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Wilson's back and feeling mellow after yesterday's inauguration, so we take advantage of his good spirits to ream him for taking the day off. He gives us an in-depth review of his party at the Apollo and the movie Gran Torino. We also cover a superwide range of hilarious stories today, including Google crimes, the Razzies, school bus stories, the Phantom Bathroom Smearer, and Phacebook Phishers.

According to this article, Australians apparently have terrible manners when it comes to using cell phones and other tech gadgets in public. Some of the statistics listed are: 48 percent of Australians … Read more

Nothing is constant in the cell phone world and carriers are no exception. In the past five years, we've seen Sprint scoop up Nextel, AT&T Wireless merge into Cingular, and Cingular become the new AT&T. And I won't even mention the small regional operators that disappeared into the folds of a national carrier.

The latest carrier casualty is Alltel, which , as of last Friday, merged with Verizon Wireless. Like any corporate marriage, there are plenty of details to sort out so this one won't be completed for some time. But if you're a customer of either carrier, I'm sure you have questions on how the merger will affect you. So, to help you understand how the merger will proceed, I've created this handy FAQ that expands on Verizon's own FAQ on its Web site. If you have any additional queries, please send them on and I'll do my best to answer them.

Q: When will the merger be completed?

A: It will be a few months until Verizon and Alltel are one company. For now, Verizon is the legal owner of Alltel. Once the deal is done, Verizon will outpace AT&T as the largest U.S. wireless carrier with an expected 78 million customers.

Q: What will the company be called?

A: Verizon is the buyer here so the Alltel name and branding will disappear starting in the second quarter of this year. Most current Alltel customers will become customers of Verizon automatically.

Q: How much is the deal worth?

A: Verizon is paying $5.9 billion for Alltel and assuming $22.2 billion in Alltel debt for a total acquisition worth $28.1 billion. … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--At the MacWorld ShowStoppers event Monday night, I got a quick look at Newber, an iPhone app from Freedom Voice Systems that lets you redirect calls made to a new number you give out ("newber," get it?) to alternate numbers depending on your location. If you're in the office at your desk, the app can send calls to your work phone. At home? It rings the house phone. Neither? The call will ring on your iPhone. (See also: Grand Central.) The app uses GPS to suggest call routing, but ultimately you make the routing decision. Sounds … Read more

You thought we got rid of all of your unplayed calls all year. It turns out, we keep the very best for a show we like to call Cutting Room Floor. Check out some of the best calls that never made it into the show (and one that did) in 2008.

The VoIP solution to international calling isn't for everyone. Luckily, Packet8 offers an easy alternative with Mobile Talk, a no-fuss app that nestles onto your phone and connects you to a local number for a cheaper international call.

MobileTalk lives inertly on your phone until you dial your number, then delays the call by a few seconds to connect you to a local number, then pushes the call through to your destination. Payment conveniently arrives as a separate credit card charge on your statement when you set up your account. The costs are comparable to other phone card and … Read more

EQO's handsome display proposes three solutions for keeping in touch with international family and friends: calling, texting, and IM. Calls and texts are free between EQO members, which is a sweet sell for users whose pals dot the globe. Initiating outbound communication within EQO to non-EQO members is also affordable, thanks to rates that compete with "VoIP-out" accounts and calling cards.

EQO's phone book, which accepts imports from your cell phone's contacts roster, features a search-as-you-type field and serves as the launchpad for sending calls and mobile-to-mobile texts. The misleading Messaging tab only stores notes … Read more

It will surprise no one that Google accounts for a lion's share of the ad server market. However, it may come as a shock that Microsoft holds only the equivalent of a lion's paw.

Attributor, a content-tracking company, analyzed ad server calls across 75 million domains in October. According to the data Attributor released this week, Google--through DoubleClick and AdSense--accounts for 56.5 percent market share.

Meanwhile, Microsoft's equivalent figure hovers at 3.8 percent. Yahoo came in behind Google with 9.7 percent. If Microsoft and Yahoo ever end up combining forces, they still wouldn't … Read more

VoIP service Jaxtr has a new feature called FreeConnect that lets users make free international phone calls. It works by having both parties call in to local access numbers, then connecting the call via VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol).

There is one large caveat here, and that is both members must be registered users of Jaxtr, otherwise the caller must dole out some real world money for "Jax," which are credits that can be used for calling out to phones. Using this system the person on the other end doesn't have to deal with the fuss of … Read more

Though many people dread the approach of the holidays, I relish them. And it's not because I have a thing for eggnog (except when it's served with brandy). Rather, the arrival of December means the end of the very busy fall phone season. Between Labor Day and Thanksgiving, most manufacturers release a torrent of new phones in preparation for the holiday-shopping season. Though it's certainly interesting to see all the new models companies like Samsung, Nokia, and LG have to offer, following all those phones can be a little exhausting. Now, with CNET's holiday break just a week away, I have the time to reflect on what this year brought us in the world of cell phones. And be sure to tell me what you saw this year, as well.

iPhone 3G and T-Mobile G1 Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't lead off with the two biggest phones of the year: the iPhone 3G and the T-Mobile G1. Though the 3G version didn't quite reach the stratospheric hype of its predecessor, buyers still stood in line at Apple and AT&T stores on its July 11 release date. And despite some well-publicized problems with dropped calls and shaky 3G connections, buyers still flocked to buy the iPhone; Apple sold 5 million handsets in the third quarter alone. Apple continues to add new features through software updates, and I'm excited to see what 2009 will bring. I just hope one of the new features is something basic like multimedia messaging. And speaking of Apple, MacWold 2009 is only a couple of weeks away. We may just see an iPhone Nano.… Read more