I really rely on my iPod (and my iTunes on my laptop) when I’m on the road. Probably another reason I’m so eagerly awaiting MoGo’s headset!

Here are some fun iPod tricks for those of you also on the go:

1) Listen to Wikipedia articles via your iPod. I recently refreshed my memory on the King Henry’s wives via Wikipedia.  There’s a service called Pediaphon that will automatically convert any Wiki article into a robotic podcast - which is actually way cooler than it sounds.

2) Catch up on NPR. My family has a strange addiction to Car Talk. You know, Click and Clack - the Tappit brothers? No? Oh, well you GOT to try them out. A lot of the shows are available only for a week after broadcast, which is a shame because Terry Gross’ interview with Gene Simmons was legendary.

3) Download YouTube to your iPod (or, even easier, use Vixy).  Although this takes longer than watching in a livestream from the site, some of these videos become as favorite as songs and are definitely worth having along to provide a well needed chuckle while on the road.

4) Catch up on your favorite blogs (like this one!).  If you have a corporate laptop and are concerned about loading it up with personal data - like the RSS feeds from the blogs you follow, never fear: there’s a way to actually bring those feeds into your video iPod.

5)  Catch up on your favorite authors or learn a new language. As much as I’m not one to endorse a commercial site, I recently got addicted to ‘Books on Tape’, by which I mean ‘AudioBooks on my iPod’ - a growing selection of which is now available at iTunes. My significant other, meanwhile, has been brushing up on his trigonometry while on the treadmill.

Either way? It’s all good.

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Associated Press is reporting that a Canadian jogger suffered burns, ruptured eardrums and a broken jaw when lightning traveled through his music player’s wires. This isn’t the first time a bolt has traveled along an iPod, creating a conduit for injury.

“Emergency physicians report treating other patients with burns from freak accidents while using personal electronic devices such as beepers, Walkman players and laptop computers outdoors during storms.

Michael Utley, a former stockbroker from West Yarmouth, Mass., who survived being struck by lightning while golfing, has tracked 13 cases since 2004 of people hit while talking on cell phones. They are described on his Web site, http://www.struckbylightning.org.”

Electronic devices do NOT attract lightning the way a tall tree or a lightning rod does. It just gives the electricity a path to follow.

“It’s going to hit where it’s going to hit, but once it contacts metal, the metal conducts the electricity,” said Dr. Mary Ann Cooper of the American College of Emergency Physicians and an ER doctor at University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago.

Remember - get inside, and don’t use electrical gadgets - like Bluetooth devices - in a thunderstorm.

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Here at the MoGo Mobility blog, we’re gearing up to celebrate the launch of the MoGo headset with a contest:

“What kind of Bluetooth gadgets do YOU envision?”

As we get ready to kick off, I couldn’t help but think about  the possibilities.

One of the things I would like to see would be an alarm to let me know when I’m about to leave behind my cell phone or iPod (again). I long ago eschewed getting a Treo or Crackberry,  but simplicity has been my foe. Without  a BatBelt holstering my gadgets, I am well-known for digging around in a panic.

Yes, I regularly call myself to find my phone and my iPod has been found everywhere - including the refrigerator.

As it turns out,  an alarm  isn’t a future-tense device.

Sony-Ericsson released the MBW-100 watch  last year that is, you guessed it, Bluetooth-enabled.

In addition to being a decent-looking timepiece,  it connects wirelessly to your phone and displays caller ID and message alerts, plus lets you reject calls and control your phone’s music player.

That’s right, the caller’s name subtly flashes in the face of your watch and with a push of the button, you can send it to voicemail.

My favorite feature? If you  walk away from a paired device, like your phone, it gives you an alarm to let you know.

And yes, it’s compatible with the MoGo headset.

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