Last night the world got a little bit cozier, thanks to the power of Instant Messaging…and a couple of truly nice guys.

It was around midnight my time and I was on Windows Live Messenger talking to Larry Liaw about UMPCs. Knowing how interested I am in them, Larry mentioned that Chiang had recently posted pictorial comparisons of the Asus and the Sony.

Larry then said that Chiang was online, and he would like to bring him into our conversation. Now here’s the thing: Chiang speaks little to no English, and I know just two words in Chinese (hello & good-bye, for those of you keeping score); Larry was kind enough to serve as our interpreter.

Larry set up a three-way chat, and Chiang proceeded to walk me through the registration process on his site while Larry translated. This was done so that I could see the Chiang’s pictures without the “inconvenience” of having to click on the file icons. I had no problem looking at his pictures the unregistered way, but Chiang wouldn’t hear of it. He even gave me a VIP membership to his board! Thanks guys!

So have you taken a moment to peruse Chiang’s forums? The Chinese Characters may seem a little daunting at first, but his gorgeous gear photos really speak for themselves.

If you want to understand more of what is being written, you can try viewing the pages through an online translator such as World Lingo. Certain things will be lost in translation, but you’ll definitely get the gist.

Chiang and Larry both mentioned that they might introduce English versions of their sites in the future, and I really hope they do. We English-only speakers are really missing out in the meantime.

Random Snippets

Have you seen Vaja’s new line of bags? I noticed them while creating the link for Gear Diary’s contest last night. There are three different models of these new custom bags, and while they are not cheap – they should be worth every penny if Vaja’s past quality is any indication.

vaja-bag

Can you say chocolate chip mint ice cream? Where’s my spoon?!

*****

Jenneth has posted some great geek-porn shots of the new Samsung i320 and the 02 XDA Stealth…ooooh – sexy! Be sure to take a peek!

She also found and linked to an incredibly funny and too true article about “hell phones” that you simply must read; click here.

*****

If you have ever wondered what might make a Vertu phone worth the price tag, then you should read this review posted at Sybarites. They have an unboxing and will be posting more info shortly. If I were a millionaire with an American Express Black card, I wouldn’t even think twice about buying this phone. Of course…I’m not. :-P Thanks go out to J for letting me know about it. :-)

*****

One last thing…

Am I the last person to learn that if you are checking your pop email on a Pocket PC via T-Mobile, that they have all of your messages on their server? Joel just told me, and for some strange reason this really bothers me. I wouldn’t want a stranger to read my email, much less keep it for an undetermined amount of time. Why is email afforded less privacy rights than paper mail? :-(

How did Joel find out? Read about it here.

Related posts:

  1. Touchy Hermes Screen?
  2. TSA “Checkpoint Friendly” Laptop Bag Procedures: A Tutorial
  3. The USA, the rest of the world, and the cell phone culture
  4. Dear Gear Diary…
  5. The HP iPAQ rx5915 Revisited