So, my buddy Harper is hooked up with all sorts of the right people. Sometimes it makes me a bit jealous, but a lot of the time I get to benefit from his hookups as well. This is a story of another one of those times.

Last spring, Harper got hooked up with some G1 dev phones - you know, the very first Android phone. He basically had so many that he didn't know what to do with, so he hooked me up with one... He was sort of like the Google Phone Santa Claus.

Fast forward to this February, Harper wound up with a few of the hot new Google phones. Having so few, he couldn't really be as generous with these, so he had a little programming contest with this group of tech dudes we chat with... and this is no lowbrow list of dudes; this …

So, just to bring you up to speed - Harper (and Google) hooked me up with a developer version of the "Google Phone" or G1. As a developer phone it's sort of "unlocked" or rooted and comes with a fancy case. In short, it's awesome - but definitely, definitely a geek phone. I imagine the actual unrooted version you get from t-mobile is a bit easier to work with, but I still think it's more of a geek phone than a mainstream device like the iPhone. However, I can totally see this OS growing - especially with some better hardware in the future.

Here are my thoughts on the device after a week of use.

Android - the Google OS

I am really, really digging the OS, its openness, and its tie to all of my Google account data, but it still …

I've been an avid sidekick supporter since I got my Sidekick 2 back on 04. I upgraded to a Sidekick 3 in 06, and I bought my wife a sidekick slide earlier this year... but now, I'm switching.

Why? The Sidekick is just moving way, way too slow. For every new release, Sidekick users were anticipating changes that kept up with the rest of the mobile phone industry, but Danger kept failing to impress. It was always something like, "With this version, you get bluetooth! and... it's shinier!" It was dumb. The sidekick LX was a pretty decent jump though. That screen is super nice... but still, the phone is so locked down.

You could get around the locked downedness and install normal apps by getting a developer license. But most …

I don't know if this is the best way, but it's the first way I've figured out to sync all of my calendars, so here it is...

I used to just put all of my appointments into Outlook at work, then use IntelliSync to sync it to my phone's Calendar. But then I realized that wifey and I had a really hard time keeping track of each other's schedules. I can't easily share my Outlook calendar with her... and I don't look at the paper calendar inside the closet door to find out what she's up to. So here's how we solved this...

1. We setup Google Calendars under our respective accounts and shared them with each other.
-My Calendar (my default)
-Kari's calendar (her default)
-Brooks Calendar (for things we're both up to, family visiting, …

Supposedly the Sidekick 3 comes out July 10 and I just got mine - 4 days early, suckers. And what a great time to get a new phone - when I'm home sick. So needless to say, I've been playing with it a lot in bed, hehehehe.

I really really like the SK3. The interface (both physical and soft) is much nicer. It's about 1/4 inch shorter than the sidekick 2 and a bit lighter. So overall it's much easier to hold. The really nice thing about going from a Sidekick 2 to a Sidekick 3 is that you already know how to use it. Most of the commands are exactly the same. There are just some added bells/whistles to learn - which is super easy given Danger's user-friendly OS. Plus as soon as I powered on the device with my old SIM card, it …

So, finally I got my Sidekick II. Since I haven't told the story on my site, here it is, once more. omg.

I ordered my sidekick on November 30 - which was supposedly the last day of the $250 in rebates sale at Amazon. I was super stoked, I even paid for 2-3 day shipping so I could get it faster. After it was shippped, UPS's website said, "Billing Information Received." Which means they never picked it up because Amazon lost it. After 3 days of this, I emailed Amazon and was like, "Yo wtf, where's my phone." And they were all, "You can track that at UPS." So I emailed back, "Yo, no I can't, where's my phone?" And then they were like, "That boy's an A-hole, we're not emailing him back!"

So 10 days after I ordered it (Friday) I …

Ok, cell phone decisions are some of the hardest and most stressful decisions that i have to make.

I really want to be able to be able to have the best possible communication options that I can get. First I was going to get that Danger Sidekick, which is still dope, but there are things about it that i don't like.

New Plan: 2 devices, bluetooth, and wifi
1. Upgrade my Clie to the UX50, which has wifi and bluetooth
2. Buy a bluetooth phone (i.e. Sony t610)
3. Use phone as modem through bluetooth when wifi isn't present.

I think that this is the best and most powerful combination that I could get right now. Next step: deciding which company/plan to go with... or changing my mind again.

Harper always does this to me and I hate it.

Step 1: Harper keeps up on new technology big time (which is one advantage to having him as a friend
Step 2: Harper buys the new technology
Step 3: Harper shows it off to me
Step 4: I get jealous
Step 5: I read about the technology
Step 6: I learn that Harper is right and I want whatever it is that he bought
Step 7: I usually buy the product

This is cycle really stupid and usually expensive for me...

but anyway, Harper was IMing me from someone's car today via his Sidekick, which is step 3 from the cycle mentioned above. So I've already gotten over the Jealousy and read about the sidekick at danger.com.

It's got a full qwerty keyboard, AIM, unlimited email via the built in …

Let's assume that you have a top of the line, color screen cell phone that can hold 5 wallpapers. What would your top 5 wallpapers be? Try not to put broad answers. A bad example might be: cars, buildings, scenery, animals, and people. A good example might be something like: Estella Warren, an Acura Intrgra, a cocker spaniel, Skateboard Logos, and the British Flag.

So what would your top 5 be?

Yesterday I decided to get 2 new techie toys. The first of which being a Nextel phone (since U.S. Cellular was screwing me around). The second is the new Sony Cli? ?X70V. So now, I think it's safe to say that my pockets are a lot cooler, and I'm sure that women will dig it, hah.

About the phone... I have a friend that works at Nextel that was able to hook me up with a killer phone for super cheap. It is the Motorola i95cl. The i95cl has a color screen and comes with games like Tiger Woods golf, and MotoGP. Nextel also rules because they have the two-way radio feature so you can talk to your friends with Nextel's, radio style. Also, if you have MSN messenger, you are able to right click on my name in your buddy list, and send IMs …