This video is very disturbing. But it’s arguably such a great example of a scared-straight commercial that it’s bound to stick in the popular consciousness for a while. Note: Please be careful while watching. It’s dark. It may give you nightmares.source
This photo freaked a lot of people out. Some, angry it might have been faked. Some, angry it could be real. (As it turns out, the second group guessed right.)
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Yeah, that sounds extreme. The Times is trying to cut back where it can, according to the New York Observer. And the place they felt most necessary? Cell phone bills. Texting costs money both as an unlimited charge and on a per-text basis, so they’re recommending their employees use other means, such as Twitter and IM, instead. Also on the chopping block? MMS and 411 calls, which cost $1.49 a piece. Next on the list? Pulling “scroll lock” keys off the staff keyboards and melting them into silverware for the newsroom cafeteria. source
You’ll have half the participants BlackBerrying each other as a submeeting, with a running commentary on the primary meeting. BlackBerrys have become like cartoon thought bubbles.
Philippe Reines • Senior adviser to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, on how BlackBerries have taken over meetings in his neck of the woods. Despite them being banned some places, in others, they’re used everywhere. And government isn’t alone. Business meetings have become textathons and potential clients have been caught playing games on iPhones. Personally, we haven’t heard a word you said because we’re busy playing Tetris. But just to spite you further, we’re playing it on a Game Boy, just so you know we’re ignoring you. • source
My friend said this was impossible for the mass market. I was more optimistic.
Friedhelm Hillebrand • The german man behind the technology used to create SMS, more commonly known by drunk teenagers at parties as texting. Hillebrand made the realization that 160 characters was, as he put it, “perfectly sufficient.” But early technology could only handle 128 characters. Fortunately, they kept working and got it up to 160. Did his technology make him rich? No, but everyone uses it, so isn’t that enough? • source
Sexting leads to child porn charges. Sexting, as you might guess, is people taking naked photos of themselves on their cell phones and sharing them with their friends. It’s led to charges in Pennsylvania for both the three teenage girls charged with sending the photos and the, er, um, three lucky teenage boys who got the photos. Note to press: Please stop inventing terms. :( source