This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Demo Telus PTT with noordinaryphone.com

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Demo Telus PTT with noordinaryphone.com

7. Never forget to pick up your geeky status symbols

There are certain things that should just be in your geek repertoire. For instance, you might need to pick up another geek-signature blue shirt. You know, because you spilled tomato sauce/coffee/chocolate on one, you need a replacement. Same goes for khakis/black pants.

What other geek status symbols do you need to remember to pick up? How about a copy of Watchmen? You can set it up on your desk and complain to everyone you know how bad the movie was, and how the graphic novel was one of the greatest works of 20th century artistry. A perfect complement: Rorschach figurine. I’m still looking for one where you can press a button and he’ll say “Hrm.” In any case, any geek knows that collectibles are just as important as family pictures when decorating your office space.

Speaking of family, you might need to pick up a few items on the way home from work: loaf of bread, bottle of milk, be home right away. How can you keep all that straight in your head? You could try out a task-management application like Remember the Milk, which syncs with your BlackBerry over the air. Or you could try one like e-Moobile Task Pro. In any case, it’s the geeky way to make sure you don’t forget anything.

8. Get over that fear of the dark

Don’t be afraid to admit it: no one likes the dark. It doesn’t have to be like when you were a kid and the fear of monsters gripped you. Instead, it’s fearing that your kid left a roller skate somewhere between your bedroom and the bathroom, and you could slip and fall, with no one to discover you until the morning. It’s still a fear, just a different kind of fear.

Of course, you could always just put a flashlight by your bedside — or better yet, just turn on a light — but is that in the true spirit of geekdom? I think not. If you use your BlackBerry as an alarm clock (show of hands?), an application like MyFlashlight is an easy solution. Your Berry is already at your bedside, so you just pick it up, run the app, and now your BlackBerry can be your guiding light. Note: not recommended for lighting while messing with electrical or computer equipment.

9. Sharpen your chess game

Is it still a requirement that a geek be good at chess, or have those days passed? If so, I’d be a bit disappointed. Chess is a real geek’s game. It takes a solid strategy combined with the ability to read and manipulate your opponent. Come to think of it, it’s probably one of the most enjoyable games period, regardless of genre and fan base.

Over at Bplay you can get a smattering of not only chess, but tons of other strategy and puzzle games. Check out one of their many chess games to sharpen your strategic mind. How about a little Backgammon for the LOST fans out there? If we’re talking strategy, poker is another solid game. You can check out poker games over at Bplay.

Another type of game which is rising in popularity is the brain game. I’m a personal fan of BrainAge for the Nintendo DS, but Bplay has a number of BlackBerry-compatible games. Check out BrainUp for some mind-tickling fun. If you want a bit more of a challenge, check out the Brain Tester 24-pack.

While we’re here, why not point out some classic video games you might want to pick up as well? The Legend of Zelda is always a favorite, no matter which incarnation. And then there’s a whole slew of classic games you can get to kill some time.

10. Perform complex mathematical equations or simple business math

The calculator that comes pre-loaded on your BlackBerry can come in handy at times, but only in simple situations. It’s not every day that someone asks for the product of 13 and 6. Sure, you can add up basic figures and even calculate tip rather easily with it, but where’s the geekiness in that? There are plenty of calculator apps out there that can get the job done, and how.

Want simple conversion tables? That seems like a useful function of a calculator. MathPhone takes care of that, plus a ton of other functions. If your kid has a BlackBerry, you can use it for its graphing capabilities — it supports both 2D and 3D graphing. Rather than spend $100 on a graphing calculator, now your BlackBerry can perform the same functions for free.

If you need a bit more in terms of technical functionality, you can always check out Scientific Calculator by XauravSoft. It gives professionals the ability to perform advanced calculation functions, including the use of variables. Yes, you can calculate the sine, cosine, and even arcsine of a variable. yoMotion Advanced Calculator is another option. If it’s business math you need, you can check out BizMathica, a simple business math calculator.

With all these available apps, why use your on-board calculator at all? (Geek answer: because it’s free.)

11. Keep tabs on all your favorite web cams worldwide

Want to see what’s going on at the opposite end of the world? A few years ago that was basically impossible unless the mainstream media broadcast live from the area. Now, though, you can keep up with a single application on your BlackBerry. WorldCam is free, and it has constantly-updated images from over 100 Webcams worldwide. So if you’re sitting in Des Moines, you can have a glance at the beaches in Hawaii or the Eiffel Tower rather than looking out your window as a distraction.

[Joe's note: Cooper picked this, and I agree that keeping tabs of worldwide Webcams is pretty geeky...but does anyone use this? If so, for what purposes other than distraction? Inquiring geek minds want to know.]

12. Compose classical music (or video game theme music)

We all have our musical preferences, and with applications like Pandora for BlackBerry, we can listen to anything our geeky hearts desire. However, what about that pang to create? Everyone dreams of being a rock star, but most people get lost at the stage where you learn an instrument. Yet in today’s digital culture you don’t have to play guitar or piano to write a killer riff. You can check out Vibe, a music composer, at wireless.getjar.com/mobile/products/4258/Vibe from your mobile browser. The software is not only a sequencer and editor, but it allows you to share music with Vibe’s online community.

If you want to actually learn to play guitar in your spare time, you can check out free software Basic Guitar Chords. It’ll teach you the finger patterns for strumming even when you’re not in front of a guitar. It doesn’t beat formal lessons, but a geek’s got to manage his or her time.

For those who prefer fake guitars and real songs, check out Guitar Hero III from Bplay.

Bonus Geek Item

How could we compile a list of things to make you a better BlackBerry Geek and not include NuckChorris. As you might have guessed, it has over 600 Norris-related facts, which you can copy and paste right into emails, IMs, and BBmessages. No, this hasn’t gotten old, and that’s part of what makes us geeks.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

12 Ways to Become a Better BlackBerry Geek, Part 2

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

12 Ways to Become a Better BlackBerry Geek, Part 2

So you swear you are a Blackerry Geek. You you can never seem to put the device down for more than a minute. Your family and friends have grown accustomed to conversation consisting mainly of grunts, half acknowledgements and the virtual extinction of eye contact — and your children are 8 inches taller and three years older than you last remember them. Sure you are a BlackBerry addict, but that is a far cry from being a BlackBerry Geek. It is for you o’weary thumbed one that I wrote this guide to becoming a better BlackBerry Geek. You see, it is not how long you use your BlackBerry for, or how quickly you can reply to that ever growing stack of email in your inbox. Becoming a better geek is all about taking the everyday geeky things you do day in and day out and doing them smarter and on the go.

In conjunction with whatever model of BlackBerry you are currently fixated on, BBGeeks.com presents. . .

12 Ways to Become a Better BlackBerry Geek, Part 1

1. Perfect your eBay sniping while in transit

eBay is a marketplace rife with geek gear. Looking for a throwback item that can’t be found on any retail shelf? Check eBay. Looking for a rare collectible figure? Yep, it’s probably listed somewhere, if not somewheres, on eBay. It might have destroyed the market for some geeky collectibles — baseball cards comes to mind immediately — but that just means that collectibles can be found on the cheap.

The best way to get what you want on eBay is to snipe. If you’re unfamiliar with the term, here’s a definition. Essentially, it’s keeping a watch on an item until the auction is nearly closed. Then you swoop in and place a last-second bid, with the hope that you catch it with a second to go and therefore cannot be outbid. Since you can be out and about with your BlackBerry, mobile sniping might be necessary. Yahoo! Mobile Services has an eBay widget that can help you do just that.

What kind of stuff can you get with your mobile sniping skills?

You could get yourself a vintage computing systems like the Sinclair 1000 or the original Apple Macintosh.

How about some sweetStar Trek Dilithium Crystal. Yeah, we went there.

You could even add to your killer vinyl collection — though is Black Sabbath really geeky?

Since no trip to the eBay store is complete without checking out a few Lego sets, you can get those too! — Still trying to hide your geekish ways? If you get caught checking out the latest Star Wars play set you can always claim it’s for the kids.

2. Easily locate every comic shop, costume store, computer dealer and allergist within a hundred miles of you — and get turn by turn audio/on screen directions

TeleNav is one of the better-known GPS services, and they’ve been making aggressive steps to create a better product for BlackBerry. At WES 2008 they put together a presentation of how their product could aid deployment by BES administrators. Yet the application can be used average Joes like you and me to locate local business of all types, geeky or not. Check out TeleNav GPS feature – BizFinder .

Otherwise, Google Maps for BlackBerry is an attractive, free option. Hopefully you have a Berry with a GPS unit that you can actually use. Yes, that’s yet another shot at Verizon and their GPS-crippling ways. That’s another geeky must: ripping communications companies for their consumer-unfriendly policies. I’m shaking my fist at them right now.

3. Never be left without a clever quote

Spring is upon us, which means flowers are blooming and birds are migrating back north for the summer. Imagine hanging out with a group of friends and hearing one of them say, “oh, look, that’s a swallow.” Dirty jokes aside, the proper response to his/her observation: “What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?” You don’t want to miss a quotation opportunity like that.

Quotes referencing pop culture have always been a bit geeky, so never miss out on an opportunity to quote The Simpsons, Bio-dome, or Monty Python.

Here are a few bookmarks to get you started:
Best Bio-dome quotes ever!

A classic collection from Monty Python and the Holy Grail

The gentleman and scholar: Homer Simpson

My cat’s breath smells like cat food…

4. Follow your multiple online conversations

Most popular online forums allow you to receive an email whenever a new post appears in a thread on which you’re active. Of course, you can use this do your advantage while you’re on the go and have them pushed to your BlackBerry.

Using Gmail with your BlackBerry is an easy way to set up an email specifically for forums. However, I can understand if you don’t want to flood your inbox with forum replies, especially if you use forums frequently. So why not create a page that will collect the comments using MobilePlay?

Then, you can set up an RSS feed with Litefeeds and have it sent right your favorite BlackBerry RSS reader.

Thats really geeky =)

5. Have a buddy system

Every good geek is on to at least one conspiracy theory. This can range from a mainstream conspiracies like the Kennedy assassination and Area 51 to super-niche ones, like the giant ants you see nightly from your telescope.

(And I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords. See what I did there?)

You can set your BlackBerry to track your movements using GPS, publish them to the web in real time so that your friends will know when you have been kidnapped by secret agents. Alien secret agents. Applications like Mobile Tracker and social networks like Loopt can help you accomplish that.

In the event that you do get snapped up, you will want to have your files and SMS encoded. Do it with these apps.

Protect your SMS messages with MobeCode, or encrypt your umm . . . “sensitive images” with MyPhoto. If it is overall file structure security you are after, Mobile Secretary 3.0 will do the trick.

If you want to keep tabs on your friends — you know, so they don’t get taken by the body snatchers — you can use apps like Contact Mapper and Mologogo . If they’re ever taken, you’ll be the first to know. You will have to act quickly though, as we are not sure how good the tracking functionality will be once they have left the earths atmosphere.

6. Learn a new language

As a geek, you might find it tough to find a date unless you’re quite rich — well, except at sites like this, which may or may not work. In another country, though, you’re just an anonymous face. No one will know your geekiness, and you can use that to your advantage. The first step, of course, is to learn a new language. Your BlackBerry can help you with that (what can’t it help you with?).

Not sure what language to tackle? French is always good, it is the language of love after all. You could go for Spanish and learn to rrrrrrrrrrr-oll your rrrrrrrrr’s until the fine ladies are swooning. Or you could stay true to your geeky roots and finally learn some Esperanto. It’s not quite a BlackBerry application, but you can view it through your browser. Plus, if Shatner is doing it you just know you should be too. Beiks is a good source for learning foreign words, and Translator+ can help you translate sentences and paragraphs.

Once you’re a bit more advanced, you can send and receive SMS and email which is translated from one language to another. Yeah, isn’t that freaking cool? Cool for a geek, of course. Check out Transclick, which could help accelerate your language learning.

BONUS LINK

Not quite the romantic? Try this: bone up on romance with these classic romance stories right there on your BB. Ultimate Romance. You might just pick up some moves. . .

Coming next week: becoming a better geek, numbers seven through 12.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

12 Ways to Become a Better BlackBerry Geek, Part 1

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

12 Ways to Become a Better BlackBerry Geek, Part 1

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Racing Formula 1 with the BlackBerry Storm

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Racing Formula 1 with the BlackBerry Storm

Normally we’d save the disclaimer for later, but just to be certain, this post is in jest. We do not think that you’re less of a man for having a BlackBerry Pearl, nor do we look down upon women for using it. In fact, I know more men than women who own a Pearl. Just so we’re clear on this.

1. Real men have big fingers

On some Friday nights I head to a local bar where I meet up with a group of friends and acquaintances. Our jobs have nothing in common, yet we all use BlackBerry devices. Most of us have the Cuve, but a few of the guys have the Pearl. A while back I asked one of them why he had the Pearl instead of the much cooler, and full-QWERTY, Curve. His answer: “Man, my fingers are way too big for that. I always hit two or three letters every time I hit a key.” This, of course, made me think of a scene from The Simpsons (really, though, everything makes me think of a scene from The Simpsons):

The fingers you have used to dial are too fat. To obtain a special dialing wand, please mash the keypad with your palm now.

Awesomely enough, you can use this as your YouMail greeting. Or you can just listen to the audio.

So if men have big fingers, and big fingers make typing on a full-QWERTY tough, I suppose you’re still a man if you opt for the bigger keys of the Pearl.

2. Real men don’t carry purses

Let’s face it: BlackBerry devices are bulky. I’ve said before that I’ve always been the type of guy to carry my phone in my pocket, size be damned. The problem is that my BlackBerry is considerably wider and taller than my previous consumer cell phones, meaning it creates a bulge on my hip. (It was a ton worse when I carried an 8830 encased with an OtterBox in my pocket.) It doesn’t bother me, but I know it bothers plenty of people.

The obvious solution is to place the device in a bag. Problem is, many of us men opt not to carry a bag with us everywhere. Hey, it’s unmanly to be caught with a murse, far more unmanly than being caught with a Pearl. This comes down to the lesser of two emasculating factors. Murse or Pearl? The choice is obvious. Go with the Pearl. At least it has some redeeming qualities. And the bulge on your hip won’t look like as big a tumor.

3. Real men know a bargain when they see one

BlackBerry devices can run pretty expensive. When I got an 8830 from Verizon over a year ago it cost $350 before rebate. The Bold cost $300; the Storm $250. In these rough economic times (this has to be close to the billionth time that exact phrase has appeared on the Internet), investing that much money into an electronic device, no matter how useful and practical, might not be the best decision. Real men recognize this, and that’s why they might opt for the BlackBerry Pearl.

Did you know that Verizon Wireless is giving away free Pearls from now through February 16? Yeah, pretty huge. You still have to sign a two-year contract, but that’s pretty much true for all subsidized BlackBerry purchases. The device, though, won’t cost you a dime. So what’ll it be? Storm for $200 (after rebate), or Pearl for free? The macho thing would be to get the Storm, but real men need not be macho. They need only be real men, and real men know a bargain. Free is greater than not-free.

4. Real men know that a BlackBerry is a BlackBerry is a BlackBerry

Beyond the truncated keyboard and the smaller display, what’s the real difference between a Pearl and any other BlackBerry 8000 series model? They all run the same operating systems. They all run the same, or most of the same, applications. They all have multimedia capabilities. They all feature RIM’s signature push email. They all hook up to BlackBerry Internet Service or a BlackBerry Enterprise Server. In the end, what’s the difference?

From a manly standpoint, the Pearl might look “girly.” I can totally see that. It’s a smaller version of a big device, and in a man’s world bigger is better. That’s only a cosmetic difference, though, beyond the screen and keyboard. Real men don’t do things based on cosmetics. They do things based on utility. The Pearl is just as utilitarian as its counterparts. So why not get one?

5. Real men are comfortable with their size

Ok, not much explanation for this double-entendre. Real men don’t care what you or anyone else thinks. A real man can carry around a pink BlackBerry Pearl and still be comfortable with it. The BlackBerry does not make the man; the man makes the BlackBerry.

Again, please understand that this is a post in jest. If you don’t find it funny, sorry. Most of my friends don’t think I’m funny either, if that makes you feel any better.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

5 reasons you’re still a man even if you have a BlackBerry Pearl

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

5 reasons you’re still a man even if you have a BlackBerry Pearl

The BlackBerry Storm has all that, except videocalling. Oh yeah, and it has a removable battery. That’s a tick up on both of them.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Sorry, iPhone, but the Storm has all of that

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Sorry, iPhone, but the Storm has all of that

That’s right! And rumor has it that the Sarah Palin edition accessories of the McCain accessory line may be expanding later this year if enough of the public elects to use them.

Without further ado, here is a look what we hear is being called the “Sarah Palin Edition BlackBerry Holster” from the soon to be released line of accessories being referred to as the “Senator John McCain Series” according to our Couch insider:

We managed to snag an exclusive look at the upcoming product description:

The Senator John McCain Series holster provides elegant options for transporting your favorite device. Crafted out of the finest full-grain, tanned leather, the Sarah Palin Edition BlackBerry Holster, the first to be released in the series, brings you full functionality and slick design without compromising style.

This highly sophisticated Executive Holster for women features a custom molded lipstick compartment and a solid gold GOP emblem fixed to the outer back cover.

Available in the three hottest fall shades of the year (Hacker Black, Deficit Red and Piggy Pink), the Sarah Palin holster is the latest look available on the market today and is perfectly suitable for keeping your BlackBerry safe and secure from the dents and dings of everyday use.

Every purchase of a Senator John McCain Series: Executive BlackBerry Holster (Sarah Palin Edition) comes with a free tube of lipstick in a shade that is complimentary to the holster color of your choosing.

Our sources tell us that the Holster will likely be available for purchase in November of 2008. Of course, the high price tag might prevent anyone but the wealthiest of BlackBerry users from being able to afford it.

* Note: As you likely have figured, this is a parody and completely made up! We don’t have an affiliation with any political party – we simply couldn’t resist!

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Introducing the John McCain Series of BlackBerry Accessories

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Introducing the John McCain Series of BlackBerry Accessories

Along the way, we’ve picked up a number of tips and tricks for the BlackBerry, and have tried to pass them all along to you. Today, we’re compiling some of the odds and ends into one piece. So…

Did you know your BlackBerry can:

1. Buy you an extended vacation from work

Nursing a hangover? Meet a hot flight attendant on the way home from a business meeting? Feel like laying in bed all day on a random Monday? Well, if you work in an office large enough where your physical absence won’t be noticed, your BlackBerry can be an enabler.

BlackBerry devices connected to work via BES have a remote file management system, which allows access to damn near everything on your work computer. Just make sure it’s in your shared folder and voila, you’re ready to access every spreadsheet and report your boss could possibly demand you send him.

Ah, but don’t think it’s quite that easy. You’ve got to keep your story straight, and sending e-mails from your BlackBerry doesn’t make sense if you’re at your desk. As anyone who has received an e-mail from a BlackBerry knows, the end of each message is tagged with “Sent via BlackBerry,” or something along those lines. Thankfully, there are people out there who not only noticed it, but did something about it. You can also check out our article on how to change your BlackBerry auto signature.

Just one more little nuance to avoid being caught. By default, reply e-mails sent from Outlook are tagged with “RE:” while those sent from a BlackBerry are tagged with “Re:.” It’s not difficult to head this problem off at the pass, it’s just that you have to remember it every single time. If you’re up to the task, then you’re probably ready to work from home without anyone – except maybe your secretary – being the wiser.

2. Let your boss know where you are at all times

Two things you need to know about your BlackBerry GPS in a corporate environment:

• In order for a GPS to work, the system must be able to locate where the device is.
• Most BlackBerrys issued to an employee from his or her company have GPS automatically enabled.

You may think your boss is a complete nincompoop, but he didn’t get to where he is without covering his ass along the way. If I can think of manipulating the device in such a way, don’t you think your boss has? Hell, for all you know he pitched it to his boss and it earned him a promotion.

Now, if you could only use that to your own advantage and track where, exactly, your girlfriend goes every night when she says she’s at the gym.

3. Turn off

I know what you’re thinking: I’m a heretic for suggesting that a BlackBerry can actually be shut off. As my roommate (an avid cell phone user who would have a BlackBerry if he wasn’t dirt poor) says, “Why have it if you’re not going to have it on?”

I can make a list of situations in which it would be appropriate to click the Turn Power Off icon, but they’re pretty self-explanatory. Here’s a rule of thumb: if you’re supposed to be enjoying something — dinner, a movie, the company of a loved one — it’s probably best to just shut the damn device off.

Your e-mails will still be there, as will the messages people leave you. It’s not like I’m suggesting the BlackBerry should be shut off during working hours — far from it. But when you’re out to dinner for someone’s birthday, it’s rather rude to be answering e-mails.

4. Give away corporate secrets

Let this man’s gaffe be a lesson to us all: removing the battery of your BlackBerry will not erase the memory. In fact, it is designed specifically to not do that.

Common knowledge would dictate that the majority of Blackberry owners already know this. However, if a vice president at JP Morgan can make this mistake, I suppose it’s possible for anyone. Then again, this particular VP forgot a cardinal rule of business (or at least in my own personal business):

If your company issues you a device and you end up leaving the company, it’s probably not a good idea to hawk said device on eBay, whether or not it contains confidential information.

And if you’re going to flip property that’s not yours for a couple of bucks, take the five minutes to delete the content. Simply removing the battery won’t work; what is this, 1995?

5. Turn you into a time-efficient machine.

It’s quite easy to get disorganized when you’re constantly exchanging e-mails and phone calls, especially if you’re doing it on the go. How much time did you spend reviewing Client X’s file? Did you really take a half hour composing that e-mail to your boss? Time always seems to be slipping away when you’re working on your CrackBerry…

There are now a bevy of time management applications available, though, that can let you know exactly how much time you spend on various tasks. This is especially beneficial for those who bill by the hour: nickel and dime your clients with impeccable efficiency!

These applications can work for regular working people like you and me, too. Maybe when you see in writing that you spend four hours a day composing e-mails you’ll quit using your thesaurus application and just get to the point. Think of all you can do in the time saved by writing these quicker, more pointed e-mails. Why, you could spend it writing more e-mails!

Don’t think it ends there, though. You might not even have to think about your e-mails at all anymore. Beyond time management/time tracking applications, there are those that will send out automated messages. All you have to do is create a couple of templates and BAM, Annoying Client No. 1 is deflected with a few clicks through a program.

Hell, if you’re crafty enough, you might even be able to create automated messages pointed at your boss. Yeah, it will take time to create all of the response templates, but a few hours (or days, whatever) spent now can mean a ton of saved time and grief down the road.

6. Cause you to become a safety hazard

Like many BlackBerry users, you might be addicted to the device. By that, I mean that you have a hard time putting it down (or shutting it off, as mentioned in No. 3). You e-mail while walking across streets, while driving, while you’re supposed to be taking important instructions. But it’s okay, right? After all, you were born to multitask.

Not so much, according a study by Ryerson University. Then again, I’m unsure why they need a study to tell us that using your BlackBerry while performing tasks that affect other people is unsafe. We’ve all seen people driving while talking or texting on their cell, and it takes about two seconds to realize that they’re creating a hazard.

Look, I’m not here to preach. But for the sake of my safety while I’m traipsing around town, I urge you to cease the BlackBerry-ing while driving. While I’m not a stickler for the legality, I am a stickler for reason and logic, and reason and logic dictates that when you’re operating a two-ton killing machine, it’s wise to pay it your undivided attention.

7. Makes an excellent cobbler recipe

Mmmm mmmmm. Just mix 1/2 cups sugar, 1/2 cup flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 8 cups blackberries, 3 tablespoons lemon juice, and 3 tablespoons butter. For the topping, mix 2 cups flour, 4 teaspoons baking powder, 3 tablespoons sugar, 1 inch salt, 1/2 cup butter, 2/3 cup milk, and 1 egg, lightly beaten.

Yeah, it may have nothing to do with the personal digital assistant, and it does contain a whopping 7.5 grams of saturated fat (35 percent of your daily value!). But boy does it beat getting hounded by your boss.

Of course, you’ll have to hit the treadmill to work off those calories – which coincidentally gives you an excellent opportunity to catch up on the e-mails you missed in the hour and a half it took you to bake the delicious dish. But when you’re answering eight-point questions from clients, just think of that cobbler. Mmm…fatty deliciousness.

8. Serve a an effective weapon

Originally, I thought the best way to use a BlackBerry as a weapon would be to simply hurl it at your adversary and let the device go to work. Think about it: the shell has to be of a certain durability, there are plenty of pointy parts inside, and if the screen shatters properly, plastic shards can be scattered throughout the flesh of your opponent.

But then I came across an advertisement for a stun gun disguised as a BlackBerry. Genius! Think of all you could do with it. That mugger will never see it coming! Why would he stab you if he thought you were merely thrusting a BlackBerry in his direction?

Ah, but I jest. Actually, the only way I can see this being useful is to taze unsuspecting friends. They think you’re texting one minute, but the next minute: WHAM! Tazer to the nuts.

I still say it’d be more fun to just chuck it at someone.

9. Make you all thumbs

Apparently, typing with your thumbs isn’t the best way to be composing messages, at least not as far as your health is concerned. Tendonitis and even arthritis can be down the road, say doctors.

A tidbit at the end of that article reminded me that doctors said the same thing about video games back in the day — gamer’s thumb it was called. And it looks like they’re still saying it, citing cases of mysterious people succumbing to these ailments.

I’ve been playing video games for as long as I can remember. So have nearly all of my friends. Not once have I ever experienced or heard of such injuries. Have you? I’m seriously wondering, considering the sample size I’m dealing with, just how serious a risk repetitive thumb motions are to your health. But what do I know? I’m just a kid with a BA. Gotta trust those guys with advanced degrees…

10. Time travel

Okay, so I’m definitely lying here. But with the way Research In Motion has been developing features for the PDA, you have to figure this will be on tap somewhere down the road.

If Hank Morgan go back in time, enter King Arthur’s court and depose Merlin by using his knowledge of an impending eclipse, think of the dominance you can exert with your BlackBerry. You’ll be the toast of the town.

11. Make you go insane

I’ve been at the conventions. I’ve met the people. We’re all a little whacky. In fact, being crazy might be a prerequisite for covering BlackBerry news. Doug and Simon, and Kevin, too. You’re all nuts. Cooper, Rae, and me? Total whack jobs. Who else would make a BlackBerry commercial like this?

Crossing street image via flickr user DCVission2006 under a Creative Commons license.

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

11 Things You Probably Didn’t Know Your BlackBerry Could Do

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

11 Things You Probably Didn’t Know Your BlackBerry Could Do

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Tell your story of BlackBerry abuse

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

Tell your story of BlackBerry abuse

He laughed and said that his wife used to constantly complain about his BlackBerry usage and it was definitely causing issues. But, he thought of a new way to handle it… he bought her one of her own.

He says she is now completely addicted to it and carries it everywhere and hates being without it even more than he does. So, if you’re having issues with your significant other, grab them their own BlackBerry and see if you can’t assimilate them. ;-)

Resistance is futile!

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

BlackBerry Resistance is Futile!

This post originated at BBGeeks.com - home to all things Blackberry! Also a great source of info about AT&T BlackBerry.

BlackBerry Resistance is Futile!