Technology can brighten your day

When I think about gadgets that have improved my life, what pops to mind are the game changers - cell phone, TiVo, iPod, etc. All stand alone devices that require a separate purchase to acquire. What pleasantly surprises me sometimes are the improvements to existing gadgets that require no additional cash outlay.

I've been raving to anyone that asks about the Sync system in my Ford Edge since I got it last summer. Integrates with my iPod Touch & BlackBerry, very cool. But I don't have an iPhone, so the iPod only has the songs I've loaded onto it at home. Not a huge problem, however there are some great new programs that allow you to stream music through your iPhone wherever you go. (And I don't have an iPhone, so I'm out of luck.) Back in January at CES in Vegas, I was complaining that BlackBerry didn't have nearly as many cool apps. Luckily they've begun to catch up. One is called iheartradio - a simple program that turns your BB/iPhone into a radio tuner. But more than that, a national radio tuner - able to pick up stations from a variety of cities.

Full disclosure - I'm a radio geek, always have been. Since the days of Casey Casey's American Top 40 and the countdown to #1 back when I was 8, I remember loving music. I remember when John Mellencamp was John Cougar Mellencamp. Remember timing car trips from Boston to Montreal based on the number of times I could listen to Bon Jovi's Bad Medicine cassette (6, which meant the trip was 6 hours long). I remember our group's class project in 5th grade where we polled the whole school and had a Top 5 song list by grade. And, as if that wasn't enough, actually let all the other students come to our classroom and borrow any of the songs library style. I already had most of them as tapes at home, a quick trip to Strawberries later we had Fine Young Cannibals "She Drives Me Crazy" on cassingle and the collection was complete. (Why do I remember intricate details like that but can't remember major things?) I remember that Nelson "After The Rain" was the first CD I ever bought in Hong Kong when I was there with my dad and had just bought my first Discman. I remember my first concert was Bryan Adams with my friend Phil in high school (who's last name I don't even remember), with tickets I won off my favorite radio station, having my mother drive us down to Providence and my first taste of the "radio single." Mr Big came on as the opening act and the rest of their performance did not sound like "To Be With You"- their big hit.

Anyway, sorry, didn't mean to get off on a tangent, I love radio & music. So when I heard there was a new BlackBerry version of iheartradio, I quickly downloaded it to see what it could do. 5 minutes later, I was listening to Kiss 108 in Boston on my cell phone. That was cool, but not particularly practical - my BlackBerry doesn't exactly have powerful bass or play nearly loud enough. The moment that blew my mind came when I pushed a few buttons on the sound system in my car and all of a sudden the music was coming through the car's sound system. Live music from Boston, steamed over a BlackBerry, pushed through Bluetooth to my car's audio system for me to hear. Amazing. And none of it cost an extra cent more than what I was already paying.

I already owned the BlackBerry, had an unlimited data plan and had the car with Bluetooth audio capabality. But when I pieced all this togehter, I suddenly felt like I unlocked a whole new world. Like when you found a hidden world on Zelda as a kid- I felt like I really discovered something!

But all of this really paid off when I was driving to work one morning and flipped on another Boston station - Jamn 94.5 - and their "Back in the Day Buffet"- conveniently on at 9am here because of the 3 hour time difference. LA radio is notoriously bad, and when this audio treat graced my eardrums, I kept getting more excited as each new song came on!

Father MC - I'll Do For You
Jodeci - Everything's Gonna Be Alright
TLC - Hat 2 The Back
Salt n Peppa - Express Yourself
Ma$e - Bad Boy

All classics! All back to back! I was driving to work with the biggest smile on my face. As if I had tricked someone to get all this for free. I don't quite know how to explain it. I have no idea how Clear Channel is going to make any money on it - but that's not my problem, I love it!

It's the little unexpected things in life that brighten my day. This one came out of nowhere with a 5 song medley that put me in the best mood.