I had been working from home full-time for six months. It surprises me that much time had passed; it doesn’t feel like we’ve been out here that long.
Now that I’m commuting again, I’ve gotten into the habit of packing my bag full of gadgets that I’ve collected over the years, just like I used to do for those dreadful bus rides from MD to DC and back that I endured for two and a half years.
Top left is the iPhone 3G. I can’t tell you how many times I curse this thing and want it to run Windows Mobile, but I’ll save that for another post. What the iPhone does very well is keep me in the loop with Gmail, Google Reader and Twitter when I’m at lunch or on break, since the company’s internet usage policy is very strict.
Top center is the Zune 30 Halo 3 Collector Edition. While I love this thing, I keep waiting for it to break so I can get a Zune 120 Gears of War 2 Special Edition. Since it is a tank, that isn’t going to happen anytime soon. I mostly use it for music, but I do have many podcasts and audiobooks (mostly Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series) on it.
Top right is the Flip MinoHD. This tiny video camera comes with very simple software that makes it very easy to take the video I shoot with it and upload it to YouTube or just store on my computer. Since I don’t have to fight with video codecs (a battle I often lose), I am more likely to take video now.
Bottom left is the Canon Powershot 850 IS. All of the pictures I take are with this camera (except for the above, obviously). I mostly take pictures of the cats and of Nadia when she isn’t looking. I have some very funny pictures of her that I’ll sell cheap.
Bottom right is the Western Digital 320GB My Passport Elite. What I like about this portable hard drive is that is it very small and is powered by the USB port, requiring no separate AC adapter (the USB port it is plugged into must be powered). It is also very quiet, but it vibrates like crazy. Not enough to hear it, but enough to numb my hand if I hold it too long.
In day-to-day use, only the iPhone and Zune get any real use. The other three are there just in case I need them. Now that I look at that picture, I find it strange that I don’t take my Nintendo DS with me. I always had it with me back in MD.
Will, you might want to check out 12seconds.tv for a good use of that video camera. I’ve used it a bit (posted links on twitter) and thought it was kinda cool.