Where I used to live, the choices for dining were slim. It’s not always a bad thing; every Monday night was wing night at our favourite hang out. Since I moved to the West Coast, there’s almost too many to choose from!  Part of me wants to stick to familiar places, another part says to venture out and see what else is out there, still another part says to stop going out so much and save the money for a new BlackBerry. After trying to figure out what everyone feels like having to eat, there’s still the decision between the usual place or a new one. At this point, someone may get fed up and decide to order a pizza. Before you surrender to the salivating scent of pepperoni and cheese, grab a spoon…Urbanspoon that is.

At the BlackBerry Developer Conference 2009, Kevin gave us the heads up on Urbanspoon. The application helps you decide where to dine, based on the neighbourhood, cuisine and your budget. We’ve seen it in commercials featuring the ” SighPhone”, but now we users and abusers have the opportunity to search for places to stuff our faces. Grab a napkin and read on!

Babies and BlackBerrys: two of the most precious things in the world. We joke about our addiction to our BlackBerrys; I can admit that changing batteries is far less hazardous than changing diapers. Hopefully we all know what is truly important (for those still contemplating, the answer is children). If you think about it, there are a few similarities between babies and BlackBerrys. Both are carried with caution, both are adorned with accessories, both draw attention and both consistently amaze you in new ways. If something doesn’t agree with them, you do everything in your power to console them. But what if you could use one to help the other?

I’m not talking about having your baby fix your BlackBerry. You’ll probably just end up with physical and drool/liquid damage. I’m talking about an application called Woomby. Your BlackBerry is turned into the ultimate baby buddy. From entertaining music and videos to soothing lights, your bundle of joy will get some much needed TLC from your BlackBerry. So instead of vying for your attention, you’ll be vying to capture the attention of both your baby and your BlackBerry. We cannot be held responsible for the impending “Mine! Mine!” argument you will have. Read on for more.

The interwebs have been filling up with review coverage of the BlackBerry Bold 9700, which is now beginning to roll out to carriers around the globe (you'll need to check to see if your carrier has it yet). With so much content out there, and even CrackBerry.com doing up multiple reviews, I figured a little roundup of some links would be useful. And for those who have bought one already, how do you do like it? Sound off in the comments!

• CrackBerry Reviews: Kevin | Adam | Craig | Bla1ze | Member Reactions >>
• Blog / Tech Pub Reviews: Engadget | Gizmodo | BGR | PhoneScoop | Pocket Berry | Laptop Mag | infoSync | Washington Post | PC Mag | cnet | G-Style | more reviews? post the url in the comments!

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to rely on my BlackBerrys memo pad application. Well maybe I could, but that’s beside the point. It’s always there to help you jot quick, yet important, information down and offers easy accessibility. It sure beats scrounging for scraps of paper, or even an actual memo pad to write on. I also pity the person who has to decipher my handwriting (I’m sure my signature has been mistaken for a prescription on many occasions). Despite it’s usefulness for capturing info on the go, its functionality is somewhat limited. As much as we love our BlackBerrys, we may find ourselves saying “Wouldn’t it be great if *insert application name* could do…” at times.

ActionPad is a beefier, meatier version of your native MemoPad. In other words, it serves up the functionality of MemoPad, with a side dish of features. These features include: hot keys, categories, desktop synchronization and memo encryption. Let’s see you do that with a pad of yellow sticky paper. Read on for more.

Oh look, another postcard. It’s a cheesy, yet thoughtful way to share your global adventure with your friends or family. I don’t see them that often anymore, but they are fun to receive, aren’t they? There’s always a friend or relative out there, exploring the globe and discovering new places. These postcards are a window into their world, but they don’t truly capture it. The picture rarely gives a personal vision of their adventure. It’s one thing to read their stories and imagine. It’s another thing to see it. Perhaps you want to follow in their foot steps. Perhaps you want to strike out on your own voyage. Whether it be across the ocean or across town, why not blaze a trail for everyone to see?

Though it’s been out for a while, I turned to GPSed to mark my path. GPSed helps you record and archive your potentially world spanning treks with your BlackBerry smartphone. Along the way, you can capture and share images you’ve taken to enhance your tales of travel (I told you the fish was that big!). You’ll spend less time picking and filling out postcards and more time making tracks. Is GPSed your next travel companion? Read on to decide.

With the last A to Z we checked out BlackBerry App World, and in the comments to that post it was requested that I also do an A to Z of the CB app store client. So now, by popular demand, it's time to see how the CrackBerry App Store gets the job done. This one is a bit longer (since there was more to pack in) but covers all the aspects of CrackBerry's app store client. There are many compelling reasons as to why you should keep a copy of the CrackBerry App Store on your BlackBerry. Watch the video above to find out why or jump over to crackberry.com/appstore to learn more and download. Don't forget, in addition to the to the on-device client, there is also the mobile-optimized webstore (crackberryappstore.com) and our full-out computer-optimized app store (click on App Store on our main menu). You can learn more about them at second link below.

• Download the CrackBerry App Store client >>
• Learn More About Getting Apps on your BlackBerry >>
  

Ah, Friday night…okay so it’s not actually Friday night, but work with me. You’ve had a tiring week, you’ve put in long hours and your diligence has paid off. You leave work quickly before you’re dragged back in. The city is hustling and bustling with newly freed life, desperate to get home. You finally flop on your couch and put your feet up, when your BlackBerry rings. Your best friend is calling, wanting to shake off the week with you; they ask the all important question you’ve been waiting to hear: “What do you want to do?” The elation from your face quickly disappears, as your puzzled sounding response is delivered.

“I dunno, what do you want to do?”

It’s funny that, with all of the numerous bars, restaurants and other events happening around you, you seem to draw a blank. In the midst of the erupting city life, you wonder if you actually do have a life. As buzzd promises to be your social city guide, I thought it was worth a look at. If your new in town, newly on the scene or just looking for something new to do, check out the buzzd mobile app. Your City. Real Time.

On October 7th, 1952, the first patent for a “Classifying Apparatus and Method” was issued. This eventually developed into the barcodes we know today. I mostly associated barcodes with the UPC barcodes found typically on price tags. I never thought too much about what was beyond those boops and beeps. I was surprised to learn the large number of Linear and 2D barcodes that are used for various reasons. Beyond sales, inventory tracking and shipping/receiving, you can utilize codes to encode URLs, characters, images, emails and more.

A few weeks ago, while reading the Metro News (yes I still read actual newspapers), I came across the 2D barcode called EZcode, found within one of their sections. The EZcode links readers to their mobile site and updated editorials. This review isn’t about them, it’s about the free barcode reader I picked up from the BlackBerry App World. It’s about ScanLife. This application is able to read an EZcode, QR Code and Datamatrix / Semacode. ScanLife may not be the life you want to live, so have a read and see if it’s for you.

BlackBerry App World is a few months old and seems to be getting better as the weeks go by. The selection of apps is good, but still no themes to be found. There is a good listing of both Top Free and Top Paid apps, as well as categories to browse through. If you haven't checked it out yet, give it a shot. Check out the video for a run-through of all the features. If you missed it previously, you can also read this article on Getting Apps on your BlackBerry which gives an overview of different app store alternatives for BlackBerry along with some of the pros/cons to each. 

• Download BlackBerry Appworld >>

It may be an exaggeration, but sometimes it feels like my wallet won’t stay folded. It’s not only because of membership, credit and debit cards; it’s all of the business cards I seem to accumulate. I’m not sure how they all get there. Maybe it’s a case of the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing. In this case, the hand is nabbing every card in sight. I also know that I’ve lost access to some extremely important contacts, all because of a misplaced card. Besides your wallet, your corkboard or cubicle wall could contain enough business cards to make it look like a shingled roof. A cleaner, greener approach is to use your address book (duh!), but this can be time consuming. For some, vCards could also be an issue. “Here’s your card?” Here’s MY card, compliments of DUB.

By using DUB, you can easily send and receive detailed contact information right from your BlackBerry smartphone. Your risk of outdated contact information is greatly reduced thanks to DUB’s ability to automatically maintain an up to date contact list. So, leave your George Constanza sized wallet at the door and check out DUB.

Forums moderator yester18 took the time to do up this review of BBScanner for us. He goes over the multiple features, feeds, settings and more. If you don't want to shell out over $100 for a full-featured police scanner, this is a great app that lets you listen to a ton of police, fire & EMS radios. BBScanner is available for just $2.99 from BBScanner.com.

Oh precious notepad, what would I ever do without you? Well, I’d probably forget a substantial amount more than I already do. Some people are blessed with a sponge for a brain; they’re able to absorb and retain information quickly and easily. Then there are others like myself, who wish they could wring out those gifted sponges in order to mop up the knowledge and keep it in a bucket for future reference. This method is not only inefficient, but it’s also gruesome. Your BlackBerry smartphone, as you already know, has a note pad and task application under its hood. Keeping this in mind, there are also a number of applications you can download to help keep you on top of important dates, projects or whatever you struggle with. One of these applications you can turn to is BugMe!

BugMe! is part notepad, part task manager, part alarm and part nag. Together, these many parts make up an application that allows you to create reminder notes in a cinch. With BugMe!, you will find that you will be creating note and reminders more quickly and easily. Now instead of making a note to check out the review, why not just read it now?

We're a few weeks into the football season, and many of you have Yahoo! fantasy teams to track. Why not get the most out of your BlackBerry and use the Y! Fantasy Football '09 app to keep your team going strong. Take a look at the video above for the scoop on the app, and for more information check out Y! Fantasy Football '09 in BlackBerry App World.

** BerryBuzz is today's CrackBerry Deal of the Day - if you like it, you can grab it at half price! **

This is the first in what I hope will be a great resource for the CrackBerry readers. Each week I plan to take an application from A to Z and give a brief and hopefully useful overview/review. Sure you can look at pictures and read reviews all day long, but wouldn't you rather see it in action? I know when I go to pick up an app, I sometimes have specific questions about functions, options etc. and I want to see it live. So I hope to give you a broader look at some of the most popular and newest BlackBerry Apps through the power of video (and a fantastic narrative) as we go from A to Z. 

This week we will start off with what is one of my favorite apps for BlackBerry - BerryBuzz. I won't get into the details here and I'll let the video do the talking. 

• More information and download of BerryBuzz >>

How often do you make notes throughout the day? Quite a bit, I would imagine. There’s always something that catches our eyes, even for a second or two. Those that are note-worthy, must be written down before you forget. I know I would. Can you count how many times you said “Where did we find those…” or “What was the name of that place again?” My BlackBerry's note pad has dozens upon dozens of notes that I’ve quickly typed out. I would typically capture the name and basic details, sometimes leaving out location and such. This isn’t a big deal for places you’re familiar with, but what about that small exotic restaurant or boutique you happened to stumble across? Sometimes you drive by a sign that grabs your attention. Even though you try to remember to check it out, you forget where it was…or what it was.

By jogging your memory, DulyNoted will be a string on your finger. Well, a string as in an application…and finger as in your BlackBerry. With DulyNoted, you can create notes that are geotagged. Now you can see where you were when an important note/reminder was made. Travel back there with certainty! Let’s have a closer gander at DulyNoted.