Notice the Cingular Blackjack atop the Linksys router and two 360s logged into XBL

XBL with your cell phone?! You bet! If you are in an area where broadband is unavailable, and your only means of an internet connection is dial-up, then you have an alternative. Your cell phone. For XBL, and much more. Read on about how we had 10 XBOX 360's connected to XBOX Live via my cell phone.

I know this, because until just recently, I was in that situation. I live in a rural hell which I define as anywhere without available broadband internet.

I am a resourceful person. I searched and exhausted any and all options to get broadband at my house. Cable/DSL/T1... you name it-- I have looked into it. None of these were an option for me. Of the 3 or 4 different cable companies in my area, none serviced my address, nor had any immediate plans to. My house is too far away from the nearest telecom station for me to recieve a DSL signal. A T1 connection would just cost too much. Not a realistic choice. I was stuck with dial-up, which never yielded more than 26kbps for me. My internet was slower than two old people scrumping.

Another thing you should know about me: I am stubborn. Too stubborn to live with what many of my neighbors live with, have been living with for quite some time, and will probably continue to live with. My next option? Wireless. But where to start? There are not that many carriers, and the devices are somewhat cumbersome as far as what they'll accomplish. But, I knew that there were OTA transmissions on a cell phone network that reached speeds far in excess of 26k. It wasn't as good as Cable or DSL, but it was a start. My research led me to the Samsung i607 Blackjack on AT&Ts EDGE (and soon 3G, but we'll get into that later) network.

I recently found myself in the market for a new LCD monitor. My desktop’s existing 17” monitor was cutting the mustard, but my wife has increasingly been using the desktop more for watching TV shows and movies. I also needed an interim screen to allow me to game on my Xbox 360 while I am away from my normal household. All this combined with the sharp fall in LCD prices made a new monitor a no-brainer. Read all the dirty details and check out some screens after the break.