Tag: TEXTING

With her identity finally revealed, the infamous fountain lady should be joyously reveling in an undoubtedly fleeting moment of Internet fame. Instead, Cathy Cruz Marrero (who actually works, or worked, at the mall where she fell) has hired a lawyer and is publicly crusading for sympathy and an apology. Speaking with George Stephanopoulos, Cruz Marrero and her attorney recently explained the ...

Just because your young daughter types "CU L8R" when she texts her friends doesn't mean she won't be able to spell real words when she grows up. In fact, one new study claims that, contrary to popular belief, texting will actually improve her spelling skills. The study, conducted by researchers at Coventry University, examined 114 9- and 10-year-old children who did not already use cell phones. ...

Yesterday, we showed you how to set up your basic AutoText and predictive text settings, but you can do much more to relieve the dreaded BlackBerry thumb by taking advantage of keyboard shortcuts. Since so many exist, though, you'll want to get started with learning the basics. Some shortcuts work for both e-mail and messaging, but others are exclusive to individual services. ...

The next time you find yourself trying to get the attention of a flighty waitress at a crowded restaurant, you might want to put down your hand and pull out your cell phone. Some restaurants have begun implementing a program called 'TextMyFood,' a service that allows patrons to directly communicate with their servers via text message. With 'TextMyFood,' customers can place orders, ask questions, ...

Share While we all love the girl who fell down a manhole while texting, we think it's time to crown a new queen in the texting hall of shame. We don't know who this woman is or what mall she was wandering through, but her text-messaging session was cut short by a little trip into the mall fountain. Priceless. Video after the break. ...

The Fourth Amendment requires all law-enforcement officials to obtain a search warrant before seizing a suspect's personal property. According to the California Supreme Court, though, the law doesn't apply to cell phones. In a 5-to-2 vote, the court ruled that police don't need a search warrant to search an arrested individual's cell phone -- because cell phones, in essence, are like clothing. ...

Texting or pinching on a touchscreen in the bitter winter cold is nearly impossible while wearing traditional gloves, and most of the dedicated winter hand apparel does a poor job of actually keeping our mitts warm. Digits conductive pins, designed for use with knit material, forgo the custom gloves for simple silicone caps that can be attached to the finger end of your favorite pair of gloves for ...

Today's teenage bullies may conduct the majority of their schoolyard terrorism on Facebook, but parents are quickly catching on, and doing their best to mitigate cyberbullying. The New York Times Magazine recently investigated what some parents are doing to counteract online bullying, and, not surprisingly, found a pretty wide variety of approaches. Some run to the police, while others choose to ...

Sometimes a simple SMS reminder buzzing in your pocket is enough to break all the pings and alerts hitting your computer screen throughout the day. Fortunately, Google Calendar is SMS-capable, which means you don't need a cutting-edge smartphone to get calendar alerts. Read on after the break to learn how to text your calendar. ...

For the first time in nearly a decade, the 911 emergency service is getting an overhaul, as the FCC looks to expand and update its crime reporting capabilities. As Wired reports, users in need of urgent assistance may soon be able to immediately contact 911 via text message or video streamed directly from their mobiles. The proposed system upgrade would be the first since 2001, when the FCC ...

New research from the Sleep Disorder Center at JFK Medical Center has provided media outlets with attention-grabbing headlines, such as 'Many Teens Text All Night Long.' But, thanks to its incredibly small sample size (only 40 students) and vague parameters (after "bed time"), the Center's study fails to shed any new light on the issue. Lightning-quick exchanges and 24-7 availability are now ...

When a massive earthquake struck Haiti last this year, the Red Cross managed to collect a total of $30 million in donations sent via text message. Since then, many other nonprofit organizations have tried to incorporate the Red Cross's SMS approach into their business models, but, as the New York Times reports, few have been able to do so successfully. The biggest hurdle most nonprofits face ...

Lauren Leto, co-founder of 'Texts From Last Night,' regularly receives submissions from users looking to share their most hilariously embarrassing texts with the rest of the world. Unfortunately, though, many of them never make the cut. "A lot of the texts go unused because they're not funny and don't fit into our set of guidelines because the jokes are too personal," Leto tells the New York ...

Looking to conduct surveillance on that philandering boyfriend of yours? Well, for about 18 hours yesterday, you could've downloaded something called 'Secret SMS Replicator' -- a new app that, once planted on someone else's Android smartphone, will secretly forward their text messages to another phone. Created by DLP Mobile, 'Replicator' hit the Android market Wednesday, much to the horror of ...

Share Plenty of people are using cell phones today, but many of the world's poorest mobile users don't actually have their own phones. Instead of shelling out $25 (or more) for their own personal handsets, many impoverished users simply purchase one phone, and share it amongst their friends or family. It may be a cost-efficient way of connecting to the world, but it isn't exactly convenient, nor ...