Text messaging – Gabriel Catalano®

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?

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.

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.

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.

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? Continuar leyendo «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

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.

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.

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. Continuar leyendo «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.

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 via CrunchBase

Students Addicted To Social Media Like Drugs

A new study by University of Maryland shows that students are addicted to social media and even likening the issue with drug and alcohol addictions. And if they do not receive their daily dosage of social media, students will start to show withdrawal symptoms such as cravings, anxiousness, extremely antsy, miserable, jitteriness and craziness.

A new study by University of Maryland shows that students are addicted to social media and even likening the issue with drug and alcohol addictions. And if they do not receive their daily dosage of social media, students will start to show withdrawal symptoms such as cravings, anxiousness, extremely antsy, miserable, jitteriness and craziness.

It was found that most college students are not just unwilling, but also unable to function without access to their media links to the world. This was a result of abstinence from their laptops, iPhones, Blackberry devices and related Internet connecting paraphernalia for 24 hours.

After the experiment, the 200 students involved in it were asked to blog on private class websites about their experiences; at the same time reporting their successes and failures. As a result, the 200 students wrote more than 110,000 words; about the same as a 400-page novel.

40.9% of the students who responded to the survey reported that they were first-year students, 40.9% reported that they were sophomores, 11% reported that they were juniors, and 7.1% reported that they were seniors or beyond. Most students reported their ages as between 18-21; the average class age was 19.5.

“The students did complain about how boring it was go anywhere and do anything without being plugged into music on their MP3 players,” said Moeller. “And many commented that it was almost impossible to avoid the TVs on in the background at all times in their friends’ rooms. But what they spoke about in the strongest terms was how their lack of access to text messaging, phone calling, instant messaging, email and Facebook, meant that they couldn’t connect with friends who lived close by, much less those far away.”

Susan D. Moeller, an associate journalism professor at the University of Maryland and the director of the International Center for Media and the Public Agenda, said researchers were surprised by the students’ feedbacks when they blogged about their experience after the period of abstinence from social media.

“Texting and IM-ing my friends gives me a constant feeling of comfort,” wrote one student. “When I did not have those two luxuries, I felt quite alone and secluded from my life. Although I go to a school with thousands of students, the fact that I was not able to communicate with anyone via technology was almost unbearable.”

From what we see here, the students’ lives are wired together in such ways that opting out of that communication pattern would be tantamount to renouncing a social life. Do you think that you can spend a day without connecting to any media platforms successfully? I know I can’t; and I’m a student too. Do share with us this mini-experiment with us!

The Net Generation Are Huge Fans Of Blogs

The millennials are young adults described as the first group to have come of age in a highly Internet-connected world. Also known as the Net Generation, their year of birth falls around 1985 to 1992, they are expected to be able to use the computer to access the Web and other technologies to communicate and learn.

A recent report done by BlogHer and iVillage, co-sponsored by Ketchum and Nielsen, shows that they millennials are the most likely group to take advantage of those abilities through blogging.

Through the research, it was found that millennials represents nearly half; about 40.4% of the Internet user bases, when it comes to writing blogs. On the other hand, the combination of Generation X and Y (26-42 years old) and Boomers (43-61 years old) only makes up 46.8% of the pie while Seniors (62-76 years old) making up the rest of the 12.8%. It was found that respondents between the age of 18 to 24 blogs about twice the rate of an average person.

However, the millennials are not that big on reading blogs though. The share of readership amongst Millennials only makes up about 30.3% while Generation X and Y coming close at 29.3%.

On top of that report, bloggers of all ages too were polled for the reason behind their blogs. An overwhelming 81.6% stated that it was for self-expression and 80.6% stated that it was for fun. One-half of bloggers wanted to give advice, and fewer than one-third hoped to earn money with their efforts.

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My Unplanned Adventure

Yesterday, I had an unplanned adventure.

I left my house late yesterday and forgot my iPhone. I realized my mistake about half way to work, which was too late to turn back. “Ah well, I guess I can live without it for one day,” I thought.

What proceeded was a nightmare…

At about 9:15 AM, I left for my appointment located in an unfamiliar part of the city that is sprawling with factories, desolate parking lots, roads without sidewalks and broken payphones. Upon getting lost trying to find my destination (Mapquest, you suck), I started stressing because I couldn’t call my appointment to let them know I was running late. I also couldn’t call my office to make the call for me or get any assistance. Fun!

At exactly 9:50am (10 minutes before my appt.), I finally see someone that I can ask for directions. YAHOO! I asked, “Excuse me sir, could you tell me where Milton Street is?” To which the polite, but unfortunately rather unhelpful gentleman replied “No hablo Ingles.” Continuar leyendo «My Unplanned Adventure»

“Text me, don’t call me.” Sounds familiar?

: Image via Wikipedia

Have you ever come across people that you’ve tried calling and emailing for hours but failed to receive any response from them? However, when you text them, they almost immediately reply.

To be honest, I’m not that big on texting; with an average of about 300 plus texts per month. This number is miniscule compared to my 19 year old sister who averages about 1,000 plus texts per month. Compared to her fellow friends, she is not unusual at all.

According to Nielsen Mobile, in the first quarter of 2009, the average U.S teenager made and received an average of 191 phone calls and sent and received 2,899 text messages every month. By the third quarter, the number of texts jumped to a whopping 3,146 messages per month. This is equivalent to more than 10 text messages per hour.

At the beginning of 2007, these numbers were only 255 phone calls and 435 text messages. Preteens on the other hand, receive about 1,146 texts every month. Continuar leyendo «“Text me, don’t call me.” Sounds familiar?»

What or Who Do You Less Than Three?

This valentine’s day, we wanted to pay homage to <3.
Author Garett

That’s right, less than three. The textual emblem that stands for love. It is often used in text messages, IMs, and tweets. And when directed to a person it can say so much to the reader. Some say a picture is worth a thousand words. We feel the combination of two characters conveys much more.

But the beauty of this little exercise is to allow people to share the things they ❤ most and, in turn, share in the expression of others through aggregation. Our goal wasn’t to set out to change the world, or create some crazy viral marketing initiative. We just wanted to share the things we <3.

Visit LessThanThree.AgencyNet.com and tell us what you <3.

Vía anidea.com

4 Lovely Tips To Create A Long Lasting Client Relationship

Ahh, the season of love is approaching. Yes, Valentine’s Day is right around the corner. This day is originally reserved to celebrate love and affection between intimate companions. However, we should not just limit ourselves to that.

How about taking this opportunity to create a positive client relationship that can possibly last through the years? It’s about celebrating love; and the client relationship is something that needs to be strong for it to be successful.

Here are 4 ways to strengthen that client relationship from Lewis360: Continuar leyendo «4 Lovely Tips To Create A Long Lasting Client Relationship»