timeline16texting
Latest
New Jersey bill would jail you for texting while walking
There's no question that using your phone while walking can be a problem -- cities have tried everything from dedicated sidewalk lanes to padded lamp posts to prevent collisions with distracted pedestrians. They've even (unsuccessfully) tried to pass laws. However, that isn't stopping New Jersey assemblywoman Pamela Lampitt. She recently introduced a bill that would ban any hands-on use of electronic communication devices while walking on the state's public pathways. Get caught and you'd face the same penalties as jaywalking, which could include up to a $50 fine and 15 days in jail. Lampitt argues that you pose "just as much danger" as a jaywalker, since you may unwittingly smack into a car while you catch up with friends.
End texts with a period if you want to seem like a jerk
It appears as though those among us who use proper punctuation when texting look like big jerks. A new study out of Binghamton University says that text messages appended with a period come off as kind of rude. Computer Mediated Communication (email, texting, instant messages, etc..) lacks any sort of the context clues of face to face communications methods, so to see what the period meant in terms of CMC, the researchers had a small group of undergrads rate conversations that were framed either as handwritten notes or text messages.
Teen texting can be just as compulsive as gambling
There's no question that modern teens are more comfortable with cellphones than earlier generations, but there's now evidence to suggest that some of them are a little too comfortable. A recent study shows that some teen texters exhibit the same compulsive behavior you see from gamblers, including the inability to cut back, sleep loss and lying to cover up habits. For the girls in the study, this frequently translated to poorer grades at school (though they still fared better overall than the boys). The quantity of texts didn't affect the teens so much as their inability to pull away from their devices. Sending just a few messages doesn't matter if your eyes remain glued to the screen, after all.
Hackers control connected cars using text messages
It's not only Chrysler drivers that have to worry about hackers taking control of their cars from afar. UC San Diego researchers have found that you can control features on cars of many makes by exploiting vulnerabilities in cellular-capable dongles that are sometimes plugged into the vehicles' OBD-II ports, such as insurance trackers and driving efficiency tools. In the example you see above, the security team compromised a Corvette touting a Mobile Devices dongle (one of the most common varieties) through everyday text messages -- they could turn on the wipers or even cut the brakes. That same device is also set to allow remote tunneling using a universal 'private' key, making it easy for an intruder to get complete control over the adapter and its unfortunate host car.
VR game 'SMS Racing' trivializes texting while driving
Texting while driving is against the law and it can put you and other people on the road in serious danger. That can't be understated. However, when it's your main objective when playing a virtual reality racing game, it can also be seriously good fun. That's the premise of SMS Racing, a diminutive game from Turbo Button that pits you against other racers as you drive, text and ultimately smash your way to victory.
Paranoid? You can destroy this SSD simply by texting it
In the age of Snowden and the NSA, no method of data protection is apparently too kooky for consideration. Exhibit 'A' is a new SSD drive from a company called SecureDrives (after the break). It has features like you'd expect like 256-bit hardware level encryption and 2-factor authentication, but that's just a warm-up. The pièce de resistance is the ability to erase the GSM-enabled drive by sending a text, causing the NAND flash storage to fragment in an unrecoverable way. The self-destruct process can also be triggered if someone tries to block the drive's GSM signal, tamper with it, remove it from your computer or try the pin code too many times. All of that should keep your Bitcoin stash safe, but first you'll need to part with a lot of them -- the top-end Autothysis128t drive runs £1,027, or about $1,650.
Brits will send 300 billion IMs in 2014, and it's all down to sexting
The traditional lull in news during the summer seasons means that throughout August, companies pump out swathes of research that would otherwise get ignored or drowned out. Coincidentally, Deloitte is claiming that the UK population is likely to send around 300 billion electronic instant messages this year, up from 160 billion in 2013. What's the cause of this sudden near-doubling of iMessage, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger chat? Sexting. At least that's what Paul Lee, Deloitte's media and telecoms chief, believes, saying that teenagers sending winky emoticons and Snapchatting pictures of their genitals pets is the biggest contributor to the rise. According to the firm, the average person sends just seven texts, but nearly 50 IMs in a single day, and that if the trend continues, 2014 will be the first year that text messaging numbers fall compared to its free rivals. Just think, it'll be September soon, so we can all go back to reading about actual developments in the world of technology.
Werner Herzog directs documentary on dangers of texting and driving for It Can Wait campaign
AT&T recently recruited none other than Werner Herzog to direct some short videos for the "It Can Wait" campaign to curb texting and driving, but their collaboration hasn't ended there. The campaign, which also has the backing of Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile, has today released a 35-minute documentary by the legendary German filmmaker that delves further into the first-hand accounts of texting and driving dangers seen in the 30-second spots. Titled "From One Second to the Next," the documentary is freely available online, and is also being distributed to more than 40,000 high schools and number of safety organizations and government agencies in the US. As the Canadian Press reports, Herzog said that the project "immediately clicked and connected inside of me" when AT&T proposed it to him, adding, "there's a completely new culture out there. I'm not a participant of texting and driving -- or texting at all -- but I see there's something going on in civilization which is coming with great vehemence at us.'' You can watch the full documentary after the break or on the It Can Wait website.
This is the Modem World: Why are we still texting?
Each week Joshua Fruhlinger contributes This is the Modem World, a column dedicated to exploring the culture of consumer technology. "Just text me..." How many times have you told someone that? Say you're meeting a friend somewhere: What's the first thing you do when you get there? You text him or her to announce your arrival. Why? Because that's how you're trained. You don't email, call or use some other protocol. And you know what? You're paying for that text even though you already have a data plan, unless you're grandfathered into one of the better unlimited plans of the 20th century. Truth is, SMS texts are perhaps the most lucrative service that providers offer -- more so than data or voice plans, and they want us to keep using the outdated technology whether we need to or not.
Twenty years after the birth of SMS, its creator consents to a text-only interview
Finnish engineer Matti Makkonen famously dreamed up the idea for the SMS (Short Message Service) in a Copenhagen pizza shop in 1984, and the first message ("Happy Christmas") was sent to a Vodafone UK cellphone from a PC on December 3, 1992. Since then, an estimated 8 trillion texts have been sent, and now the normally recalcitrant pioneer has given the BBC a rare interview (appropriately via text message), where he discussed "txtspk,' keypads vs. touchscreens, and the next big tech development. While described as the father of SMS, Makkonen is still reluctant to take sole credit, saying it was "the result of a joint effort to collect ideas and write a specification." On top of that, he never felt the idea was patentable and therefore never saw a penny from the invention, despite its present day pervasiveness. As for textspeak, the engineer refrains from creating abbreviated messages himself, saying "my passion is to write correct language (Finnish), using all 160 characters." He's happy to do this using a modern touchscreen phone, although he couldn't resist using the interview to pay a charmingly backhanded compliment, saying they're "slow enough (that I can) think and sometimes even edit what I write." [Image credit: Nokia]
Texas man foretells dire outcome: messages 'I need to quit texting,' before driving into ravine
Despite our love of gadgets, we're not willing to give any slack to people that text while driving, and for one good reason: it's freaking dangerous. You've heard the grim stories before, but few incidents resonate to the heart of the matter like that of Chance Bothe from Texas. Despite his better judgment, the young man was texting a childhood friend while trying to bring the conversation to a close by saying, "I need to quit texting, because I could die in a car accident." That message was followed by one more, an unfortunate, "b right there." Regrettably, that final text caused him to miss a slight curve in the road and careen into a ravine. Chance is alive today -- thanks in large part to the fact that the accident was witnessed -- but the recovery hasn't been easy. In addition to a broken neck, a number of fractures and severe head trauma, he's already undergone two facial reconstructions. In the wake of the accident, Chance's friends and family have founded UnSend, an organization that dedicates itself to raising awareness about the dangers of texting and driving. Chance, too, is using his experience to educate others: "They just need to understand, don't do it. Don't do it. It's not worth losing your life."
Ofcom: Texting is more popular than talking
Ofcom's annual report into the communications habits of Britons has revealed that it's not just geeks who stare in annoyance when the phone rings. The general consumer is now abandoning voice calls is favor of texting in a big way, making five percent fewer calls than they did the previous year. The numbers also showed that on average, people send 50 texts a week, smartphone ownership was up 12 percent and tablet purchasing shot from 2 to 11 percent in a single year. The trend isn't slowing, either, given that a whopping 96 percent of 16 to 24-year-olds prefer SMS and Facebook to talking -- giving us hope that we'll soon be spared having to listen to that guy's conversation during our morning commute.
Texting: the truth serum of the 21st century
The University of Michigan and The New School for Social Research has found that if you want someone to tell you the truth, you should text them. Dispensing with the lie detector for job interviewees, academics found that people gave more honest and detailed answers via SMS than over the phone. The team believes it's due to the lack of time pressure and not having to produce a pleasing answer for your interrogator. If the findings continue to provide similar results, it looks like Steve Wilkos could be replaced with a smartphone.
