The Crackberry will reportedly come in two versions, Crackberry Standard and Crackberry Pro. The Pro edition will allow users to send and receive 256bit encrypted text messages, include a police band radio scanner, and utilize a sensitive scale, built in under the display, in conjunction with a custom app called “Big 8”. Other apps only available for the Pro edition will include “Blow up”, a tool for working out lidocaine-to-product ratios, “Bomb squad” a collaboration tool for street team management, and a new client management app simply called “Cluck”. All this on as well as some of the more familiar tools such as Wireless email, a media player and corporate data access.

“The Crackberry line of products was my idea,” proudly reported Co-CEO and Director James “Big Jim” Balsillie, in a press conference Thursday. “People have been using the term for so long now, that I figured, what hey, eh,” continued Balsilie, referring to the term coined to indicate how many Blackberry users are “addicted” to their phones. “And then it hit me, why not capitalize on that. I mean people gotta have what they gotta have, right…eh?” Balsillie, a famed philanthropist, athlete, Honorary Chair of the Peterborough YMCA’s Building New Memories Campaign and the ninth-richest person in Canada, is North America’s leading advocate for the legalization of Crack Cocaine (and a huge crack-head himself.)

The Crackberry Standard model will feature similar innovative features, such as a specially designed touch screen that will compensate for badly shaking hands, a special, fork-like prong near the USB port for scratching and a GPS receiver that will notify the user of any Crackberry Pro carriers in the area. Some have tech insiders have however criticized the device due to its lack of expandable memory and limited MIDI ring tones, but many users have cited the integration with BlackBerry® Enterprise Server for Novell® GroupWise® as more than enough to compensate for some of the shortfalls.
This reporter was fortunate enough to be allowed to interview one of RIM’s test users for the Standard edition. “Man, da Stan-ded may be spec-ed likes da Bold fo sho, but dis one’s fo` da ages,” said Martha Livengood, a happily married mother of three in Debuque, Iowa. “Shorties gosta be at da game, transpo`tin all da time, yo. Feels, you know, like fiddy pa-cent my time I’s cooking (and aint da good kind’o cooking ya feel?) cleanin’ n mo’ transpo`tin. Dat Stan-did man, yo, dat kinda time sava save my time, en help make sho’ I don’t do no time, feel?”

The four models being lost in the hubbub over the Crackberry are the Blackberry Onyx, Magnum, Pearl 3G and Gemini, however RIM’s stock was still up over 4.2% after the bell Friday.

The Dalai Lama is causing trouble again. The mutually suspicious but financially lucrative relationship between China and the U.S. hit a small bump in the road last week. That bump was a bald man with a permanently serene smile welded onto his Tibetan head. His Holiness the Dalai Lama was in Washington to receive a Congressional Gold Medal and to meet with George Bush. Numerous focus groups from Europe and the U.S. informed the White House that any time the President spent within the peaceful aura of the Dali Lama would help to improve his image as a war mongering fool. There only remained the problem of the Chinese…

Ever since Chairman Mao decided for political reasons to invade Tibet soon after World War II, to divert attention from the catastrophic famine sweeping China at the time, the Chinese Government have taken the “none of your beeswax” approach to discussing the Tibet issue. One Asian historian recently presented evidence that suggests the Chinese army were told prior to the invasion of Tibet that The Forbidden City of Lhasa was built with marzipan and almonds and any soldier could help himself to the confectionary city. The historian sites as evidence the numerous tooth marks that can be seen on the foundations of the wall to The Forbidden City and the unusually large number of dentist surgeries still operating in Lhasa due to the number of teeth broken on the not so sweet masonry.

These days any mention of Tibet has sent sparks of righteous indignation through the sharply dressed members of the Chinese Polit Bureau, especially in these sensitive moments leading up to the Olympics. Lush for London and Yahoo News scooped this unusually emotional response from the Chinese Foreign Minister:

“We solemnly demand that the U.S. cancel the extremely wrong arrangements,” said Chinese Foreign Minister Yang (sweet tooth) Jiechi in Beijing. “It seriously violates the norm of international relations and seriously wounded the feelings of the Chinese people and interfered with China’s internal affairs.” After giving the interview Mr Jiechi went and sulked in the corner giving the assembled Press evil looks while trying not to cry.

When the Foreign Minister had calmed down he showed us pictures of tens of thousands of Chinese citizens looking upset and on the verge of tears. The Lushforlife Chinese correspondent later commented that there was no way of knowing if these unhappy Chinese citizens were crying tears of regret that President Bush was to meet with the exiled leader of Tibet or some thing more meaningful to the people such as, The Mattel Toy factory they worked at being closed down (due to the lead paint and design flaws in the latest Barbie), or maybe their children being sold on the Chinese black market (current prices range from $500 to $3000 ), or even lack of sun light due to humungous amounts of coal burning fire stations in the Northern regions (The photo was black and white but had been taken with colour film).

Back in the States there was another reason the Dalai Lama had taken the time to visit Washington and the President, one that had been kept out of the published itinerary. The last time His Holiness visited the President, the Dalai Lama was keen to know if Bush could pick out Tibet on a map of the world. When the President pulled out a map of America and started to scan through the States he knew, the Dalai Lama bowed his head and sighed. He promised to return and give Bush a geography lesson.

We had hoped that the Lush for Life spy cam that we had installed in the Oval Office would be able to pick up on this primary school level geography class but in his wisdom the Dalai Lama jammed our attempts to eavesdrop so as to protect this fragile mind from ridicule. However, The President was seen leaving the oval office sucking on a lollypop so we know that he must have got at least one question right, either that or the Dalai Lama believes that every person deserves a sweet for trying.

MR: It’s the magic underwear Marriot.
MAL: That’s a very thought-provoking answer. Can you FedEx me a couple of pairs of underwear? I can keep my promise to become a Mormon, and then I can make enough money to give up this crummy job.

•    Apple: The world thanks you for technology that is human centred.
•    Movies: There are many great movies made every year in the US.
•    TV: There are some very intelligent documentaries and dramas created every season.
•    Surfing: Thanks, dudes.
•    The light bulb
•    Bourbon whiskey
•    Coming to the aid of the British, and all of Allied Europe, in the Second World War
•    Sunglasses
•    Ten pin bowling
•    www.TED.com
•    The American Novel
•    American Art

The rest of the world knows the best and the worst of America. Those people in France in Britain and in the US who seem to be against what is happening are not generally anti-America – far from it. They are able to see how far the States has regressed from the positive, forward-thinking, inclusive, happy-go-lucky, and inventive people you were known for in the not too distant past. There is a tendency to retreat, lock the door, and put your head in the sand if all those outside your white picket fence are intent on throwing rotten tomatoes at you. Be brave, America, and come join the street party; we’ll bring wine if you leave behind the American beer and bring the Wild Turkey.
Big hugs from London!