TextMessaging posts

Send a Text Message to Outer Space

by Terrence O'Brien (RSS feed) — Aug 13th 2009 at 3:25PM

Australia Sending Text Messages to Another Planet

For those who simply want to blast their missives into the depths of space, SentForever.com has served admirably well since 2007. But, if you're really looking to reach out and touch someone -- a non-human someone -- then HelloFromEarth.net might be a more appropriate destination.

In celebration of National Science Week in Australia, the site is collecting text messages from people hoping to get in touch with an E.T. The site, run by Cosmos Magazine, plans on delivering them to one planet in particular -- Gliese 581d, a rocky planet that orbits its star, Gliese, in the so-called habitable zone where liquid water can exist and life might be possible.

Tags: extra terrestrial, ExtraTerrestrial, extraterrestrials, hello from earth, HelloFromEarth, sms, space, text messaging, texting, TextMessaging

Cell Phones

'Texting Dr. Tagg': Woman Earns Ph.D. in SMS

by Terrence O'Brien (RSS feed) — Aug 12th 2009 at 3:10PM

Proving that you really can study anything you want in college, Dr. Caroline Tagg has received a Ph.D. for studying text messaging. The 33-year-old academic spent the last three-and-a-half years studying the use of language in texts at England's Birmingham University English department. For the purposes of her research, Tagg had 235 volunteers send her every text message they sent or received, totaling 11,000 messages.

Her research showed that people treat text messages in much the same way as they do regular, spoken conversation. According to Tagg, abbreviations show up less than one might expect, while texts, like speech, are often riddled with unnecessary words like "um" and "oh." In speaking with the Telegraph, Tagg called the language used in SMS "playful," going on to characterize it as "quite creative" and "expressive." As an example, she pointed to one message in particular: "I will be there not on the dot," in reference to being late for something.

Tags: education, phd, sms, text messaging, texting, TextMessaging, top

Cell Phones

Iowa County Launches Nation's First '911' Via Text Message

by Warren Riddle (RSS feed) — Aug 6th 2009 at 4:19PM

People are constantly incriminating themselves with poorly timed or damaging text messages, but one Iowa county is finally allowing people to get themselves out of trouble with their texting thumbs. According to the AP, the emergency call center located in the county jail in Waterloo, Iowa is the first in the nation to accept texts directed to 911. The responders can even reply to the emergency messages via computer.

The service, so far, is only available to residents of Black Hawk County who subscribe to a T-Mobile wireless provider. County police chief Thomas Jennings said, "I think there's a need to get out front and get this technology available." There is definitely a need for the service (which law enforcement and emergency dispatch should have begun installing years ago), especially since texting has become the favored, and basically default, communication tool of many teens.

Emergency text services are also greatly needed for deaf, hard-of-hearing, or mute victims stuck in precarious positions. Perhaps the most beneficial aspect, though, could be the ability to more accurately and efficiently respond to kidnapped victims or hostages, like the Oregon teenager who, last year, saved herself from her captor by texting with a friend. [From: AP/AOL Money & Finance]

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Gadgets That Saved Lives

Call it a stroke of luck, the hands of fate, or a touch from God. No matter what you call it, there's no denying gadgets have helped saved some lives. So keep that gadget close by, folks. You never know when your time is up.

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Wired Politicians

Al Gore
Last year, hackers gained access to former Vice President Al Gore's blog, where they posted links to Web sites selling prescription drugs including Xanax, Oxycontin and Lortab. It is uncertain whether or not Rush Limbaugh visited any of the sites.

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Putin with Dog
This past October, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin saw a longtime dream realized when he equipped his black lab Koni with a GPS collar. Apparently, even dogs can be counter-intelligence risks.

Putin in Judo Get-Up
Always eager to display his virility, and his tech-savviness, Vladimir Putin released, and starred in, an instructional Judo DVD last year. And we thought George Bush was weird.

Ron Paul
As his campaign gathered steam at the end of 2007, Ron Paul watched -- probably confusedly -- as a group of his supporters banded together and marched in support of their candidate through the mystical realm of the World of Warcraft.

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Karl Rove
Former Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove has recently entered the world of Twitter, regularly updating his page with self-promotions, answers to supporters' questions and topics for debate. How about this topic: "Does anybody really want that much Karl Rove?"

Rush Limbaugh
Unable to figure out how to back up e-mails on his Mac, a frustrated Rush Limbaugh beseeched Steve Jobs, on his radio program last year, to help him out. The problem must have been a tough fix; until this, we'd never heard of Rush asking for a Democrat's opinion.

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Eliot Spitzer
After resigning from the office of Governor of New York, Eliot Spitzer finally found a new job last month, writing a weekly column for the online publication Slate. We wonder if that Playboy.com job fell through due to "a lack of moral fiber."

White House Christmas vid
Weirder than ever, George Bush and the rest of the First Family released their most eyebrow-raising Christmas video yet late last year. We're not sure what guest stars and gold medallists Michael Phelps and Nastia Liukin have to do with the Holidays, but we do know they're more popular than the still-President.

Tags: 911, 911 text messages, 911TextMessages, cell phones, CellPhones, disastertech, emergency, main, news, police, texting, textmessaging, top

Cell Phones, Google, iPhone

Apple Patches iPhone SMS Security Flaw

by Terrence O'Brien (RSS feed) — Jul 31st 2009 at 3:33PM

A month after first announcing that the iPhone had a serious security flaw in how it handled text messages (and even longer still since it was first brought to Apple's attention), Charlie Miller at last publicly demonstrated the attack at yesterday's Black Hat Security Conference, and released a paper detailing how it is executed.

The flaw, which allows a hacker to hijack a phone by flooding it with invisible SMS control messages, isn't iPhone-specific. Windows Mobile and Android are also vulnerable, though Google patched the hole with its Cupcake update. The flaw is particularly worrisome since the only sign a user would see is a single text message with a lone box-like character. The rest of the control messages would not appear on the handset, but could shut down the phone entirely or even automatically forward the commands to other iPhones creating a vast mobile botnet.

Tags: android, apple, botnet, charlie miller, CharlieMiller, hack, security, sms, text messaging, TextMessaging, top, windows mobile, WindowsMobile, winmo

iPhone

Apple Ignores Real Threat to iPhone Security, Makes Up Fake One

by Terrence O'Brien (RSS feed) — Jul 30th 2009 at 8:32AM

Charlie Miller (the man who hacked the MacBook Air in two minutes) and his partner-in-crime, Collin Mulliner, plan to unveil an exploit at this Thursday's Black Hat cybersecurity conference in Las Vegas. Apparently, it would let a hacker take complete control of the iPhone with nothing more than a simple text message. By taking advantage of a flaw in how the handset handles text messages, Miller and Mulliner are able to dial the phone, visit Web sites, turn on the phone's camera and microphone, and, most importantly, send text messages that can hijack other phones. Miller told Forbes, "The only thing you can do to prevent it is turn off your phone."

This isn't the only iPhone flaw the pair plan to disclose at the conference. Another hole in the SMS system (which also effects Android handsets) can knock the phone off a cellular network for about 10 seconds.

Miller and Mulliner told the respective companies about the exploits over a month ago, and while Google was quick to patch the hole, Apple has yet to fortify the vulnerability. "I've given them more time to patch this than I've ever given a company to patch a bug," Miller explained to Forbes.

Tags: android, apple, hack, iphone, iphone hack, IphoneHack, jailbreak, security, text messaging, TextMessaging

Cell Phones, Web

Google Gives Ugandans Tips on Sex and Weather Via Text

by Leila Brillson (RSS feed) — Jun 30th 2009 at 5:18PM

Many emerging nations have cellular access, but Internet service is still fleeting, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. In an attempt to disseminate information to Ugandans, Google has teamed up with African cell provider MTN to distribute information, free-of-charge, via text message to a culture that is text -- but not Internet -- savvy.

The program, which teams the American Web giant with the Grameen Foundation, will act like a simplified version of search, allowing farmers and residents to text information to Google and receive answers. Phone users could query about weather, farming tips, and even safe sex advice. Amina Nantume, a Ugandan woman, told the BBC that the service has helped her discuss the topic of sex with her daughters. She said, "I used to get embarrassed every time I sat with my daughters to talk to them about pregnancy."

Tags: africa, google, text message, text messaging, TextMessage, TextMessaging, top

Computers, BlackBerry, BlackBerry 101

12 Tips to Fight Spam on Your Computer and Cell Phone

by Warren Riddle (RSS feed) — Jun 18th 2009 at 5:00AM

In November 2008, the McColo Corporation, a Web site hosting service favored by spammers, was shut down. Spam levels worldwide plummeted by nearly 70-percent.

But, only a few short months later, the amount of spam skyrocketed back to its normal level -- comprising an estimated 94-percent of all e-mail. Spam now plagues cell phone owners and, if your carrier charges for receiving texts, you'll be expected to pay for the unsolicited messages. As if it couldn't get worse, spam sometimes harbors viruses, trojan horses, worms, and spyware. Scary stuff. Fortunately, we've got you covered.

If you're having trouble keeping the junk out of your e-mail and texts, or if you're just sick of skimming through dozens of ads to find actual messages, check out our smorgasbord of spam fighting-tips.

Next >>

Tags: e-mail, features, phishing, spam, texting, textmessaging, top

Cell Phones

Surprise, Surprise: Adults Can't Deal With Their Kids Texting Habits

by Lee Bains (RSS feed) — May 27th 2009 at 6:11AM

In addition to death and taxes, life seems to hold at least one other certainty: The older generation will fret over the younger one's preferred means of entertainment. Over the centuries, parents have freaked out over scandalous stories, books, radio programming, TV, the Internet, and goodness knows what else. In keeping with that grand old tradition, the New York Times reported yesterday that many adults are perturbed by those dang kids and their dang texting.

Citing the opinions and research of parents and professors from the San Francisco Bay to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the article demonstrates that public opinion finds teenage texting guilty of causing anxiety, sleep loss, developmental problems and even physical harm (see repetitive stress, or strain, injury). We can hear it already: "Next up on the five o'clock news. Are text messages killing our children?"

Tags: anxiety, health, parenting, rsi, sleep disorders, SleepDisorders, teens, texting, textmessaging, top

Cell Phones, Computers

Learn How to Text (From Fox?)

by Evan Shamoon (RSS feed) — May 24th 2009 at 6:22PM

If you've ever wondered what "LOL" or "BRB" means, the kind folks at MyFox Atlanta have you covered -- and then some. They've put together a list of important Internet acronyms so you're able to share with your little ones in the joy of SMS/AIM/MSN. (If you don't know what those stand for, do yourself a favor and don't even bother.)

The list runs the gamut from the obvious ("420" = marijuana), to the raunchy ("J/O" = jerking off), to the bizarrely obscure ("NALOPKT" = Not A Lot Of People Know That, which, we should point out, not a lot of people know). But really, it's mostly raunchy.

Our personal favorite has to be "IF/IB", which is apparently a question that asks, "In the Front or In the Back?"

Kids these days! [From: MyFoxAtlanta]

Tags: kids, sexting, teens, text messaging, texting, TextMessaging, top

Car Tech, Cell Phones

Study: 60% of Teens Drive While Texting, Despite Knowing Dangers

by Terrence O'Brien (RSS feed) — May 23rd 2009 at 3:27PM

Another day, another study -- it seems like every time we turn around, there's another body of research revealing that, even though they know it's dangerous, stupid, and should be illegal, teens still text-message while driving.

The latest study paints a slightly rosier picture than the last one we saw (which said that 85-percent of teenage girls and almost 60 percent of boys were guilty of driving-while-texting).The survey -- conducted by research firm Toluna on behalf of voice-recognition company Vlingo -- found that 60-percent of teens admitted to texting at the wheel. It's not just kids that are guilty, though, since 26-percent of all users surveyed said that they do it too.

83-percent of respondents agreed that driving-while-texting (or, DWT, as many people are calling it) should be illegal. Whether it's legal or not, DWT is obviously very dangerous. Sadly, if these studies are any indication, it's clear that people probably wont stop tapping out messages while they're switching lanes. Maybe we'll start taking the train to work. [From: Live Science]

Tags: driving while texting, DrivingWhileTexting, dwt, studies, study, teens, text-messaging, texting, texting while driving, TextingWhileDriving, textmessaging, top, trends

Car Tech, Cell Phones

Study: Teen Girls More Likely to Text-and-Drive Than Teen Boys

by Terrence O'Brien (RSS feed) — May 16th 2009 at 10:42AM

According to a study released by The Allstate Foundation and National Organizations for Youth Safety, teenage girls are much more likely to engage in texting and driving than their male counterparts. The organizations surveyed 605 drivers between the ages of 16 and 20. Here's a quick bullet list of some of the study's more interesting findings:

87-percent of teens think that driving and texting is dangerous.
Despite this, 80-percent of teenage girls and 58-percent of teenage boys admitted to texting behind the wheel.
65-percent have asked someone to stop driving dangerously.
Texting-while-driving was second only to icy roads for the most dangerous driving condition. It also beat out rain, snow, and talking on the phone.

It's good to know that teens realize that driving while texting is a bad idea, though it would be much more comforting if they actually stopped doing it. C'mon kids, put away that phone, pop in some bumping tunes, and think of all the fun you'll have in your twenties. [From: The Kansan]

Gallery: Teen Texting Craziness

Tags: crime, parenting, study, survey, teenagers, teens, texting, texting and driving, texting while driving, TextingAndDriving, TextingWhileDriving, textmessaging, top

Cell Phones

'Sexting' Not Just About Sex, Study Finds

by Peter Mychalcewycz (RSS feed) — May 15th 2009 at 3:03PM

According to a new study, 'Sexting' may have less to do with sex than its titillating title implies.

Susan Lipkins, a psychologist from Port Washington, NY, found that people who sent sexually explicit messages were more focused on attaining power and control than people who didn't send explicit messages.

According to USA Today, Lipkins polled 323 people, of which a surprising 66-percent admitted to sending some type of explicit messages. Although participants ranged in age from 13-72, most were 26 and younger. (A nice little side-stat for you: 6-percent said that they started text messaging at age 9.)

Tags: sex, sexting, studies, study, teens, text, text messaging, texting, textmessaging, top

Cell Phones

Boston Trolley Crash Blamed on Text-Messaging Driver

by Terrence O'Brien (RSS feed) — May 11th 2009 at 11:17AM

We've seen people caught texting while driving cars, buses, motorcycles, and trains. We can now add to that list: texting in a trolley. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) announced over the weekend that a 24-year-old Boston trolley operator admitted to texting his girlfriend just before the trolley he was piloting slammed into another, injuring about 50 people, on Friday, May 8.

The crash, which occurred within the Boston city limits, resulted in only minor injuries, but will likely cost the unnamed operator his job. Currently, the MBTA bans employees from using cell phones while working on a train or bus.

Tags: accident, crash, mbta, sms, text messaging, texting, texting while driving, TextingWhileDriving, TextMessaging, top, trolley

Cell Phones

'Flirtexting' Teaches Proper Mobile Wooing Techniques

by Warren Riddle (RSS feed) — May 8th 2009 at 5:15PM

If the dating scene leaves you feeling isolated and lovelorn, don't fret. To pull you out of that hole of self-pity, two enterprising young women have published a guide for how to "text your way to love," titled 'Flirtexting.' Directed toward women, but applicable to men as well, the book addresses age old mysteries of romance and woo, such as when and how to reply to flirtateous text messages.

These textperts seem to think that they're doing everyone a glorious service, telling CNN they needed to "put a name to this cultural phenomenon." But, we still don't have the courage to ask someone for their number. Where's the help there? Now, we're off to finish our book on responsible sexting techniques -- predictably titled 'Safe Sexting' -- before someone else beats us to it. [From: CNN]

Tags: flirtexting, sexting, text messaging, TextMessaging, top

Cell Phones

Bus Driver Crashes While Texting, Caught on Camera

by Terrence O'Brien (RSS feed) — May 1st 2009 at 4:12PM

We really shouldn't have to be saying this anymore, but texting while driving is a bad idea.

Texting on the road has been blamed for several deaths, and compared to the danger of driving drunk. It's actually illegal in many states, and yet, here we have a video of a Texas bus driver pulling a cell phone out of his pocket and promptly slamming into the back of a car. As if it couldn't be worse, the car is full of disabled passengers. Oh, and there are several cameras on the bus. This bus driver is, in a word, busted.

It appears that nobody was harmed in the incident, but the driver lost his job (obviously). We know sometimes it's hard to ignore your phone, but try, because as we've noted many, many times -- texting + driving = bad. [From: CNN]

Tags: accidents, driving, driving while texting, DrivingWhileTexting, dumb, text messaging, texting, texting while driving, TextingWhileDriving, TextMessaging, top

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'Black Friday' Deals to Watch For

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Black Friday' Deals to Watch For

Traditionalists might balk, but the holiday shopping season is already underway. Skeptical? Head to your local department store and you'll be inundated by Christmas trees and ornaments. Bargain hunters, though, know that the real deals are more than a month away.

Black Friday, traditionally, is when retailers truly slash prices. Early birds can save hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars off of their holiday bills. Switched.com checked with a few elves, who gave a sneak peek at what you can expect deal-wise this year.

Blu-ray Players and Movies: Blu-ray is shaping up to be the biggest door buster of this year's Black Friday. de Grandpre expects at least one retailer will offer a Blu-ray player for just $49. Look for bargains on Blu-ray films as well, with last year's hit titles (such as "Iron Man") to fall as low as $5.

Laptops: With the proliferation of Netbooks this year, it's never been easier to find affordable portable computing, but Dan de Grandpre, CEO of DealNews.com says it will get even cheaper on Black Friday. Look for well-equipped Netbooks to sell for $199 – and basic 15" laptops to go for as little as $249.

HDTVs (Pretty big): The holidays are typically the best time to buy a new TV – and Black Friday is the time to do it. If you're looking for a normal sized set, you're in luck. Piper Jaffrey analyst Mitch Kaiser says he expects to see 32-inch LCD sets for as low as $299. GottaDeal.com is estimating 37-inch plasma and LCD sets will fall to $399 or less.

HDTVs (Really big): Need something bigger? How about a 46-47 inch LCD set for $599 – a 25 percent savings? Or a 52-inch LCD for $999? Dealnews says you can expect both. Plasma deals will be a little harder to come by, but a 50-inch set should run roughly $899.

HD Camcorders: You've wanted to shoot your child's school play in HD for a while, but haven't been able to spring for the pricey camcorder. This might be the year. Low-end, flash-based 720p models could drop as low as $60 (though you won't be able to zoom with those). Expect a high quality 1080p HD camcorder for $349.

GPS: While navigation systems have dramatically expanded their reach this year – even making it onto the iPhone – there's still a market for car-based systems. Dealnews predicts you'll be able to find a no-name entry-level system for $49, while a Garmin or Tom-Tom brand will be as low as $69.

Digital Picture Frames: Showcasing your digital pictures consistently gets cheaper. This year, skip the 7-inch screens and focus on the 8- or 9-inch ones, which should be available on Black Friday for as little as $30.

Monitors: Computer monitors might not be the sexiest of gifts, but they're usually welcomed with open arms – and they'll be cheap this year. Name brand 22-inch LCD models may go for as low as $99, while 24-inch models will drop below $150.

Memory: Don't know anyone who needs a monitor? External hard drives are always popular, since they're an easy way to back-up data. Dealnews expects a 1TB drive to fall as low as $49 this year. Gottadeal is looking for 8GB flash drives to hit $15.

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