blackberry user community

Sooner or later you'll find that you can't figure out all the things you want to know about your BlackBerry on your own. Well, at least not in a timely fashion. I also figured out that my carrier's (Rogers') tech support isn't half as knowledgeable as they claim to be. For this reason, I recommend finding a good online forum to learn the tricks of the trade (and to help others with your newfound knowledge).

The best I've found is CrackBerry.com. They have over 13,000 users and almost 2.5 million posts. The forums are cleverly divided into General discussion, Device-Specific discussion, Software discussion, a media corner (themes, wallpapers, ringtones, etc.) and even a spot for talking about North American carriers. Of course, there's also an area for social discussion, etc. but you'll probably never get that far :-)

Oh, and I should explain the name. CrackBerry.com termed so to reflect the actions of BlackBerry users. The argument is that a BlackBerry is as addictive as crack, and you'll never be able to give it up.... I'm not sure about that, but it's a great forum!

dressing up your blackberry

As I started to play around with this BlackBerry I realised that something was horribly wrong...this device was butt ugly! The look and feel was all wrong, and navigation was definitely not intuitive. The icons were so similar that I couldn't really recognise different applications at first glance.

A quick google of "blackberry 8120 themes" provided a few promising results:

• BlackBerryThemes.net
• Cool BlackBerry Themes (paid)
  
• BlackBerryThemes.ca
  
• CrackBerry
  

But none of these sites really had what I was looking for. I was looking for something cleaner, with more colour. Actually, I've really come to admire the look and feel of the iPhone and was hoping for an imitation. Well, good things come to those who...look the bPhone theme from rogersmj.com is a 100% free download (though donations are encouraged), and it looks GREAT!

Before:



After:


Any questions? :-)

going mobile with the BlackBerry 8120

I was already pretty mobile. I have a work laptop, a work cellphone and I feel comfortable working pretty much everywhere. However, last week I took my mobility a step further with the BlackBerry 8120. Now, keep in mind that I'm not an experienced BB user. I've never had a BB before, nor any other SmartPhone device with email functionality. I've been a fairly avid cellphone user for the past who-knows-how-many years...but this is my first look at email on the go.
I knew that I didn't want to pay for some ridiculous data plan. I also can't stand being locked down to one specific carrier because I have big plans to travel the world and want to be able to swap out my SIM card. So, I went online to ebay and purchased the unlocked 8120 from ready2call's store. I looked at a bunch of other phones, but settled on the 8120 because of its slim design and 802.11 b/g wifi functionality. Within a few days the item had arrived (no customs duties!) and I was tearing open the packaging to play with my new toy. More on this in subsequent posts...

making your laptop shine

I just received a new travel laptop from work... the amazing Compaq nx6325. Alright, so she's not the youngest gal at the ball anymore, but a old, functional laptop is better than no laptop at all. The problem with this laptop has nothing to do with memory or speed; the problem is the screen brightness.

While this laptop screen isn't too dark to use, it's definitely not up there with lcd monitor quality. Futhermore, the brightness function keys are already at 100%. What to do? I'm using Compaq's ATI Radeon video driver, which doesn't seem to have much in the way of configurability.

The answer is ATI Catalyst Control Centre. This baby allows me to adjust all aspects of my screen, including brightness and gamma. If you are using an ATI Radeon driver, you need to get this application. Period.