The cell phone has wrangled its way into everyone's vocabulary and is, in fact, the recipient of much of my vocabulary as I travel (for business and pleasure) and do life's joyful little errands. The cell phone is indispensable for monitoring the whereabouts of teenagers, being accessible for the little ones in daycare, and in getting caught up on those little message slips that keep appearing on my desk.

Most cell phones, now a days, also store frequently used numbers, and can act as a pager. Many of them are Internet-ready. And others have a wireless feed for stock market or sports highlights. I have a 56k modem that plugs into my cell phone, allowing me to connect my laptop computer to the Internet no matter where I am. It's a little risky while driving, so keep the computer connection for stationary environments.

My most recent gadget acquisition was a Pocket PC. While mine is made by HP (Hewlett Packard), the most familiar is the Palm Pilot or PalmV. They look the same and perform similar functions. The Pocket PCs run a small version of Microsoft Windows, called Windows CE. With the 3" x 5" computer, you get Pocket Excel, Pocket Word, Microsoft Money (to keep your checkbook balanced) and a Pocket version of Microsoft Outlook. I can send and receive email, write articles and chapters of my books, and keep track of tight daily schedules. Additionally, there is a built-in microphone so I can record short messages to myself.

Beyond just the business functions, the Pocket PC has a program to play wav files so I can listen to my favorite music, and Microsoft Reader for reading my favorite books while I'm traveling. As a business person on the go, my Dragon Naturally Mobile has become one of my favorite high-tech time savers. Just like a tape recorder, I speak into the device and can record 90 minutes of talk time. The beauty of the device, however, is when I bring it back to the office and link it to my computer's USB port. The software reads the digital signal and interprets my dictation straight into Microsoft Word! With only few minor corrections I've saved a huge amount of typing!

And they wonder how I do so many things at once! It's the gadgets.

 

 -- Sunny J. Harris