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I will be expanding this post in the future, but as I find handy things for the Pearl that I like, I will post them here on my site. So far we have:

– How to put Video on your Pearl – It is Katherine’s fault that I own a Pearl now, because she told me that she can store full length movies on her memory card. After I get the software installed, I will be doing this, and I can’t wait! More feedback on it later.

– Blackberry Pearl tips – I had already found some of these keyboard jumps already, but reading them here in all one place is really helpful. In case it isn’t listed there, using the 3 and 9 key jump up and down a page on a browser window too.

– FreeRange offers a RSS reader for the BlackBerry. I haven’t found it on the site, but I think they have a way to manage your feeds online too.

– NewsGator offers a Blackberry version too, but it isn’t free. A perk of it though is that it syncs with the rest of the NewsGator suite. Read your feeds on your desktop or the online version, they are already synced up on your BlackBerry when you launch it.

– There is, of course, a Flickr Group for your BlackBerry Pearl Photos.

– The Opera Mini browser works on the Pearl, but I prefer the way that pages load when using the default browser. The Opera browser loads photos, etc. which slow things down. (This is an ironic thing for me to type. I realize that.)

– JiveTalk is an IM client that allows you to log in to a variety of IM clients at once – you can use GoogleTalk, Yahoo!, AIM, and so forth – all in one place.

– Gmail offers a client that allows for quick easy access to your Gmail at any time. This could be really handy if you have several e-mail addresses – more than the 10 that you can push to your BlackBerry – and you want to take advantage of their POP features and spam filtering.

– Mobile Yahoo Go! for your phone has quick and speedy access to Flickr. Mmmm…

What software are you using that you love? Feel free to share in the comments!

Refresh Houston is meeting on Monday night; a special meeting with H-Town’s very own Photomatt! (We still get to claim him even though he lives in California now, right?) What is Refresh Houston?

Refresh Houston is a community of designers and developers working to refresh the creative, technical and professional culture of new media and Web endeavors in the Houston area.

Check out the site for more details. For me, it is a chance to get back in touch with my geek side as I mentioned in my previous post. Also a chance to hang out with Happy Katie and Erica in Houston, after meeting them at SXSW earlier this week.

The event is at the Oak Room at Stag’s Head Pub; you can view all the details at Upcoming.org and RSVP if you will be coming!

There’s a point to be made here about how the best shared activities aren’t always the most obvious choices, and sometimes the most rewarding evenings are the ones you almost didn’t book. We can speak from experience on this, having been dragged along somewhat reluctantly before being completely won over by what turned out to be a brilliantly designed horror-led group challenge — you can take a look here to get a proper sense of what’s involved before committing. The production values are far higher than you might expect, the staff are genuinely enthusiastic about what they’ve created, and the combination of suspense and puzzle-solving gives the whole thing an energy that’s almost impossible to replicate elsewhere.