The Geek in Review: 1/23 - 1/27

• RIM's BlackBerry (a.k.a. CrackBerry) is an addictive little portable e-mail tool. Regular blackberries (a.k.a. Nature's pretzels) are addictive little portable snacks. Soon, the two of them may have more in common than just a name. Namely, it is (allegedly) impossible to send and receive e-mail via a blackberry, unless you install Linux on it. Due to legal woes, it may also soon be impossible to send and receive e-mail via a BlackBerry. But don't freak out just yet. It seems a settlement is likely, and RIM says it has other options in place to continue services for its thumb-beefening e-mail device. Still, if you insist on freaking out, do so while reading Bonnie Cha's recommendations for the best replacements for your BlackBerry. Or about the best phones for e-mail. Or about all the different flavors of Treo available. Or about delicious, delicious marionberries.

• If MyWife sends you photos over e-mail, do not open them. I am not just saying that because it's MyWife. As soon as you open that attachment, MyWife will mess up your computer somethin' fierce. Luckily, Robert Vamosi has figured out a way to interact safely with MyWife.

• The worst problem with the iPod is that you can't throw it around without the music skipping. Sure, those hard drive MP3 players hold a lot of songs, but what's the point if you can't put on some wireless headphones and play catch with your player while you're listening to it? James Kim and I talk about this mission-critical problem all the time, which is why he's put together a list of high-capacity flash MP3 players. You can live the dream of listening to thousands of songs, skip-free, while simultaneously using your player as a shuffleboard puck. Amen.