<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.

David Halberstam remembers an era when the press wasn't the administration's lapdog. What a great piece of writing.

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.