Posts Tagged ‘texting’

Do Multitasking Drivers Have Double Standards?

Times reporter Matt Richtel answers reader questions on the Driven to Distraction series and poses one of his own: Why do so many people believe they can drive safely while using cellphones but don’t believe that others can do the same?




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Some Friendly Texting Advice From James Lipton’s Beard [Ads]

Everyone knows that stroking a beard helps you think. And there are few beards more majestic than James Lipton's. So it makes sense that LG is using said beard to promote responsible texting in these actually-amusing ads.


Come on, admit it. You can't resist Lipton. [Beard Revue via NotCot]




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Textminator an arcade game for today’s youth

textminatorI realize that stand-up video games are practically a thing of the past, and there has not been a decent one since Dance Dance Revolution (DDR). Since home versions of the game along with Guitar Hero/Rock Band has pretty much eclipsed stand-up video game glory, its nice to see someone trying to renew it with Textminator.

As you can see, someone has even used the safety bars on the DDR game, but made the subject matter of the competition not dancing, but texting, something that the teens these days are really, really good at.

So why not make an arcade game where players must “face-off” with each other on stainless steel phone-like keypads? It sort of reminds me of MasterType, a very old-school computer program that helped me learn to type. In that game, the player had to save a spaceship by typing in the correct sequence of letters to shoot the guns to destroy the aliens. I am assuming the player does a similar sort of game in Textminator.

What makes this game unique is that not only can the high-scoring player enter in their initials, but the Textminator has a built-in camera so the player can snap a pic of themselves for a virtual wall of fame.

So, let’s see how Textminator plays out in a modern video arcade. Perhaps it will spawn Textminator 2: Judgment Page.

Source


Tech Cult – We cover the latest tech news, but always with a funny twist.
[ Textminator an arcade game for today’s youth copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]


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Texminator Arcade Game Adds Competitive Edge to Texting [Arcades]

Meet the Texminator. It's an arcade cabinet that tests your texting speed. It was also inevitable.

Seriously now, my youngest sister has a phone she never uses—save for texting. LOLs and ttyl's have long replaced spoken word, and the clickity clack of her slider phone keyboard easily drowns out the family small talk at the dinner table during holidays.

It's only natural that some entrepreneur would turn this phenomenon into a game and make a little coin off of it. The game features arcade and race the clock modes, as well as a 2-player competitive mode. The joysticks are toy cellphones. Obvi.

And I'm just speculating wildly here, but since Rockstar didn't develop this one I'm pretty certain there's no hidden Hot Coffee sexting level. [ChipChick via Ubergizmo]




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Only 3 Percent of Americans Think It Should Be Legal to Text and Drive [Cellphones]

I didn't think 97 percent of Americans were in agreement about anything, but apparently they are about texting while driving: They think it should be illegal. A mere 3 percent don't care, or didn't answer cause they were busy texting.

And half think it should have the same penalty as drunk driving. Steeeep.

What's fascinating is that while 80 percent think phones should be a no-no, they deem it kosher if you're going hands-free. Newsflash, morons, a bunch of studies show it's just as distracting if you're using a Bluetooth headset. It's the conversation that's distracting, not your hands being up near your head. Personally, I think we should also ban eating, drinking, using combs or makeup, overly talkative passengers, any kind of music, talk radio, GPS navigators, and small children from being in cars, period. Only then can we drive completely safely, since then we won't ever be distracted by anything ever again. [NYT]




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HTC Hero having intermittent text messaging problems?
There's not exactly much in the way of official statements on the matter just yet, but it looks like support forums have been piling up with reports of text messaging problems on the HTC Hero over the past few weeks, and with no signs of a fix in sight. Apparently, the phone can send texts just fine, but runs into a little trouble when it comes to receiving 'em, with most folks reporting only intermittent problems, and at least some not receiving any at all. Interestingly, the problem seems to be occurring in both the US and the UK, so it would seem to be a problem on the phone's end and not the carrier's, and a few people seem to have had some (brief) success after resetting the device. Of course, there are also plenty of folks having no problems at all, but there doesn't seem to be any question that the issue is out there. So, have you been missing some texts on your Hero? Let us know in comments.

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HTC Hero having intermittent text messaging problems? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Silly Carmakers Don’t Think You Should Text and Drive [Cellphones]

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers are the latest to support a national law against texting while driving. Clearly, they haven't seen me: I can simultaneously eat Chik-fil-a, shift gears, Twitter, send email via iPhone and brush my teeth. Perfectly. [CrunchGear]




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Sporadic iPhone MMS Activations Happening Two Weeks Early [Apple]

Scattered reports from our myriad of incredible tipsters and the Consumerist indicate that iPhone MMS is active, at least for some phones.

The roll out is limited and seemingly very random, with iPhones gaining the ability across the U.S.

Perhaps this is an early test to see if that dubious AT&T network can finally handle this "new" feature? [Consumerist - Thanks, Tipsters!]




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Tata DoCoMo launches per-character SMS pricing, and this headline just cost us close to a rupee
Never mind "nickel and diming" -- Indian joint venture Tata DoCoMo is now rupee and paising (a paise is a hundredth of a rupee) customers who sign up for its new "Diet-SMS" messaging plan. Unlimited and ultra-high-allowance messaging plans are now commonplace in some parts of the world, but on the other end of the spectrum, Diet-SMS is actually a regression from the old practice of charging by the message -- you get charged by the character. The good news is they don't charge for spaces and characters are just a single paise each, which works out to about two-hundredths of a US cent at current conversion rates -- but still, the fact remains that a 160-character SMS costs Tata DoCoMo exactly the same to handle as a 1-character one. What's worse, you just know this is going to give rise to a new ultra-efficient shorthand notation that makes "LOL" look like a novella.

[Via textually.org]

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Tata DoCoMo launches per-character SMS pricing, and this headline just cost us close to a rupee originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Sep 2009 07:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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To proceed another five miles, TXT ‘DESIGN FLAW’ to your Reva electric car
To proceed another five miles, TXT 'DESIGN FLAW' to your Reva electric car
Not long ago a motorcycle with a fuel gauge was basically unheard of and even "low fuel" idiot lights were rare. Riders used advanced (and generally inaccurate) mathematics to calculate remaining mileage and, when the engine inevitably sputtered, switched over to a reserve tank that would let them nervously motor along a few more miles. Reva, an Indian company set to start shipping electric cars next year, plans to resurrect that most irritating sequence of events in their two-door NXR -- albeit with a modern spin. Now, instead of reaching down and turning a dial to get to that precious extra juice, drivers will need to call or text Reva HQ. Some overworked customer service agent will then remotely activate the "reserve battery," which surely doesn't even exist, to give a bit of extra range. We pity the fool who runs out of charge somewhere outside of cell range, but not quite as much as the designer who pitched this terrible idea.

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To proceed another five miles, TXT 'DESIGN FLAW' to your Reva electric car originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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