod would also be very handy. The kits I saw at the Camera Shop were around $300-$500 for a couple of lights and some background thing. Pretty good for my needs. And what are my needs exactly? Do I expect to run a small business in the basement taking passport photos for neighbors? Not likely.

I'd also like to upgrade my cell phone. It's killing me when I go places that I don't have minimal broadband connectivity wherever I go. Over last weekend when we tripped to Johnstown, I had to peruse a few things on the server. This would have been fine at EvDO speed. But at the blinding swiftness of 36 kilobits-per-blazing-second, I was going to get donuts between page loads.

Upgrading to the next Treo would fix me. But I don't know if I want to do that. First, it's darn expensive for a phone. I don't know what it is -- I find the prices high but reasonable for the rest of the items in this list, but $600 for a phone is outrageous! Even the next generation Treo doesn't have a great camera, doesn't have built-in GPS (that you can access via software, anyway), and doesn't have a whole lot of storage for the brick that it weighs. Plus it's kind of ugly compared to some of the more sleek phones out there.

I'm wondering if I'm willing to forgo the Palm OS altogether to get a cheaper, more-modern phone that has bluetooth connectivity to broadband (so I can access it via my notebook) and simply not use the phone for much more than a phone. The Helio Ocean looks like a great contender for this. It has some built-in IM capabilities, seems to allow the bluetooth to EvDO connection I want, and has a very slick two-way sliding keyboard and dialing pad. Plus a 2Megapixel camera with a flash. (Hear that Treo?)

What I would really miss is SSH and IRC directly via the phone, which I can do on my Treo. Plus all of the games I like to play (which seem to be a lousy subscription model on the Ocean) and software I like to use (ouch, no Aguendus?). There is a definite downside. PalmOne (or whatever they're calling themselves these days) really needs to release a svelte Treo with a hard drive and GPS. Please, please me. I could rant about this for hours, and I have before.

You know what else? At Kitchen Kapers they sell Shun knives. I don't consider myself any kind of expert chef, but you know, I'd really like a good kitchen knife. We seem to keep buying these cheapie knives and throwing them in the block or the drawer. They last for a while, then get dull, and that's that. The next thing you know, you're sawing tomatos.

Is the expense of one of these knives worth it? Will a $180 knife (yes, one) really outlast $180 worth of common kitchen knives and be as useful? What I'd really like is a small set of essential, general-purpose cooking knives, all of good to excellent quality, all of the same brand so that the handles are all the same. It sounds weird, but I think it makes a difference.

Cooking is something I usually enjoy when I do it, so I think that some expense is warranted. After all, you would do good to cook for yourself every day. But is it worth all that? I think I need some non-chef friends to vouch for the value of the knives before investing that kind of coin.

You know I'm not going to give you the same washed-out "Buy an iPod Accessory" crap that you're getting from all the sales sites. I'm a pedigreed gadget-hunter. I've been meaning to write more about some of the crazy junk I have around the house, but I'm too busy messing with them and opening the UPS deliveries of new gadgets to bother!

Do you have a geek in your life? Maybe a blogger that would like to go pro? If so, then I've got a few gift ideas for you. If you know my tastes, you'll not be surprised by the gadgety for-kids-but-cool toys on the list, but also be aware that some of these prices aren't stocking-stuffer-sized.

And if you're buying for me - Yes, I want everything listed here.

Item #1 - Neuros MPEG4 recorder
This device hooks to any standard RCA a/v output, like that from your VCR or cable box, and allows you to record the video and audio directly to Memory Stick (yes, the video format used plays back on the PSP) or Compact Flash.

Oh, but that's just the first...

Item #2 - Quality Notebook/General-Purpose Bag
I'm a sucker for a well-designed bag, and I've checked out these two online since seeing their advertising. First is Bumbakpaks, whose Urbanomic doesn't look like a notebook carrier, but they have a notebook compartment and expandable sections for books and gadgets. Second is booqbags, who produce the elegant BP3 pack and vyper slipcase, which might even fit my tiny notebook snugly.

Item #3 - Walkie Bits
Maybe you saw my earlier post about these little toy robot turtles. They're cute and gadgety, and a perfect desktop conversation piece, or a way to while away download time.

Item #4 - Fostex MR-8
What's this musician's recording gear doing in a geek's gift list? This kit is the ultimate portable podcasting studio. Run it off of batteries or wall power, record at CD quality to Compact Flash. Hosts two microphones (the kit comes with only one) and record them to separate tracks. And it comes with a bag, so you can set up your gear anywhere.

Item #5 - Custom Arcade Cabinet Kit
As a young geek you played Pac-Man until there wasn't a quarter left within 3 miles of the coin-op's collection box. Now you can rig your own system at home and play whatever game you want, whenever you want. These cabinets house a PC system, which you can use to play classic games via emulator. I like the cocktail table models.

Item #6 - Media Center PC
You'd better grab a media center before they're illegal! The Voodoo Aria looks pretty slick. It features an front face touchscreen for controlling the media guide, so you don't have to miss a second of the show that's on your main screen while setting up a recording.

Item #7 - L33T Tiles
Most of the other stuff on the list is stuff that would cause someone to call you a geek because you posessed them. This is an item that you would only get after you attained true geek status. Use l3375p34k with these tiles on a Scrabble board instead of the regular tiles.

Item #8 - Logitech Harmony Advanced Universal Remote for Xbox 360
Sure, you need an XBox 360 to use this thing, but if you're a true geek, you certainly already have one by now, don't you? The Harmony remote is the best thing to happen to off-the-shelf programmable remotes in, like, forever. Adding XBox capabilities (including controlling the XBox linked to the media center in the other room) makes it even that much more uber-geek worthy.

Item #9 - AntWorks
It's not your traditional ant farm. It uses eerie blue gel! You can even get a kit to illuminate the setup.

Item #10 - Books
I don't think it's a secret that geeks like books, but I think it's sometimes forgotten as a gift. Check with your favorite geek to see what kinds of books he or she likes. If you want your gift to last, a manual can be better than a thrilling story. Trendy topics these days include Ajax, Ruby, and tricks for the various Google APIs. Don't forget to check whether Audible has an audio verison of your selected novel, which can help maximize your geek's time - on the road or at the consle.

Bonus Item #11 - Site Redesign
You like reading your geek's weblog site, but are kind of tired of the dry presentation. There is something you can do! There are a bunch of services that provide graphic design for blogs. I humbly suggest contacting my own group, Shimmer Studio. Even though we tend to angle more toward corporate design and development, we might be able to help you out. If not, search around and you might find someone to do similar work for you.

Yeah ok, my list of suggestions has a high average price tag. Dreaming is ok, though. And on the off chance that someone snatches that Media Center for me, I like the black, not the red.

Ah, the first of this year's Christmas gifts has arrived. From China!

I saw these Walkie Bits on Time Magazine's list of the best inventions of 2005, and I knew they would make perfect gifts for some of the kids I happen to know. So I set out to find them. The trouble is that they don't sell them in the US yet.

Of course, the best solution to international trade boundaires is eBay. I ordered a handful of them and had them shipped by airmail from Hong Kong. (Is it weird that these toys are Japanese, but they originated in China?) I got a registered mail slip last week, and Nana has been bugging me about it ever since. So this afternoon, I went to pick them up.

Want to see a movie of it moving?

Isn't it cute?

I loaded a couple of audio books into Berta's iPod for our Johnstown trip this past weekend. I've learned a couple of important things regarding audiobook playback - and playback in general - on the iPod.

First, I really dislike that you can't safely feel the interface on the iPod. It makes it virtually impossible to control the device while you are trying to drive. For those that aren't aware, the iPod controls are touch-sensitive, not pressure sensitive. It's hard to describe how it works if you're not familiar with it, but it works exactly like the touchpad now integrated into notebook computers instead of a mouse, and somewhat like those lamps that you can touch to turn on. Since the mere touch of a button activates it, you can't search for buttons with your fingers without actually pressing the buttons as you go.

I find it's reasonably safe to locate the device visually in the car, but not being able to feel the buttons without activating them is a real hindrance. Most times I just wanted to pause the playback or restart it so I could converse with the passengers without missing the story. This was a real pain and something I would consider a design flaw.

The iPod also doesn't store the last paused location for an audio file. This is of particular interest in audio books. If you leave the book and try to come back to it later, you have no idea where you left off unless you remember the time code. I did remember the time code of the book from when I switched playback, but I ran into another problem that I suppose is mostly user error.

Another thing about the iPod that I didn't like was the shuffle feature. Berta had the shuffle feature turned on for playing music. I suppose that there are little icons in the corner that indicate this, but I didn't realize that. So when the iPod completed playing audiobook track one, it skipped directly to track three. We didn't realize this had happened until I tried to start track two of the three track book, and nothing sounded familiar.

As it turned out, we had played track one, then the iPod shuffled over to track three instead of playing track two. We thought that one chapter of the book seemed a little abrupt and unexplained, but continued with the story figuring that was a storytelling glitch. When we resumed the story later, everything was confused.

This confusion could have been eliminated with a simple, easily accessable bookmark feature.

Now I understand that there are possibly ways to do this, but what we're talking about here is the most lauded mp3 player on the planet. It should be easy to use. I don't know how to couch this for all you iPod lovers, but it's just not easy to use.

Is it really simple to sift through 5 menu levels just to get playing some music? To me, that's pretty odd. Maybe it's required for something that can potentially hold so much audio, but it seems to me that a "recently played" list, or a "recently bookmarked" list would make it much easier to find the music/audio you want to play.

Another little UI glitch is the navigation within a track. You first have to touch the center button to flip the control to the in-track navigation, then you wind your finger around the wheel until it puts the little diamond-shaped indicator where you want within the track. If you let it sit for too long, it flips the control back to the volume setting. So if you are searching for a specific segment of audio within a track, you start to get annoyed every time you think, "That's not it," since you have to switch back into track-navigation mode and then dial it up again. The iPod should stay in in-track navigation mode until it's toggled back, or at least wait a bit longer before toggling itself.

All of that seems even more stupid when you have the iPod connected only to the car output, which isn't affected by the on-screen volume control at all. But I'm sure it would annoy a headphone user even more, since you'd be accidentally setting the volume the whole time you're trying to navigate within the track.

And don't get me started about iTunes and syncing files to the iPod. iTunes is some of the crappiest transfer software ever conceived. If you don't agree, then please illustrate the UI that iTunes presents when it is performing actual transfers. There is no button that says, "Move this audio file to the iPod." I think in trying to make it easy they've lost a lot of sense. Perhaps this makes more sense to Mac users, who don't have to go through these manual machinations to perform tasks on their computers. To me, it's just aggravating.

For example, the way Windows Media Player transfers audio files to my phone works the way I would expect it to. I expect that I can select files from the media library, and then click "transfer" to copy those files to the phone. Is that so hard that iTunes users can't operate it? Why does iTunes have to be so automated?

It's a capable device, no doubt. Having all of that storage space available is a good thing. Quite impressive. But I think that the UI has a long way to go before it really works for me. The Zen Micro should suffer from at least one of the same problems - no tactile UI on the unit itself - but it's smaller, holds more, has an FM tuner, has a serviceable battery, doesn't require iTunes, and is cheaper than the iPod. I'm really not seeing an advantage to the "cool" player.