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Whether it’s the future of personal computing or of the way we build relationships, of the humble headphone or the printed word - here’s a look at some of the thoughts and happenings coming out of the tech blogosphere this week:

• Over at Circuits, NY Times technology writer David Pogue is on the trail of wireless earbuds (we think that’s up-to-date American-speak for what we Brits used to call ‘headphones’) after seeing them featured in the movie Definitely, Maybe. He concludes: “Yes, they exist… Most of them are a bit bulky around the ear, as you could probably guess [and] like all wireless ear gear, come with a transmitter than must be attached to your iPod or whatever.” Great for listening to the TV if you’re the only person in the room that wants to hear it…
• Stephen Fry is begging for someone to Deliver Us From Microsoft in his latest column for The Guardian’s Dork Talk slot - and he thinks he can see the saviour coming: “The two great pillars of Open Source are the GNU project and Linux. I shan’t burden you with too much detail, I’ll just make the outrageous claim that your computer will be running some descendant of those two within the next five years and that your life will be better and happier as a result.” If you’ve ever chewed your fingernails to the quick in frustration with Windows, Explorer and Outlook, then Fry is the columnist for you.
• The blog of writer Neil Gaiman is probably not where you’d usually go for cutting-edge tech and entertainment news. It’s like a creaky old Gothic mansion full of shadows, spiderwebs and things that disappear unaccountably round corners when you look straight at them. However something is happening over there that is big, very big. Gaiman’s a hugely successful writer with a very mainstream publisher in Harper Collins. This same publisher has consented to experiment with making Gaiman’s novel American Gods available free online, unabridged and with no strings attached, to see whether it will boost sales of the hard copy and of his other books. See for yourself, the first few grains of dust that could start an avalanche.
• Over at The Guardian’s games blog Aleks Krotoski is investigating how gaming made it into mainstream thinking. She says: “I set about waiting for the medium to come to a place where adults outside the industry would look upon games as creatively inspiring, culturally challenging and an asset in the quiver of innovation. That has finally arrived. Since 2001, games have undergone a transformation. There’s a flurry of excitement about them from the outside: the internet and traditional media industries, boosted by the maturation of the web, are watching these enfants terribles closely for best-practice clues.” Tell this to anyone who accuses you of having wasted the last decade in front of your console of choice.
• Do you lie awake at night wondering if the Internet is altering your brain? In which case a recent post on Salon’s Machinist blog might not be for you… OK, seriously now, maybe not your brain. But definitely your relationships, opinions and ways of relating to the world. In which case its interview with Clay Shirky, the author of a recent book on the subject, should be required reading. Check it out…
• Tom Reynolds is an employee of the London Ambulance Service, and mainly focuses on that in his acclaimed Random Acts of Reality blog. But he’s also a self-confessed “nerd and a shameful first adopter” and frequently writes about tech issues. Today, on his return from a holiday in the US, he explains how he’d love to pay for e-book downloads for his shiny new Sony PRS505 Reader - but, as a Brit, the company simply won’t sell them to him. His only option? Illegal downloading, even though what he really wants to do is hand over cash…

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Having invested in that giant TV, you’re going to need somewhere to put it. Check out Home Cinema UK, a retailer that specialises in stands for LCD and plasma TVs - and also offers free UK delivery.

It’s pretty important to think about this - you can’t just balance your telly on a handy coffee table and expect to get the most out of it, never mind the consequences of it toppling.

Luckily Home Cinema UK does a buyers’ guide that should help you get a feel for the subject. Here it is:

Guide to AV Furniture

Home cinema is an exciting world filled with plasma displays, DVD recorders and multi-channel sound systems. It’s easy to get carried away with the technological marvels that are transforming the way we watch television and view movies in the home.

In all the excitement it’s easy to neglect an area that is actually critical to getting the most out of any installation – the furniture those shiny boxes are going to sit on.

Many are tempted to make do with existing tables, shelves or bookcases, but this is a serious mistake. If you don’t allocate part of your budget for dedicated AV furniture you are short-changing your system and yourself.

The market for AV furniture is estimated at around £1 billion and there are some compelling reasons why so many people are spending so much money. Read on here…

Spectral is one of the manufacturers it is particularly recommending at the moment - for the range’s elegance, simplicity and functionality. So definitely well worth a look.

For another view of the topic of AV furniture, we also suggest having a look at this buyers’ guide on the AVReview website.

Have you ever wondered about those applications that promise to let you use your very own computer desktop remotely, no matter what machine you’re actually on?

Sounds like a wonderful idea, doesn’t it? But surely it can’t be as simple as all that…

Well, Dustin M Wax, at the extremely useful Lifehack.org, has been taking a look at the various ‘web-top’ applications on offer.

His conclusions:

In theory, this means that wherever you went, you’d be able to access your work through a common interface and set of tools. All with a single login, too.

In practice, it’s not quite so simple. Even making allowances for the varying states of development web desktops are in at the moment, none of them offer a compelling experience for web-based workers. I have looked at and played with almost two dozen of these applications, and so far haven’t found any that I could integrate very well into my daily routine.

But there’s promise. Some of these apps are well worth watching, especially as they begin to interconnect with other services like Zoho Writer and Google Docs for document editing, Box.net’s OpenBox service for file storage, and other third-party services and plugins. I’ve highlighted three of the most promising webtop services below, followed by all the rest.

Read the full article, and see which ones he liked best, here >>

An article by Wendy M. Grossman in The Guardian today suggests this is a real possibility and offers some sound advice on choosing safer passwords:

Just as you hit the button to pay for your online purchase it happens: “First, create a username and password.”

The temptation is to pick something easy: your name, your spouse’s name, or a standard password you use everywhere. But if the site will store your credit card details, or is one you use for banking or trading shares, think more carefully.

Passwords are a perennial problem. They’re hard to think up, to remember and protect. Worse, they’re not in themselves secure - your data depends on the carefulness of many strangers. The security of the HMRC discs with the Child Benefit database lost some weeks ago - Zip-encrypted with a password - depends on the strength of that password.

Since Zip encryption uses the AES method, which the US deems good enough for officially secret documents, the HMRC files should be safe from a “brute force” attack. But other password encryption is threatened in quite a different way. Read full article here…

All the geeks you know are probably off somewhere sulking and pretending they don’t want anything to do with Christmas. But we know better.

As an opportunity to acquire sexy new toys it can’t be bettered. So, if you want to make sure you’re buying the right thing (or making sure your loved ones are buying you the right thing) then look no further.

Here’s 10 things that we’ve spotted guaranteed to appeal. Or maybe you just want an excuse to spend money on yourself…

Whatever the case, we hope you enjoy the list.

• New Apple iPod Touch, 16GB, Black from John Lewis - £269. Because you can’t really argue with this (as reflected by its price tag). Sleek and black, only 8mm thick with a 3.5in widescreen suitable for watching movies. Touch-screen navigation allows you to browse items by cover art then flip it to view track listings. The 16GB hard drive stores up to 3,500 songs, 20,000 photos or 20 hours of video. Enjoy five hours of video or 22 hours of audio playback from a single recharge. Also includes wi-fi capability for internet use or iTunes store connection.
• Bounty Bay MMORPG subscription from Yusho - approximately £16.94 depending on the exchange rate, as it’s priced in euros. Massive multi-player online roleplaying games are currently among the coolest things in geekdom. As pirates always have been, for some reason (we think it dates back to Monkey Island). Think World of Warcraft or Second Life, except every day can be Speak Like A Pirate Day! And with this one you have the chance to be in from the beginning. We faithfully assure you that this has the potential to be the geek gift of the season.
• USB Podcast Kit from IWantOneOfThose.com - £89. Everything you need to podcast to the planet. Behringer have bundled a studio-grade USB audio interface with comprehensive DAW and podcasting software, and also thrown in a professional 5-input mixer with 2-band “British” EQ, high-quality headphones and a dynamic broadcast-style microphone plus cable and stand. All you need is something interesting to say…
• Tux Droid from Firebox - £89.95. For the Linux aficionado in your life, a piece of kit that can be programmed to tell you about your appointments, or convey any other kind of information you need to know about. It also doubles up as a wireless VoIP phone, an MP3 speaker and an alarm clock that rouses you with any sound you fancy. And it has the power of speech too, apparently, or at least speech synthesis. Exclusive in the UK to Firebox. Did we mention that it’s a felt-covered penguin?
• I Am the Eleventh Timelord T-shirt from Shot Dead in the Head - £18. Comes in almost any colour your heart could desire, from Tardis blue to Rose pink. Or, if The Doctor doesn’t hit the spot, try one with a Sinclair or Commodore 64 logo. Another of our favourites reads: Jack Bauer wouldn’t stand for this shit. In case you can’t decide there’s a two for £30 deal on offer.
• Samsung Digimax i7 Digital Camera from The Digital Camera Company - £181. Boasting a frightening array of features including a rotating LCD applied to a digital camera for the first time. The new user interface allows the Samsung i7’s mode to switch automatically depending on the angle of the LCD screen. The 3in LCD incorporates a wide touch screen and the thoughtful design ensures a firm grip and while the dynamic SVGA quality iMovie Clip function and the Flash animation GUI will melt the heart of every geek that encounters it.
• WiFi detector from Firebox - £59.95. A pocket-sized device that sniffs out the presence of WiFi without the necessity to boot up your laptop. As well as detecting a signal and indicating its strength it also displays essential network information including network ID (SSID), encryption status (WEP and WPA) and channel. And when multiple networks are present you can scroll through info for each individual network.
• Tardis USB hub from IWantOneOfThose.com - £19.95. This four-port Tardis USB hub may not whisk you off to another dimension but it will cause a diversion during your working day. Every time you use a port the light on the top flashes and it makes that classic Tardis noise that geeks everywhere know and love (you can turn it off if colleagues start to object, then refuse to get a life). Rest easy, knowing The Doctor stands between you and oblivion.
• Desktop Defender from A1 Gifts - £11.99. For those days when the rest of the world will insist on intruding. Don’t they realise that coding takes concentration? If not, keep them away from your desk with a few well-placed foam missiles from this neat desk-mounted, battery powered, fully aimable missile launcher with a 10ft range and sleek red and silver casing. And a big red button.
• Pirates of the Caribbean DVD player from PC World - £49.99. Yo ho, me hearties! Let Captain Jack Sparrow entertain you with this official Disney product featuring CD, CDR and CDRW playback, on-screen display and NTSC encoding standards. So now you can watch all your favourite pirate movies and not get eaten by ghosts. Arr!

If you’re wondering what on earth to buy the gadget freak in your life, then look no further. Or, if you are that gadget freak, try printing out this page and leaving it lying about somewhere handy.

Here’s 10 things that we’ve spotted guaranteed to appeal to everyone hoping to find plenty of geeky gizmos under their Christmas tree.

Or maybe you just want an excuse to spend money on yourself… Whichever way, we hope you enjoy the suggestions.

• Micromark Tea Express from John Lewis - £49.95 Nothing less than the rebirth of the Teasmade! This combined automatic tea maker, reading light and alarm clock is programmable and makes up to four cups, has a large LCD clock with an analogue face and built-in alarm, plus its own ceramic teapot. What gadget freak could ask for more?
• Clocky Runaway alarm clock from IWantOneOfThose.com - £39.95. This is a sadistic little treat for people that have a bit of a job getting up in the morning. You see, it’s impossible to turn the annoying little bugger off without actually leaving your bed. Set your alarm and as soon as it goes off the Clocky will lurch forward and then move off in random directions for 30 seconds. There is a snooze function, but when it expires the clock will run off again. Endear yourself to friends and family alike…
• Radio-controlled Pro Trek watch from Casio - £249. Casio Pro Trek watches use a unique triple sensor system to accurately measure temperature, barometric pressure and direction. This Pro Trek now also includes Wave Ceptor technology to ensure perfect timing to the second.
• Roboraptor 8081 remote-controlled robotic dinosaur at Dixons - £64.99. Roboraptor is a 32-inch long realistic robotic beast with lifelike animatronic motion that allows him to walk, run and hold a predatory stance. Sensors all over his body enable him to hear, see and feel people and the environment around him. He’ll roam about, or you can set his mood to make him cautious, playful or on the hunt.
• EZvision video eyewear from IWantOneOfThose.com - £149. They said it couldn’t be done - a take-anywhere 50-inch movie screen. Weighing in at just 68g, ezVision Video specs plug into your iPod Video or any portable player and screens movies in such a way that it seems as though you’re looking at a huge screen. Retractable headphones are built into the arms. Eight- hour re-chargeable battery, integral volume control and adaptors to connect to iPods and DVD players. Never go mad on a flight or a train ride again!
• VOIP Cyberphone from Firebox - £29.95. A fully-featured USB-powered telephone which comes bundled with Skype, free software which uses new VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) technology to allow you to make free calls to other VoIP Cyberphones and obscenely low cost calls to landlines and mobiles all over the world. All you need is an Internet connection to start talking to the 208 million people worldwide who have already signed up.
• Phillips LCD digital photo frame from John Lewis - £129. This 7in glass frame with a choice of coloured surrounds, scrolls through up to 50 of your digital photos, displaying a single image, thumbnails or a slideshow, complete with transition effects. It features high quality, print-like pictures with full colour, high pixel density and adjustable brightness to match ambient light conditions. Extremely easy to use, it allows viewing of digital photos directly from memory cards. Or simply plug the frame into a computer via a USB connection and download images.
• Kameleon remote control from Firebox - from £49.95. An incredibly stylish object that offers simple remote control solutions to the latest technologies in the home. No other universal remote control removes the unwanted clutter of multiple remotes with such style. Comes in 5-in-1 and 8-in-1 flavours to take care of your TV, VCR, DVD, CD, audio, satellite and cable needs.
• Combined MP3 player and USB stick from MyMemory - from £11.99. A huge memory capacity in a body that’s both tough and small. This multi-purpose MP3/WMA Player also doubles as a USB Flash Drive to help you store, transfer and carry your important data. Comes in 1GB and 2GB sizes.
• Gadget cover - from £9.99 per month. With most of us carrying a small fortune in gadgets around with us these days, it’s definitely time to think about insurance. How about a policy that covers against theft, loss of mobile phones, accidental damage and water damage as well as offering an extended warranty, worldwide cover and replacement within 48 hours? Check out what Gadget Cover Insurance has to offer.

The most talked-about gadget of the moment: the Amazon Kindle. This e-book reader offers you all the convenience of loading your books onto a hand-held gizmo - but at a price.

As well as the costs you incur using it, the material you buy is subject to DRM (digital rights management) software which restricts what you can do with it. For instance, swapping and lending is out, activities you’d think nothing of doing with a regular book.

At the moment it’s US-only so British gadget fans might have to wait a while before they can even contemplate getting their hands on the thing. (So what’s new already? And it’s just as boring as usual.)

So, in the meantime, here are two views on the thing. John Naughton, writing in The Guardian quite liked it (but with typical British understatement didn’t really see what all the fuss is about).

Over at BoingBoing Gadgets they thought it was promising, but clunky and expensive - and also worryingly laid down with DRM technology.

If anyone’s had a chance to get their hands on one, we’d love to hear your comments.

All true gadget fans will, of course, be aware that comedian, writer, actor, humourist and national treasure Stephen Fry is writing a new gadget column for The Guardian.

It’s called Dork Talk, but we’ll forgive him that, since he seems prepared to be tarred with the same brush that he’s applying to his readers.

This week The Great One is discursive on the subject of keeping yourself, your computer and your gadgets safe from all the evil forces that would like to take them over. Here’s a little taster:

Gazing into the techno-future can be fun. We all dream of utopias involving benign robots, food for all and fusion power that is free, safe and unlimited, but then there are the cacotopias, too - nightmare visions of malevolent machines that turn on mankind. It has been usual to suppose that the two-pronged threat to our liberty and our privacy would emanate from big business and government, from untrammelled corporate and bureaucratic greed, stupidity and wickedness. But let me paint another scenario…

Botnet: not a diaphanous material designed to make the buttocks look more alluring, but rather the very stuff of sci-fi nightmares. And it’s living with us now. Be vigilant, my friends.

Detect a slight tone of frivolity? Despite this you’d be very well advised to read his highly-sensible advice. Peruse the full article here…