Etiqueta: Text messaging

Cell phones, how are adults using mobile phones?? [PDF download link]

Some interesting items that pop out of the report and graphics?

– 18% of people 18 to 24 years old send more than 200 text messages per day

– This heavy texting (200+ per day) drops to 3% for people 25 to 29 years old

– Heavy text users do not text exclusively. In fact, they also make a lot of voice calls. 26% of heavy text messegers make 31 or more voice calls per day

What is it these people text and say in all of these messages every day?


Chargepod is a 6-way charging device that allo...
By Todd Ogasawara

What Do People Who Send 200+ Text Messages & 30+ Voice Calls Per Day Have to Say?

The Pew Internet and American Life Project released another report of interest to gadget fans.

Cell phones and American adults (available online & PDF download)

Flowtown.com turned Pew’s numberes into a series of easy to understand pie charts and bar graphs.

How Are Adults Using Mobile Phones?

Some interesting items that pop out of the report and graphics?

– 18% of people 18 to 24 years old send more than 200 text messages per day

– This heavy texting (200+ per day) drops to 3% for people 25 to 29 years old

– Heavy text users do not text exclusively. In fact, they also make a lot of voice calls. 26% of heavy text messegers make 31 or more voice calls per day

What is it these people text and say in all of these messages every day?

http://www.mediabistro.com/mobileContentToday/

Cyber Bullies – The Terminators of the Design Community

Not everyone has been mistreated by a school yard bully. However, everyone knows bullying exists. Bullying is not restricted by age or environment and doesn’t necessarily have to be a physical altercation to be considered bullying. In fact, designers and developers are also prone to bullying – cyber bullying. You may have been unfairly and unreasonably criticized and made to feel small or defeated. Clients, designers, developers and even the audience you cater to are all capable of bullying if they choose to do so. More often than not, culprits hide behind false identities and abuse others just for their own twisted pleasure.


Not everyone has been mistreated by a school yard bully. However, everyone knows bullying exists. Bullying is not restricted by age or environment and doesn’t necessarily have to be a physical altercation to be considered bullying. In fact, designers and developers are also prone to bullying – cyber bullying. You may have been unfairly and unreasonably criticized and made to feel small or defeated. Clients, designers, developers and even the audience you cater to are all capable of bullying if they choose to do so. More often than not, culprits hide behind false identities and abuse others just for their own twisted pleasure.

Cyber Bullies – The Terminators of the Design Community
Image credit: bernov69

Cyber bullying is a rapidly increasing trend that is not a good sign for our web community. Statistics show that almost all bloggers have experienced some form of cyber bullying at one point or another.

Negativity online can become too much for anyone to bear. In extreme cases, it will terrorize and traumatize people and affect their quality of work. When one becomes afraid of criticism and negativity, you are prevented from fulfilling your full potential. Stamp out bullying. Treat others the way you would like to be treated; with respect and dignity. In order for the community to grow, we must do our best to minimize and discourage cyber bullying.

Today, we’ll take a look at the negative effects of cyber bullying on the design community as well as on the writer. Cyber bullies are like weeds in a garden. They are not outright lethal or dangerous, but they stunt the growth and quality of the surrounding plants and flowers. If all bullies think twice before committing this “cyber crime” and consider mending their ways, the web community would be a more enjoyable place and will be able to flourish and grow positively. If you are a cyber bully, consider these factors mentioned here and reflect upon your actions.

Cyber Bullying – More Than Just A Term

Let’s explore the term cyber bullying and clarify the definition of this “crime”.

Cyber bullying presents itself in many forms; mean-spirited comments are very common, so are threats and offensive behavior. When digital technology is intentionally used to torment, threaten, harass, humiliate or embarrass, it is considered as cyber bullying. While missing the physical aspect of bullying, often times, cyber bullying is even more vindictive because physical wounds can heal but emotional wounds leave a lasting impression and mark on a person.

The Bully’s Cyber Playground

Cyber bully can happen to you anywhere online and on various platforms. Social networking sites, chat rooms, instant messaging programs, email, text messaging, personal digital assistants (PDA), and of course internet websites like design blogs or forums.

Playground
Image source: Martin Cogley

Putting a Face to the Cyber Bully

As mentioned above, anyone is capable of being a cyber bully. No one is perfect. We are all susceptible to our human emotions and frailties. Fellow designers could very easily cross the line when the green eyed monster is in play. Very easily, what should have been common and objective criticism can turn very ugly, very fast.

Anyone
Image source: Arthur Coddington

There are many various motivations that can propel a person to partake in cyber bullying. Anger, jealousy, revenge, and in some cases, just entertainment is a sufficient reason to bully. Humans put other human beings down to feel better about themselves, and to exert the fact that they have power over someone else. Sometimes, a victim could suddenly lash out after much repression only to find themselves becoming the bully they once feared so much.

There are so many reasons why people bully, as such each case of cyber bully needs to be tackled different. Unfortunately, because of our human complexity, there isn’t a “one size fits all” solution where cyber bullying is concerned.

Be aware that it is not necessary for you to have made any mistakes to be targeted and persecuted by cyber bullies.

Understanding the Bully

Doctors have to first diagnose a patient’s illness before they can prescribe an appropriate medicine. This is the same with the cyber bully. In order to try and resolve this issue, we must first understand the reasons why cyber bullies bully. What do they want? What is their psychological mindset? Is it fame, notoriety or attention that they seek? Leer más “Cyber Bullies – The Terminators of the Design Community”

12 Ways the Tech Industry Is Screwing You (and How to Fight Back)

You can’t install the apps you want on your smartphone. You can’t play the movies you bought on your PC. You can’t even walk into a store without getting upsold, enrolled, restocked, and recalled. Welcome to the world of tech in 2010, where your phone doesn’t work–and companies tell you that “you’re holding it wrong.”

Just because you venture into the tech marketplace with a credit card in your hand doesn’t mean you deserve to get screwed. Check out these 12 ways that the tech industry is pulling a fast one on you–and learn how to fight back.
Ridiculous Restocking Fees

Bought a laptop and realized it wasn’t for you? No problem, you can return it within 30 days–that’ll be $150, please.

Restocking fees are an easy way for vendors to make a tidy profit from a consumer’s buying misstep. The rationale for such fees may be to discourage cheapskates who have no intention of keeping a device from buying it, using it for a short time–say, for the length of a vacation–and then returning it; but the practical result is that you can get slapped with a fee ranging from 10 percent to 25 percent of the purchase price just for the privilege of returning a gadget you’re not happy with.

For example, Best Buy charges 10 percent for iPhone returns; 15 percent for opened laptops, projectors, digital cameras/camcorders, and GPS systems; and 25 percent for any special-ordered item. Amazon.com, Sears, and Newegg all charge a 15 percent restocking fee for computers and electronics, though each vendor’s specific rules vary–for example, Sears charges only if the returned item doesn’t include the original packaging, whereas Newegg dings you for anything you return after opening it.

Take the restocking fees into consideration before you buy. It’s illegal in some states to charge a restocking fee without notifying you in advance, but the notification could be buried in the return policy on the back of your receipt, so ask a salesperson before you swipe your credit card. You might discover that the $5 you save by buying a product from a particular vendor could be negated by the $50 it charges as a restocking fee. Buying a gift? Get a gift card if there’s any chance that the recipient might want to return the item you’re tempted to choose.


Whether you seek out cutting-edge tech gear or keep to a strict budget, the tech industry has ways to nickel-and-dime you out of your hard-earned cash. Here’s how to fight back.

Patrick Miller, PC World

You can’t install the apps you want on your smartphone. You can’t play the movies you bought on your PC. You can’t even walk into a store without getting upsold, enrolled, restocked, and recalled. Welcome to the world of tech in 2010, where your phone doesn’t work–and companies tell you that “you’re holding it wrong.”

Just because you venture into the tech marketplace with a credit card in your hand doesn’t mean you deserve to get screwed. Check out these 12 ways that the tech industry is pulling a fast one on you–and learn how to fight back.

Ridiculous Restocking Fees

Bought a laptop and realized it wasn’t for you? No problem, you can return it within 30 days–that’ll be $150, please.

Restocking fees are an easy way for vendors to make a tidy profit from a consumer’s buying misstep. The rationale for such fees may be to discourage cheapskates who have no intention of keeping a device from buying it, using it for a short time–say, for the length of a vacation–and then returning it; but the practical result is that you can get slapped with a fee ranging from 10 percent to 25 percent of the purchase price just for the privilege of returning a gadget you’re not happy with.

For example, Best Buy charges 10 percent for iPhone returns; 15 percent for opened laptops, projectors, digital cameras/camcorders, and GPS systems; and 25 percent for any special-ordered item. Amazon.com, Sears, and Newegg all charge a 15 percent restocking fee for computers and electronics, though each vendor’s specific rules vary–for example, Sears charges only if the returned item doesn’t include the original packaging, whereas Newegg dings you for anything you return after opening it.

Take the restocking fees into consideration before you buy. It’s illegal in some states to charge a restocking fee without notifying you in advance, but the notification could be buried in the return policy on the back of your receipt, so ask a salesperson before you swipe your credit card. You might discover that the $5 you save by buying a product from a particular vendor could be negated by the $50 it charges as a restocking fee. Buying a gift? Get a gift card if there’s any chance that the recipient might want to return the item you’re tempted to choose. Leer más “12 Ways the Tech Industry Is Screwing You (and How to Fight Back)”

Summer of Mobile Rundown – 7 Free Reports from 360i


by 360i


Image via Mobile Behavior

Over the past few months we’ve embarked on quite a large endeavor — 7 mobile reports covering nearly every topic of this emerging landscape, from mobile-social and apps to SMS marketing and search. Below is a final rundown of the series. You can download the full PDF for any of these by clicking the “Download” button within Scribd.

Who’s Calling? Some More Than Others

The idea that Americans are talking less on their phones and texting more might be true in many instances, but you can exclude a couple of groups of people from that category.

In a report released Tuesday, Nielsen, a consumer data and trend-tracking agency, said blacks are talking on their phones more than ever before, on average more than 1,300 minutes a month. Hispanics, the “next more talkative group,” talk on the phone 826 minutes a month.

Compare these numbers to whites, who only use 647 minutes a month of talk time, half the average of blacks.

In a blog post on Nielsen’s Web site, the company said it carried out the study in March by analyzing the phone bills of 60,000 mobile phone subscribers in the United States.


By NICK BILTON

Nielsen The number of voice minutes and text messages used each month by age bracket.

number of text messages a month

The heaviest use of cellphone minutes is in the Southern states.

location of most cell phone talk time

The idea that Americans are talking less on their phones and texting more might be true in many instances, but you can exclude a couple of groups of people from that category.

In a report released Tuesday, Nielsen, a consumer data and trend-tracking agency, said blacks are talking on their phones more than ever before, on average more than 1,300 minutes a month. Hispanics, the “next more talkative group,” talk on the phone 826 minutes a month.

Compare these numbers to whites, who only use 647 minutes a month of talk time, half the average of blacks.

In a blog post on Nielsen’s Web site, the company said it carried out the study in March by analyzing the phone bills of 60,000 mobile phone subscribers in the United States. Leer más “Who’s Calling? Some More Than Others”

When You Need to Send Someone an Important File Really Fast..

When you need to send an important file to a contact, you can either send it as an email attachment or, if the file size is too big for an email message, you can upload it to any of the file hosting services and share the download link with your contact over email.

IM software like Skype, Google Talk and Yahoo Messenger also let you to easily transfer files from one computer to another without imposing any restrictions on file size or the file type. This is generally quicker than sending files over email but the only downside is that both parties should be running the IM client in order or send or receive files.


send files fast When you need to send an important file to a contact, you can either send it as an email attachment or, if the file size is too big for an email message, you can upload it to any of the file hosting services and share the download link with your contact over email.

IM software like Skype, Google Talk and Yahoo Messenger also let you to easily transfer files from one computer to another without imposing any restrictions on file size or the file type. This is generally quicker than sending files over email but the only downside is that both parties should be running the IM client in order or send or receive files. Leer más “When You Need to Send Someone an Important File Really Fast..”

Recover Your Lost Android Phone With Where’s My Droid

If you are somebody who forgets things easily, then your phone might have been misplaced a number of times. You need to make sure that something like that does not happen again. Phone today are quite expensive and include a lot of your sensitive data. Losing your phone, either due to your forgetfulness or because of a thief, can be a very frustrating.

Once your phone is lost, there is very little you can do to recover it. In the case of a lost phone, Android smartphone owners, at least, do not face as tough a time as other phone owners do – this is all thanks to one application, “Where’s My Droid.”


Image representing Android as depicted in Crun...
Image via CrunchBase

If you are somebody who forgets things easily, then your phone might have been misplaced a number of times. You need to make sure that something like that does not happen again. Phone today are quite expensive and include a lot of your sensitive data. Losing your phone, either due to your forgetfulness or because of a thief, can be a very frustrating.

Once your phone is lost, there is very little you can do to recover it. In the case of a lost phone, Android smartphone owners, at least, do not face as tough a time as other phone owners do – this is all thanks to one application, “Where’s My Droid.” Leer más “Recover Your Lost Android Phone With Where’s My Droid”