From watching an episode of MTV's Made with rapper Atlas trying to make a white girl into a rapper, I've learned it's never good to start a song off with "yo." And if there's one thing I've learned about cell phones, it's never sell rapper ringtones. Of course, not everyone follows my mantra, like Virgin Mobile. Virgin, along with Universal Motown Records Group have announced the release of five exclusive "gangsta" ringtones for Virgin Mobile subscribers through their First Dibs program.

Artists from the Cash Money music label will be featured in the ringtones, including Lil Wayne, Mannie Fresh, and Big Tymer. I imagine that Lil Wayne's "Way of Life" ringtone would go something like this: Baby, I'ma a stunna..I ain't gon' change it..Don't you know, it's a way of liffeee! Powerful words, man!

And don't forget Hot Boyz' "Respect My Mind:" Respect my mind or get your brains knocked out. Respect my mind or have them boys in your house. I think I'll use that ringtone if one of my exes tries to call me.

Purchase them on Virgin Mobile for $2.50 each.

[Thanks to Wireless Week for the scoop.]

 

I was comparing Sprint's and Verizon's EV-DO coverage maps today and found something surprising: Sprint is kicking Verizon's butt in middle America. If you delve into both carriers' maps, you find that Sprint has been busy lighting up burgs like Muncie, IN; Ames, IA; Wichita, KS; and Gainesville, FL, while Verizon sticks to extending its tentacles out from the 69 major metro areas it covers. (Verizon says they have 171 markets, but that means you'd have to count every suburb of Los Angeles as a separate "market.") Eyeing the map, I counted 110 metros where Sprint now provides high-speed data, from the border towns of the Rio Grande to the high mountains of Idaho.

That said, Verizon may still provide better coverage, with fewer dropouts, in the cities where the two overlap. Consumer Reports and our reader surveys seem to think so, and I've never had any complaints about Verizon's quality of coverage, where they have any coverage at all. But I'm giving Sprint props for making sure middle America isn't flyover country when it comes to the power of high-speed wireless data.

Orbicule's Undercover has a neat concept for recovering your stolen Macintosh. It's something along the lines of Computrace, the PC version of LoJack, which grabs IP information on the user. Undercover goes a step further by taking snapshots of what the thief does online. Eventually the thief will give up information about him or herself by surfing the Web, responding to e-mail, chatting with buddies...  well, you get my drift. The company will then work with local police to help recover the laptop.

But wait -- there's also a Plan B, which involves simulating a hardware failure. The perp takes what he thinks is a broken laptop to a reseller or repair shop, and a message flashes across the screen urging the shop to return the notebook. Umm... I think I like Plan A better. Either way, the thief still has to go online with the laptop, and you're also under the assumption that the hard drive hasn't been formatted already.

According to the site, a free trial is available for download, and licenses start at $29.99. If you're planning on buying that new MacBook Pro, this looks like a great way to thwart thieves.

Back in December, I told you about Creative's announcement of a new PMP: the Zen Vision:M (and how I really want one!). Well, Michael Kobrin of PC Magazine was lucky enough to review it.

The results:

Overall: The Zen Vision:M is our new favorite iPod alternative and should appeal to lots of people, but we have a feeling it's still not going to sway the iPod-loving masses.

Pros: Good design. Excellent screen. Very good audio and video quality. Broad feature set.

Cons: Short battery life. Requires a dongle to sync, charge, and output to TV.

Could the Zen Vision:M kill the video-capable iPod? In terms of sales, probably not since Apple dominates the market; but, in terms of design, I think Creative knows what they're doing. For now, it looks like the player is only available in black for $329.99, so we'll have to be patient for the white, green, blue, and pink color options.

Check out Kobrin's full review of the Creative Zen Vision:M.

It took me 1,463 steps to get to work today, which is just less than a mile of walking. I know this thanks to my recently purchased Pedometer with Heart Monitor from Oregon Scientific ($24.95). Now, I realize this is one of those gadgets that exists almost entirely for curiosity sake, but for $25 it is a lot of fun. I have't quite gotten the hang of the heart monitor (How can I get a 42 and a 72 in the space of ten minutes sitting on my couch?), but it is great for tracking distances and making sure you get your steps in.

Yesterday I racked up over 10,000 steps and burned more than 700 calories just by walking around the city. That was about six miles of walking on an ordinary work day! Unfortunately, I blew it by picking up a 1000-calorie, Number 2 Value Meal at McDonald's on the way home from work. (My son made me do it.)

As long as I walk an additional seven miles today, I should be fine.

Gearlog Radio with David Coursey

Guest: Washington Times tech columnist Mark Kellner

This week, another visit with my friend, Mark Kellner, of the Washington Times. Topics: The new Macs, Apple's Intel future, Windows Vista, the wonders of Norton Ghost, Mark's crashed hard drive, and problems with the new WordPerfect X3. Runs about 20 minutes. Listen here.

There's nothing like a Hummer for some off-road, all-terrain driving. Of course, this is NYC, and there's not much you can do with a Hummer here, except for racing cab drivers. But, there's a lot more you can do with a Hummer laptop.

PC Magazine's analyst, Cisco Cheng, reviewed Itronix's Hummer Laptop IX600. It's equipped with a metal cover designed to look like a Hummer's hood and comes in three colors: victory red, bright yellow, and pewter tin. If you're known to be messy or clumsy, its keyboard is spill-proof and the laptop can withstand drops from 30 inches.

What's cool about the Hummer laptop is that it includes a built-in Leadtek GPS receiver. With it, Cheng was able to recognize his position in midtown Manhattan and plotted positions all the way uptown. The system also includes Leadtek's WinFast Navigator tool, which gives you a tracking view of all the satellites that are within range. Not too shabby!

But, if you're looking to lug this system around, it's a bit too heavy for that, considering it will appeal to people who work out in the fields, i.e. construction workers, architects, park rangers, field scientists. And, if you don't mind forking over $3,368, you'll enjoy taking this baby out for a test drive.