Former Webmonkey Evany Thomas is an assistant editor at McSweeney's Publishing in San Francisco. Her hiptop keeps her connected whether she's traveling across the city or across the country.

How does the hiptop help you manage your life?
I use my Sidekick maybe a little too much? I check my email -- three different accounts -- probably thirty, forty times a day. I get a lot of work email, and it comes at all sorts of odd times, and being able to fire off an answer no matter where I am (suffering on the eliptical trainer at the gym, standing in line at the DMV, lying in bed at 6am) makes my life endlessly easier.
I use the calendar to track everything in my life (birthdays, dinners, podiatrist appointments) and everyone I know is in my Sidekick's address book. I've found that the notes function is perfect for reminders (movies to rent, groceries to buy, restaurants to try, cute dress designers to remember) and stray thoughts (to-do lists, stuff I want to write about later, snippets of overheard conversations). I use the phone plenty, too (I just had to up my minutes because my bill was going absolutely nuts). But I use AIM way, way more -- I've gotten alarmingly adept at typing and walking, sometimes ten blocks at a stretch.
Of course I've found endless uses for the Sidekick's web browser: to update my website, to look up the arrival time of the next bus, to find addresses and maps, to bid on shoes and dishes on eBay, to settle arguments about who played what in which movie, to check my spelling, to find recipes ingredients while standing in the produce aisle, to look up hotel rates while pulling into Chicago at 11pm with no place to stay.
And now I'm typing these very words from the backseat of an aging Honda that's hurtling it's way to a work retreat to Lake Tahoe.

Since switching to the hiptop2, what features do you find most improved?
I love the extended battery life and the improved reception. I'm still getting used to the new keyboard arrangement. Who put the delete key right next to the enter key? Madness.

What's the funniest/oddest/most surreal situation you've experienced involving your hiptop?
Almost all of my friends have Sidekicks now, and more than one occasion has found us all sitting in a row, silently crab-typing in the middle of, say, dinner or a drum and bugle corps competition, much to the disgust of our few non-SK-owning friends, whom the rest of us refer to as "Sidekick widow(er)s." And we've been known to instant messenge each other like that, from two inches away. "Do you smell that?" or "What are you wearing?"
It's gotten so bad that now, instead of making the "call me later" thumb-to-ear-pinky-to-mouth gesture, we just mime thumb-typing. So sad.

Appletech is a long-time hiptop® beta tester and one of the founding members of Danger Info - the predecessor to the current hiptop.com. He is currently the site admin of the hiptop.com forums - a job that is equal part tech support and diplomat. He is also the force behind hiptools.net - a useful virtual toolbox for any hiptop® user.

You've been using a hiptop® for over two years now. What have you found most useful in this latest evolution of the device?
First on the list is the design. My hiptop® goes everywhere I go, so the new slimmer form factor is huge plus. Besides the overall better 'in-hand' feel, I carry mine in my pocket practically 24/7. The new design makes it more comfortable and easier to keep in a pocket for me.
The other thing I love is the built-in camera. Being able to take a quick snapshot without having to fumble around in the pocket for the camera attachment (which I lost 4-5 times already) is a huge plus in my book. The larger pics, quicker camera refresh, the flash and night mode all make wireless blogging much more fun. The built-in camera also helps for those sneaky blog pics too. ;)

What is the most popular topic of discussion on the hiptop.com forums?
Ringtones. Ringtones are a huge part of the cell industry today and lets users personalize their devices and stand out in a crowd, so to speak. As new technologies emerge, such as T-Mobile's new CallerTunes feature which let's the person calling you hear the custom ringer you set, the ringtone industry is only going to get more popular.
I like to think that ringtones today are like the stickers we plastered on our TrapperKeepers and lockers in grammar school; they give our stuff a little bit of personality and a glimpse into our lifestyles.
My default ringer is something from Super Mario World right now.

What is unique about a community made up of people who may have nothing in common besides the hiptop® in their pockets?
In one way or another we're all gadget/technology junkies. We all bought the hiptop® for one reason or another. Some people wanted it for the constant data feature, some use it just for the phone and ringtones, others for its PIM functions with the Desktop Interface backup feature. Overall though, whatever the reason, we all saw the hiptop® as the latest and greatest piece of wireless technology and we all just had to have it.

Danah boyd is a Ph.D. student at SIMS - UC Berkeley who studies social technologies like Friendster, blogs/LJ/Xanga, instant messaging, and mobile phones and is particularly interested in subcultural and youth use of these technologies. Here's what she had to say about her hiptop:

"I keep seeing kids wearing their sidekicks around their neck on chains. At the X-Games this summer, there were tons of sidekicks. The Hiptop is definitely appealing to the hip-hop youth crowd. And for good reason.

First, look at the device. It looks like a gaming device. It says: you will use me for play and textual communication. The Sidekick understands that American kids are mostly on AIM and it's a central feature, not a pain in the ass add-on. This is what texting looks like in the States.

Next, look at the interface. There are no horrible menus, no poorly named programs. It's simple: scroll on the right and find everything you need. AIM is obvious. Email is obvious. SMS is obvious. Everything you need with simple scrolls. The feedback mechanism is purrfect - little icons in the upper corner no matter what screen you're on. And if you're away from the device, it'll buzz for certain messages and turn pretty colors for others. Feedback. Constant feedback."

Dave Harper is the co-creator of WINKsite, where you can easily publish original content, create a mobile version of your existing website, or send custom-tweaked blogs that display flawlessly on mobile devices worldwide. Check it out to learn more or find some great hiptop-friendly content for fun on the go.

What possibilites excite you when you think about content on wireless devices in general and hiptop devices specifically?
The mobile Internet is changing our expectations as to how we can share content and communicate with the people around us. Local content, driven by individual passion, is now beginning to take off. The ability to read and share your favorite RSS feeds, create a mobile edition of your weblog, join or build a mobile community -- with a hiptop that all becomes a lot easier to do. You can effortlessly discover all the great content and thoughts bouncing around the "Blogosphere", initiate or join a dialogue on a blog, then take it live with an IM or phone call. The community possibilities that arise when content meets people is endless - all from the street, the park, the train -- or even your own backyard.

For someone who lives on their hiptop, which features do you find yourself using most?
The first day I had my hiptop I was loving it. After the first month I was loving it. Now, over a year later I'm still loving it. Why? Well it's simple; from the moment I flipped the screen open and started tapping it felt like it was a natural part of me. I bounce constantly back and forth between email, IM and the web browser. I'm no longer living on my hiptop. I'm living in it.

Art is everywhere you look, so it's a good thing you have your hiptop camera with you wherever you go. Photographer Mark Beck was featured in the recent Los Angeles gallery showing Cell-Outs and Phonies, and had this to say about making art with his hiptop.

"I love using my hiptop when taking photographs.It's probably my favorite camera (and I have a lot of cameras). I've even taken it out when doing a photo shoot with models; and they look at me like I'm crazy! What do I like about it? With the swivel lense, you can get some great angles on different shots. Also, the photo that you get tends to have this really cool blurred out effect along the edges of the image. It reminds me of pinhole and holga photos. I'm convinced that someday the hiptop will be looked back on as a great underground / alternative camera."

Avid hiptop user Mike Lee extensively documents his life at his mobile web log (moblog). With a post titled "Her water broke" he began moblogging the birth of his daughter, turning the computers around the world into a virtual waiting room.

"Each post took seconds to transmit, so our families and friends in several cities were able to see the journal entries as the birth events happened," Lee commented

Definitely don't miss one of the world's first moblogged babies.