PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY - Do You Love Your BlackBerry Too Much?

CIO — 1. According to Reuters, how fast did 16-year-old Ang Chuang type a 160-character text message to set the world record for fastest texting?
(A) 1 minute, 25 seconds
(B) 1 minute, 1 second
(C) 42 seconds
(D) 21 seconds

2. What was Chuang’s "trick" to speedy texting?
(A) Daily finger exercises.
(B) Using fingers and thumbs simultaneously.
(C) Memorizing the keypad.
(D) Using a phone with big keys.

3. Which of the following is not a real quote from a news story about BlackBerry use?
(A) "BlackBerry e-mail devices can be so addictive that owners may need to be weaned off them with treatment similar to that given to drug users, experts warned today."
(B) "A management expert is warning corporations to gird themselves for a potentially costly wave of lawsuits from employees claiming they are addicted to ’crackberries.’"
(C) "The Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort and Spa in Scottsdale, Ariz., offers a special BlackBerry Balm Hand Massage that runs $80 for 30 minutes."
(D) "A yacht broker was fined yesterday for kicking and punching a building company director who put his ¿700 personal organiser into a pint of beer."

4. What was the court’s sentence for the teen who killed a bicyclist when he was DWT (driving while texting)?
(A) Life in prison
(B) 10 years in prison
(C) 9 days in prison
(D) Community service

5.True or false? This is the only reported death in connection with DWT.

6. Britney Spears
7. Reese Witherspoon
8. Naomi Campbell
9. Tori Spelling
Match the celebrities to the BlackBerry incident:
(A) Allegedly attacked assistant with bejewelled BlackBerry.
(B) Divorce allegedly spurred by love letters found on spouse’s BlackBerry.
(C) Learned of father’s death via BlackBerry.
(D) Served notice to spouse of divorce papers being filed via BlackBerry.

10. According to an anonymous posting on a BlackBerry addicts’ confession page, "BlackBerry is..."
(A) "...the best invention ever. "
(B) "...the key to higher profits and productivity. When will they become mandatory in business?"
(C) "...a scourge on my life, my family and my sanity."
(D) "...a lifeline to love, work, knowledge, friendship and experience. Who wouldn’t be addicted?"

How’d You Do?
1–3 correct:
Clean and sober

4–7 correct:
Experimenting

8–10 correct:
Get help. Please.

Answers:1. c; 2. d; 3. Trick question; they are all real. 4. c; 5. False. Deaths have also been reported in England, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Switzerland, according to the San Jose Mercury News. 6. b; 7. a; 8. c; 9. d; 10. d