One area that needed vast improvement was always seeing a shopping list on an ugly scrap of paper on the right side of my kitchen counter near the phone. That paper was ALWAYS there – cluttering up the view, reminding me of things I that needed to be done, things I needed to get, and a constant reminder on my counter that there was always more to be done. If I didn’t have a pen on hand, the item couldn’t be added to the grocery list, and it would be forgotten by the time I finally hunted one down from my office.

Then there was the fact that there was only ever one copy of “The List” (as I called it). If I brought The List(tm) with me on errands but didn’t manage to get to grocery shopping, The List(tm) got forgotten until I found it three days later in shreds as I pulled my jeans from the dryer. If I sent my husband to work with The List(tm) but found I had time to shop myself, then he had to text me the contents of The List(tm). Don’t even get me started on what happens when an item on The List(tm) isn’t in stock. Upon return home, The Old List(tm) could be thrown out, but we’d immediately have to create A New List(tm) to add back again the item that we couldn’t get.

Enter, a breath of fresh air – The Smart Shopper grocery list organizer, which attaches to your fridge and acts as a digital list keeper.

The funny thing is, I can’t even say the phrase “Smart Shopper” without feeling like I have to add a number to the end of it, like the Robocop spoof ad ”6000 Sux”, or SNL’s home shopping disaster, the “Bass-o-matic ‘76″. So I think from here on in, even though it’s really just the Smart Shopper, I’m going to call it what it should be called – the Smart Shopper 2000.

The Smart Shopper 2000 is actually a voice activated list – you hit the “Record” button, say your item, such as “Skim milk”, “mac and cheese”, “dishwashing liquid”, etc. and it will add it to the list. BUT WAIT – there’s more! Here’s the best part about this list: it categorizes the items for you, so when you hit the “Print” button, it has your list all neatly categorized into departments such as: Errands, Dairy, Produce, Laundry, Frozen Foods, etc. No more running around from one end of the store to another while crossing items off your list.

Here’s another huge selling point for me – the ability to add custom items, and then give it a category. My bank is in my grocery store, so I always include “Deposit checks” on my shopping list. I custom typed the word in, then spoke it, and then gave it a category of “Errands.” Now, I can simply press Record, say “deposit checks” and it gets added to the list (which I can just print again if I accidentally run it through the dryer).

Finally, I can delete individual items, purge the entire list, or change quantities of items. The Smart Shopper 2000 comes with a thick book of recognized words, including such gems as “rectal cream” and “Depends”. Of course, when testing out voice recognition in your new Smart Shopper 2000, it may be necessary to walk by the fridge at odd hours, press a button, and slowly speak, “rrrrreeeeccctaaaaaaaaal creeeeeeem”.

( For those that currently own a Smart Shopper 2000, here’s one thing I did learn about the voice recognition to make it easier to get your item recognized the first time – while the recognition is still excellent, we used to have trouble on occasion getting it recognize certain items, such as “Half and Half”. Here’s the trick: it’s very reliant on consonants, so focus on making those clear. Press the record button and say “haFF anD haFF” and it’s perfect and quick. )

The Smart Shopper 2000 has made my life immensly easier – getting to look over and see a clean counter with no reminders of what daily tasks await me tomorrow – priceless. Occasionally having odd items appear on the list such as rectal cream and Depends, usually when I’m showing off the device to friends? Totally worth it still. Even with prankster husbands.

I consider myself a pretty technical person. I built my own computer, and have knowledge of hardware and software interactions through drivers right down to their basic binary operations. Yet, once I got my first handheld computer, it came with Windows Mobile, an operating system I had never seen. I was so overwhelmed I wanted to cry. I needed to make sure I could check my email. And I had to put my songs on it to play MP3s in my car. And since I wanted to play them in my car, I had to figure out how to wire an aux port into my car audio system. And, did you know I could hook it up to WIFI to surf the Internet? But where do I tell the handheld what my WPA key is? I know computers inside out and BACKWARDS, and I barely knew how to turn this little machine on.

I wanted to run before I could walk, and from someone who is technical, it was especially frustrating to have a gadget I didn’t know how to use.

So, ladies, if there is anyone who understands what you are going through now, it is me. Wholeheartedly. We’re talking full-on panic, blood-pressure-rising frustration.

I have learned one or two things about overcoming this extreme gadget stress over the years, especially as I tend to acquire new gadgets faster than my milk goes out of date.

Always run the installation CD before hooking up your gadget to your computer.

The chances are pretty good that if your gadget needs a specific piece of software to work, it came on a CD. In most cases, the CD install program needs to run before physically connecting the device to your computer, so save yourself some unnecessary troubleshooting steps by following the install instructions exactly as the install guide says.

A cautionary tale for the bold: Yes, it absolutely could cause things to not work correctly by hooking up the device first – trust me, I used to fix computers for a living. Many times I got called onsite to fix a new gadget that wasn’t working, only to find the user had not read the instructions first and just connected the device to the machine.

Take it one task at a time.

To combat that run-before-you-walk feeling, solve one problem you have, and THEN move onto the next problem. For example, if you have an MP3 player, you know you can load it up with movies and music, and then play them back, and wait a minute, what if I don’t want a song on it anymore? How do I delete it? I can delete it, right? Will it get deleted from my computer, also?

By writing down each problem to master into an itemized list of tasks, you’ll find that you are mastering your gadget without even realizing it, and accomplishing what you need to learn. Here’s an example of how you might write down your tasks for your MP3 player:

1. Connect my MP3 player to my computer
2. Transfer music to my player.
3. Delete a specific song from my player.
4. Finding a specific song to play on my player.
5. etc.

IMHO, RTFM.

Be warned – many device manufacturers know that most folks tend to have Internet access these days. To save on printing costs, many times your gadget may only come with initial setup instructions, and the actual user manual can be downloaded online. Read the initial instructions to find out if this is the case and where to go to download the manual.

This does sound crazy, but I’ve found that many times the user manual is already organized into specific tasks to make it easy to follow, rather than an inside-out read-through. Give it a chance. Manuals are getting better. I promise.

Find out the specific version of your software.

In most cases, your software probably has a menu at the top that says “Help”. Clicking this usually yields a pull-down menu with an option of “About <software name>”.

This option should bring up a window that contains the exact version number of your software. In order to find out how to properly use the software that came with your gadget, it’s important that you know which version you are using. Here’s an example:

This version number will become important in the next step.

Probably the most useful tip I could give anyone with an extreme case of “gadget stress” is this next one.

Phrase what you want to do with your gadget into a logical statement or question, and then turn to Google.

Earlier, I suggested you write down a list of tasks that you’ll need to know how to do with your gadget. If you can’t find the answer in the manual, and you just can’t figure it out on your own, turn to Google. I don’t know how many times Google has saved me from tearing my hair out. Here’s a moment of comfort for you – no matter how crazy your question may be, someone out there on the Interweb has already asked it, and some kind person has thought fit to answer it.

“How do I connect my Dell Axim x50v to my wireless network?”

“How do I use Windows Media Player 11 to download songs onto a Creative Zen player?”

“How do I delete a song from my Creative Zen player?”

“Can I use iTunes with any MP3 player?”

“How do I disable the touchscreen on my Treo 800w while I am on a call?”

Finally, turn to user forums specific to your gadget.

The Internet is full of lively, supportive user communities chock full of people who have the exact same device you have, and are having the exact same problems you are. However, there are also people who have overcome those problems, and are more than happy to help you overcome yours.

By searching Google for user communities with your specific gadget name, you’ll most likely come across some that will make you feel right at home. For example, here’s some user forums that I’ve found based on things that I have:

Panasonic’s Living in HD community offers insight, forums, and how-tos for Blu Ray players, and their flat panel TVs. This is a fairly new site targeting families, and it has good tips including how to mount a flat panel TV to a wall.

WMExperts.com is the place to hang out and learn how to your Windows Mobile device. Whether you’re a newb or a seasoned developer, you can ask a question and someone will help you.

Aximsite.com was crucial to my mastery when I had my Dell Axim handheld. Again, a warm community that welcomes newcomers, I felt totally comfortable asking what I thought were mundane questions that I couldn’t find the answer to anywhere else.

Did you get a gadget over the holidays that you just can’t figure out? Are you stuck? Have you found a great community dedicated to a gadget others may be having trouble with? Feel free to post any questions or useful gadget sites in the comments. Let’s get a lively discussion going!

In the meantime, I’m going to continue my life with my current technological frustrations and hope I come through unscathed, and with a blood-pressure that’s actually in range with my age group. My most recent battle was with the Blu Ray menu for of all things, the movie Cars. I think I was just too old to get to the Chapter selection screen. I finally did it, but not before seriously contemplating waiting until my 16 month-old was old enough to learn it, and then teach me.