On a good note on those, heard a story on FlyerTalk about someone using the built-in info in those bought songs to find someone when they left their iPod in the airport (there wasn't any other identifying info, and they hadn't registered it, the person said).

Question: Has anyone used/heard about Helio? One of their phones looks very neat, even if I'm not really the target demographic, but I'm skeptical of their coverage.

Alternately, can anyone recommend a tiny slider-QWERTY other than Verizon's LG EnV? (Which I am planning to look at)

I've been burning my DRMed stuff out to CD and then re-importing it. I lose played statistics, but iTunes has tagged the songs correctly otherwise.

The only drawback to that method is that your audio goes through the lossy compression scheme twice and it tends to have an adverse effect on the stereo image on tracks and some of the detail in the audio.

My equipment isn't professional and neither are my ears. They mostly don't notice.

The unDRMed ones are just to move around and live unchecked in my library. I keep the originals.

Ok, crazy stupid question, but I feel slightly ill and rather dumb, so bear with me. Is there any kind of Internet I can get hooked into that doesn't involve a phone? I want a medium-speed DSL thing...do I have to have a land-line to get one?

I'm trying to scope out the cheapest deal in Kansas City, and I keep coming up with ATT, or Time-Warner (who I owe some, er, money) and that's about it. What AM I looking for, and how do I find it?

Erin, we use cable modem (through Cox, the local cable company, about whom I have a story or two, but I digress). Cox Net generally works well for us, but I don't know if they do business in Kansas City.

Is it pretty fast? Not like Save-the-world fast, but efficient?

I believe, on average, that cable is actually faster than DSL. We have cable internet, and it's certainly zippy.

Hmm. I wonder if there's a Cable provider other than the dreaded Time-Warner. Must check.

Thanks, guys.

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40MB HD, only $40,000. In 1985. Kinda' big, too.

I paid $300 for a 30MB HD in 1991. Which is $10/MB. The 1985 drive would be $1000/MB. Now you can buy a 500GB drive for $140, which is .028 cents/MB.