1. Need money. Be honest, you expected this. One way to avoid the unexpected phone call is to buy your kid a debit card, and keep it filled. You can work out the details ahead of time, like the available balance and deposit schedule.
2. Car broke down. Depending on what’s wrong, if it’s not under warranty, this could be expensive. The debit card option might alleviate such unexpected expenses. That is, if there’s anything left after paying for textbooks, clothes, food, and gas.
3. Tuition problems. Rare are the times when things go smoothly with registration. Sometimes that includes tuition snafus, so be prepared for that panic call.
4. Roommate issues. Sometimes all they want is a sympathetic ear to hear their frustrations. College life is a big adjustment; and if this is the first time your child has had to share a room, it could be a bit bumpy at first.
5. Need furniture or personal belongings from home. Once your child gets settled and figures out the lay of the land, so to speak, she may decide she wants to have a bit more of home in her new home.
6. Need references for a job. If your kid decides to take on some part-time work to help with expenses, it may entail getting a few names and phone numbers for personal references.
7. Arrested – It’s not like it happens all the time, you understand, but it has been know to. On the bright side, your kid will more likely be arrested during a sit-in to protest tuition costs.
8. Expelled or suspended from school. – You raise them right, you teach them right from wrong, and what happens? Probably nothing; at least not to your kid, right?
9. Plane tickets. – Our guess is that this phone call isn’t going to be all that much of a bother to you. Money well-spent, we’re sure.
10. Homesickness – If only you could send a hug over the phone. As heartbreaking as it may be to know that they’re feel lonely, remember that it’s equally  heartwarming to know that you are missed, and that they’re going to be okay.

1. Whitney Houston – Sadly, there are several entries in my phone book that have seen better days. There was one moment in time when that wasn’t the case for Whitney. Now, however, whenever she calls I hear Insane in the Brain by Cypress Hill.
2. Chris Tucker –  In his stand-up act, the financially challenged Tucker quips that he should never have taken tax advice from Wesley Snipes. Somehow I don’t think he’s joking: Taxman by The Beatles.
3. Charlie Sheen – Yet another falling star on my celebrity phone list. Regardless of whatever pharmaceutically enhanced reality he’s created for himself, this guy is definitely not winning: They’re Coming to Take Me Away by Napoleon XIV.
4. Lindsay Lohan – Looking over this list, I can see why my voice mailbox is always full. Who needs to be taking calls asking for bail money at 3 AM? I Fought the Law by The Clash.
5. Jennifer Lopez – Not that I’m complaining, J. Lo, because I mean this in the most flattering possible way. Really. I just couldn’t resist: Fat Bottomed Girls by Queen.
6. Phoenix Jones – You never know what evil may be lurking around the corner in Emerald City, and the cops can’t be everywhere. So whenever I’m in the Seattle area, I make sure I’ve got this local superhero’s number on speed dial. Holding Out for a Hero by Bonnie Tyler.
7. Hank Williams Jr. – Someone should tell Hank he needs to stick to songwriting, and keep that bottle as far out of his reach as politics seems to be. I’d talk to him myself if I didn’t have to use up all of my minutes trying to understand what he’s saying. Big Mouth Strikes Again by The Smiths.
8. Simon Cowell – Maybe it’s the upcoming holiday season, but this one just feels so right, you would almost think it was written just for him. You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch by Thurl Ravenscroft.
9. Bill Clinton – Despite his assurances that he’s kicked the habit, I keep this ringtone downloaded just as a reminder. I just hate to see a friend struggle with an addiction: Have a Cigar by Pink Floyd.
10. Dr. Phil – The truth is, I actually forward a lot of these calls to my good friend, Phil. He’s got a  rep for getting people who’ve gone astray to feel good about themselves again. So, naturally: Dr. Feelgood by Motley Crüe.

1. Video Goggles. Do you ever get tired of trying to watch sporting events or your favorite movies and videos on a tiny little cell phone screen? These goggles plug in to your mobile phone, and have tiny screens that fit close to your eyes, simulating the look of a large screen television. Can be purchased with add-on headphones to complete your personal theater experience.
2. Telescopic Lens. No kidding, it’s a zooming telescopic lens, just like the ones sold for cameras. It only can be adapted to a few phone models currently, but it snaps in place over the camera lens of your cell phone to let you take up close and personal pictures.
3. Aura-Sensing Strap. Now your cell phone strap can also signal your mood and spiritual state of being. With a small sensory globe attached on one end, and your phone on the other, this accessory serves the dual purposes of helping you keep track of your phone and changing color to indicate the state of your aura.
4. Banana Flip-Phone Holder. If you have a flip-phone and like to receive bemused and amused looks while in public places, this accessory may be for you. It is a plastic banana with a hinged cover and a belt clip. A flip-type cell phone can be attached to the body of the banana and inside of the hinged cover, so that you can walk around with a banana attached to your belt, or held to your ear while you are talking on the phone.
5. Secret Agent Kit. This is a cell phone holster that straps over your shoulder and conceals itself beneath your jacket, just like a concealed shoulder holster that a detective or secret agent might wear for a gun. It even comes with a fake mustache and sideburns straight out of the 1970s, to complete your secret agent fantasy.
6. Rubber Ducky. This plastic cell phone holder looks and floats like a rubber bathtub duck, and contains a transmitter to turn your cell phone into a floating radio, so that you can listen to the radio or take phone calls while lounging in the tub.
7. Cigarette Pack Phone Holder. A cell phone holder that looks exactly like a pack of cigarettes, right down to the warning labels concerning smoking’s health effects, this accessory actually holds a half-pack of cigarettes. A must for those that reach for a smoke every time the phone rings.
8. Cigarette Lighter Phone. Not an accessory, but an actual phone, this can be combined with the number 7 above, to create the ultimate smoker’s phone. Slide back the protective cover and click the lighter button, and soon the glow of a cigarette lighter appears to light your smoke for you.
9. Seat Belt Phone Holster. Have you ever found yourself shuffling through your car console, trying to find your ringing cell phone while driving? Here’s your solution; a phone holder that mounts on the shoulder strap of your seatbelt, so you can grab it immediately when it rings, without taking your eyes from the road.
10. Goofy Phone Cover. Yep, it’s Goofy. No, not goofy; Goofy! The Disney character. Now you can decorate the outside of your cell phone while at the same time showing the world that you love Goofy.

These are goofy, yes, but I truly expect that we will see more and goofier accessories come available over time. The cell phone is a very personal item, and as such, it just cries out for more and more goofiness to help people personalize it even more.

1. Driving Directions – Starting with the obvious, we like having a built in navigator. It beats having to move a standalone unit from one vehicle to another, or worse, equip each one with a separate unit. Plus …
2. Cost Savings – It’s way cheaper to download a navigation app like Verizon’s VZNavigator, than to purchase a standalone unit. Some apps are even offered free with certain phone plans.
3. Family Tracker – Your GPS equipped phones allows everyone to find each other quickly and easily. Think of the reduced stress on that next trip to Disney World.
4. Find Lost Phone – Mobile apps like iPhone’s MobileMe can assist you in locating your phone when you’ve misplaced it. All you have to do is download the appropriate GPS tracking software, and you can find the location of any phone on the web. Which reminds us …
5. Theft Recovery – That same software can also be used to recover stolen mobile devices. Just provide your local law enforcement personnel with the tracking information your app provides you and let them go to work.
6. Emergency Services – With an active GPS enabled mobile device in your possession,  rescue personnel can locate you if for instance you were lost on a trail, injured,  or in an accident. As long as the GPS feature is enabled and the unit is turned on, you can be located in most areas.
7. Monitor Child or Young Adult Driver – For parents who want to monitor their children, or a teen driver, the GPS enabled cell phone is a valuable tool for both safety and promoting responsible behavior. It works in much the same way that a car-installed unit does, and will track your teen’s driving habits.
8. Fitness Buffs – There’s a whole assortment of software that you can install on your phone that will track your fitness regimen for you. If you run, hike, or cycle for instance, you can track your progress – distances, times, speeds, etc.
9.  Group Management – If you’ve ever been at a convention, a concert, sporting event or the like as part of a group, then you can easily see the value in having GPS that will keep you all from getting irretrievably scattered. If only we’d had one of these in L.A. back in ’82 for that Who concert.
10. Stealth Mode – OK, so you want to drop off the radar and be invisible for a while. No problem. You can go undercover anytime you choose – just turn off the GPS and you’re a ninja.

1. Keep Calm and Carry On – This 1939 WWII British morale booster slogan should serve you well in your time of need. Don’t panic. Remove your phone from the wet environment as soon as possible, and prepare to operate. Do not turn on the phone; this could cause it to short-circuit.
2. Coin Flip – Opinion is divided as to whether battery removal is called for. Naysayers say to dry it intact, so as to avoid a short-circuit, while the opposition says to remove the battery, and for the very same reason. I’ll go with taking the battery out, especially if the phone is already turned off.
3. Attachments – Remove everything from the phone that is detachable, including SIM cards, clips and covers.
4. No Charmin – You need absorbent material, but avoid tissues or towels that break down when they get wet. Soft towels, paper or fabric, will work the best. Gently dry what you can reach. Hint: rolling pieces of paper toweling into pointed cylinders can help access and “wick-out” some of those hard-to-reach places.
5. Don’t Push – A vacuum works better than a blow-dryer for the next step in the drying process. Even the lowest setting on the dryer may be too hot, and there is a tendency for the blower to push moisture further into the device without completely evaporating it.
6. Rice – Rice, as well as some other grain products, will provide a drying environment , since they can absorb a lot of moisture. People in humid climates often add grains of rice to salt-shakers to keep the salt from clumping. Place a bed of uncooked rice in a plastic container that is big enough to hold your phone. Place your phone on the bed of rice and then add more rice, until the phone is completely covered. Place the lid on the container, and let the rice do its work.
7. Silica – You can take all the little desiccant packets out of your medicine bottles, and use them in the same fashion as the rice. Silica and silica gels are highly absorbent, and relatively dust-free.
8. Pause for the Cause – Rice and/or silica will need time to do the job. Wait at least 12 hours (preferably longer) before removing the device.
9. Reassemble – Carefully re-connect everything that was taken off the phone.
10. Cross Fingers – Try the darn thing. If it works, great. If it doesn’t work, try drying it out for another day, and give it a second shot, double-checking to make sure you put things back in correctly.

It doesn’t always work, even when you repeat the process, but the success rate warrants the effort, and then you won’t have to tell anybody that you dropped your phone in the toilet.

These are obvious places, where we know we should keep our cell phones holstered, and with obvious consequences resulting from our ignorance. Other instances may or may not be so apparent to the average cell phone user. Casinos, for instance, ban cell phones at their tables, and some of their reasons may surprise you:

1. Card Counting – It’s possible for a cell phone user to use a mobile device to keep a count of cards at a table, as in the case of an iPhone app designed for just that purpose. This is not a welcome practice in a gambling establishment, in case you were wondering. So you may want to hang that sucker up before you have to deal with Robert DeNiro and his crew in the back of the house. Do we make ourselves clear?
2. Teamwork – On the off chance that you may be using your mobile device to invite a friend over to assist in your gambling efforts, it is once again advisable to stay off the phone. The house would not take kindly to your enlisting bettors on your behalf.
3. Excuse Yourself – Though casinos will allow you to take phone calls so long as you step away from the table, this can also be used as a ruse to step away from an unfavorable situation at the table. In other words, players have used the excuse of a phony incoming call to avoid dealing with a bad hand.
4. Interference – In rare instances, radio frequencies have been known to affect the operation of some casino equipment such as slot machines. Though not as common or as likely as in years past, it is still regarded by some as a risk to operate two-way radios or mobile phones in close proximity to them.
5. Sports Book – When you are in the area of the Sports Book, it is also requested that you refrain from cell phone use. This is to discourage messenger betting. It is also in part because gamblers have used their access to the gambling lines at various other sports book to play the betting lines in their favor, a tactic called “middling”.
6. Distraction – Regardless of how legitimate your calls may be, their distraction to other players can create problems. Remember, there is usually a lot of money at stake at these tables, and no one likes to be distracted when they are staking large amounts of dough on their ability to concentrate and compete.
7. Transmitting Betting Info Across State Lines – This is one of the rationales behind cell bans that actually led to the ban being lifted several years ago, as it is now possible to accomplish the same thing online. That, plus the fact that many players are using the net to do their gambling anyway, resulted in a temporary lift of the ban at sports books.
8. Focus – Casinos are designed to serve one purpose: to keep players playing. Everything they do, right down to the floor plan, is intended to keep the gamblers at the tables gambling. So if you are making or taking phone calls, you may be drawn away from the table, and potentially out of the building. This is not an explanation you are likely to get from the management for their restrictions, but it’s certainly a reason that they frown on cell phone use.
9. Camera Phones – Another activity that casino managers discourage is picture taking on the gaming floors. It’s unclear what they are attempting to safeguard from public view, since their casinos are open to the public in the first place, but photography bans exist nonetheless. It may be that they are concerned with the potential for the texting of photos between guests as a cheat method.
10. Paranoia – Ultimately, it boils down to fear. Specifically, a fear of the house losing its long-standing edge over the betting public. With all the technological capabilities of today’s mobile devices, and the never-ending plethora of available apps for them, casino owners are understandably jittery at the very sight of swarming hordes of gamblers armed with weaponry that could conceivably one day tip the balance of power at the gaming tables.

1. Geek disease  - Every geek had to have one as soon as they came on the market. The large screen, lots of little buttons and multi-functioning capabilities had them foaming at the mouth.
2. Addictive – Of course, the main reason for the name was related to its apparent addictive qualities. Once a person owned a Blackberry, you never saw them without it. They not only carried it with them everywhere, but they seldom put it down or took their eyes off it.
3. Compulsive – The instant communication capabilities of the Blackberry when it first arrived on the scene were novel to the cell phone user. The ability to receive and respond to your emails on your phone was quite an amazing feature, but it also meant that you were being bombarded with the sense that you needed to respond immediately to each new email that came in.
4. Expensive – As with cocaine, the ‘crackberries’ were also a very expensive habit to maintain. They cost hundreds of dollars for the unit itself and then there were the monthly data plans to carry all the functionality to the phone, besides.
5. Peer pressure - “You have to get one!” with the Blackberry seemed to be as affective with the geek crowd as the “You have to try this!” with the crowd that was into drugs. Peer pressure isn’t the least bit limited to one social group or the other.
6. Zoning – You’ve seen ‘the zone’, haven’t you? Their eyes are fixed, and they seem to be oblivious to everything and everyone else around them? The only difference with the Blackberry addict is that his eyes are fixed on an electronic device.
7. Withdrawal – A Crackberry user will suffer withdrawal if he is forced to do without his phone for more than a few hours at a time. Symptoms of the with include nervousness, irritability and a lack of focus.
8. Euphoria – If you watched a new Blackberry user immediately after receiving their first Blackberry, you would witness an obvious sense of euphoria flooding their face.
9. Behavior modification – The possession of the Blackberry created a definite change in behavioral patterns of the owner. They became much less verbal in their communication and began to prefer to use their thumbs for sending short email messages via their phones.
10. Cracked screens – There is one additional reason for the ‘crackberry’ nickname that came from a very different direction, that being the frequency of cracked LCD screens on Blackberries. Blackberries have not fared well when dropped on concrete or sent flying off the top of a car after being left their by their owner. Cracked screens, of course, often lead to the symptoms of withdrawal, listed above.

As you can see, there are a lot of reasons the Blackberries gained their nickname of Crackberries. It appears to be quite fitting.

1. Phone book – What used to be the first place someone would look to find a phone number is nearly obsolete. If you need to look up a number, try the old fashioned way of looking in a phone book.
2. Business card – Another place to get a phone number is from a business card. This is a great source because many numbers aren’t listed in directories. Most cards include work, cell and home phone numbers, so you have more options.
3. Newspaper – If you need to call a business in the area, the local paper is a great source of phone numbers. Check the ads in the paper for the number you need.
4. Cell phone – Modern cell phones have the capabilities of storing hundreds of phone numbers. For many people this is the first place they look when they need to find a number.
5. Directory assistance – If all else fails, try calling directory assistance to get the phone number you need. Most of them will connect you to the number after they find it for free or a small fee.
6. Ask a friend – If you don’t know the name of the company or person, call a friend to find the number. You can ask them who that plumbing guy was they told you about the other day and what’s his number?
7. Email contacts – I keep many phone numbers stored in my email contacts on my computer. This is a much quicker way of finding a number than using a Google search.
8. Switchboard.com – Google isn’t the only search engine on the internet and there are many websites that specialize in finding phone numbers. Switchboard.com has both white and yellow pages, plus they also have reverse lookup capabilities.
9. Whitepages.com – Another online source for phone numbers is whitepages.com. This website is a good source to find personal phone numbers, so add it to your bookmarks.
10. Yellowpages.com – If you need to find a business phone number, yellowpages.com is another source you can try. Even if you don’t know the name of the company you’re looking for, you can search by category and location.

With all these options, there’s no reason for not finding the phone number you need. There are many websites to find cell phone numbers and reverse number lookups to check numbers on your caller ID or phone bill. The problem is, now when someone asks you why you didn’t call, you don’t have the excuse that you couldn’t find the number.

So, how do you decide which type of phone service is right for you? And should you simply have one service or multiple types of phone services to meet your needs? Here are some tips that may help you make those decisions.

1. Who do you call most? Do you call friends and family most, or are most of your phone calls business related? Cell phone companies often have plans that allow for a family or group of friends to be included as a ‘free calling group’.
2. Who calls you the most? If most of your phone calls are incoming instead of out going, a landline may be a better option than a cell phone, since cell phone minutes are counted for incoming and outgoing calls.
3. When do you use your phone the most? Many cell phone plans provide free calling on weekends and late at night. If this is when you do most of your calling, especially to long distance numbers, a cell phone can sometimes save you long distance charges.
4. Long distance calling. Long distance charges for a landline phone have often been the most expensive aspect of having a landline. This is not always true today. Many phone providers will provide unlimited long distance within their monthly phone rate. Compare carefully between landline and cell phone packages before making a distance on this basis.
5. International calling. This is the area that ViOP phones have provided the most savings for phone customers. International calls from landline and cell phones can be quite costly, when they are made on a regular basis. ViOP phones operate over the internet, which greatly reduces these costs.
6. Lifestyle.  Landline and ViOP phones can be wireless and used anywhere around the home, but they aren’t truly mobile. If you don’t need or desire to have a connection to people 24-7, then a cell phone may be an extra expense that you don’t need.
7. Business. If you use your phones for business, it is likely you will want to be reachable at all times by a cell phone. At the same time, you may want to have a landline or ViOP as well, particularly if your cell phone has issues with reception quality in some places.
8. Travel. If you spend a lot of your time traveling, a cell phone is almost a necessity, and a landline or ViOP phone may simply an extra expense that you don’t actually need.
9. Internet – If you don’t already have broadband access to the internet through cable or a DSL provider, then a ViOP phone is probably not an option for you, since this a prerequisite for this type of phone service.
10.  Compare all the pieces. The decision on what is the best choice for phone service can be a bit complicated. Compare costs with a variety of plans and providers, but also consider the quality of the service that you will be receiving, particularly when it comes to cell phones.

In the end, there is no right or wrong answer. Each household utilizes their phones differently. You may be able to purchase a cheaper plan on your cell phone if you have landline or ViOP that you utilize when you are at home. Do the math and decide which combination works best for how you utilize these types of communication services.

1. Voice Quality – Typical landline voice quality is usually crystal clear. If there is a problem, it usually has to do with the quality of the phone itself and not the delivery system. This hasn’t been true with VoIP phone calls. The quality seems to be affected by several different factors, which means that you never know what to expect.
2. 911 Calling – Many ViOP services are now providing or offering emergency 911 service, but this continues to be an issue. 911 operators receiving phone calls from a VoIP phone can’t always tell the true location of the caller because the call is being routed through the internet.
3. Power dependent – Unlike analog phones and cellphones, if the electricity goes out, your VoIP will not be useable. It was must have power to operate.
4. Bandwidth sharing – The fact that the phone service is carrying voice over data lines that are sharing data traffic means that the amount of traffic can affect the quality of the phone call.
5. Extra hardware – There are a few VoIP services that only require speakers and a microphone with your computer to operate, but most utilize a special phone that connects into your internet service or computer.
6. Pricing – The pricing structures for the different VoIP services vary and can be confusing to understand when compared to standard local and long distance telephone plans. This also makes them difficult to compare to one another.
7. Calling limitations – Some people have switched to VoIP phone service and then found out that there are certain phone numbers that they cannot reach using that service; an issue not found with other types of phone communication.
8. Security – The fact that the phone calls are traveling the internet highway raises the question of security and privacy for many phone users.
9. Dropped calls – Landline phones seldom drop phone calls and with VoIP phones, this can be a much more common problem. It is frustrating enough when it happens on your cell phone, to have it happen on your ‘home’ phone is generally not acceptable.
10. Voice delay – One of the biggest quality issues tends to be voice delay in the transmission. This is something that can vary from one phone call to the next. Again, it is something that people are not used to having to deal with on their landline phone, and are easily annoyed by it, when it occurs on their VoIP phone.

If you make a lot of international phone calls, VoIP phone service may be a great money saving option for you, but you aren’t going to see them become the standard household phone in the near future.