Because you probably have heard about the patent infringement lawsuit launched against Research in Motion (RIM), everyone will only have to suffer thru one RIM shot joke primarily aimed at musicians and those who listen to jazz. This is my list of 10 things 2do with your Blackberry if it does not survive the RIM shot from the lawsuit to turn the $300+ wonder device back into an ordinary phone, or whatever it's supposed to do now that I can't get my email on the fly. This is not a recipe for a piece of fruit although the thought of baking it in a pie and mailing it to the responsible party's does seem like a good idea.

1. Sell your Blackberry on ebay as a Treo with a model number that does not exist. I only got burned this way once, so don't think it can't be done. (I do not endorse or recommend this one! It's illegal.)

2. Just look at your Blackberry as a $300 smartphones/calculator with some extra functions - and go get another hand held PC.

3. Clean it up, put it back in the box it came in and give it to your boss - tell them it's an electronic rolodex/calculator with some other functions that they'll never notice anyway.

4. Give it to your teenager and ask them to figure out a workaround for your email access, in case the RIM shot workaround looks shot. (oops another bad joke)

5. Paperweight - had to say that one?.

6. Backup anything associated with Blackberry data and hire a software consultant to migrate everything to another platform. (We are talking 100's of millions of dollars)

7. Wait until the RIM shot goes thru for changing Blackberries to Redberries and then you will have a few more years before another patent lawsuit. (That extra RIM shot was not my fault)

8. Use it as a Bookmark for all the free books you have received on Blackberry Addiction.(see number 5)

9. Check yourself into H P's new state of the art 'Blackberry Smartphones Recovery' center in the Silicon Alley. After 1 week and a new handheld you should be cured of Blackberry Addiction.

10. Slowly pry you hands off your Blackberry and proclaim that you have no addiction and hope that the bad people in the lawsuits will go away.

Daviyd Peterson: 10-year consultant, instructor, trainer of digital divide solutions for both home and business. Helps African American and minority Small Business Enterprises bridge the digital divide by becoming wireless Small Office Digital Offices (SODO). Free articles on Wireless Internet Security, Internet Marketing and other related articles - RSS Feeds

http://www.mogendaviydtechgroup.com/

In a word, no. Clients often ask me if electronic is better than paper, or if they should use a PDA (like a Palm Pilot or Blackberry) to manage their schedules, handle e-mail and such. The best advice is that it doesn't matter what you use if you don't have productive habits. Buying a piano doesn't make you a pianist and buying a new electronic gizmo will not make you organized.

That's the biggest problem with many of the time management and organization solutions being offered out there. Nothing is going to improve your productivity if you don't develop new behaviors to replace ineffective ones.

If you aren't getting the results you want, instead of reaching for the latest software or device to fix the problem, take time to think about out why things aren't working and create new habits to replace the old.

Perhaps you want to remember to stop 15 minutes before the end of the day to clear off your desk. Deciding to do so is easy. Remembering to do so is harder. Creating new habits is one thing and sustaining them is another, so use these tips to make the new habits stick…

• Attach a new habit to an old habit — put a reminder note on your toothbrush (for new morning habits) or attach a note to your car keys.
• Use your computer to set reminder alarms.
• Use a special wristwatch or another electronic device that quietly vibrates for a few seconds at time you designate.
• Use big, obnoxiously-colored sticky notes in unexpected places, like in the middle of a white wall or on your desk phone cradle. A word of caution. If your office is very cluttered chances are you won't see the sticky notes. You need a fairly crisp environment to make this one work.
• Only try to change one habit at a time and do the new behavior for at least 21 days before taking on another. More than that is overwhelming and you are less likely to succeed.

Mary Kutheis (kooth-ice) works with individuals, organizations, and businesses who want to be better organized in the workplace so they can be more focused, productive, and profitable. Through seminars and one-on-one work, Mary delivers real-life solutions to people who are buried in paper and e-mail and overwhelmed by "to do" lists. Visit http://openspaces4me.com/ for free tips, articles and other workplace productivity resources.

In the past few years, a great number of businesspeople, professionals, and ordinary consumers have been purchasing "Personal Digital Assistants," electronic devices designed to organize and simplify one's life.

The first PDAs, which hit the market in the mid 1990s, were little more than glorified notepads, making it possible to store a record of notes, phone numbers, calendars, and day-to-day appointments on an electronic device. These devices gradually evolved over the years, and Palm Inc.'s popular Palm Pilot devices gained a loyal following of both consumers and enterprise-level users.

New features, including 3D games, multimedia applications, and even Wi-Fi internet access have become commonplace on modern day PDAs, making them both practical and entertaining.

As time goes by, however, the functions performed by PDAs are being slowly but surely integrated into the many advanced cellular phones and mobile email devices now on the market.

This has led to a significant decline in demand for standalone Palm Pilots and Pocket PCs, which are increasingly being replaced by smartphones, converged devices which integrate mobile computing with wireless communication.

Most new smartphones serve as fully functional cellular phones, while integrating many of the features of a laptop computer. Each device comes equipped with its own operating system, along with a wide range of software applications specially designed for mobile devices. They are also capable of accessing the internet, usually over a cellular broadband connection, and can be used to check one's email when on the go.

Although the cost is somewhat prohibitive for the majority of consumers, smartphone PDAs have become an institution among enterprise users, and are now a necessity for many mobile businesspeople.

All in all, PDA manufacturers are doing a good job of evolving with new technology, and providing users with an increasingly efficient and functional experience.