Head over to business.yahoo.com, or Godaddy and buy a domain. Godaddy is cheaper, Yahoo is more expensive, both will get the job done. Having your own domain is like owning a piece of property. You can build whatever your want. You can post whatever signs you want. You can yell or sit quietly in the corner. A blog allows you to write, and share your thoughts with others; but a domain is so much more.

With a domain you can try out many different software applications that are available. Check out OpenSourceCMS. The process of installing, configuring, and tweaking an installed piece of software of fun. Learn the software and figure out how to make it work. It will keep you busy, and give you something to blog about.

Overall heres my favs.

1) WordPress; for blogging.

2) MythTV; for home theater server.

3)Plex; for a home theater frontend.

4) Ubuntu; for a desktop os.

5) Debian; for a server.

Email on the go is a necessity to really consider yourself as connected. My smartphones of choice, in no particular order, are:

1) iPhone

2) Blackberry

3) That Droid looks cool!