Remember that thrill of walking around with you first laptop? “All my documents, all my email, everything I ever wrote, is _right here with me_.” I’ve finally joined the other kids on the block and taken the next step: a “USB keychain drive”:http://www.memorexthumbdrive.com/products/idx_th32507725.htm. It can’t hold _everything_, but easily stores all of it that isn’t collecting dust anyway. It saves the trouble of constantly having to sync the laptop and the desktop, and lets me access my stuff on somebody else’s computer if I need to. Plus, it’s all _right here in my pocket_. That’s so cool.

I’m still stuck on the properly cool solution to my next geeky problem, though: how to play mp3s located on my computer on the the ol’ surround-sound stereo system hooked up to the TV? Running cable is too much of a pain. A basic “FM transmitter”:http://www.thinkgeek.com/electronics/audio/64fb/ works fine for the car but the quality isn’t up to snuff at home — I tried. And the “Squeezebox”:http://www.slimdevices.com/, while a super-cool toy, is just too expensive. I guess I’ll have to wait until stuff like that comes down in price. Or until I run out patience — whichever comes first.