Morse code takes on sms!

Ladies and gentlemen, here are the tonight’s fight combatants: in the red corner, a SMS semi-veteran and in the blue corneeer, a veteran Morse Coder. Place your bets! Let the fight begin! Afer a few secconds...echo of the final gong! Surprisingly, the Morse Coder won by submitting a complete message faster than the fastest thumb typist. Mr. Hill, the veteran dude sent this for the rival: “Hey, girlfriend, you can text all your best pals to tell them where you are going and what you are wearing.”
This doesn’t makes me wanna learn that Morse Code though! Now, instead of making voice calls, should I go with the clicks and short rings? Noot!
[Via Slashdot]

Bulgarian Students Receive Exam Grades via SMS

It’a about time a Bulgarian University joined the “ Send grades via sms” club. The applicants who sat the admission exams at the University of National and World Economy in Sofia will be receiving their scores via SMS, sources from the university said yesterday. There is a checkbox on the application forms, where each candidate can choose whether or not to receive their grades on their mobile phones. The service is free of charge by the way.
[ Standardt News ]

Largest Sms lottery in history

Over two million people applied by text message for the 150-thousand tickets to the July 2 concert in London's Hyde Park in what The Guinness Book of World Records said was the largest ever SMS lottery. Well, isn’t that cute? Tickets began appearing on eBay shortly after recipients learned by text that they had been successful.
The managing director of the auction site said that the company would halt the sale of London Live 8 concert tickets on its web site. More than 100 pairs of tickets had been listed by early Tuesday and some had attracted bids of up to 1,000 pound sterling (1,800 US dollars).
The three million pounds (US$5.4 million) raised by the ticket lottery will go toward the Prince's Trust, a youth charity established by Prince Charles. It will also go to Help A London Child, which campaigns to help children with mental health problems and on materials for the concert.
Live 8 agreed to donate to the Prince's Trust in return for the cancellation of Party in the Park, the Prince's Trust's annual concert in Hyde Park.

We had to create something grand, and free is pretty grand, I’d say. The funding? It’s a massive risk. In the U.K. we raised a lot of it from a text-message ticket lottery. I raised $ 5 million through an underwriting loan. We did an auction of the DVD rights. You find a way

, Bob Gedolf said to Time.
P.s. Glad to hear Bo Gedolf, Bono and Richard Curtis still have the passion for humanitarian actions. We’ll se if they’ll break the G8 barrier…
[Via Eitb24]

Insurance via sms

Selling insurance via sms! That’s a good one. The story goes that a company called Text2Insure is planning to do that in the UK. They are the first to sell via SMS text messaging. The service is available through a regular mobile phone and promises to provide quotes to your phone within 60 seconds. The company started selling Hastings Direct-branded travel insurance through this new channel late yesterday afternoon and plans to expand into other forms of general insurance in the future.
Launched in 1997, the latter offers car, motorcycle and home insurance and now has over 750,000 policyholders, over 1300 staff and handles in excess of 3 million enquiries each year, according to the company.
Research carried out for the group found that nearly a quarter of mobile users would consider taking out insurance through a text messaging service.
[Via BiosMagazine]

True lies and the Pinocchio phone

Let me tell you about True Lies! No, it’s not a movie…it’s a service designed to help people manage and update their lies. The service director: Angus Chan. Here it goes! First you have to provide the True.Lies service with a record of your lies and your daily schedule. Mr. Chan and his machines will then categorize and store them damn lies on a computer database. As they monitor your schedule and your record of lies, constant reminders are sent to you at the appropriate time through post, email, SMS, cash machines, phone booths, etc. to let you know the record of lies you have already made to the people you're about to meet. In the name of honesty, the project also includes the Pinocchio Phone: the more lies you tell, the longer the phone gets and the less privacy you have.
P.s. I’ve always wanted to say this: Pinocchio should have been a girl!

SMS brings light to Indian city roads

Chandigarh (India) drivers may soon be able to lodge a complaint by SMS if a street light is not working, by texting the special "ID code” assigned to each pole. The complaint number will be sent back automatically to the cellphone of the complainant. And after the streetlight is repaired, the complainant will receive an SMS telling him that it's been fixed…or not. Will this light combination work?
The UT Traffic Police conducted a survey in the first week of June to assess the condition of streetlights on the four busiest city roads — Himalaya Marg, Madhya Marg, Dakshin Marg and Sukhna Path. The survey revealed that one-third of the streetlights (492 out of 1,062) were non-operational. I guess there will be many complaints via sms then. Surprisingly, the survey found out that neither the Municipal Corporation nor the UT Administration had information about the non-functional streetlights. Well, they will be informed soon after the cascade of sms rushes in. And there will be light!
[Via Chandigarh Newsline.

Heat wave alert as Europe swelters

How to deal with the heat wave hitting Europe? Apparently, this is one of the questions in any European government's agenda. Everybody is rushing to put in place emergency measures. Spain already started it’s ‘fight the heat’ campaign. The southern region of Andalucia (Spain) put in place a text-messaging alert system to warn the elderly and the infirm living alone, as well as parents of young children, of impending high temperatures above 41 degrees Centigrade.
[via Cape Times]

Women, bigger SMS flirts than men

[Via The Hindustan Times]
Mobile entertainment providers LAB has come out with a survey which found out that nearly three quarters of the British population have sent flirty text messages or emails behind their partners' backs, with more women offenders than men. The poll also stated that while 69 per cent of the men indulged in flirting, the percentage of women was higher with 72 per cent cheating on their partners.
P.s. Girls behaving badly? Maybe. But probably not. It’s just mother nature playing the game. It all started when Eve, while taking her ‘lunch break’- up in Central Park, sent a web sms from her Apple Macintosh… the thing is that her flirting subject, the wireless snake, really bought her sms!

Et Voila, the text message in the air!

SK Telecom announced Today that they will launch an Air Beam service that displays text messages or images in the air. Let me repeat that for you: Air Beam service that displays text messages or images in the air. What is that? Well, this thing will spell out messages in the air by waving your handset after downloading relevant program. Oh, no, it’s not holographic gizmo! Surprise, surprise, we’re still in 2005! A total of 16 beamed messages can be stored in the handset and a variety of emoticons are downloadable on Nate, SKT’s portal website. An acceleration sensor is deployed and the messages can be seen up to 20 - 30 meters away. Watch out for the light beam though...
[via Telecoms Korea]

Islamic SMS, MMS service

Well, well, I have to keep the faith…religion and mobile techology can actually combine. Here is an example. Fastlink and Beecell, in cooperation with the renowned Islamic figure Amro Khaled, have come out with a new service that enables customers to 'listen' to mosque sermons and Islamic preaching through the SMS, and get parts of Khaled's lectures through the MMS. The service is the first of its type in the Middle East... All they needed was the will to want it.
[Via Ameinfo]

SMS Real Name Technology Helps Mobile Searching

Shanghai Fengzhong Information Technology Company has developed a new communications product called SMS Real Name that ties someone's name to their mobile phone. Cute and futile at the same time! With SMS Real Name, errr, you do not have to send a short message directly to a mobile phone. Instead, you only need to send it to the name obtained earlier when the short message was displayed on the receivers' mobile phone. In this way, you only need to remember the name, instead of the long mobile phone number. Chinese GSM and CDMA mobile phone numbers typically have 11 digits, so this explains everything. According to a senior engineer from Shanghai Fengzhong, wireless service providers who provide this Real Name feature charge fees from high-end users, while low-end users only pay regular short message fees to the operators. The service has been launched this week by Shanghai Fengzhong, in cooperation with China Mobile and China Unicom. That’s one small step for Shanghai Fengzhong Information Technology Company, one small leap for Mankind!
[Via Chinatechnews]

Europeans Keep Texting as Americans Try Mobile Gambling

Two new surveys released this week are trying to discover what consumers want from mobile phone technology. Research from Forrester shows that Europeans are not interested in advanced mobile features, while a new Mintel report predicts that mobile gambling is set to rise rapidly in the US.
Forrester’s study, based on interviews with 18,000 consumers in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, found that SMS text messaging is the most used mobile service, and that users are not ready to adopt more advanced features such as the mobile Internet or video messaging. More than 60% of mobile users aged 16 to 24 have an Internet-capable mobile phone, but only 18% actually use it to access the Internet. In fact, 63% of mobile users told Forrester that they didn’t need a sophisticated phone as it is only used for voice calls and messages. The research also shows that the favorite mobile services after text messaging are buying ring tones and mobile gaming. The popularity of mobile gaming is echoed in a new Mintel International report, which reports that every Tom, Dick and Harry from the U.S. are more and more into turning to their phones for entertainment. It also states that mobile gambling is increasing in the US at a rapid rate, and predicts that this activity will generate $3 billion in revenue in 2009.
P.s. It looks like americans are still facing texting bravely. I'm not a 'kanagaroo court' member to judge them anyway. Perhaps a "thumb a ride" sms service might change the american shape of mobile things. Anyone thought of that? Ha?

Etisalat mobile customers rush for high school results over SMS

Emirates Telecommunications Corporation- Etisalat- has announced the success of their service of delivering high school results to mobile phones via SMS or WAP. The service has been launched by Etisalat in association with the Ministry of Education and already has 39, 282 subscribers. Graduating students as well as their families have utilized this service to be informed of their results as soon as they are announced.

This service has been popular right since it was first launched few years ago. We are realty glad to be close to our customer at what is normally a time of anxiety. We are proud of our technology that adds so much value to the lives of all our customers. We wish all students all the very best,

said Mohammed Al Fahim, Executive Vice President- Marketing, Etisalat.
To subscribe to the SMS service, students have to send an SMS containing their Student Examination ID to short code 1111. Etisalat will then send a message to confirm the Student ID and Mobile number information is correct, and the mobile user then confirms the details. Completing the registration enables users to receive their results on the registered mobile immediately after the official announcement by the Ministry.
[Via Ameinfo]

Who To Blame For Child Thumb Problems? Text Messaging Or The Playstation?

Over the past few years there have been a few stories about the problems of "texter's thumb," which is in fact a RSI (repetitive strain injury) that some kids are developing after using text messaging too much. However, it appears that not all of the blame can be placed on text messaging. A new report, written by a 13-year-old girl who conducted the research, suggests the problem should be called "PlayStation thumb" as many kids playing PlayStation games are experiencing the same thing. Symptoms of "PlayStation Thumb" include blisters numbness and tingling, mainly in the thumb, she wrote .While it is a nice story about a young girl getting her research published, it's hard to see what's so revealing about this. Repetitive strain injuries are nothing new…Tolkin’s elves had it too after using their bows on orcs and undeads.

Greater London Authority launches SMS service to promote events

[Via Daily Digital News from Brand Republic]
The Greater London Authority has come out with a new SMS service to promote events such as the Mayor's State of London conference. The initiative started by encouraging the public to text a short code for tickets and a map to the annual conference, where Londoners can mingle with the capital's decision makers.

This is an exciting new venture for the London government. We now have an opportunity to use the mobile medium to make it even easier for Londoners to attend our events,

said Mayor Ken Livingstone. The event is the first to be promoted though the GLA's new Ticket Request by SMS service.

The first ‘SMS Dating’ Marriage in South Africa

Flirtnet, a mobile phone dating service and meeting hub enabling people to chat and flirt, has come out with this headline: the first ‘SMS Dating’ Marriage in South Africa. The protagonists of this weird event are are two widows in their sixties. Isn’t that cute?

Pensioner (60), loves animals and outdoor life.

That's the message former boxing champ Frikkie Jacobs punched into his cellphone, then pressed "send".
The SMS left his phone in Kempton Park and whizzed via the Flirtnet network, 1 300km through the air, landing in Irene Malherbe's cellphone in the Eastern Cape town of Patensie.
Malherbe, whose own profile read "widow (63), loves outdoors", sent this SMS back:

What's your name?

The couple will be saying "I do" (or "I don't"?) at a wedding ceremony in Pretoria this Saturday.

Iinternet blamed for LIVE 8 ticket chaos

The company handling tickets for the Scottish LIVE 8 concert has denied wrongly informing fans they had won tickets for the event. Angry fans jammed TICKETMASTER hotlines after receiving text messages informing them they had won, but were unable to confirm their bookings on the internet. Oops! But a spokesperson for the firm insists they did not send any incorrect text messages, and an internet security feature was stopping people from finalizing their tickets.

We have been told of various stories about bogus SMS messages having been sent out, the codes being wrong and people not being allowed to claim their tickets

, said Chris Gorman, one of the Edinburgh event's organizers

Ticketmaster have found no evidence to support any of these claims. If it turns out someone is sending bogus texts in the name of this event, then they deserve to be punished and we can only apologise to people who are victims of these appalling scams,

Gorman also added.
TRAVIS, TEXAS, SNOW PATROL and ANNIE LENNOX will headline the concert at Edinburgh's Murrayfield stadium on 6 July (05).

Related:

Txt lottery opens for Live 8 tickets
Geldorf Asks fans to Text for Status Quo

Unethical for telcos to lure students

[Via Daily express]

The Malaysian Government will set up a regulatory body to monitor the business ethics of telecommunication firms in the country, particularly those offering Short Messaging Service (SMS) promotions for students. Businessman, Peter Chua, expressed his disappointment with the way telcos conduct their business, especially the SMS, to reach student mobile users. Wellcome to the Marketing world! Enjoy your stay!

The mobile phone, to me, is important for communication but many students are simply using it as a lifestyle. They keep on downloading all sorts of "newbies" and spend a fortune on SMS-ing,

he said.
Chua said many of these students forgot that they are yet to secure jobs and that the money they were spending came from their parents' pockets.

Enticed by the telcos promotions, which has proliferated into so many kinds of confusing packages that look attractive but infested with hidden costs, the students continue to burn money,

he added.
Chua said the telcos should be doing their social obligation by not encouraging students to use more than they can afford. Right...

The Government could regulate the sales of cigarettes and liquor, why can't it regulate the telcos?

he asked.

Text messaging in the Philippines explained

Mercury News talks about the people of the Philippines's tight relationship with text messaging. The sms is defined as a vital tool for daily communication, a bonus for commerce and government as well as a formidable political weapon.
"Dubbed the "texting capital of the world", text messaging in the Philippines "isn't just a craze, it's a way of life. This country's 80 million people send 160 million cell phone messages a day.

In a country where computer and Internet penetration remains low, text messaging is the equivalent of e-mail and computer instant messaging rolled into one.
Filipinos are addicted to text messaging. It has become a part of our cultural identity. Filipinos are addicted to text messaging. It has become a part of our cultural identity, said Claro ``Lalen'' Parlade executive director of the Cyberspace Policy Center for Asia-Pacific in Manila.

P.s. I wonder if they allow marriage with the sms, uuh, sorry, marriage via sms.

SMS do offer confirmation of receipt

TheFeature :

Short messaging services (SMS) don't really provide confirmation of receipt either.

Isn’t that cute? But it’s WRONG ! Short messaging services actually do offer confirmation of receipt of a sent text message.
It's a feature you simply check in the settings of your cell phone, under "Messaging". Check this out David!

Sms banking in Qatar

At one point of time, online banking was a "must have" requirement for all the major baking, sorry, banking sectors. In the new era it is SMS banking or Mobile banking that all banking sectors are focused on! Apparently, DOHA Bank joined the sms banking club sprucing up its Internet banking for both retail and corporate customers.
Acting general manager R Seetharaman said yesterday many features had been added to enhance “corporate usage” of Doha Bank’s Internet banking. Corporate customers can now undertake funds transfers between “subsidiaries”. E-mail and SMS alerts can be enabled to corporate signatories on submission of new tasks, or while logging on to the Internet banking channels.
Besides Doha Bank’s corporate customers, the retail segment can also undertake foreign currency transfers through the Internet now. E-statement has been introduced under which customers can decide the frequency of statements to be dispatched to an e-mail address of their choice.
Customers can also place requests for many services from their homes or a place of their choice on a round-the-clock basis. These include reactivation of ATM and credit cards, registration for ATM use, request for various types of consumer loans, registration for Dbank services such as Dbank Dial Telebanking, Dbank SMS banking, QPAck and Al Asriya applications and standing instructions and electronic statements.

In today’s competitive global marketplace, it’s critical that we give topmost priority to consumer convenience on a 24x7 basis. There should neither be time nor location constraints. We have added many new features to our Internet banking suite to provide significant value to our customers. Doha Bank has been adjudged the best bank in Qatar by Euromoney and best commercial bank in the region by Banker Middle East. We are fully committed to providing best value to our customers forever, he added.

Iran seeds red over election text messaging craze

As reported yesterday, the use of text messaging by Iranians to send negative comments on their presidential election choice has worried the authorities, who are threatening to prosecute mobile users who insult the candidates.
Iran News has said today that the State television on Tuesday was regularly broadcasting a statement telling viewers that to send messages promoting the cause of a certain candidate was an offence.
There has even been "pressure to cut off" the entire SMS service, the official IRNA news agency cited a source within the state telecoms company as saying.
Some users in Tehran found they were unable to send messages on Tuesday morning.
While there are only six million mobile phones in Iran for a population of around 67 million people, text messaging can still have an influence on the campaign".
Using text messaging "could have an effect on turnout in the vote, even if it is difficult to measure," said new media expert Zhayla Bani Yaghoub.
P.s. Not to mention that also people from Bloggistan( the free bloggers of Iran) are persecuted too.

Divorce via SMS

Here’s a nice Malaysian SMS (short memorable story). Pronouncing a divorce using the Short Message Service (SMS) method is valid because it is similar to doing it by letter, said Selangor Deputy Mufti Datuk Abdul Majid Omar.

But this action is not proper and not polite from the moral and spiritual aspects

, he said at a seminar on the

Role of Fatwa (ruling) in building the family institution

.
Abdul Majid said a couple who wanted to divorce should go through the Syariah court.
Speaking on the same matter, Mufti Datuk Seri Mohd Tamyes Abdul Wahid said SMS contests were "haram" (prohibited by Islam) as they contained elements of cheating and gambling.
He said SMS contest organizers should stop their contests as they provided no intellectual benefit apart from entertainment.

It is a modern type of gambling because someone wins and someone else loses, and people scramble for prizes,

he said.
However, the use of SMS to give donations was not 'haram' because it was for a good cause, he added. But of course...
[Via Daily express]

Email and SMS to be popular in-flight activities?

[Via Hardware.silicon ]

Traveling in the air may well be a quieter affair than expected when more planes become mobile-enabled. According to a new report from analyst house IDC, most people are interested in using data services such as email and SMS, rather than voice functionality, while in the air.

Of the 50,000 people quizzed by the research firm, 11 per cent were in favour of using their mobiles on planes for voice calls - whether throughout an aircraft or in special mobile areas - and 64 per cent gave the thumbs up to accessing data services on their phones. IDC also found the most popular data application would be sending text messages. This new data trend will not only be good news for the carriers - both the operators and the airlines - but also for phone makers, by encouraging demand for smart phones, the analyst house predicts.

However, we could be looking at a minimum of one year before in-flight chat is a reality.

Patent pending for deleting embarrassing SMS's

[Via Cellular News]
Deleting those embarrassing SMS's… It was about time some took care of this. Samsung has been awarded a patent (US2005124360) on a method of sending an SMS to a handset then being able to later send a "delete" command to the same phone to erase the SMS from the handset memory. The patent is apparently aimed at people who mass broadcast messages and accidentally include incorrect people in the mailing list. Unfortunately, read messages can’t be deleted. Oh well, this remains a problem to be solved.

Boo! Interactive released SMS Answering Machine

Here comes yet another weird application for the sms: a program that can help you being polite when you are in a meeting and somebody calls you - this program can send then, automatically, a SMS message to the caller with information like "I am in adeep meeting, call me back after 17:00"...
SMS Answering Machine v1.0 will try to take care of all your calls while you’re in a meeting or can't answer the phone. You can fill out individual customized short messages, and choose your answer count and your phone will become your own personal assistant. You can set up your settings, and have it answer whomever you want, whatever message you want and as often as you tell it to. You can set different reply messages to each contact person, for example when your in a meeting and your wife calls, you can put "honey I’m in a meeting I’ll call you when I finish’. Each contact name can have his/her own SMS Message. It goes up to $24.99 and there is no version for MS Smartphone...
[Via Boointeractive]

Text message campaign against Ahmadinejad

[Via Khaleejtimes]

Since the first round of polling last week saw Tehran's ultra-hardline mayor Mahmood Ahmadinejad propelled into a showdown with moderate conservative cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, portable phones have been bleeping with calls for voters to block a far-right victory. Several of the SMS messages concerning Ahmadinejad said something like this:

On Friday all of us must go to the (run-off) polls to vote for Rafsanjani and against Ahmadinejad,

one of the mass SMS messages said. The perspectives of Ahmadinejad becoming president has caused a huge panic in Teheran. His devotion to strict rules, especially with regards to women’s rights and dressing codes, is predicted to cause huge problems for the Western-style society of the capital.
P.s. Oh, the trouble already started. Iran's hardline judiciary warned it would pursue people using mobile telephone text messaging to "denigrate" presidential election candidates ahead of Friday's high-stakes run-off. link

Philippines text fire volunteers

Ladies and texters, a new SMS service has hit the streets…in the Philippines only. It’s called "Txt Fire" and it was was launched on Friday by the Association of Philippine Volunteer Fire Brigades of Davao City. It has already been working in Metro Manila, enabling citizens to send a text message to a hotline mobile phone number for help in case of a fire. Apparently, the dispatch system through text is the first in the world. To be a Txt Fire volunteer, one needs to register to a hotline number and a prompt reply message will tell you that you have become a volunteer and can report any fire. Good luck!
[via Inq7.net]

SMS – Smoggy Message Service

Street specific air pollution warnings will soon be available via text-messages in a pioneering project being tested in Central London and the Borough of Croydon. The European Space Agency (ESA) backed prototype service will initially warn around a thousand asthma sufferers prior to an elevation in air pollution, with additional patients to follow. The YourAir service, however, surpasses current models because it resolves air pollution down to the scale of individual streets.
The system can also predict harmful levels of nitrogen dioxide, ozone and airborne particles that are harmful to people with asthma, lung and heart problems. Sufferers in the borough of Croydon will receive this information directly via text message, in a linked project called AirTEXT. YourAir, and the AirTEXT sister project, are being developed by Cambridge Environmental Research Consultants (CERC) as a demonstration service of ESA's PROMOTE project. The PROMOTE program is part of Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES), a joint initiative between the ESA and the European Union that coordinates all available atmospheric, space and ground based information to develop beneficial operational services for organizations and citizens.
The messages will also advise on steps those most at risk can take to minimize their pollution exposure and manage their symptoms. The AirTEXT and YourAir services are not only useful to those with health problems, as the high concentrations of pollutants often found along routes with heavy pollution sources can also harm healthy people.
[Via Scienceagogo]

Three tree texting leopards

Hey, someone switched to tree texting! Imagine this…Getting a text message from a leopard? This is no joke, says professor Wouter van Hoven of the University of Pretoria's Center for Wildlife Management. He is heading up a project that tracks three leopards in the Waterberg region of South Africa's Limpopo Province, using a combination of cellphone and GPS, or global positioning system, technology.
African Wildlife Tracking, headed by Martin Haupt, is the company behind the wireless animal tracking system that Van Hoven is using in his leopard project.
"Haupt said getting a text message from a leopard - or an elephant, cheetah, rhino or lion - was increasingly frequent in South Africa. Many game reserves or conservation areas have wild animals that are fitted with collared tracking devices.

The device is fitted around the animal's neck

, Haupt said.

On the collar you have batteries, a GPS, a VHF transmitter and a cellphone.

The cellphone, he said, is a "no frills" mobile phone about 2 centimeters, or 0.8 inch, long and 3 millimeters thick.
Professor Van Hoven explained how the technology works for his leopard research purposes:

The collar on the animal is programmed to send out four SMSs a day, every six hours, and that SMS is linked to a GPS, so every six hours the collars register the exact global position of where the animal is. That is then fed to the cellphone. The cellphone then sends the SMS, which is the position information of the animal.

[Via IHT]

SMS message board

Scientists at Microsoft Research Cambridge (MSRC) are working on a range of new technologies and gadgets that might find their way into our lives. The thing is that the scientists start researching how people live, and then they try to find 'technological' ways to enhance that. Or is it the other way around? Here’s what they came out with: Home Note, a message board where you can send text messages to. It's a laptop-sized screen that acts as a message board. Family members can leave handwritten notes for each other, or send text messages to the board from their mobile phones. It will be nice to use this instead of leaving hand-scrawled notes on the fridge. Or, err, noot!

Singapore post office offers sms "Lost and found alerts"

Post offices in Singapore will now function as a "lost and found" department for misplaced keys. Under the new lost and found service for keys launched by KeyPost together with Singapore's Post Offices, subscribers get a metal tag with a personalized code number. Owners will then be notified by SMS. The tag has a simple message in English and Mandarin for those who find the lost keys, "Please drop me unpacked into the next postbox." Postal workers can find the address, cell phone number or e-mail adress within 24 hours. The success rate of returning lost items is up to 90 percent.
[Via Channel News Asia].

Fox Sports, HipCricket Team on Texting

Fox Sports Radio listeners (and whistlers) now have 24/7 access to the network's programs through text messaging thanks to a deal with mobile marketing company HipCricket. Ok. It’s that interactivity again…The two have teamed to provide a way for listeners to use their cell phones to give feedback or participate in surveys, quizzes and giveaways. Listeners send a text message to "ON FOX" (66369), and they can interact with their favorite sports program. Cell phone users also receive instant feedback from Fox Sports Radio thanking them for their input or telling them the standings in the network's "VirtualVote" or "PopQuiz" they just participated in. Isn’t this interesting? Listening to the radio and texting at the same time…very interesting indeed.

[Via WirelessWeek]

SMS font-of-all-knowledge honoured with gong

[Via Silicon]

Are you having trouble answering the life's Big Questions ? Well, hold on...Questions like ‘Is baby Jesus an alien? ' could soon be answered. I’m not sure when though. Anyway, the story goes that there’s a sms service out there that is trying to find responses to your questions. It’s called 82Ask and it answer queries on everything from sandwich making world records to more serious business issues. They also got an award for that…'Best Content or Information Service' at the awards arranged by industry association 160Characters. Sarah McVittie, founder and CEO of 82Ask, said winning the award so early in the company's lifetime was a great honor and evidence of how much the company has achieved since it was founded in 2003. It all goes like this: operatives will field questions on travel directions and train times, sports scores and results, breaking news and directory enquiries but they also deal with their fair share of unusual questions.
Among the strangest enquiries received by the service where the following questions:
Q. Is baby Jesus an alien and if not what evidence is there to prove it?
Q. How many badgers would it take to support the weight of the Empire State Building?
Q. Why do planes have headlights? Surely if a plane sees something in them it would be too late?
Q. What is the fastest sandwich made using just one's feet?
Q. What would win in a fight between a large goliath bird eating spider and a large emperor scorpion and a small adder on a concrete floor?

LoyaltyGate adds FFP balance request by SMS

[Via The Wise Marketer]

Here’s another story about the ‘flying sms’. The frequent ‘ high flyers’ of three airlines can now check their loyalty mileage account balance using their mobile phone, and earn miles when they do so (once per day). The loyalty program provider Loyalty Gate Ltd has developed the new facility for the frequent flyer programs of SWISS (Swiss TravelClub), SN Brussels Airlines (Privilege), and TAP Portugal (Victoria). The new mobile phone mileage balance checking service has been available for Privilege members since mid-May 2005, and already receives 100+ enquiries per day. From June 2005 Swiss TravelClub is also making the service available to its members, while Victoria will follow in July 2005.

23 sport nespaper staffes fired by sms

[Via Telekom Korea]

Ilgan Sports, one of the major sports daily of South Korea, sacked 23 staffers yesterday…by sms of course. There goes the tradition… The picture is actually the SMS message sent to the staffers. Sorry, I can't translate that for you.

Nuclear terror alert spreads by sms

Residents of several Hungarian cities are reported to have spent the second half of this week in a state of panic over unverified reports that a nuclear reactor in a neighboring country had melted down, sending plumes of lethal radioactivity over Hungary. BOGUUS!
According to this piece of report, the nuclear terror was spread via e-mail and SMS. How else?
The warnings spoke of accidents at the infamous Chernobyl reactor complex in Ukraine, as well as plants in the Czech and Slovak Republics. Happily for Hungary, the reports are crap.
[Via Pestiside.hu]

Disaster warning system via SMS

Belgium's Interior Minister Patrick Dewael plans to warn every Belgian resident via SMS in times of national emergencies. The Liberal VLD minister plans to modernise the nation's current alarm system and believes sending a mobile phone text message to every resident is the most efficient manner. How liberal is that?
However, traditional mediums for alerting the public such as sirens, radio and television will still play a role in future, newspaper 'Het Nieuwsblad' reported on Wednesday.

Sending an SMS is very quick. You can send short messages, such as: 'Keep windows and doors shut,

Dewael said. Such a system is legally and technically possible, but it is too early to estimate the costs. The system is called 'cell-broadcast'.
[Via Expatica]

SMS your way to that dream job

The SMS is one hack of a polyvalent service… no doubt. Here’s another sms application: applying for a job. This is practically happening in...India of course. SMS is fast emerging there as the easiest way to reach out to the hot brains in the IT industry. IT companies are beginning to use SMS to keep candidates engaged between the time they are offered the job and the time they actually join. Some companies may soon even put in place a mechanism to enable prospective candidates to simply SMS them about their desire for a particular job.
The trend is particularly visible among BPO companies.

Since our business involves hiring large numbers of young graduates, we use SMS to track and keep the candidates engaged with us until they actually join. This method helps in keeping the candidates interested in us,

says Amitava Saha, recruitment head, Accenture BPO.
Accenture 'texted' about 150 candidates in the last one month by using SMSTrac, an application which enables sending customized bulk messages. ICICI One Source is also using this application. These messages will inform the candidate about the schedule of tests/interviews, information on documents to be carried, follow up on updating resumes and other value adds.

[Via Times of India]

Text messaging to cut witness time at court in Lincolnshire

[Via eGov monitor]
Here’s an example of how Great Britain’s low courts is using text messaging. Witnesses in criminal court cases in Lincolnshire can now be sent a text message when they are due to appear in court.

A new computer system called XHIBIT being introduced at Lincoln Combined court can reduce the time witnesses of crime spend waiting in court to give evidence. The technology saves time for witnesses including police officers, meaning they attend court only when they are needed. It could save 80,000 police days every year and mean more policing on the streets.

XHIBIT is now being rolled out across England and Wales, following a successful pilot at a Crown court in London last year. Good thing it’s spelled XHIBIT and not XZIBIT( the Pimp my ride show host… wouldn’t be too appropriate I guess).

President’s cell phone bombarded with over 2,000 text messages after public disclosure of number

Not too long ago, Indonesia’s President came out with this odd offer for the ‘electorate’: Indonesians who are frustrated by bureaucratic red tape or inept officials could call him directly or send him a text message to report lazy officials and acts of corruption. Well, reports on corruption and offerings of lucky charms were among the text messages received by the President via his cellular phone not long after the launch. You wanted it, you got it! A presidential spokesman says thousands of text, or SMS messages were sent to the number. Indonesia's Antara news agency says President Yudhoyono mentioned his cellular phone number when he launched an agriculture, plantation, forestry and marine uh revitalisation project in West Java. President Yudhoyono, who took office last October, has vowed to improve Indonesia's chronic bureaucratic problems. He says his mobile phone will be available 24 hours a day for the public to voice their complaints. Earlier, the AFP news agency said it was unable to get through on the phone number. Can the President manage all the sms stuff? Perhaps it’s time to hire a sms counselor. Pick me Mr. President, pick me! Neh, I’m too young for this!!
[Via Asiamedia]

Texting in public…phones

Newcastle's payphones have been upgraded and can now send SMS messages to mobiles anywhere in the nation. Now, we can text in public. Well, isn’t that cute? That’s a full-service I guess. More than 320 of the region's Telstra payphones have been programmed to ensure everyone in the community can send a SMS for less than the cost of a local call. The Newcastle region joins close to 70 per cent of regional NSW's 5600 plus payphones in having the SMS option. Telstra Country Wide area general manager, Martin Adlington, said the innovative new feature was another way the company was keeping its payphones up-to-date with relevant, everyday services.

Telstra is committed to the development of better, smarter ways to meet the needs of all our customers, and we consistently strive to find creative solutions to meet these needs,

Mr Adlington said.

The new technology will not only benefit deaf and hearing impaired people but payphone users in general - particularly young people who don't have a mobile, who's mobile is out of credit or has a flat battery. It's as simple as lifting the receiver and following the prompts to craft your own message or select a preset one such as "Meet me @ ..." all for just 20 cents per message.

[Via Newcastle.yourguide]

You can send a SMS to God!

Jews in Israel send their prayers by SMS to rabbis, while the Vatican hands out Pope's "Thought of the Day" through SMS. It’s India’s turn to join the act…A mobile company in Mumbai has started a service through which people can send prayers by sms to a Lord Ganesha Temple. Even the new age gurus are not far behind in using the mobile platform to spread their message. Deepak Chopra is offering his "The Seven Spiritual Laws" in the United States in the form of quotes, inspirational messages, images and tips for a healthy living. There are also some SMS service by which viewers can ask their gurus for some advice on spiritual or personal aspect of their lives. These channels have an impressive line up of Godmen( or some lazy boots) who will answer your queries. Although the trend towards religious quest on mobile phones was not started in India, all indications point to the fact that the Indian mobile user is fast lapping up this concept of taking God along with him wherever he goes. Religious chain messages are a rage in India. Earlier, people used to send postcards with religious messages, asking recipients to forward them to other people for luck. Now SMS is fulfilling that need.( Can I call this a virtual religious act? Forgive me Father, for I have sinned.) Vaishali Dar who is a great devotee of Shirdi Sai Baba tends to receive at least one SMS every fortnight from one of her many friends who asks to forward the same to other people ranging from 5 to 21, to bring her luck, and she does it religiously.

You see, I know that Sai Baba or Lord Ganesha may not get angry or curse me if I do not forward the message, but I still do it because I see no harm and I don't mind spending a few rupees on it

she says. While the mobile user in India is happy with what he is getting and craving for more, it is the mobile content and service providers that are praying all the way to the bank.
[ Via Inhome ]

Against poverty in Africa-millions of SMS will be sent to rich countries

African and Ghanaian personalities will promote the Creative Storm campaign against poverty in Africa... The Thursday launch will also kick off an innovative mobile phone SMS campaign in fifteen African countries, offering millions of people the opportunity to send text messages about poverty to the world's richest countries. Like the click advert featuring Bono, Brad Pitt, P. Diddy and other celebrities, AFRICA SNAPS deploys the simple symbolism of the snapping fingers powerfully, to remind us all about a harrowing statistic - every three seconds, a child dies from extreme poverty in Africa. Uniquely, the collection of messages in countries such as Ghana and Kenya will be led by masqueraders walking and dancing on ten-foot stilts and brandishing giant mobile phones. The launch is dedicated to the memory of African children. On June the 16th, thousands of children, wearing white bands and beads - symbols of the anti-poverty campaign will be taking part in activities throughout Africa.
[Via Accra Daily Mail]

SMS service for electors in India

[Via OutlookIndia]

God knows how many applications has the sms. For mankind’s sake…here’s another one! For the first time in India, 30 mobile phone users in West Bengal would be able to check their particulars on electoral rolls through SMS. Is that moral or what?

We are working it out with different service providers and it is in the final stage

, Chief Election Commissioner B B Tandon told a press conference. He said that mobile phone owners could check their particulars on electoral rolls by entering the number on the photo identity card.
The CEC requested the Chief Electoral Officer of the state Basudev Bandopadhyay to ensure that the special SMS service was made operational within a month.
Tandon who discussed various matters with political parties, the Chief secretary, Home secretary, DGP and Commissioner of police, said that the term of the state assembly would expire on June 13 next year.
On the possibility of early polls in the state, Tandon said that the Election Commission has the constitutional mandate to hold elections and constitute the new house before that date.

We are working on that.

He said that apart from West Bengal, assembly polls were due in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam and the Union territory of Pondicherry in June.
P.s. If 'sms' would be a person, here’s what he could write in a moment of sweet dementia:
For mankind I do my bidding
For mankind I do my job
For mankind I am all that I can be.
I think this p.s. is off the subject. Sorry Doug o.0!

Nearly 2.1m text Live 8 to make it most successful SMS push

[Via Brand Republic]

Every single day, 30,000 children die, needlessly, of extreme poverty.

2.1m text messages were sent to the Live 8 ticketing competition… trying to change that shape of things. This makes the Bob Gedolf aid action the most successful text fundraiser to date.

The mobile phone firm, which managed the technology for the texting competition, reported that as of midnight on June 12, 2,060,285 entries had been received for tickets to the July 2 concert at Hyde Park in London, raising around £3 million ($5.4 million) for Live 8, which has been organized by Bob Geldof to raise awareness of global poverty.

The long walk to justice continues.

Hong Kong Drafting Law Against SMS Spam

There have been plenty of stories lately about various countries finally getting around to cracking down on spam, so it's no surprise to see another story along those lines. However, it seems that Hong Kong's plans to fight spam are exceedingly vague. Basically, they say they'll come up with some sort of law at some point in the future that will ban some spam and some kinds of telemarketing...next year. So, until then…let them grow.

The government has been consulting with industry groups as it drafts the law

, said Au Man-ho, director-general of the Telecommunications Authority. Au said Saturday that direct-marketing companies that use automated calling on an unsolicited basis "can be considered a spam problem."However, Au said the law - to take effect during 2006 - would not cover "manually made cold calls" to avoid interfering with normal business activities. He said the issue still requires public discussion and that the government is working with fixed-line and mobile operators to create a code of practice for telemarketing.
[Via Cellular-news]

Cell phone text messages lead police to kidnapped teen

Discreetly holding her cell phone by her leg as she sat in her ex-boyfriend's car, Kelly Lazo screamed for help with the quiet typing of text messages. No, it’s not a Scream movie script. It’s actually a real life situation . In one of the first messages, she typed,

I need help. My boyfriend, he's trying to go to New York with me and I don't want to go there,

recalled her new boyfriend, Elder Lazaro. Oops. Already dumped the kidnapper? Right. Eventually, in a flurry of messages to her sister, Ms. Lazo was able to say what highway signs she was passing. Nassau County police stopped the car on the Long Island Expressway and arrested Mr. Machuca, 23, who was charged with kidnapping in both Maryland and New York state. End of story.
[Via Hometownannapolis]

Texting Mr. President

No, I’m not talking about Mr. George W. Bush, but about the Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. ‘The President and I just had a very long discussion about very important issues.’ I remember he said he is ready 24 hours a day to receive text message calls from people who want to complain to him about their problems.

Those who have problems can send a short-service-message (SMS) to me. My mobile phone is ready 24 hours a day to receive any message from anybody,

the state-run Antara news agency quoted Yudhoyono as saying on Saturday.
Yudhoyono said people who find government bureaucracy a stumbling block to getting things done can send messages to his mobile phone.

If you think (government officials) don't care, never come to you and your problems are left unsettled, my cellular phone is active 24-hours a day,

the president said.
P.s. Getting rid of bureaucracy using the sms. Right! This idea is beyond my cybernetical understanding. Getting rid of nonsense...now that should be an interesting presidential project! I'm not talking about the Indonesian Presidency here though...
[Via News 24 ]

Get the Michael Jackson verdict on your cellphone

If you want to stay in touch with what Michael Jackson has to put up in the court, then you should check this out. Court TV is offering text message updates on the trial. You can sign up at CourtTVMobile.com or send an SMS with "MJ" to 43478. And justice for all…right. Applying the real American and Western principles of fairness and equality for all…yeap. That’ll do!
P.s. Oh, by the way... Michael Jackson didn't try to kill himself, but malicious hackers want you to think otherwise.
[Via Weblogsinc]

Sms Services connect magazines to mobiles

After the sms hairstyle ‘bizz’, another business is also going to get its hands on the sms service to better attract costumers. The companies - Norwegian publisher Fast Forward Media Group and Belgian technology company Allisblue - presented their new ways of connecting consumers to publications on Thursday at a conference of European publishers in Amsterdam. The two companies are combining online-only glossy magazines with mobile short-message texting services to link mobile handset users to internet publications even when they are not online.

Many of the publishers are struggling to find ways to earn money on the internet, which is luring away readers of their print publications.

With the new combination, consumers on the go will be able to send keywords to a short telephone number from their handsets, after which they will be sent emails with links to magazines they have requested, the two companies said.
The animated magazines, which can be leafed through like real magazines, feature links to music, film and other multimedia content, which is sponsored by advertisers or which can be bought and paid for from the mobile phone account. Fast Forward Media said it would start the service with free online magazines such as PlayMusicMagazine.com.
[Via Silicon]

Geldorf Asks fans to Text for Status Quo

[via Contact Music]

LIVE 88 organiser SIR BOB GELDOF has told fans of STATUS QUO that he will allow the rockers to perform at the London leg of the charity event if enough people petition him with mobile phone text messages. And as British fans flood Live 8 bosses with texts to enter a draw to win tickets for the London gig on 2 July, Geldof has asked them to send messages saying 'How can you possibly rock the world without the Quo?' if they want the band on stage. That’s not blackmail, it's just 'blacktext' :) by the way.
He says,

If people keep texting, I promise you we will work miracles to let those two rockers on the stage.

SMS Text Messaging for Hair & Beauty Businesses

Are you still looking for that ‘chic’ hair style. Well, it might be just a sms away… even if its wedding hair, prom hair, hair jewelry or formal stuff. Here it goes! www.salon.textalert.com is the world’s first SMS marketing solution specially designed with the needs of hair and beauty practitioners in mind. Apparently, Salon.Textalert can send messages to all their customers, or ‘filter’ their address book according to such criteria as the name of the customer’s stylist, or whether the customer is male or female. The service operates on a pre-paid credits system and there are no sign-up or subscription charges. No additional software is required to use the system, which can be accessed from any internet connected PC.
P.s. I hope your search will not end here though…I don’t believe you’ll find a good stylist via sms anyway. Don’t blame it on me if you end up with a nasty haircut. I’m just the link man here. Peace!
[Via PR Leap]

Teens would rather txt than talk on mobiles

According to a new global survey, today's teenagers would be lost without their mobile phones, but they would rather text than talk. While UK teens spend $304m on mobile music a year, and own a collective 4m cameraphones, texting is the favoured form of youth communication, according to the Wireless World Forum mobileYouth 2005 report, the result of a five-year study into how young people all over the world use their mobile phones.

Despite all the technologies that have launched in the last five years, SMS is still the leader,

says Graham Brown, chief executive of W2F, teenagers are keeping things simple - and cheap. In the US, for example, there were 13.5 million text-messages votes during the past season of reality TV show "American Idol. Apparently, the number is up from last season's total of 7.5 million text-message votes-a sign that U.S. users are keen on text-messaging services. In the UK, teenagers are sending more text messages every year, reaching a projected total this year of about 22bn.

It's not just cost. Texting is something immediate and within their control,

says Brown.

It is also something that teenagers' parents often don't understand, because most (70%) use "txtspk" instead of fully worded predictive text. It's quicker and, it seems, easier to disguise from those prying parental eyes.

[Via The Guardian]

Guy sends 182K texts in a month and gets 1400 page phone-bill

Remember Deepak Sharma, the Indian man who sent 182,689 texts last month? Well, he just received his phone-bill. A 1411-page bill. By mail? Neee. The bill was was sent specially to him by the Airtel mobile operator.

At first I sent 50,000 SMS, after that I reached the figure of 1,13,000 and now I have reached the figure of 1,82,689 in one month. That makes it to 6000 SMS daily. Now I am aiming to send 3 lakh SMS which makes it to daily of 10,000 so that I can register my name in Guinness Book of World Records,

said Deepak Sharma...

By the way, he was on unlmited sms plan. I guess he is making the best out of Airtel's sms scheme with just 99 paise...that's 2,2 USD.

Text messages track elephants

Animal lovers round the world will soon be able to go online and track their favourite elephants as they move around the Kenyan bush through cellphone technologythe. Elephants in some national parks are being fitted with SIM card collars that send a text message telling wardens where they are every hour. Imagine an elephant texting this: ‘Hi Bill, I’m at the pond, havin’ a drink, watchin’ the game!’. Nooooot! Anyway, that information will soon be available over the internet, and accessible to people who choose to sponsor an animal or make a donation to charity.

People can go online and see where 'their' elephant is at any time of day or night,

said Mark Jenkins,senior warden at Meru National Park,which is about to introduce the technology."It should be a very useful tool for fundraising.

The technology will be also used to track the elephants' migration routes through the Kenyan bush,and alert wardens to any threat from poachers.

Bus info just a text away

Hutt Valley (New Zealand) commuters will soon be able to get bus schedules sent to their mobile phones, but they will have to wait to get real-time information on actual arrival times. So, what’s the point? Starting from July, people will be able to text in the numbers that adorn Hutt Valley bus stops to receive the next three scheduled arrivals. Specific routes can also be texted in for the stop. Project manager Steve Budd, of the Greater Wellington Regional Council, says if the pilot is successful the service will be rolled out progressively across the region later this year and extended to train stations.

People are receptive to migrating to public transport if they're given a reason to do so. This really suits situations where you're not travelling on your normal route.

Texts will cost the standard rate of 20 cents. Err, now I understand.
[Via Stuff.co.nz]

SMS becomes valuable tool

When mobile phones became popular with the general population, I never thought it would benefit the deaf...until the sms came by. For Sethsathien School’s deaf students, Short Messaging Service (SMS) has become the single-most efficient form of communication. Most Bangkok schools have banned the usage of cellphones in classrooms, while at the city's first school for the deaf, students are encouraged to bring their phones to classes where SMS text messages have become a valuable teaching tool. Teachers at Sethsathien School, which opened in 1953, have steadily incorporated the phones to help children's education and their efforts to communicate better with the outside world - and each other. Rungravee Ditchareon, an art teacher for four years at the school, says students are allowed to bring their cellphones because the technology can have an important effect on their lives. About 80% of the high school students, aged 15 to 18, bring their phones to school, she says.

Without mobile phones, we could not communicate unless we were standing right in front of each other. In the classroom, the mobile phones are less important, because we're standing face to face, and we can communicate in sign language. But outside the classroom, the phones facilitate other communication between teachers and students,

Rungravee said.
[Via News24]

Text Top Model

Do you have the look, the years, the drive and the passion to pursue the exhilarating life of a professional model? Well, if you’re a teen, hold on…Online voting, texting and webcasting will help you to be discovered by the famous Agency NY/LA Bolt Model (formally known as LA LOOKS0). Their search began in 1995, organized through LA Models - the largest and most well known agency on the West Coast. I wonder if they're also using Google. The agency that represents the likes of Elle Macpherson, Sarah O'Hare, Omahyra, Jaime Rishar, Travis Fimmel, Will Chalker and Christian Monzone, is one of the top high fashion agencies in New York knows for its trendsetting style. This year, for the first time the NY/LA Bolt Model is an interactive model search where the public will help to select The Next New Face. I’ll text for that! The search continues![Via Ypulse]

Big brother:text vote blunder

A fault in the text voting system led to dozens of fans receiving up to 1000 messages and facing massive phone bills. Isn’t that cute? But it’s wroooong! Viewers who vote by text get a message from Big Brother to say it has been counted. But a technical fault in the system led to 63 fans receiving the same confirmation message every few seconds. Ooops…just a small error in the system. The affected viewers were billed 35p for every unwanted message, the cost of registering each vote, but bosses say they will get their money back. Right. I’m glad somebody is watching over that sms service too. God knows what could have happened if big bro wasn’t watching. Control is power, power over others. Uh, interactivity? What?
[Via Daily Record]

Txt lottery opens for Live 8 tickets

[Via Yahoo]

Geldof, dubbed "Saint Bob" for organizing the 1985 concert to save the starving in Ethiopia, is to announce the line-up on Tuesday for Live8, a July 2 concert designed to influence the G8 group of industrialized nations' summit in Scotland. A texting lottery for tickets to London's Live 8 charity concert opened today with hundreds of thousands expected to spend up to £20m competing for the chance to attend the July 2 event. Performers expected at the Hyde Park show include Maria Carey, Coldplay, Elton John, Madonna, Paul McCartney, REM, Scissor Sisters, Sting, Robbie Williams and U2. Another four concerts are being held on the same day across Europe and in the United States under plans announced last week by Bob Geldof to pressure world leaders into eradicating African poverty. Geldof has called for 1 million people to march through Edinburgh four days later when leaders of the world's richest nations meet at the G8 summit at Gleneagles. To win tickets, entrants have to text the answer - A, B or C - to a simple question to telephone number 84599 by midnight on June 12. The question is:

What city is the forthcoming G8 summit being held near this July? A) Berlin B) Moscow C) Edinburgh.

People can enter as many times as they like to increase their chances of winning tickets, at a cost of £1.50 plus standard texting charges for each entry. As much as £19.5m could be raised through the texting scramble for tickets, spread betting firm Sporting Index predicted. The quiz answer can also be submitted by post.

South Cotabato taps text messaging in anti-gambling drive

[Via Mindanews]
Local officials and the police in South Cotabato (Philippines) have turned to text messaging in their bid to stop the reported rampant gambling activities in the province. Daisy Avance-Fuentes, the Governor of South Cotabato, appealed to residents to provide information about gambling financiers and protectors by sending cellular phone text messages to at least two local radio stations here.

We already have identified these financiers and protectors but we still need additional information that would help build a case against them,

she said. I’m sure you’ve never heard of the 'last two' game…well, the 'last two' was reportedly operating in all 10 towns and the lone city of the province. The game is played by drawing the last two digits of the winning number combination of a Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office’s sweepstakes draw.

Vieira denies sending Cole SMS

[Via iol.co.za]

Here’s a story about a sms and some footballers…London- Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira has denied sending a text message to team-mate Ashley Cole telling him not to accept less than £80 000 (about R1-million) a week from the club. I’m glad to hear Patrick knows also how to project and also protect himself in the public. The Premier League's decision document on the Cole "tapping-up" case involving Chelsea said the England defender's agent Jonathan Barnett had shown Arsenal chief executive David Dein a text message from Vieira during contract talks.

I categorically deny sending any such text message. It's simply not true,

Vieira said in a statement released by Arsenal.
Here are the consequences of that sms…Cole, Chelsea and their manager Jose Mourinho were fined by the Premier League on Wednesday after being found guilty by an independent disciplinary commission of breaking league rules by attending a meeting at a London hotel on January 27. English champions Chelsea were also handed a suspended three-point deduction.
The decision document said Barnett showed Dein the text on January 19 after being told that the club would offer Cole £55 000 (about R600 000) a week.

JB (Barnett) claimed other players were telling AC (Cole) that he was worth more than on offer,

the document said.

JB stated that they could get 80 (thousand pounds) to 90 (thousand) per week and that they could sell AC and get £20-million (about R250-million) for him.

Chelsea have said they will almost certainly appeal against the commission's decision. Cole is also considering an appeal.

Study Reveals Hungarians Guilty of Rampant SMS Infidelity

[Via Pessticide.hu]
Hungarian women have long been known for their great beauty and sparkling skin. Apparently, this and many other factors have an effect on how Hungarians act in their relationships. Doctoral student Katalin Nemescsói's research on "Human Relationships and the Mobile Culture" reveals that a majority of Hungarians in "committed" relationships surreptitiously read their partners' phone messages.
As many as 60% of those who took part in Katalin Nemescsói's research admitted to sneaking peeks at the in-boxes of their significant others' phones, looking for signs of SMS infidelity - even though 80% said they fully trust that their mates are not getting up to no good.
P.s. Well, I was in a Hungarian hospital once. I remember catching two massive women in white nurse's smocks checking my sms inbox. I must admit I was cheating on them….I’m guilty! Hey Katalin, I was never counted. Make that 61 %.

Emergency text service for deaf

[Via BBC]

People with hearing or speech problems will be able to contact the emergency services using mobile phones in Northerland . This comes into effect after the opening of a new Northern Ireland police text messaging service. The project was developed by the police in partnership with the Deaf Association of NI and British Telecom.
People who register with the service will be able to use their mobile phones to text the police, who in turn will contact the relevant emergency service. The messages, which can be sent from any part of Northern Ireland, will go centrally to the police service's Belfast regional control centre.

We are delighted with this recent development as it is vital that deaf sign language users have equal access to the emergency services of Northern Ireland

, said Majella McAteer, of the Deaf Association of Northern Ireland.