The CrackBerry

I'm not sure how many of you have a BlackBerry or any one of a number of new PDAs that have hit the market recently, but take it from me, an avid Treo user, getting your email fix anywhere, anytime, is about as close to an adiction as anything I've ever known. (Hold, perhaps, chocolate... especially, lately, DARK CHOCOLATE!)

Stuck at a red light for more than 5 seconds? Well that's plenty of time to check the 'ol email. In line at the Stop'N'Shop (the express lane!)? Heck, why not return your mother's email that's been sitting in your inbox for weeks now... you know the one, about why you never call anymore.

The word "vacation" takes on a whole new meaning when you bring your PDA along, as well. Sitting poolside, fighting to see the screen in the bright sunlight, mashing those little buttons with wet hands, hoping that people on the receiving end will forgive you because a) you're on vacation, and who responds to emails on vacation? and b) your default signature contains "Sent from my Treo handheld device" -- meaning "I meant to type an S not a D, but my hands are wet because I'm on vacation and just got out of the pool, so please forgive my typos!!!!"

Well, thanks to the guys over at the Freakonomics Blog for tipping us off to Joe Sharkey's squib in yesterday's New York Times, because now I know where I'll be taking my next vacation: Chicago!

...The Sheraton Chicago Hotel ... offers to confiscate a guest's BlackBerry upon arrival and return it once the vacation is over. Kind of like duct-taping your refrigerator shut when you start a diet "¦