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"Find X?" No problem!

<i>WIRED</i> offers their list of "Best Gadgets and Gizmos on the Planet" in their annual <b>TEST</b> issue, on stands now. But I didn't buy it. Instead, I swiped my girlfriend's copy. While she was mostly interested in reading more great things about her handy-dandy Motorola Q, I, of course, flipped right to the home audio section.

I got a new cell phone recently and have been learning how to take pictures with the camera that's (almost) always with me. No, a phone isn't a very good camera, but the pictures can be surprisingly good if you work within your tool's limitations.

If you think you know how, it's probably because you don't have problem feet. I have wide feet, which makes it impossible to get comfortable bicycling shoes&mdash;which are mostly made on narrow Italian lasts. The wide foot lacing solution on the Dick's Sporting Goods site has been a godsend. I'm sure the other lacing fixes work equally well.

Is it in the genes?

One of the best-sounding recordings I've heard in the last few years is Handel's <I>Messiah</I> performed by Jeffrey Thomas and the American Bach Soloists (Delos DE-3360 CD). The sound is spectacularly natural, with realistic dynamics and a wonderful sense of space. If you haven't heard it, I recommend it highly&mdash;but <A HREF="http://www.mil-media.com/homepage.shtml">Millennia Music & Media Systems</A> is now offering you a chance to experience the recording on a completely different level.

On Friday, November 3, <I>The Register</I> published an <A HREF="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/11/03/peter_jenner/">interview</A&gt; with Peter Jenner, formerly manager of Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett, T. Rex, The Clash, Ian Drury, and Disposable Heroes, as well as Billy Bragg's current manager. The interview was a challenging (and profane) music insider's rant on a variety of subjects ranging from how the dollar download model killed the record store to proposals for a blanket, DRM-free digital music license that would permit consumers to use the music they purchase however they wish.