Heard about this new thing called cable?

I bought a tripod last week, and have been playing around with pictures of the view of the Fernsehturm out my apartment window . But you can't see them.

Not because I don't want you to see them, but because I can't for the life of me find the one cable that is appropriately sexed to fit both my camera and my computer. Without blowing one or the other to kingdom come.

I am often amazed at the lack of "standards" when it comes to hooking up. Take that any way you want, but I'm currently discussing electronics, not humans.

I feel guilty every time I pick up a power adapter, struggle to remember what it's supposed to plug into, and, failing, throw it away. (I'm on a big declutter kick right now, since my plans will be much easier if everything fits in the Mini. I've gotten quite ruthless.)

Stop for a moment and think about how dependent we all still are on wires, even in this day and age of...well...nothing THAT great has actually been invented recently, but go along with me, please?

Sure, the Phillips' commercials show that wonderful flat screen TV on the wall...but without wires. How many of us add in the extra $500 it will cost to bore a hole in the wall, run the cables through, etc.?

And all of our laptops? Wonderfully small, if you ignore the two pound AC adapter you have to carry along with you.

In my mind, the ideal investment portfolio, from a techie perspective is:

- Laptop batteries that last more than four hours, and weigh less than a brick
- T3 speed wireless connectivity
- Flexible, paper thin displays

If anyone knows of a public company where one or all of these make up more than 50% of their revenues, please let me know.

In the meantime, I'll keep hunting for the proper cable, and my Dell XPS will keep wolfing down German electricity.