Texting is a fun and
cool way to be in contact with your friends and loved ones. From the powerful
application on your mobile phones, you can get in touch easily and bring a smile
to the receiver specially if the messages comes with these cool and funny
pictures made from different punctuation marks. However, just like any other
things in life, there's a rule even in texting. Here's some of the Do's and
Dont's for serious texters.
Do's
Keep it short. That's the first rule of
texting.
Sign off at the end of every
messages. You can't rely on the person you're texting to recognize your number
and there's nothing more annoying than an anonymous text. Only ditch this when
you're absolutely sure they'll know who's texting.
Reply to every message you get unless
the other texter tells you not to bother. Otherwise, how will they know if their
message has got through.
If you don't want them to get back to
you, simply type NRN (No Reply Necessary) at the end of your message.
Think twice before sending a flame
that's an insulting message. Best rule of the thumb, don't text anything you
wouldn't dare say straight to their face.
Stick an emotion - one of those little
pictures like a smiley face made up of punctuation marks on your messages if
you're worried about someone taking it the wrong way. You may know a sarcastic
line is just a joke but will they?
Dont's
Spam someone with loads of pointless messages. If they stop replying, it's a
good sign they're getting bored or even annoyed. Use texting to spread malicious gossip.
Apply the same rule as for sending flames. Don't text anything you wouldn't want
to say out loud. Send anything you wouldn't write down.
Remember, your message will be stored on their phone until they decide to delete
it. Something that seemed funny or interesting at the time may be downright
embarrassing a couple of weeks later. Send a message without double checking
the number of the recipient. Imagine sending something meant for your bestfriend
to your mom by mistake. Now do you see why this is an important one? Text personal details to someone you
don't know. Treat texting the same as posting information in an internet chat
room. And if you're not sure, ask yourself one question... Do I know this person
well enough to tell them where I live???
There is so much you can do with your beloved mobile than just make phone
calls. If you've started sending SMS (Short Message Service) messages to your
friends, you probably already know how much fun it can be. But it's not just
text messages that you can send to your friends, you can also create and send
fab little pictures and cool ring tones, using only your mobile phone's keypad.
You can download icons as well from the Internet to customize your mobile's
screen, and send funky logos to your friends.
Mobile phones have come a long way since the days when they looked like black
bricks and weighed a ton. These days, there are hundreds of sizes, design and
some really cool applications that can make your phone much more fun. And the
crazy tech-heads at the mobile phone companies are always coming up with new and
better ideas all the time.
WAP WAP stands for Wireless Application Protocol. It lets you surf the
Internet and check your emails from your mobile phone. So if you're on the move
and need to order tickets for the cinema without all the hassle of standing in a
long and boring queue, you can just pull out your WAP phone and reserve tickets
over the net. And in case you're going out and don't want to get caught out in
the rain, you can check out the weather report. You can even use it to take a
look at what's been happening in the news or pick-up the latest sports result -
all without forking out for a new laptop. The websites you can surf via your
mobile don't look like quite the same as the sites you can access on your PC --
they have less detail and fancy graphics - but the basic info is the same, and
they're a lot easier to carry in your pocket.
Fashion Statement
Given the right cover, logos and ringtone, mobiles can be fab little fashion
numbers, but they are soon to become an even more important part of your
wardrobe. Fashion designers have already started using mobile phones in their
designs, and clothing companies are now coming up with fabrics that can be used
to make mobile phones you can wear. So the next time you see someone tapping
away on his or her sleeve, they don't have some kind of nasty rash, but they're
texting to their friends on their new designer denim jacket.
Info Service
If you've ever thought mobiles are just for making phone calls or texting your
friends, then have you been missing out? These days, mobile phone companies are
offering free alert services. These are sent as SMS messages straight to your
phone, and won't cost you money. So you might want to receive the latest results
from your favorite sport team, or news, interview and gossip from the music biz.
And if you want to make sure you're up to date on who's at number one in the
music chart, you can even sent the latest top ten positions. These alerts will
not only make you look like you have your finger on the pulse, they can also
help you plan your social life - you can check the latest cinema releases no
matter where you are.
Chat
There are times when you need to talk to all of your friends at once - whether
it's to get their opinion on something or someone you've just met, or to find
out what everyone is wearing for a night out. But mobile phones will only let
you text one person at a time - at least they have done until now. Nokia has
come up with a cool new service called friendstalk (Chat), which lets you and a
group of friends send instant messages to each other - so now you can spend all
Sunday morning chatting about what you got up to the night before. Friendstalk
uses an advanced version of SMS, and currently available only with Nokia 3310
mobile.
Dial a Coke
There's nothing more annoying than finding yourself dying of thirst, but with no
change to buy a can of Coke from a vending machine. Well this problem might be a
thing of the past. Coca-Cola has come up with a "Dial a Coke" idea,
which allows you to dial a special number posted on the front of the vending
machine, on your mobile phone. The can of Coke will then drop out of the vending
machine, and the cost of the can of Coke will be added to your next phone bill.
It won't get you a free drink, but it will make buying one a lot more cool. This
idea is currently being tested in Australia and will be available in other
countries soon.
Fun Mail
Sometimes sending someone a plain old text message just seems too dull. With
so many people texting these days, how can you make sue your messages stand out
from the crowd? A new craze is sweeping Japan, called FUNMAIL. It will convert
any boring-old text message into a short cartoon. So when you send a text
message to a friend using Funmail, it automatically turns it into a colorful
animation, complete with music and sound effects. You can send a happy birthday
cartoon to someone special, or brighten up a message telling a friend you're
going to be late. All you need to do is enter the text, and the cartoon message
will be sent to your phone. You can then send it on a friend's mobile or PC.
Funmail will be available in Europe, the rest of Asia and the US soon.
www.funmail.com
With thousands of available covers in the market today, sometimes looking for a
replacement that suits you is still a big pain amongst us. Have you ever looked
at the choice of replacement mobile covers and thought you could design a better
one for yourself? It's no good being able to send and receive cool messages if
your phone isn't quite up to scratch - but let's face it, the choice can
sometimes be a bit sad. Now Nokia has set up a website (www.clubnokia.com) that
will let budding artist amongst you design your own covers for their 5100
phones. The website has an online design tool, which will let you draw lines,
shapes, colors and even input text on to your phone cover. Worried about your
artistic skills aren't up to much? The website also has lots of readymade
patterns for you to customize, if you're not quite ready to design the whole
thing for yourself. Once you're happy with your artwork, you can enter it into
the "Phone Gallery", so other people can admire your work, and even
choose your pattern for their phone. Your finished mobile will be sent to you in
about two weeks minimum.
Keep it short. That's the first rule of
texting.