Posts tagged Text messaging at Switched

Posts with tag text messaging

Pope Benedict XVI Texting Out Messages of Encouragement

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 16th 2008 at 10:10AM

Don't act like you didn't know that Pope Benedict XVI was down with modern technology. As part of World Youth Day, the man himself will begin sending out texts of encouragement to pilgrims who have signed up through Telstra to receive them.

A total of four gigantic "prayer walls" have been erected at the Sydney Opera House, the Domain, Darling Harbour and Randwick Racecourse in Australia, where folks will actually be able to send their own messages for all to presumably see. The first message sent out? "Young friend, God and his people expect much from u because u have within you the Fathers supreme gift: the Spirit of Jesus - BXVI." Hllujh, amn brtha. [Source: News.com.au]

[Thanks, zedster]

Fight Crime by Texting the Police

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Jul 8th 2008 at 2:14PM

By now, crime stoppers hot lines and posters encouraging you to "say something" are old hat in the law enforcement tool box. Anonymous tips are an important part of the the crime fighting arsenal in many cities and police are looking for ways to update that weapon for the 21st century.

Many police outfits are taking the teen and twenty something's communication method of choice, text messaging, and collecting tips from those with speedy thumbs. Even major cities like Cincinnati and Boston are experimenting with the system and having measurable success. The very first text messaging tip received by the Boston police department resulted in an arrest in a New Hampshire murder case. In the first year of the program, the number of text messaging tips nearly matched the number of tips called in through the the old-school voice-based hotline.

All the text messages are routed through a server that encrypts the originating telephone number so that tracking them to their sender is virtually impossible, which should help calm the fears of those who don't want to be labeled as snitches. [Source: USA Today]

82% of Americans Never Use Text Messaging

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 8th 2008 at 1:12PM

While there has been quite the kerfuffle about banning texting while driving and educating Australian youngsters on text speak, a new survey shows that the vast majority of us haven't even sent a single SMS. Research firm Ipsos MediaCT polled individuals in a variety of countries and came to one general conclusion: If folks are using SMS, "they're using it frequently."

On the flip-side, those who aren't savvy with text messaging aren't apt to just dabble in it. For instance, 82% of respondents in America said "that they never used text messaging, while 3% said that they used it monthly or less" and 15% reported using it "every week or even more. Who knows what that figure would be if carriers stopping charging an arm and a leg for per-use messaging. [Source: New York Times via Textually, image courtesy of ugo]

Text-Addicted Teen Sends 15,000 Messages a Month

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Jun 26th 2008 at 4:58PM

Trust us when we say we make good use of our text messaging plans at Switched. Many of us simply could not survive without our unlimited (or at least hefty) text messaging packages, but one girl from Ohio sends more texts in a month than the entire Switched staff combined.

According to WEWS TV, Cleveland, Paige Horne, 15, of Stark County, Ohio, sends an average of 15,000 text messages a month -- that's an average of 500 messages a day!. Even so, she somehow finds time to keep her GPA above 3.0 while also playing high school basketball and volleyball. Regarding her technique, Horne responded, "I just don't look. I guess I had the phone a long time and I just know where the buttons are and I just hit them." With texting skills like these, we're pretty sure she could give the 13-year-old texting champion of the world a run for her money.

At that pace, Paige must literally be texting all the time. While walking, in the car, in class, and even while sleeping. We just hope she learns to take a break before she gets her license. [Source: newsnet5 via Geeksugar]

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Famous French News Anchor Allegedly Fired Via Text Message

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Jun 16th 2008 at 1:26PM

Long time news anchor at French network TF1, Patrick Poivre d'Arvor (known also as PPDA), has been fired in (according to some reports) the most unceremonious way possible -- via text message.

The beloved TV news anchor is one of the biggest TV personalities in France and was seen nervously texting during the Roland Garros tennis tournament (aka, the French Open). PPDA was reportedly trading messages with Patrick Le Lay, chairman of the board of TF1, and, according to Paris Match, was looking pretty bummed.

Despite these speculatons, PPDA claims to have heard about his dismissal the same way as the rest of the public, via the news. In September, PPDA will be replaced by Laurence Ferrari.

Of course, this isn't the first time we've seen someone fired or dumped via impersonal electronic means, and we don't expect it to be the last! Do you think it's wrong? [Source: Textually.org]

With 78 Million Text Messages, 'American Idol' Breaks Records

by Terrence O'Brien, posted May 23rd 2008 at 6:01PM

Despite what many of us predicted, 'American Idol' has not only just survived, but has gotten more popular as it continues its march through our pop-culture consciousness. Proof of that fact may lie in recent news from AT&T that this season of 'American Idol' broke text-messaging records by generating 78 million text messages through votes, trivia contests and other SMS content.

This record-setting seventh season also speaks to the increasing ubiquity of text messaging and the popularity of devices such as the T-Mobile Sidekick. It looks as though text messaging is well on its way to replacing 900 numbers and phone banks. [Source: I4U News via Textually.org]

Drug Dealing College Students Used Text Messages to Promote Sales

by Will Safer, posted May 7th 2008 at 12:54PM

students arrested for dealing drugs via text messages

A group of drug dealers at San Diego State University was rounded up by authorities Tuesday after the conclusion of a successful sting operation that included monitoring text messages advertising drug sales and price drops to "faithful customers."

One of the captured text messages was sent to an undercover drug enforcement agent. It said the drug dealing students were having a price special since they'd be going out of town on a trip to Las Vegas. (How's that for customer service?)

Many of those swept up by the year-long sting were members of a fraternity, Theta Chi, and some were even criminal justice and homeland security majors. The net result of the sting arrests and drug seizures? Two kilograms of cocaine, 350 Ecstasy pills, marijuana, psychedelic mushrooms, hash oil, methamphetamine, illicit prescription drugs, several guns and at least $60,000 in cash. Of the 96 people arrested, 75 were students. Five other fraternities besides Theta Chi are also implicated.

Whatever happened to good old fashioned fraternity traditions like hazing and alcohol poisoning? The sting itself was launched after the fatal cocaine overdose of a student last May.

Here at Switched, we applaud small business people and entrepreneurs everywhere for using technology – such as text messaging – to improve customer service. Is there a group of college students out there who have put this kind of mobile tech to good use – or is this ring of drug dealers the only one that has tapped into the tech? [Source: MSNBC via Textually.org]

Pope Sending Text Messages to Australians

by Tim Stevens, posted May 7th 2008 at 9:37AM

When the Pope arrived on our shores last month, much of the nation was subject to the pomp and fanfare that surrounded his every move. Now the Pope is making a trip Down Under for Sydney's World Youth Day next month, and those who can't watch him live (or online) will be able to follow the Pontiff via SMS.

The Pope (or one of his lackeys) will be sending "daily messages of inspiration" to the phones of thousands of Catholics during the event, which despite being called "World Youth Day," actually covers an entire week.

The Catholic church will also be setting up a social networking site similar to MySpace or Facebook, enabling believers to hook up -- and pray, of course. [Source: I4U/Reuters, via Textually.org]

Parents To Get Lice-Outbreak Text-Message Alerts

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Apr 10th 2008 at 12:45PM

Get Text Message Alerts of Lice Outbreaks

You may think of serious lice outbreaks as a thing of the past, but you'd be wrong. In fact, at least in England, Lice is still a major issue for school children and their parents. A new initiative, with heavy funding from head lice treatment manufacturer Hedrin, is taking aim at educating parents and reducing the number of serious outbreaks in the country.

In addition to traditional educational materials like pamphlets, the program is testing a text alert system. Parents sign up at a school's Outbreak Alert facility and commit to inform the school if they find lice on their child's head during their weekly check for infestation. During a one-term test run at the Wootton Primary School in Northampton, six cases of head lice were identified. Parents in the child's class promptly received SMS alerts asking them to check their children and family for lice.

Check out the web site for the program, the "Once a Week, Take a Peek" initiative.

From Textually

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Texting Students Force Professor to Walk Out of Class

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Apr 7th 2008 at 1:10PM

We've all had professors who had some absurdly strict class room rules, or a bizarre passive aggressive streak, but Syracuse University professor Laurence Thomas has combined both, much to the ire of his students and their parents.

The rule: No texting in class. A perfectly understandable rule. And one that really the students should have no problem following. But professor Thomas' way of dealing with texting students is more akin to an six year-old holding his breath until he gets that toy he so badly wants. No, Thomas isn't holding his breath at the front of the lecture hall until he simply passes out -- that would be hilarious. Instead, when professor Thomas catches a student texting, he simply walks out of class.

Naturally parents and students, who are spending over $30K a year on this education, are a little peeved. They claim that Thomas has a responsibility to teach or pay up. Thomas on the other hand seems to think his students need to learn a thing or two about respect.

Undeniably, the students shouldn't be texting during class, but the professor's sweeping punishment of the entire class for the actions of one student lead us to believe this guy was teaching sixth graders not that long ago. Then again, at least he's not reacting like the guy in the video above.

From Jossip

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Baby Names Being Derived from...Text Messaging?

by Evan Shamoon, posted Mar 31st 2008 at 6:17PM

Seems utterly absurd, but there's apparently a trend among those in the SMS generation of using abbreviated versions of traditional Christian names on their children's birth certificates -- along with "original" ways of spelling them.

Anne has been changed to An, Connor to Conna and Laura to Lora -- all, seemingly, for the sake of convenience. According to the online parenting club Bounty, there's also been quite a bit of borrowing from corporate entities: One girl born last month was born Flicity, along with other recent names like Ikea, Paprica, Caramel, Bambi, Fire-Lily, Skylark and TAME -- which apparently stands for The Apple of My Eye.

Albert Mehrabian is a psychology professor at the University of California, and has researched the impact of irregular names. He found that "less attractive characteristics were attributed to individuals with less conventionally spelled names. Unconventional spelling connoted less masculinity for men and less femininity for women [and] more anxiety and neuroticism were attributed to those with less common names."

These attempts aren't always successful, however: Last year a couple was told they wouldn't be allowed to register their son's name as 4Real. Officials in New Zealand apparently ruled that the use of a number made it inappropriate, so the couple went with their second choice....

...Superman.

At any rate, check out our gallery of text-message inspired names, some real, some fake, all kray-z!

From DailyMail

Gallery: Text Message Kids

Text Messages Lead Police to Kidnapped Girl

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Feb 26th 2008 at 2:11PM

Girl Thwarts Kidnapping With Text Messaging

Thankfully for a kidnapped 16 year-old girl from Wheatland, Oregon, her captor, 37-year-old David Anthony Faboo, did not take her cell phone.

According to the Sacramento Bee, the girl met Faboo via chat-rooms and MySpace. Faboo drove from his home in Hillsboro, Oregon (about an hour away) to meet the girl, then started to take her towards the state line. The girl quickly realized her error and started text-messaging her friend. With the cooperation of the girl's cell phone provider, the authorities were able to track her constant text messages and nabbed Faboo near Grants Pass, Oregon -- about 300 miles north of the girl's home in Wheatland.

We normally would suggest you not judge a book by its cover, but just look at this guy. To steal a joke from Zach Galifianakis -- this guy looks like he walked into a barber shop and asked for an Amber Alert.

From Sacbee.com

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French President's Desperate Text-Message Turned Into a Pop Song

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Feb 22nd 2008 at 1:25PM

French President Nicolas Sarkozy once again is finding himself in a pretty sticky situation, this time thanks to leaked cell-phone text message and some creative musicians. Last week, it was reported that just eight days before his marriage to Italian model-turned-popstar Carla Bruni, Sarkozy text messaged his ex-wife Cecilia, begging her to return to him.

"If you come back, I'll cancel everything," said the SMS message.

Though the French prez has denied the story and filed suit against the media outlet that originally ran the story, he's out of luck because the story just wont die. In fact, French pop act Jeanne Cherhal has turned the now-infamous text message into a song, 'Si tu Reviens,' and posted it on her MySpace page.

Will Sarkozy sue her too? Probably not, but it does add more fodder for gossip blogs, and, thanks to mobile technology, gadget blogs such as this one!

From Textually.org

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Locked Toilets in Finland Unlocked with TXT Messages

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Feb 5th 2008 at 9:44AM

Fed up with vandals and people who don't light a match after dropping the kids off at the pool, the Finish government has started locking the country's public, roadside toilets. Signs posted outside inform the user that in order to unlock the lavatory, one must text the word "open" (in Finish) to a short code and the door will be unlocked remotely.

The system will allow police to track down criminals, vandals, and those who leave the seat up.

From Boing Boing

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Detroit Mayor Caught Sending Explicit Text Messages

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Jan 31st 2008 at 1:19PM

When you're caught red handed, there's nothing to do but beg forgiveness. And that's exactly what Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick of Detroit was forced to do last night in a televised plea. The mayor is under investigation over claims that he lied under oath about having an affair with his chief of staff Christine Beatty.

Mayor Kilpatrick went into hiding last week after a Detroit news paper reported that sexually explicit text messages had been found on Beatty's cell phone dating from 2002 and 2003. In the 10 minute address, Kirlpatrick apologized for the pain and disappointment he caused his family and supporters, but rejected suggestions that he should resign over the pending perjury investigation.

Christine Beatty has resigned over the text messaging scandal, but we're wondering what possessed her to hold on to the text messages for 6 years.

Kilpatrick and Beatty aren't the only unfortunate souls to run into some trouble on account of text messages, here are some of our favorite embarrassing text message stories:

Australian Cricket star Shane Warne learned the hard way that he should double check who he's texting after accidentally sending a message intended for his mistress to his wife. Lets just say it doesn't have a happy ending.
A teacher in Texas thought that involving text messaging in her lessons would be a good way to keep her class engaged. Unfortunately some the text message abbreviations assigned were not exactly kid friendly.
One young man in Cincinnati paid the ultimate price when he got so distracted by texting he we has struck and killed by a train.
One apparently desperate, or stupid, West Virginia drug dealer texted a police officer to see if he wanted to "buy some reefer." As you can guess his days on the outside were numbered.

From AOL News

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Pope Benedict XVI Texting Out Messages of Encouragement

Fight Crime by Texting the Police

82% of Americans Never Use Text Messaging

Text-Addicted Teen Sends 15,000 Messages a Month

Famous French News Anchor Allegedly Fired Via Text Message

With 78 Million Text Messages, 'American Idol' Breaks Records

Drug Dealing College Students Used Text Messages to Promote Sales

Pope Sending Text Messages to Australians

Parents To Get Lice-Outbreak Text-Message Alerts

Texting Students Force Professor to Walk Out of Class

Baby Names Being Derived from...Text Messaging?

Gallery: Text Message Kids

Text Messages Lead Police to Kidnapped Girl

French President's Desperate Text-Message Turned Into a Pop Song

Locked Toilets in Finland Unlocked with TXT Messages

Detroit Mayor Caught Sending Explicit Text Messages

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