While many of you may have gone HD a while ago, I was content with my old, boxy TV for years. But thanks to a great Black Friday deal, I finally decided to upgrade. However, since I've never owned an HDTV before, I know that my TV upgrade saga isn't over.

There are a few things that I'll be buying to round out my viewing pleasure. While I'm not going for the ultimate home theater experience, I do have some necessities, including the ability to stream and watch content from my computer and keep everything hassle-free. Are you a new HDTV owner as well? Read my list of essentials after the break.

My work phone number must have had an illustrious history before being assigned to me, because I've gotten several calls from debt collectors and tons of texts from spam marketers since the day I got it. Recently, I realized that the frequency of "how to become a secret shopper" and "ways to get a car loan" texts meant that it was time to find a way to block spam texts.

Most of you have also received unwanted spam texts too, so I know you share my frustration! And even though almost 90 percent of all emails sent last year were spam, somehow the occasional junk email that gets through to my inbox is not as annoying as its SMS counterpart; after all, you don't have to pay for emails from a shady marketer like you may have to for your incoming texts.

So how do you stop spammers from texting you? While some recommend replying "STOP," I'm not convinced that doing this would work and not, say, alert the offender of your working cell phone number. So instead, I use a simple recommendation for reducing the amount of junk texts you get. Read about it after the break.

There are many tech treats that were on holiday wish lists recently, and if you now have that fancy new Macbook Air or tablet in your hands, you may now be faced with a dilemma: what to do with your old laptop?

The pace of technology can make it seem like your old machine is obsolete, but sometimes donating it is the perfect solution; non-profits can use a working laptop by either selling it or using it for daily operations. No matter if you're recycling your laptop along with your old phone or donating it, check out a few tips before you say goodbye to it — and let me know what you plan on doing with your new one, if you were so lucky — after the break.

Amazon may staunchly stand by its policy of not censoring its Kindle offerings (never mind that one incident), but Apple, however, behaves differently. Developers must go through a review process to get their apps approved; Apple bans certain things that it deems low-quality or inappropriate — like apps that lack usefulness, creativity, or effort, or ones that are too racy.

But do you think Apple should extend its guidelines to keep other types of apps out as well, such as discriminatory or potentially dangerous ones? Just this week, outraged users successfully fought to ban an app from Christian group Exodus International that said it could cure homosexuality, and senators are demanding that apps that tell you where DUI checkpoints are located should be taken down.

Read what I think about these controversial apps after the break.

Everyone wants to be on Facebook, especially Generation Z. In fact, the site bans 20,000 children a day for trying to set up an account and being under 13.

But it only catches the kids who tell the truth (yes, some obviously do!), and in reality, many parents don't mind letting their children lie about their age in order to set up a Facebook page. After all, it's an easy way for parents to have a window into their child's social world and otherwise keep tabs on the increasingly complex lives of the preteen set.

In a time where most children have a parent-sanctioned online persona by age 2, is it odd that Facebook sets an age limit? While I can see why moms and dads see no harm in letting their kids set up an account — you can easily change settings so that only friends have access to personal information as well as set if a child's picture can be tagged — worries over Facebook's ever-changing privacy policies and the amount of personal information children can potentially include in their profiles would make me think twice if I were a parent of a preteen.

Do you think there should be a ban on "underage" Facebooking?

Remember the Kobo? The Borders-backed ereader never reached the popularity heights of the Kindle or the Nook, but it's always been a reasonable (and cheaper) option for the eink screen lover. And now it's getting even cheaper — with 200 Borders stores closing because of the company's bankruptcy, many have spotted the ereader offered at a price of $60, half off the $120 tag advertised on its website.

While the low price is only available in some stores that are well on their way out, even the regularly priced units can be found for around $100. And although the Kobo lacks some features that its competitors have, if you're in the market for an ereader and haven't decided which one to get, now's the time to check out the Kobo's features. Thinking about getting a Nook or a Kindle? Check out three great reasons to give a fabulously priced Kobo a second look after the break.

Braving the South by Southwest crowds this year? Then you'll be happy to know that Lonely Planet's full iPhone app guide to the festival's host city, Austin, is free until March 15.

The Austin app, which usually runs $6, is chock-full of information about the cosmopolitan city. If you have time after running around the festival, check out the Things to Do section, which offers anything from sightseeing to late-night eats recommendations. There's also a breakdown of neighborhoods, itineraries, and calendar of major events. Find out more about the app after the break.

A favorite tech accessory is getting an update, and shelves will be stocked with the new iPad 2 this Friday at 5 p.m. But if you haven't been able to justify shelling out $500 or more on the tablet, you may want to peruse the health and fitness options for the device. From gorgeous instruction videos to calorie counters, there are several apps to motivate you to be your healthy best.

As of now, apps for other popular tablets like the Android-powered Motorola Xoom or Samsung Galaxy Tab are few and far between, but if you're thinking about grabbing an iPad 2 this week, check out these healthy apps for the iPad after the break.

If mere pictures of celebrities out and about aren't doing it for you anymore, check out Celebrity Places, a new site that couples those same pics with an aerial satellite view map so you can see exactly where your favorite celeb has recently been.

Zimbio, an online entertainment magazine, uses geotagged information from thousands of celeb photos to pinpoint on Bing Maps (the Microsoft search engine's answer to Google Maps) exactly where the famous have stepped and breathed. You can either view recent sightings in slideshow format or sort by person, location (when's the last time Lady Gaga stopped by your hood?), or different categories like sports and entertainment. There's even a Geek category, which at the moment is a jumble of Eric Schmidt lecture sightings, Apple events, and Julian Assange court appearances.

Find out how to map your favorite celebrity's whereabouts after the break.

Quick — who was our 27th president, and where was he born? If you don't know, Google has the answer, easily packaged in its new US Presidents Showcase, a feature of Google Earth.

Just in time to celebrate Presidents' Day, the Showcase maps where all of our fearless leaders were born, plus details facts about their terms. And since it's part of Google Earth, you know you're in for lots of zooming and learning as you take a historical tour of our country.

The plug-in breaks up the list of 44 by time periods and allows you to tour each president's details by pressing play, back, or forward. States' names are shown as they were added to the union, so you can impress your friends and show your patriotism with important geographical and historical knowledge (like, "Taft. Ohio. Joined 1803").

Poor battery life is the downfall of many a useful gadget — after all, even if you've stocked up your iPhone with the best apps for camping, you'll be far from entertained without a fully charged gadget.

That problem has once again been remedied by the power of the sun with Joos Orange ($140), a portable charger for many devices including your phone, iPad, Kindle, camera, and more (adapters included). I checked it out at Macworld and loved the design; the portable, durable, and waterproof charger looks like a solar panel and comes with legs so you can angle it for optimal time in the sun. One hour of sunlight equals two hours of talk time on an iPhone in 3G mode, and you can store power for use later.

It's 60 degrees and sunny here in San Francisco, so I can already imagine carrying this device with me on my next nature outing, but if you're stuck in the East Coast snowstorms, no worries: the Joos Orange charges using any USB power source as well!

While checking out the offerings at this year's Macworld, we came upon TV Plug, a new device that records, stores, and streams your TV content straight to an iOs device, and we were intrigued by its interesting twist on conventional streaming options like the Apple TV. Instead of transferring content from your computer to your TV, the Plug wirelessly receives and records broadcast HD content for viewing (now, or for watching later) on a Mac, iPhone, or iPad without needing your TV to be on. It also acts as a router for networking your devices.

Coming soon are Plugs compatible with Android and Windows Phone 7 devices. While I can't see a big market for terrestrial TV-only streaming to your phone or iPad, with more and more people jumping ship from cable and satellite and supplementing their Hulu Plus and Netflix with basic antenna TV, Plug could be just the device for those who don't want to miss a soap opera or daytime talk show again. Check out more pics of the product in the gallery below!