carrier will be launching it in the next few weeks, maybe the one that starts with T and rhymes with “noble.” It’s a cool Windows Mobile 5.0 – gah! – smartphone with a great form factor, so you all will be first to know when it hits the stores.

I’m also going to write a bit on the void between Eastern tech and Western tech. I can honestly say that the carriers and manufacturers in the U.S. are holding up innovation in a frightening way and that their iron grip is strangling our chances to be competitive in high tech. While I’m all for regulation and the free market, our nation and the behemoths that act as its gatekeepers for new technology and methods are stifling us to a degree that is alarming. If we intend to remain an intellectual and economic powerhouse, this must change. More on that a little later.

Also, if you’re in South Korea, do not eat the fermented skate. It tastes like Drano.