Be My Technological Valentine

In February, a “young” man’s fancy lightly turns towards thoughts of love. What do I love? I love, not necessarily in this order:

• My Dell D620 Centrino dual core processor computer, with a 14.1-inch screen, weighing only five pounds and stocked with applications designed to make my life easier. $1,300 to $1,800.
• Firefox 2.0, the best Web browser on the planet. The Mozilla organization really got it right this time. This browser is just enough on the edge of the market to keep away hackers and spammers, in most cases and is the most secure — and easiest to use — browser available. And, it is free for the downloading.
• My Treo 700p PDA/SmartPhone. It synchronizes its data with my case management software, browses the Web, gets my e-mail, acts as a modem when I don’t have an Internet connection, connects to the EV-DO broadband network in over 135 cities, has GPS location software that gives me my exact location on the planet and turn-by-turn directions, plays my music, has a complete library and does just about whatever else I ask it to do. $450 to $600.
• My Seagate 300 Gigabyte USB 2.0 backup drive, which saves my bacon regularly by storing images of my data and programs. $350.
• My Olevia 27-inch LCD TV/Computer Monitor, whose thin good looks and wide screen make computer data readable to these old eyes. $700.
• My Jabra JX10 Bluetooth earset, which is the smallest and lightest on the planet, and enables me to talk to clients and friends while driving, without risking accidents and mayhem. $149 to $179.
• My Canon LIDE 500 color scanner, which plugs into any USB 2.0 port, and sits patiently and quietly until I need to digitize a pleading or photo or other document. $149.
• My Canon Exilim SZ600 handheld digital camera, with a large view screen and 6 megapixels of resolution, it’s so slim it fits in a pocket. $349.
• My 4 Gigabyte Secure Digital storage card, which is the size of a postage stamp, and stores just about every important piece of data I need. $99 to $199.
• My SlingBox, connected to my home TV cable box, which slings TV content anywhere in the world that I am, using my Internet connection. The SlingBox, and its siblings, the SlingTuner and SlingCatcher, are changing the way we watch TV. $179.
• My HP LaserJet Model 2015 black-and-white printer, which outputs correspondence and pleadings to paper so fast that the printout is available before I can turn around to pick it up. It has a large, 250-sheet paper tray, a small desktop footprint and is the perfect lawyer accessory. Around $300.
• My Philips noise cancelling earbuds, which connect to the Treo 700p with an adapter from RadioShack, and pipe my tunes to my ears without the noise of the outside world. These pocketable earphones are the perfect way to withdraw from the world for a few minutes. Around $59.
• My Tornado file transfer tool, which plugs into any two computers’ USB ports and automatically transfers files back and forth with a click of the mouse. $50.
• Amicus Attorney case management software, which tracks my calendar, my to-do list, my contacts and organizes my life with competence and ease. Around $300.
• WordPerfect, the perfect word processor, which just keeps getting better. It has a reveal codes feature that makes formatting easy, and can read just about any format electronic document on the planet. Around $150.
• Thunderbird e-mail, also from the Mozilla organization, which is the least buggy, most secure, e-mail platform out there. Also, free for the downloading.

• Last, but certainly not least, I love my wife, who tolerates my obsession with gadgets and technology, as long as she gets my old stuff, when I buy my new stuff. Priceless.