Amazon on Tuesday night introduced a service to allow shopping their online store via SMS text message. To price compare anything Amazon sells, text an item name, UPC or ISBN number to 262966 (AMAZON). If the price is right, you can order it from Amazon via replying to the text message (assuming you have an Amazon account). Amazon also sends a link to the product so you can browse more details. I’ve been in several situations where I tried to price shop an item via Amazon and this service will make it a lot easier. More details on the next page.

Link: Amazon TextBuyIt

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I’ve been using twhirl for the past week to read and respond to Twitter messages. While I’m still not sold on the long term usefulness of Twitter, I am impressed by the free twhirl program. Because it’s based upon the Adobe AIR platform, the software runs on either Windows or the Mac.

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Cirque du Soleil’s Kooza opens in Hartford CT on April 1, 2008. If you haven’t been to a Cirque show, you’ll be amazed by the acrobatics and unique acts. Think of Cirque du Soleil as circus for adults. There are no animal acts. Some people bring children - but the audience is primarily adult. This will be the third time that I’ve seen a Cirque show in my town. My interest started when I watched the Varekai documentary on Bravo several years ago. The first year I attended I had lousy seats. The last two years I was front and center - barely an outstretched arm’s length from the stage. I didn’t pay a scalper, or any extra fees. What’s the secret to front row Cirque du Soleil tickets? Keep reading. You’ll be surprised how easy this is.

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Beginning in April 2008, if you’ve registered your prepaid Starbucks card (use this link) you are entitled to these three FREE perks:

Syrup and milk options for your beverage on the house

Brewed coffee refills at no charge (remember we noted coffee & tea refills were .54 but were offered them free during our recent trip)

Complimentary tall beverage with whole bean purchase

Remember those of you with a registered Starbucks card will also be entitled to 2 hours of daily free AT&T WIFI when it launches later this year.

Interested in one of the CDMA Blackberry 8830 devices offered by Verizon or Sprint? You should know there’s a huge buzz on various discussion forums concerning a reported flaw in the device that might convince you to delay your purchase. The problem only seems to appear on the CDMA carriers - but so many people are reporting an issue on both Verizon and Sprint that it seems likely to be a software or hardware issue as opposed to a cellular carrier problem. Keep reading for details on the problem and links to active discussion forums threads where users are sharing their experiences.

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Once yesterday and twice today I’ve had emails bouncing back from clients stating my IP address was on a blacklist. The list in question is relays.ordb.org. Problem is that this spam database was shut down in December 2006. According to an article on Slashdot, the ORDB service began returning false positives 3/25/2008 as a way to force administrators to reconfigure their email servers and remove the ORDB service. The arstechnica forum is abuzz with reports about this from different administrators as well. So if you seem to be receiving less email than normal, ask your network administrator to see if you’re still using the outdated spam database.

If you caught Judie’s review of the Roomba 560 but thought the $349 price tag was steep, you’re in luck. Woot! has the slightly less capable Roomba 510 (fewer accessories) on sale for $ 149 (Amazon has this same model for $249). But hurry, Woot! deals last for only one day. As noted, the Roomba 510 has some limitations and may be a discontinued model. The Woot! forum has a lot of feedback (mostly positive) here - and one Woot! buyer summarizes:

Buyers be warned. The 510 has all the cleaning power of the 5xx series of Roombas, but it cannot be scheduled to go off while you’re away. It cannot be used with a “Home Base” that the robot drives up on, it must be plugged in manually. And it cannot be upgraded to use the “Lighthouses” that allow it to move from room to room, cleaning one room at a time.It’s a great buy, but know the limitations on upgrading the ‘bot’.

Follow this link to Woot!. Still undecided, check out this excellent Amazon video review from Gary Busey Warner.

Part of the lure of a being on holiday is the ability to get away from all of your tech distractions. But if you’re reading this site, then you’re probably like me and derive an inordinate amount of enjoyment from having all of your toys and gadgets with you wherever you go. There’s a lot to be said for putting your smartphone, MP3 player, digital camera or laptop away in order to be able to fully soak in your surroundings, but when used in moderation, I think gadgets can actually enhance your travel experience.

There are all sorts of considerations to take into account when travelling with your tech toys. Will it have enough storage for all my photos and music? Is it durable enough to handle the rigours of the road? Will the battery last me until the next time I get to a power outlet? And what happens if my bag gets stolen?

Gadget insurance is something I’ll cover in another post, but the rest of the concerns are easily take care of with the right tech and accessories.

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A little over a week ago I wrote about the Evernote Beta. The popular application lets you type notes, capture web clippings and read text from pictures. Within the program you can tag your notes and easily search across your entire note database. The beta adds a new interface and support for Windows, Mac and Web (with seamless synchronization to all three platforms). Several people asked how they could get on the beta list. Here’s a link to both the beta version and a FREE full version of existing Evernote 2.2 for Windows.

The Nokia N95 8 GB model has started arriving in the United States. Several legitimate sites such as Dell or Amazon.com have the phone for about $ 640 - $750. How do you resist when you find a Nokia N95 8GB auction for a little over $400? Is the phone you just bought at auction for real? Follow the story of one buyer who bought a possible fake, and learned of it via the Nokia N95 Users message board.

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