Aside from the convenient ambiguity of utility theory that makes decision making in buying newfangled technology products a no-guilt issue under a constrained budget, the start of a new semester is always a good excuse for me to splurge on new electronic goodness. Remember, this is all stuff I need, not simply want.

Western Digital My Book 500 GB external hard drive:

You can never have too much storage is a creed to live by. I also finally decided my risk tolerance to data disasters has hit a plateau. Besides, the fact that is designed to look like a book (My Book, geddit?) makes for “keeping it real” in a year where I will be taking lots of classes that involve an inhumane amount of reading and a small fortune spent on textbooks. It also looks funky on my desk. The problem is that the amount of storage you buy is directly proportional to the accumulation of crap on your computer; I already filled up 75% of it. Now I am probably going to need a backup device for my backup device. Another good excuse to buy something else soon.

iMON PAD PC Remote Control:

I had enough of climbing out of bed to pause a movie or change the volume (yes, I watch all my movies on a PC). And I had to jump on the “media center” bandwagon. Ite iMON PAD is a reasonably prived and functional alternative to super cool but astronomically priced Logitech line of remotes.

Qstarz BT-Q1000 Bluetooth GPS Data Logger Travel Recorder

I ordered this one a week ago and I am yet to receive it. This is a device that does two things: Coupled with a bluetooth-enabled laptop or smartphone and some sort of navigation software, it acts as a GPS receiver. It is also a standalone GPS data-logger, that is, it logs your navigational path as you walk/drive/cycle for up to 32 hours (as claimed by the manufacturer), and has a little button that you can push to record “Points of interest”. You can later download the logged data to your PC and display your recorded path on Google Earth. When it gets here I am going to show you how to do cool stuff with a bluetooth GPS, laptop and Google Earth.