The primo Cheap Geek, Ben Gottesman himself, informed us in February (in his iHop post) that geeks love sugar. (Try and deny it!)

Therefore, tomorrow, April 25, is a red-letter geek day: Ben & Jerry's is giving away free cones. From 12 to 8 PM, you can walk in to your local B&J's and demand a scoop of your favorite flavor. They have some new ones, like Peanut Butter Swirl and Lemon Sorbet, but in my humble opinion, you can't do better than Chocolate.

The Logitech Wireless Headphones for iPod were reviewed last November by PC Magazine's lead analyst for audio, Mike Kobrin. He gave them a score of 4 out of 5 (very good), stating:

If you have an older iPod, the Logitech Wireless Headphones for iPod are great for casual use. Setup is easy, output is strong, and the sound quality is as good as can be expected with Bluetooth.

Some people have complained of cracked phones; a staff member here bought them a while ago and hasn't had that problem. As always, caveat emptor.

The list price is $119.99; the usual Buy.com discount is $89.99; and you can get a $50 rebate, bringing the price down to a very discounted $39.99. That's darn cheap, even for us Cheap Geeks.

With Verizon, Sprint and Amp'd Mobile all selling downloadable music on phones, it's truly a mind-boggler that no mainstream phone with stereo Bluetooth (also known as A2DP) has come out in the US yet. This list of stereo Bluetooth phones has over 75 models -- none of which are sold directly by US carriers right now. Samsung alone has 35 A2DP phones, not a single one of which has touched our shores.

When I asked Samsung why the US market is so pathetic, they placed the blame on US carriers: "Once carriers require A2DP support, Samsung will begin to support it," the manufacturer said in a statement. It's the usual sad story here in the US; waiting on the carriers retards technology.

Sprint and Verizon have started to order up A2DP phones -- Verizon's upcoming LG VX8300 (at left) and Sprint's LG LX550 will lead the charge, and T-Mobile is picking up Nokia's 8801 luxury phone. But for Sony Ericsson's Walkman phones, Motorola's iTunes phones and Nokia's smartphones to lack A2DP is simply absurd.

Hopefully, I'll be singing a happier tune next year.

RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) concepts are quite a popular topic of discussion today.

First, there's talk of the RFID Purse, known as the Ladybag. The Ladybag is aimed at young professional women who don't have to worry about leaving their cell phone, house keys, or wallet at home anymore. A team of female student researchers at Canada's Simon Fraser University embedded a radio frequency identification reader at the bottom of a bag, which is powered by a nine-volt battery. They wired the reader to a screen-like panel in the front of the bag, which contains three patterns of light-emitting diodes. Lastly, they attached an RFID sensor to each of those items. So, if you forget an item, the purse will light up, alerting you to grab the missing item that is lit up, and place it in your purse. Finally, a product that caters to women!!

Then, there's the RFID Fitness Wristband. Similar in look to those "Live Strong" bands ($10/pack of 10), Casio Japan has developed rubber wristbands embedded with RFID technology so that you no longer have to remember how many reps you completed on a fitness machine the week before. I like this idea, because it's already a struggle to carry my iPod and water bottle with me from machine to machine, not to mention lugging around a clipboard for keeping track of my workout sessions.

The RFID-enabled wristband would be recognized by a PDA on each fitness machine, and would display the history of your training sessions, along with personal health-related data. It could also be used for marking attendance for aerobic classes and automatic membership payments.

Casio's press release is in Japanese, but Google translated it to English, which is almost readable.

[Found via Gizmodo, PopGadget, Sci-Fi Tech]

As hybrids become more popular among consumers, they're also trickling into the taxicab fleets of America's larger cities. Ford reports that 31 Escape SUV hybrid taxis have already traveled a combined 100,000 miles in San Francisco. Chicago is adding hybrid cabs, too, and 18 hybrid taxis just went into service in New York City. The eco-friendly cabs are also making the rounds at auto shows, including April's New York International Auto Show.

Hybrids and alternative-fuel vehicles are ideally suited for taxicab and town car fleets. Most cabs drive at city speeds in stop-and-go traffic. This creates opportunities for regenerative braking, in which the resistance of electric generators slows the car and recharges the nickel-hydride batteries.

Cabs can also use clean-burning compressed natural gas (CNG) or propane. Even with the more limited range of natural-gas vehicles, a driver's shift usually ends before the tank runs dry, and since drivers go back to the taxi barn between shifts, the limited availability of CNG refueling stations elsewhere is not much of an issue. In Europe, diesel vehicles are popular as cabs (also as passenger cars and trucks), because diesels idle on a fraction of the fuel of a gas-engine car.

San Francisco cabbies generally give high marks to hybrid vehicles. Fuel costs are lower with hybrids, a benefit for the drivers who pay for their own fuel. Cabbies say that customers appreciate the extra space in the SUV Escape, and in the green-centric City by the Bay, some passengers tip better because they're riding in hybrid vehicles. And the hybrids' brakes last longer because of regenerative braking.

Part of the dollars-and-cents economics of hybrid cabs may come into focus shortly, though: specifically, the rated lifespan for the hybrid batteries that constitute a big chunk of the Escape hybrid's $4,000 premium. The fuel savings accrue to the drivers, but the cost of replacing the batteries once they're out of warranty is on the shoulders of the fleet owners.

It's about time the movie industry starts reading my mind. For years, I've wondered why they don't feature more 3D movies. I know it costs more to produce films with 3D technology, but maybe it would bring more people to the theater? 

Thanks to Director James Cameron, the "digital cinema" experience is actually going to happen on a regular basis.

According to this Reuters report, Cameron wants the "movie industry to offer films in digital 3D to counteract declining sales and rampant piracy." Makes sense to me. I've always enjoyed going to the movies, but with gas prices on the rise and all of my other expenses, I just rent the movie later on since it's cheaper. Perhaps, bringing 3D to the movies on a regular basis would give consumers more of a reason to go, since you can't view 3D movies on the Web or on a PMP.

So which movie does Cameron have on his mind to rerelease as 3D? The ever-popular Titanic, of course, my favorite movie of all time. Meanwhile, Peter Jackson is considering a 3D rerelease of King Kong and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. And for those Star Wars obsessed fans, you'll be happy to know that George Lucas plans to rerelease the original Star Wars in 3D.

Keep your fingers crossed movie-goers. 3d is coming!!!

For more on the 3D rereleases, read "Digital Cinema Will Save Biz."