I lent my friend my digital camera, a blue Canon Digital IXUS 80 IS. I was quite reluctant to do so, not because I do not like loaning out my gadgets, but because the last camera she used was the one that you had to put film on that even looked like the telephone handsets of yesteryears. Knowing this, even you would be scared. Oh, but she is quite adept in handling a computer so I guess my fears are unwarranted. As long as she knows where the on, shoot, flash, and off button is, I guess she will be okay. One other thing that worries me though is that she might erase all files I have on the memory card, which makes me want to transfer all my files first before I give it to her.

Anyway, I explained to my friend that the Canon Digital IXUS is known to have a more friendly nature, especially with digital camera newbies like her. Since I do not want her to make any other adjustment to the camera while shooting pictures, I placed it on auto mode, for shooting, white balance, contrast, flash, and of course, focusing. I only taught her how to manually focus it, just in case she wants to capture something at a distance, which this digital camera does great.

I further explained to her that should she want to make a video, she can also do so with the digital camera. She got a bit surprised but eagerly listened to my instructions on how to do it. All she needed to do was move the switch from camera to video and she is all set. I warned her not to shoot too much video clips since this can consume much of the battery power. It can handle probably an hour of continuous shooting. I handed her the battery charger just in case she forgot what I said.

She also wanted to know if she would be able to view her pictures and delete them if needed. I showed her the switch to move to reach that feature. I also mentioned to her that she can also transfer those files afterwards to her computer. I gave her the cable and taught her how to do it. She uses Windows Vista as her operating system so I didn’t really worry about that. She thanked me and promised to return my digital camera in one piece. As she left, I shouted out to her one last reminder that although it came in a waterproof case, I wouldn’t want to test it. I hope she heard me.

So now, I am still waiting for her to return it to me. I guess she had a great time with it. I didn’t see it fit to mention anymore its other features such as it being Pictbridge compatible, with red eye reduction, viewfinder, slow sync speed, flash exposure lock, photo effects, and various shoot modes although I think she already discovered it on her own. Oh well, I do hope I get back my Canon Digital IXUS 80 IS in one piece.

I’m suddenly just overwhelmed with all the technology the world has.

Come on, look absolutely ANYWHERE and you’ll see cellphones, music players, portable video players, gaming consoles, ultra-slim and ultra-light laptops, PALMtops – the list goes on endlessly. But because the world is wired like that, I have personally adjusted and learned to live with the fact that there are certain “gadgets” I could not imagine myself to be without.

Seriously.

I may sound absolutely shallow and materialistic – but at this day and age (not to mention especially in my profession), gadgets are NECESSARY for someone to make a living.

My laptop – an ASUS A8Jr – is solid proof of that. I have to be able to create your designs on-the-fly and this gadget gave me the means to do so. You can’t really go around carrying a desktop PC now can you? I’m a fan of music as well – who isn’t right? But of course as ridiculous to see someone lugging his bulky desktop PC around, it’s also as silly to see someone carrying a laptop in arm and just listening to his tunes! And in this iPod generation, music players just come in ALL shapes and sizes (and I’m not exaggerating this; I’ve seen players shaped like animals! Talk about being creative like that!). I have a trusty old school iPod Nano. It fits my personality because with a nice playlist, enough for a long commute, without sacrificing portability and disk space, it’s good enough for me.

But take a look at the multimedia players nowadays. Some of the most savvy ones (perfect example: the iPod Touch), can even aid you with your fitness regime! And again, these objects of technological necessity latch on to us according to our need, according to our lifestyle.

And of course to unwind, I have “de-stressers” also, and they come in the forms of a Playstation Portable (or PSP) and the Nintendo DS Lite (or NDS). Having both of these portable consoles is a huge help in immersing me into the fantastic world of gaming.

The PSP for example is one of the most versatile gaming platforms to date. It’s a multimedia player, gaming console and web browser in its most basic state. And let’s not even go to what it can do if you modify it. Want to watch movies on the go? Watch it on your PSP (and not too shabbily because of the portable multimedia players around, the PSP has one of the largest screen dimensions around!). And solid games like Final Fantasy VII and God of War make the PSP a worthy gaming investment.

The NDS – although it falls a bit short in terms of graphical power– is a solid FUN-factor with games. Combine classic games like the New Super Mario Bros and Trauma Center to the amazing interactivity of the NDS (you must try the touch screen and the built in microphone to name a few!), and you have hours upon hours of fun right in your hands.

People will definitely say that it’s a different world nowadays. I’d say I agree, its difference now is striking compared to what the world was ten years ago. But these are advancements in lifestyle, improvements in the mundane world. And if you ask me again if I’d rather live in the stone-age or a world without gadgets, I have one answer: Not a chance.

When all the work for the day is done and I have nothing else better to do, what I do to amuse myself sometimes is travel through the blogosphere. That seems to be a common pastime for bloggers and non-bloggers alike nowadays, and after some time, I have come to call some of the blogs out there as my favorites. I go visit them on a regular basis.

Among the blogs that I consider to be my current favorites are:

TechCrunch. It is hardly surprising that I list this as one of my favorite blogs, given my bent for gadgets, technology stuff and just about anything related to the Internet. According to the blog’s profile itself, TechCrunch is a weblog dedicated to obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies. They also post profiles of companies that are making a significant cultural and/or commercial impact on the Internet. TechCrunch is considered by Technorati, CNet, CBS and many other news organizations to be one of the most important blogs existing in cyberspace.

The blog is edited by Michael Arrington, whose background is in corporate law and who is also the author of the TechCrunch companion blog, CrunchNotes. Forbes Magazine and PC World, to mention a few, have named Mr. Arrington among the most important people on the Internet today.

Mashable. Mashable touts itself to be the largest blog on the Internet that is focused solely on anything that has to do with social networking. They claim that they register approximately 4.5 million page views every month. Anything that has to do with the popular social networking websites, particularly MySpace, Facebook, Xanga and YouTube, are covered by Mashable. Mashable also has community pages where members can interact with each other as well as post photos and videos. Members can also avail of free codes that they can use on their blogs and social networking accounts.

Aside from fresh news on the world of social networking that are updated regularely, Mashable also provides tools, resources and consulting services for anything concerning social networking and related software, the new media, blogging, podcasting and other relevant technologies in partnership with Advantage Consulting Services, Inc.

The Museum of Modern Betas (MoMB). This is basic vocabulary for any geek and techie, but not all laymen would know that beta in techspeak refers to a version of an application, website or gadget. As Wikipedia defines it: A beta version is the first version released outside the organization or community that develops the software, for the purpose of evaluation or real-world black/grey-box testing.

The Museum of Modern Betas is a photo-blog that lists websites and applications based on the Internet that are currently in the beta stages. MoMB also tracks the progress of these websites and applications until they graduate from and move beyond the beta stage. Ironically, the author of the blog claims that MoMB itself is in its alpha stages (meaning that it is still in its earliest stages of development), and he still has a lot of work to do on the blog.