Unless you live under a rock (or don't pay as much attention to gadget websites as I do), you probably know that TMobile is launching the first cell phone running Google's Android operating system today. This is what open-source techno-hippies like me wish the iPhone was. Instead of a closed, proprietary system controlled by one company that hates you, it's a totally open system, designed to run anything on any hardware, "controlled" by a company that loves making money (And only wants to own all your personal information in return).

You won't see any exclusivity contracts from Google, so it's likely that Android will arrive on carriers that don't suck soon. It looks like work is not going to buy me a Blackberry (jerks), which may end up being good for me, as I'd rather have an Android phone. Suggestions for convincing the wife that I need one are welcome.

You will, however, see things like the Amazon MP3 store pre-loaded.

Amazon.com said this morning that its MP3 music store will be pre-loaded on the T-Mobile G1, the first phone to be powered by Android.

Originally uploaded by thetejon

I've been talking about this forever, and with birthday money from my grandmother burning a hole in my savings account an unexpected bonus from work, plus the imminent arrival of the new baby, I could no longer resist. To top it all off, it was on sale at Penn Camera through tomorrow.

And the whole operation is wife-approved because she wants to steal the old camera. It doesn't really get any better than that.

Yesterday, Mozilla Labs introduced Ubiquity, "An experiment in connecting the web with language". It's a lot like Launchy or Gnome-Do, except different.

Install Ubiquity into Firefox and then hit the shortcut keys to launch Ubiquity, and then start typing. You can search Google, post to Twitter, send an email - all through an intuitive command-line interface. It's not for everyone - if you spend all your time pointing and clicking, you may not like using the keyboard this way. But for those of you who use the mouse only when you really need it, this may revolutionize the way you use your browser.

Remember, the browser knows a lot about you. If you're signed in to Gmail, for example, and you find a great webpage you want to share with your friend, you don't have to know your friend's email. Just type, "email " and then your friend's name - Gmail will find the address, and copy the url for the page into a new email to your friend.

And this is just the beginning - there are already tons of user-created scripts available, and it's pretty easy to create your own. There's even a tutorial.

And lest you think I forgot to get in a dig on Microsoft, ye of little faith, let me remind you that this is the sort of functionality that will be in Internet Explorer 17, due to be released around the time your great-great-grandchildren are colonizing Mars.

If you're in Firefox now, install Ubiquity now. If you aren't, get Firefox first, then install Ubiquity. And if you find or write any really cool scripts for it, be sure to let me know.

Have you ever ridden in an elevator with a little TV screen provided by The Captivate Network? There's one in the elevator at my office. I like to watch because it makes me forget that I'm in an elevator (As faithful readers know, I hate elevators). It also occasionally has some interesting things, like little news tidbits and weather.

Today, I was coming back from lunch, and the screen showed a "gadget review". They mentioned a 32" Samsung HD TV. They mentioned that it was perfect for any dorm room.

At the bottom was the price. $850.

What college student could possibly need an $850 television in his/her dorm? Do you know how big the TV was in my college dorm? 13 inches. And I turned out just fine.

Seriously, parents, if you buy your college student an $850 TV, you are a bad parent. College is about being poor and trying to hook up with as many people as possible. If you're spending a lot of time in your room watching a huge TV, you're doing it wrong.

Since our webmail got blocked, I've been hoping that work would provide me an alternative internet connection. The best solution from my perspective would be if they would pay the difference between my cell phone plan now and a Blackberry that can be used as a modem for my laptop.

So, I was doing some research at Verizon's website, and a helpful salesperson popped up and offered to assist me. Here's the transcript of the chat. My comments are in red.

Chat InformationPlease wait for a Verizon Wireless sales representative to assist you with your order. Thank you for your patience!
Chat InformationA Verizon Wireless online pre-sales specialist has joined the chat. You are now chatting with Elisha Definitely picturing this Elisha
Elisha: Hello. Thank you for visiting our chat service. May I help you with your order today?
You: I have a couple questions
You: first, is there a way to make this chat window pop up whenever I want?
Elisha: How can I help you with your order?
Elisha: Yes, by going to contact us. That is a dirty lie. I tried that. I wish you weren't a liar, Elisha.
You: is it only available certain hours of the day?
Elisha: The sales chats are open 8 am to 11 pm.
Elisha: How can I help you with your order?
You: what's the difference in the two data plans listed with the Blackberry Curve?
Elisha: The $ 29.99 only give you unlimited access to the web and access to personal emails.
Elisha: The $ 44.99 gives you unlimited access to the web and unlimited access to business/personal emails. Plus it comes with the tether feature where you can use the phone as a modem.
Elisha: Which is best for you?
You: so for 29.99 you can't use it as a modem? What needs to be included in order for that to work?
Elisha: Yes, that is correct.
Elisha: You can hook the phone up to the laptop to use the phone as a modem. That doesn't really answer my question, Elisha.
Elisha: What key features in a cell phone are most important to you? I already told you I wanted the Curve (Although I really want the Bold, but it's not out yet)
You: I'm curious why I can't use the phone as a modem on the 29.99 plan.
You: it seems to me that bandwidth is bandwidth, and Verizon shouldn't care what I do with it
Elisha: You can't , you are not paying for that feature with the $ 29.99.
Elisha: I am sorry the feature alone is $ 15.00.
Elisha: That is the way that the plan is set.
Elisha: I am sorry.
Elisha: Are you looking to order online today?
You: well, I'm sure it's not your fault
You: no, I'm trying to get work to approve the upgrade
Elisha: Yes, thanks for understanding.
Elisha: Okay.
Elisha: I understand, are you sure you don’t want to take advantage of our free shipping and instant online discounts today? You're starting to sound like a used car salesman here, Elisha
You: no, thanks.
You: you've answered all my questions, thank very much
Elisha: Thank you for visiting Verizon Wireless, I look forward to speaking with you again. Have a great day! Thanks for kicking me off the chat as soon as it became clear you weren't getting a commission!
Elisha: You are very welcome!

Anyway, I think it's ridiculous that I can't use the phone as a modem without paying the extra $15. If I pay for the bandwidth, why does it matter if I'm using the phone itself, or my laptop through the phone? I know, Verizon has a right to charge me whatever they want. I'm not arguing that they can't charge me, I'm arguing that it makes them big fat jerks.

And Elisha was pretty annoying. I went to her to find an answer to a question that I couldn't find anywhere on the website. When I didn't want to buy today, she blew me off. This is a bad salesperson. And I will probably buy through a Verizon brick and mortar store because of my experience. Take that, Verizon's website!

Steve Jobs has reiterated that you're renting all $30 million worth of iPhone apps you've purchased. Engagdet says,

[he] confirmed the controversial iPhone application kill switch in the event that Apple inadvertently approves a malicious program for distribution. Jobs said, "hopefully we never have to pull that lever, but we would be irresponsible not to have a lever like that to pull."

He went on to say, "We know you all love to buy anything with our name on it, though, so you should be happy to repurchase anything we decide we don't want you to have anymore".

I know my opinion on Apple and the iPhone differs from many of my readers, but this is worrisome if you've bought an iPhone and mistakenly think you've bought an app from the App Store.

Engadget | iPhone hacker says the device 'calls home' to Apple, allows apps to be remotely disabled

the suggestion that a process of the OS would actively monitor, report on, and possibly deactivate your device's software is unreasonable, and clearly presents an issue that the company will have to deal with sooner or later.

If you buy something, and the seller can take it back at any time for any reason and not give back your money, you are renting, not buying. Because of the closed and proprietary nature of Apple's world, if you buy into it, you're stuck with whatever they want to do to you.

Updated to add: Engadget says that the iPhone probably isn't calling home to disable your apps after all.

I still don't like Apple, and I still don't trust them any more than I trust Microsoft. But it doesn't seem like they're doing anything objectionable here.

Gizmodo reports that Defective by Design, an anti-DRM group, is going to clog up the Apple Genius Bar this weekend with people complaining about the restrictive nature of the iPhone.

This is an idea (DRM sucks) that I totally support, but a terrible way to protest it. I mean, when I see idiots from PETA dressing up like animals or throwing blood around, it just makes me want to go on the Atkins diet. When I see Truth.com's super-obnoxious anti-smoking commercials, I want to buy cigarettes for minors.

I support treating animals humanely. I support keeping kids from smoking (And encouraging adults to stop). And I support telling Apple and the rest that they're a bunch of jerks with their insistence on DRM.

But this isn't the way to do it. The response to bad behavior is not more bad behavior. Apple's anti-customer policies are not justification to make this much of a nuisance of yourself.

Remember, when someone buys an iPhone, they've made a decision, based on their knowledge of the product, that the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. For you, they may not. They don't for me. And really, we all know the only thing that would make me buy an Apple product (Except as gifts for my wife, because she's great) is if all of you stopped liking them.

And yes, DRM is bad for everyone, and everyone who buys DRM-infected content or devices is making it tougher on the rest of us. But this is a free country, and that includes the freedom to make decisions based on your own relative needs and desires.

Anyway, not that anyone listens to me, but I urge you to ignore Defective by Design's request to mess with the Apple Genius Bar. It's not the right way to protest DRM. I mean, really, does anyone think Apple cares?

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Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

That's an email I got from my boss this afternoon. I probably didn't have to put that second line there - you knew it was from a Blackberry as soon as you read the first line.

Now, I'm not bashing my boss. He's a good guy, and I actually do know what he means by that. His spelling isn't that great even when he's got a full size keyboard. And it actually did answer the question I asked.

I know everyone bashes the Blackberry. I do, too, although I also really want one. And they can be used for good - I borrowed a friend's at a bar once to make sure I didn't have a job interview the next day. That was before I got my current job.

Anyway, the problem is that people are lazy. I've always found it, not amusing, but interesting that my mom uses complete sentences, proper capitalization, and proper punctuation in ALL instant messages. No one does that. Well, maybe your mom does, I don't know. I don't have her on my buddy list.

But Blackberries are like the opposite of my mom. Because you're "on the go", you can't spend thirty seconds actually typing out a sentence. It doesn't take that long.

So, next time you send an email, Blackberry or otherwise, take a moment to think. Are you responding to the email, or just making a written record of having received it? If you're not responding, then don't bother.

Teleread | Astak E Ink readers: Five- and six-inchers due in July; 9.7 inch flexi screen and Walmart and Costco e-stores in ‘08?

Models with five- and six-inch screens are tentatively scheduled to be offered for sale at the Astak Web site around July 28. That’s next month, yes, not this one as Astak originally wanted, but it is still an acceptable delay, given all the technical and business variables. Astak hoped to sell the five incher for less than $200 but now plans to start out at $229-$249 in order to allow pricing flexibility for the big chains, which Bob hopes will start selling Astak products around October.

The word on this ebook reader just a month ago was that there were three sizes, with the smallest starting at about $150. That was awesome. The $300+ ebook readers out there now are just too expensive to change the market. Sony and Amazon, as well as some lesser known players, already have expensive e-paper devices. To beat them, you have to either change the experience of reading a book, or blow the doors off them on price.

This latest news suggests that Astak is doing neither. I see wifi and bluetooth and touchscreen and I cringe. I can get a cell phone with all these things. None of these are going to change the market for reading books.

Having Walmart and Costco on board is good for mass adoption, but convincing shoppers to pay $250 to be allowed to read a small subset (for now) of all available books that aren't even cheaper than their much-more-expensive-to-produce paper brethren is something that even the gifted marketers at Apple would have a hard time accomplishing.

So it looks like I'm back to waiting for something that may not come for a while. I thought I could hold out until the end of July, but I thought I was getting change back from $200. As priced (Assuming the linked info is accurate), this one is a pass just like Amazon's Kindle.