I've heard a number of rumours of an imminent alien invasion centered in the Canadian province of British Columbia beginning January 1, 2010. These extra terrestrial beings are evacuating their home planet, Moate Roalah, prior to its destruction at 12:00 AM (earth time), January 1, 2010. You see, the planet Moate Roalah's calendar is exactly 10 years behind Earth's calendar and interplanetary researchers have discovered that the 10 year old "Y2K" rumours that sent Earth's western nations into a tailspin of computer repair and canned food hoarding were actually based on actual facts from the planet Moate Roalah. Unfortunately, the Moate Roalahn society is entirely dependent on early 286 and 386 PC processors.
The Moate Roalahns have chosen to take up residence in the Canadian province of British Columbia because its climate most resembles their home and because of its proximity to international shipping channels. The planet Moate Roalah shares similar atmospheric conditions with Earth, but the planet is covered with a thin layer of orange wax and due to the planets' poor growing conditions, its residents have evolved to survive on a consistent diet of this odorous substance. To survive, the peanut sized Moate Roalahn beings plan to nest deep inside the ear canals of humans while they are sleeping. This nesting method will satisfy their dietary requirements but it will not provide them with an adequate supply of oxygen to fuel their human-like respiratory systems. In order to access a sufficient oxygen supply, the Moate Roalahns have fabricated small plastic air intakes that will protrude forward 3 to 4 centimetres from the ear canal toward the host’s cheek. This air intake is the only way to identify if a human is being used as a host. Another expected symptom in host humans is seemingly loud and random one-way conversations, due to the Moate Roalahns electro-impulses interrupting normal human brain function.
If you are a human residing in British Columbia (BC), please watch for other humans with an air intake that matches the description above. Quick action is imperative as these human hosts may not be aware of their condition and they must receive immediate medical attention so that they can be prescribed wax supplements.
Seriously though, I've decided to grudgingly comply with the new "hands free" law for BC and step into the Bluetooth era. Rather than go with one of those "hey you must be a Realtor cause you have one of those astronaut earpiece things and you're talking really loud" ear pieces, I decided to go with an in-car Bluetooth speaker phone that clips onto the sun visor and stays in your car (Blueant Supertooth 1). So far, it works really well and it jives really well with my iPhone 3GS (including the voice control feature). What can I say, I'm a late adopter.
Happy New Year!
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Updated January 5, 2010...
It turned out the Supertooth drove me nuts after a couple days. One of the "features" of this Bluetooth speakerphone is that it can wirelessly pull the music off your iPhone and play it though the little speaker on the speakerphone - great I guess if you don't have a stereo in your 1910 Ford Model T. The annoying this is that you can't turn this feature off. I like to play music from my iPhone by connecting it to the "Aux" jack on my stereo but if the speakerphone is on it steals the signal right away.
Costco has one more Bluetooth Supertooth in stock now so get your Model T warmed up and get on over there...
I picked up the Motorola Motorokr T505 (dumb name) which is very similar to the Supertooth in that it pulls the audio signal via Bluetooth but it can then send the audio signal back to my car stereo using a built-in FM transmiter. This is great because I can leave my phone in my pocket and answer calls and play music on my stereo from my iPhone by just clicking a button on the visor mounted unit. The sound from the FM transmitter isn't quite as good as connecting with a wire but it's not super noticable on my stock honda stereo.
So far, I'm a happy camper and I don't have anything sticking out of my ear, yet...
